Week #3: Summer Bounty

I finished in 2nd place again last week, which I was very happy about.

Summer Bounty Picnic Basket

Summer Bounty makes me think of delicious foods, warm weather, and a more relaxed schedule with my children. One of our favorite summertime activities is picnicking, so I sewed a liner for a laundry basket and turned it into a great picnic basket instead!

I picked up a square laundry basket at Walmart for around $6. I think it's a perfect size to allow for a good sized picnic without becoming too heavy once it's packed up with all the food. I also made sure to get one with comfortable and sturdy handles. 

I used duck cloth and outdoor canvas for the fabrics of the liner because I wanted something that would hold up to a lot of use. The top of the liner has a drawstring cord so that I don't have to worry about things falling out in the car, and ties in each corner to keep it from shifting around the basket. But it's still detachable if it needed to be taken out and cleaned.

The top can fold completely over the edge of the basket allowing for easy access to the inside. There are six pockets around the insides so you can keep things neatly organized. 

My plan is to keep the basket all stocked and ready to go so that I could be ready to picnic in matter of minutes. Throw some sandwiches together, add in some fruit and chips and we're off!

I think it's impressive that in the basket I have paper plates, plastic knives, forks and spoons, salt and pepper, garbage bags (large and small), wipes, tissues, paper towels, hand sanitizer, sunscreen, bug repellent, a note pad, pencil, and a deck of cards, and there is still a ton of room for food, and even a blanket if you wanted. This picnic basket could go to the park, the mountains, the beach, or even on a car trip. We're ready for any adventure!

I used this basket twice within a week of finishing it, and I love it. On our outing to the Golden Spike visitors center last weekend,  I literally realized we needed to take something for lunch on our way out the door. So I grabbed the basket and threw in a loaf of bread, the jars of peanut butter and honey, a package of goldfish, and a Tupperware container of grapes. It took me less than two minutes to be out the door and we had everything we needed to pull of a successful car picnic! I spent the entire lunch pointing out to my family how cool it was how perfectly my idea worked! Finally my husband responded with the proper enthusiasm... so I shut up. :) But dudes! It is just so cool to be able to feed your children and have it take two minutes to be ready to go! I know this basket is going to get a lot of use over the rest of the summer and in years to come... 

Week 2: Repurposing

I made it through week 2 and finished in 2nd place! I am very happy with that.

So did you guess this one was mine? I kind of thought if you knew me at all it wouldn't be too hard to pick out. But seriously? I knit a 68" long lace wrap in two weeks! And only pulled one all-nighter to finish it, that's kind of crazy awesome....

For those of you who were wondering that is Caitlin modeling it for me. I have such a cute sister.

Sweater to Lace Wrap

I found a sweater at the thrift store for three dollars. It was a men's large cotton/linen blend with a stain on the front. I thought I would just work around the stained part, but when I brought it home and washed it the stain came right out. Bonus! 

So you can get an idea of the size of sweater I was working with. I didn't love the color when I bought it, I thought it was pretty blah and I would dye it or something. Or if I couldn't get the stain out dye would have helped cover it...

A close up of the fiber content. I think this technique would work great for cottons and linens, but I would be wary of wool. I would just be afraid of being able to wash it well enough with out felting the sweater in the process. 

I unpicked the seams and then unraveled each piece.

A note for anyone interested in trying this. The #1 thing you have to be aware of to pull it apart is how the sweater is constructed. (I wish I'd thought to get a picture of the seams before I unpicked them.) If they are serged it won't work, because a serger cuts as it sews and you'll just end up with a pile of individual strings. 

This is where I started to fall in love with the neutral color of the ecru and how it looked in the pattern.

I used the yarn to knit a lace wrap. This wrap is a perfect size for summer when you need something light to throw around your shoulders in a movie theater or at church where they have the air conditioning cranked a little too high. It is also thin enough to be worn as a scarf or cowl. The cotton/linen blend yarn gave a beautiful stitch definition. 

pattern: Afternoon Tea Wrap

Next time you browse the racks at the thrift store try looking past the boring or boxy sweaters to the yarn underneath! You can get a lot of yarn for very little money. 

So basically this awesome accessory cost me somewhere around $1.50, because I easily have enough yarn left over to knit another one. Talk about bang for your buck!

Go figure...

You'd think with weekly projects due on SYTYC that would be just about all I could accomplish, but I guess it's kicked my creative juices into overdrive or something because I am on fire today! :) 

I sewed two pairs of pajama pants for Jake, a pajama outfit for Evie, hemmed two pairs of pants into shorts for Jake, and put new elastic into the waistband of a pair of dress up pants. 

