Inspiration

Here are some of the things that are inspiring me lately. (click on the images for links)

Recent Things

Here are a few things that I have made recently:

My Sister-in-law had a new baby. Her 1st was a girl and I made a slightly modified version of Amy Butler's Nappy Bag in PINK.

Well, the new baby was a boy (Max) and she couldn't carry around a pink diaper bag, so I made her another slightly modified version of Amy Butler's Nappy Bag. I use my Nappy Bag even when there are no nappies in there so I try to make them look more like a purse and less like a diaper bag so they can actually be functional even after the kids are bigger. Here is what I came up with. The "leaves" on the front are hand appliqued with some embroidery on the top.I also wanted to make a smaller purse for her daughter, Chloe, so that she could match mom so I drew out a pattern for a nappy bag that was half the size of the other. I machine sewed in the appliques and the embroidery except when I personalized hers... I did that by hand :-)And I couldn't leave out Max, so I made this crocheted stacking toy that was a free pattern on Lion Brand's website. I sewed the frogs eyes on a little weird, but other then that I liked how it turned out. Chloe was playing with it when we went to visit Max, so I think it was a hit.I also made a baby sling for Max to be carried in. I didn't have a sling with my 1st but I did with my 2nd and I LOVED IT!!!! We took a trip to Washington and my 9 month old was in it the entire time. It was great! So that is my new go-to gift for new moms. It was the knitted baby booties, but with all these babies being born in the summer... It thought that I should go with something else. The sling is fitted and reversible and matches the nappy bag that I made her.

So... I have put myself on a spending freeze!!! I have done it before and didn't stick to, but this time I'm determined. I have so many unfinished projects and multitudes of craft supplies, that I really need to use what I have so I have decided to evoke the "poverty breeds ingenuity" initiative and so far this is what I have come up with.

I have a dress that I bought on sale a while ago that is really cute and very comfortable but I have never worn it because it is strapless and I have trouble wearing strapless undergarments. So I decided that a small lightweight/summer bolero would be perfect. After much thought I came up with this:

Here is an old Bink 182 t-shirt that I had set aside for my recycled t-shirt laundry basket. I only wore the t-shirt a few times, so it was really like brand new but since I have had the t-shirt since college, it was quite snug. I decided to cut it to shape, redesign the sleeves into a cap sleeve-ish shape and crocheted the all-over trim. Since this was also a functional bolero (used to cover up my bra straps) I didn't want to worry about it sliding off my shoulder so I made a strap for the front that has 2 button holes sewn into it, with the buttons sewn on the inside of the bolero.... so it was optional. I loved how the bolero turned out and the best things about it are 1. it was completely FREE because I used materials that were laying around in my craft room and 2. it was the 1st time I used my button hole maker on my new-ish sewing machine and it was PURE MAGIC!!!!!!

My other "free" piece of clothing wasn't exactly free.... I was at Target a few weeks ago (prior to my spending freeze) and they had a Liberty of London scarf on sale for $3.95. I folded it and held it up to myself and realized that it was big enough to make a skirt out of it. So I did. I initially planned on making it elastic at the top but since I am on a spending freeze and don't have that much elastic laying around, I made it drawstring. I made a channel at the top like I would for making it elastic but in the center front I sewed on another button hole :-) for the drawstring. I could always convert it if I want to in the future but for now, I like it.I also made a few hair clips. This one was made with a piece of left over Dupioni Silk, a piece of left over tulle and an old clip-on earring.This one is actually wool crocheted and felted flowers. I made this to go with my niece's play house that I made, but I didn't end up using them, so I made them into a hair clip :-)I am really into the recycled t-shirt yarn right now so I have been saving a strip (when I cut up the shirts for my laundry basket) for jewelry. Here are a few that I made for necklaces and I just added a brooch to each. The best part is that they are totally versatile because you can wear them without the pins, or with the pins, or with different pins. LOVE IT.