by Ann
Since our new site engine, or whatever it is called, does not notify the author when someone comments on a post, and since I am posting comments on old posts to keep our NaBloPoMo stats up, I am hereby announcing that I have just commented on Nancy’s post of Oct. 27, “Progress.”
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November 20th, 2009New Levels of Crackpottiness
November 20th, 2009by Nancy
Just when you thought things couldn’t get any more crackpotty, there’s a crochet pattern for making a Barack Obama finger puppet!!!
No, I’m not trying to make it! 🙂
(In an effort to be bi-partisan, John McCain is available, too. )
You asked about gift bags?
November 19th, 2009By Ann
Well, you could sign up for your mom’s gift bag making workshop at the historic site where she volunteers, but since it was scheduled for the day after tomorrow and no one else has signed up, that would be a bit silly.
So, instead, I suggest you go to www.crackpot quilters.net and use the handy search box at the top of the home page to search for “gift bags.” You will find 6 posts, of which “Gift Bag Instructions” is the most useful and “Green for the Holidays” is the most hilarious. Two entries, both entitled “Gift Bags Galore,” showcase my past efforts.
To add a bit to Marty’s excellent instructions, it is not necessary to use two pieces of fabric each for the lining and the outside of the bag. You can use one rectangular piece for each, and fold it in half, producing the same result. Then you only have to sew one side seam and the bottom seam.
As for size, the gift bag pictured in Marty’s post, which is now in my possession, is approx. 12″x12″. To fit a bag to a particular gift, I like to get the actual gift or gifts that will be put into the bag and measure the distance around it/them. Then I measure the “height” of the gift as if it were placed in the bag and the bag were being held upright. I then make the bag about 2″ bigger than the circumference of the gift. You will want to make the height of the bag substantially greater that the height of the gift to allow for the bag to be gathered up when it is tied and possibly also for the top of the bag to be folded down so that the lining shows. If you don’t make the height big enough, do not despair. Try for an alternative closure, such as folding it over like an envelope flap, as seen in the butterfly fabric bag in one of the Gift Bag Galore posts, or use velcro inside the top edges to stick it shut. Or, if you are more confident of your button-hole ability than I am, try buttons.
There are lots of other variations on the general bag theme as described by Marty: lined or not lined, with or without a bottom gusset, and ribbon tie or drawstring, to name a few.
And of course, the bag itself can be pieced or appliqued, as in the bags pictured below, or embellished in numerous ways as described by Marty.
And don’t forget your own brilliant idea to skip the bag step completely and just wrap the gift in a length of fabric, giving the recipient all manner of options for recycling the gift wrap!
Once you start…
November 19th, 2009by Nancy
…it’s hard to stop!
Why F and H, you ask? Well, because they are relatively easy letters (no curves), and they can be attached to Christmas gifts for Friedrich and Helene, of course. 🙂
I’m now working on making a crochet cheeseburger for Nicholas – truly crackpotty! Photos of progress will be coming.
Fabric Gift Bags
November 17th, 2009by Nancy
I’d like to make some fabric gift bags for Christmas presents this year, but I’m not sure where to start. Any advice from Crackpots who have more experience in this area?
If you give a Crackpot a crochet hook…
November 16th, 2009by Nancy
…she’s likely to get carried away!
Modified Melinda
November 15th, 2009By Ann
Last Saturday I took an apron-making workshop at the living history site that is familiar to all of you. We were making 1920s period aprons, and made the simplest pattern available, the “Melinda.” I knew from previous experience with a Melinda apron that the standard one-size-fits-all pattern which has a one-piece yoke going around the neck, would be too long from the shoulders to the waist for me, so, with the help of the woman leading the workshop, I shortened the yoke. The first step in making the apron is to bind the inside edge of the yoke and attach it to the body of the apron. As soon as I started to pin the yoke to the body, I realized that the finished apron would never go over my head. Oooops! After much laughter and all sorts of suggestions from my fellow seamstresses, some of which I found totally incomprehensible, I decided that the simplest Plan B was to convert the yoke to ties. Hence the “Modified Melinda” below:
As you can see, it really is simple! I do plan to add pockets, but that will come after the next step in the process. Now that I have a lovely new apron, all I need is the dress to go with it. I found a lovely blue tone-on-tone at Joann’s when I bought the apron fabric, but I can’t buy the fabric for the dress until I alter the pattern to fit me. I found the pattern I want to use – it’s a 1920s pattern – and although it is labeled as medium, it is HUGE. I tried altering it myself, but it is definitely not a one-person job, so I plan to bring the pattern to the forthcoming holiday extravaganza and get some help from Marty before proceeding. (You have been forewarned, Marty!) And this time I plan to make a muslin before proceeding with the real fabric. The dress I have now, for which Marty and I altered the pattern, is still a bit looser than I would like across the shoulders, so I hope to do a bit better the second time around.
The Next Sweater
November 15th, 2009I’ve started on my next sweater, one that I’ve been thinking about for months. For two of those months, the color of yarn I wanted for the sweater body was back-ordered, which gave me time to work on Big Blankie 3.0 (all done except for more border rows, but completely usable now) and some other things. The yarn I’m using is Fresco by Classic Elite, a super-soft blend of wool, alpaca, and some angora. Due to the extreme softness, I expect that it won’t be the most hard-wearing sweater ever, but the yarn and the fabric it produces are so lovely that I’m willing to put up with the disadvantages of extra-cozy yarn.
I started on the sweater itself yesterday, and it’s not looking too exciting yet – but here’s a picture of the swatch I made.
Yes, it’s narrower at the top than the bottom – this is intentional, because the owls go around the yoke, and my neck is narrower than my shoulders. The background color is slightly greener than it appears in the picture (at least on my monitor, but I don’t trust its colors to be true enough to go to the hassle of color correction).
I’m using Kate Davies’ lovely Paper Dolls pattern for the sweater itself, exchanging the dolls for the owls from spillyjane’s Owlsocks. I didn’t come up with this pattern combination myself – props go to some brilliant folks on Ravelry. I’m also planning to make the sleeves full-length (assuming I don’t run out of yarn).
Flannel Baby Blanket
November 14th, 2009
by Nancy
This is a flannel baby blanket I made this past spring for a friend’s new baby girl. It’s just two different squares of flannel sewn together with rick-rack in the seam. It was quite easy to make, but I did have a little trouble getting the rick-rack positioned where I wanted it while sewing the two
flannel pieces together. I think if I did it again I would either use larger rick-rack (I used medium, and I think jumbo would have been easier to catch in the seam) or baste the rick-rack first. But, overall, I was pleased with the results. It’s very soft and cozy!
Place Mats!
November 13th, 2009by Ann
My set of six reversible, strip-pieced place mats to go with our dining room decor is now completely completed! Two are in use as I type, and the remaining 4 are in the place mat drawer waiting to be called upon. Here they all are. The two in the middle are “upside down” so you can see the reverse side. The one on the lower left looks a bit wrinkly because when I took the photo, I had not yet finished stitching the binding.
And here is a photo of the place mats in situ. Please note the small center piece. It’s hard to identify the flowers in the photo, but they are shapdragons and petunias from my garden. In mid-November! Incredible!
