To My Loyal Reader: Part Two

OK, OK, OK! So, I've been a total slouch. A huge craft slacker. A lazy bum. As acknowledged in my previous post (first video post!) from approximately seven years ago, the Partner-in-Crime and I hunted for and bought a house this summer. We're pretty happy with the place, but there was a lot of settling-in to be done and a few small projects to take care of here and there, so my craftiness got pushed to the side for a few months. BUT...I'm back to crafting now! Unfortunately, I'm working on some projects for Christmas, so I cannot really share just yet, but hang in there and you'll be amazed! Or maybe just mildly impressed.

In the meantime, hop on over to the PIC's blog to see our recent CD shelves project!

To My Loyal Reader: First Video Post

Links: Sewing Green by Betz White
Local Ace hardware store

Recipe: 1/2 c washing soda, 1/2 c borax, 1 cup grated Fels Naptha soap (multiply as needed!)

Be Creative @ Your Library!

Hooray! It's Summer Reading Program time at the library! This year's theme at the Wicomico is Be Creative at Your Library, which is the national summer reading program. The program's promotional materials feature artwork by the former political cartoonist for my hometown newspaper, the Springfield News-Sun: Mr. David Catrow.

And never fear! We still use the Maryland state library reading program mascot: Sneaks the Cat! Yay! This year's t-shirts are purple and feature Sneaks in an artist's smock at an easel.

Obviously, I'm super excited about the theme since we like creativity around here. The library has some fun programs planned, too, like Make 'N' Take craft times for kids, LEGO Robotics/Mindstorms programs for the teens, and easy scrapbooking tutorials for adults. So, check out your local library, you may find some crafty programs. At the very least, you're sure to find some great crafty books!

Until next time!

SMALL fresh market totes, with attitudes!

Hola! Como esta usted?

As we discussed in our previous post, large totes are not ideal, so I had a day free this weekend, and I, Herr Snicklefritz, whipped up some tiny totes for grocery shopping and other item carrying needs--like laid back beach trips or record store impulse buys.

You can see the results here!

I also had to add some attitude to mine, so that I don't look quite as silly lugging a large flowery pattern up the stairs of our apartment.  The army green canvas bag got fixed up with a Bear Skull patch that we found at an evil store that will not be named here but has something to do with misspelled walls or something. We weren't really shopping there; we were returning something, and they gave us store credit, so we had to use it, and they still had sewing stuff at that time, so we picked up some supplies--we didn't mean to encourage their monopoly.

At any rate, the Led Zeppelin patch came from a record store in Rehoboth, and I'd been looking for an appropriate surface to adorn since I acquired it.  This seemed like just the spot.

Finally, when I finished, I Crop-A-Diled the bags up with some eyelets.  The Crop-A-Dile is our new toy, and it's an amazing tool for eyelet embellishment!  You can get one for, apparently, $21!  We paid $35, but it was worth every penny of that amount. *Grumbles about buyer's angst at fluctuating prices.*

Anyhow, totes!

Adios!

Market Totes, or, Saving the Planet One Bag at a Time

Here's another project that's been waiting to be blogged about: our new market totes.

Earlier this month I made two market totes (Green Pepper pattern #F882). These bags are really easy to make, just a simple afternoon project. Both bags are the largest pattern size, which upon using them for the first time a couple weeks ago, I have decided is maybe a little much. Sure, you can carry tons of groceries in them, but since they can carry so much, they can get really heavy, especially when your facing three flights of stairs. (Thanks to the Partner-in-Crime for toting those groceries up three flights!) Next time I make these, I'll probably try the medium size. I may even make some of the smallest size for those trips in which we only pick up a couple items.

Now if we can only remember to leave them in the car and not at home when we take our often impromptu grocery trips...

I made the first bag with some red canvas for the shell and black canvas for the straps. The pattern calls for straps made of webbing, a kind of belting material, but we had a decent amount of canvas already around the apartment, so I decided to use canvas rather than webbing for the straps. It seems to work just fine.

For the second tote, I used some green Amy Butler fabric I bought from a local shop that was going out of business. Though it's a different pattern, this green fabric reminds me of those curtains Maria used to make children's playclothes in The Sound of Music. It's sort of an ugly, gaudy fabric (both the curtains and this Amy Butler stuff), but it's kind of fun (in an ugly, gaudy way). This Amy Butler fabric is not quite as heavy weight as the canvas, but it is heavier than regular quilter's cotton. I think it should hold up OK. Again, I used some fabric rather than webbing for the straps.

We've also been throwing around the idea of screen-printing future bags with fun grocery motifs or perhaps jazz up the bags with some neat-o patches. We will keep you posted!

Tschau!

Just a T-Shirt and Jeans Guy

Namaste, Snicklefritz fans!

