Little Projects

I am so excited for this weekend...it's finally Craft-a-Palooza time again! Normally this 2-day sewing marathon is just my cousin Sandy and me hammering out small sewing projects with gusto. But this weekend our Grandma is joining the party. Yeah! I'm sure this veteran crafty rock star will have a lot of knowledge to share with us kids.

Craft-a-Palooza weekends are an instant gratification free-for-all. No big projects allowed. We want to start and finish something fun in two days...and, hopefully, make lots and lots of whatever that fun thing is (in between chasing children and snacking).

Normally, my cousin and I exchange emails containing project ideas for the weekend. Unfortunately the the summer has been so busy, we haven't followed our normal protocol. But, I've been poking around on the interwebs and I have a few ideas to get us started.

Handy Items (who doesn't need this stuff):

The Square Deal Pincushion by Heather Bailey

A really cute pincushion that we could make assembly-line style. I'm thinking Holiday gifts for everyone!

Box Pouch Tutorial by Make It Modern

A while ago we made zippered bags, this boxy one goes one step further.

Emmeline Apron by Sew Liberated

I have been aching to make a cute apron for quite some time now.


Back-to-School 

Travel Messenger Bag by Susanne Woods

Kid's Messenger Bag by Zaaberry

Maybe messenger bags for the kids? Sandy's are a bit older than mine so we might have to use 2 different patterns.

Just Plain Selfish Me

Art Smock by Oliver & S

I might have to barter some older-boy pajama bottom sewing for some help knocking out an art smock for my kindergartener.

Speaking of Pajamas...

Making pajamas is an awesome way to spend a weekend. Even the bigger boys (and daddy's too) love having fun pajama bottoms. I recently bought this pattern for my littles and I have a stack of fabric just waiting to be sewn into night-time cuteness:

Bedtime Story Pajamas by Oliver & S

Who knows? Maybe none of these projects will make it on the roster next week after Grandma gets some ideas flowing or Sandy has a eureka when trolling Pinterest this week. No matter what we make, we will have a blast. I will be sure to share the hand-made bounty with you next week!

–Cassandra

Sidetracked

It's 65 degrees outside here in Madison. Consequently, I have ants in the pants. My unfocused mind cannot bring you the sewing machine tutorial on stitches I planned for today. Sorry about that!

All I can do this afternoon is dream about stuff I want to tackle: clean the house, finish up old projects, and start a few brand new ones. Here are a few of the things on my to-do short list:


1. I already have some killer Amy Butler fabric in my stash so I can sew myself a Frenchy Bag for a summer purse. I've been meaning to do this since last summer.

2. As Alex showed you on Monday, I bought some awesome fingering weight yarn in my signature (ochre) color so I can start a nice lightweight springtime knitting project called the Ishbel Shawl by Ysolda Teague.

Ysolda herself modeling Ishbel as a scarf.

3. More, and more, and more cotton pajamas for the littles. Home-made feels so much snugglier.

Simplicity 8493 has been the bomb.

4. The Easter Bunny might bring some little ducks or chicks.

5. My head is swimming with ideas for fabric designs and embroidery patterns. I need some serious alone-time to exercise those spirits.


And then...I have some super-secret knitting going on. Alex and I are putting final tweaks on our pattern to be included in the upcoming What (Else) Would Madame DeFarge Knit book. Plus, we are working on a submission idea we are pretty excited about for DeFarge Does Shakespeare. You have never heard us giggle and squeal the way we do when designing knitted objects. I think we were meant to do this.

Another sneak peek of our upcoming design.

So, what I need is: a clean house, some peace and quiet, my sewing machine, and my knitting bag. That is the cure for my ants in the pants. Until I get the bug to get outside in the dirt....

–Cassandra

Slackers!

You may have noticed that we have been sorta absent from this space this week. Our apologies. Alex has a great excuse. She is on a wonderful ski trip to Winter Park, CO...so jealous! She's having a great time and has sent us some pictures:

Alex's view on the drive to her hotel.

Alex has sore legs after a few days of skiing, so this is her on her way to go shopping.

Me, well I don't have such a glamorous excuse. I have had one thing after another pile up on me this week and have had to let a lot of things slide. But, like I had predicted last week, I did do a fair amount of sewing this past weekend.

I started Sesame Street embroidered pillow cases for the boys. The only thing that really kept me from cranking away on these was a trip to the store for some Elmo, Oscar and Cookie Monster colored floss. But here is a peek at the project soon after I started:

The start of the Sesame Street pillowcases.

I also have the pieces cut out for some flannel doggie pajamas for my Finn. He is in definite need of some elastic-waisted pajama pants (hello potty training) so I really have to get a few pairs of these sewn up as soon as possible. Of course, I bought enough flannel for little Bogart to have some too. He's very concerned about "equity" these days!

I love sewing from a pattern.

So, I gotta go, I'm off to work on my sewing projects! Talk to you soon!

–Cassandra