The summer-time-crafting-binge is upon us now, for Herr Snicklefritz is about to turn in his last paper this very evening.

Additionally, the Snicklefritzes have been collectively rather busy as of late (not blogging though) so watch for a flurry of updates in the coming week or two because we've got back-crafting to blog about.

At any rate, Herr Snicklefritz has two major projects that he's accomplished as of late.

1) He's finally gotten photo-emulsion screen printing to the point where it looks respectable, so he made t-shirts for his growed-up spelling-bee team: The Wor-Wic Wordsmiths. This means he made five for his team mates and himself, one for his dear wife, and after his little brother saw them, he insisted that he get a shirt too, so seven in total.

Unfortunately, the screen was left a little too long with the emulsion on it, so it's impossible to clean up now. So, the screen printing will be at  a standstill until more screen material can be acquired.

2) The other big project of late has been a pair of jeans!  This was a pretty big deal as the only other wearable that he's constructed has been a shirt. 

These came from Burda's 7733 pattern, and I made them pretty much as is, but without a zipper on the back pocket.  Still, it was not too tricky, jus ttime consuming.  The jeans came out almost like a pair of jeans. The zipper bunches a little, and they were a hair to big, so they had to be trimmed back and altered at the last minute (I'll know better next time) but all in all, they're like a pair of jeans.

Baby Bag!

Greetings! Around a month ago, my brother and his wife asked me if I would like to make them a diaper bag, for the baby, who is due in May. They had been on the hunt for a bag my brother wouldn't feel silly carrying, and they really liked "The Everything Bag" pattern in Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones. My sister-in-law has done a little sewing herself--she's made a couple adorable baby quilts--but felt that "The Everything Bag" might be a little too tricky for her. I, however, have some bag making experience, so I guess they felt I was qualified enough to make them a diaper bag. (Mwha ha ha! I've fooled everyone!)

My brother and his wife sent some fabric: mid-weight cotton for the exterior (ivory with blue polka dots) and regular quilter's cotton for the interior (green with jungle animals). Both were good choices, but I really liked the animal print.

I managed to find all the notions at my local Hancock, except for single-sided fusible stabilizer, which was needed for the interior divider and also for the bag's bottom ("fusible" means you can fuse or stick it to the fabric using an iron; interfacing and stabilizers basically reinforce fabric). Hancock had double sided fusible and non-fusible stabilizers. Where was the desired single-sided fusible stabilizer? I ended up with non-fusible stabilizer and a can of spray-on fusible stuff to make the non-fusible into a fusible. Are we all con-fused now?

Moving on. The bag's arbitrary difficulty level is a four (Ms. Butler doesn't really explain what the difficulty levels mean in this book; there are five levels, with level one being the easiest. Don't think that I'm a master sewer just because I completed a "level four"; I'm certainly not.) I take the level four to mean that "there are a lot of steps, most of which make sense, but there are a couple that could have used some better editing, but you'll have to figure those out on your own." I've never really had a problem with Amy Butler patterns before, but there were two spots where the directions were either murky or wrong.

The first problem for me was Step 2G. For all of you out there trying to make this bag, for Step 2G, I just fused the two Peltex/stabilizer divider panels together. That's it; forget the rest of the step because it did not make sense to me and the bag still turned out fine.

The second problem was Step 7A. The directions call for you to "Place one side pocket panel with interfacing and one without interfacing Right sides together. Pin the short top edges. Stitch a 1/2" seam along the pinned edge..." This is wrong. The pocket panels measure 7x7.5 inches. So, the directions tell you to sew one of the 7" edges. If you do that, though, the pocket will not fit onto the side panel; it will be too short. Instead, sew one of the 7.5" (or long edges) together so it fits. True story: I had to completely re-cut and re-fuse the interfacing because of this typo. Not a big deal, but frustrating to have to do a step over because of poor editing.

Despite those two snags, overall the bag was not difficult to make. Sure, there were a lot of steps, but they weren't overwhelming (except for 2G and 7A, of course). The hardest part was trying to get the bag to fit under the needle on my machine in some steps. The divider panel was pretty stiff, as was the bottom of the bag so maneuverability was tricky. And honestly, I'm way more intimidated by the thought of sewing clothes than a bag. If a bag looks a little off, it is less noticeable than if the fit of one's clothing is a little off.

All-in-all, the bag turned out well, and the parents-to-be really like it. This was probably the trickiest project I've made so far, but I think my sewing is better for it (even with the two snafus, which, in hindsight, helped me more clearly envision the involved steps). This is something I would consider making again in the future, diaper bag or not. The style doesn't scream "diaper bag" and picking a non-baby fabric would reinforce that; it could make a nice sized beach-tote. And usually projects are easier to make the second time around because I know what I'm doing.

Tag!