All things that have been hanging around in the mending basket for awhile.

 It's the sewing version of clearing out your inbox!

My Scrappy project entry and on to week #2

Did you guess my Scrappy Project was the Kindle Cover?

Well you were right! :)

I actually made it for Caitlin. I got a nice red leather cover with my Kindle for Christmas, but she's had her Kindle Fire (which is why my Kindle pictured about doesn't fit quite right, it was made to the Kindle Fire measurements.) since her birthday in March and no cover.

She was thrilled when I gave it to her and it makes me happy to see it being put to good use. I thought it was funny, when I was trying to type up the description I wanted to add that it was very tactile-ly pleasing. To feel the different fabrics and run your fingers over the stitches. But then I thought that maybe sounded just a bit creepy, so I left it out. The first thing Caite said when I gave it to her and she put her Kindle in it? "Oooh, this is very tactile-ly pleasing!"  I swear! The exact same made up word! I guess that sort of thing is genetic... 

Thank you to everyone who voted for me and helped me make it through to week #2. 

Repurposed Crafts

Or Upcycled, or whatever you want to call it. I had the most fun with this project and would love it if you voted for me!

I'm official...

See, on the right there? I have the button to prove it and everything. :)

Season 12 has started and the polls are now open. So head on over and check it out. There are some pretty crafty ladies putting up some pretty neat ideas for your consideration. My hope for this week is not to be the first person voted off! Mostly because I have something very cool in the works for week two that I really want to share... 

I hope you pick me! 

A serious case of awesome!

So a couple of weeks ago I saw this post over at Sewing in No Man's Land and I immediate stuck it on my Pinterest board of projects I want to make. We are hard core Lego fans around here and all three of my kids will spend hours playing with them. I even ran right out and got all the supplies we would need. But then I ran into a bit of a snafu. There are no ready to download and print out easy Lego head templates out there. At least none that I could find. I hemmed and hawed and tried to find someone I knew with a Cricut and more computer savvy than myself to help me design one. And everyday for the past two weeks my kids have begged and pleaded with me to make the shirts. Finally today I said, "Okay." I figured the worst that could happen is that I waste an entire roll of freezer paper trying to draw a stinking Lego head....

First things first, I had the kids round up all our Lego heads for inspiration. 

Then I started sketching. 

Here's the part when I pat myself on the back for free handing these suckers!

 That's right. I looked at the tiny Lego heads and drew the faces onto the freezer paper and then cut them out. No tracing, no time saving machines, no down loads. Not too shabby if I say so myself. :)

The kids were eager to start painting.

P.S. I totally underestimated how much paint these would suck up. Fortunately I just happened to have an extra tube of the same yellow paint in a kit. But if you want to make more than one, buy the big bottle!

The hardest part was waiting for them to dry.

Jake's two shirts.

(Why does he get two? Because the shirts were 4/$10 and he gets far less things made for him than the girls do.)

The girly version. 

(I'm seriously considering making one for myself...)

Quick! Photo shoot before the sun goes down!

These were really fun to make and even though they aren't perfect I am pretty darn pleased with how they turned out!

I made it!

My audition piece was the Sweet Little Sun-Dress 

Now I can show off how cute my darling girl looks in it!

Vintage embroidered pillowcase and silk ribbon.

I didn't take pictures for a step by step tutorial, but it is pretty straight forward and uses pretty basic sewing techniques.

I cut the skirt to the length I wanted, then cut the rest of the pieces from the left over fabric.

(I always add 1/2" seam allowance to each side, so doubled it's 1". It makes the math easier, and I am all about making the math easier...) 

The finished band is 2" wide so my strip was 5" x (chest measurement + 1"). I folded it half and then realized that I needed an opening in the skirt since I wanted the top to be fitted. 

I cut a small slit about 4" down the center back, then finished the edge with a small piece of bias cut from the same cloth. 

I added a  3" placket to one side of the band to sew the buttons to, and the buttons can moved to allow her to wear the piece longer as she grows.

The 1 1/2" shoulder straps were 3 1/2" x 18". (I only take a 1/4' seam allowance when sewing a tube so the seam won't be too bulky.)

I pressed the seam to the center of the strap so it would be hidden against her skin when worn. 

I gathered the skirt to fit the band and pinned the shoulder straps into the seam in the front before sewing it in place. 

When they were tacked into place along the top of the band it makes a fun detail along the front of the dress, and a convenient place to hook my finger and keep her from running away during church. :)

I added the ruched ribbon trim and the buttons and we were ready for her to model it!

So... now for my story about timing. 

Last year when I tried out for this contest I was so bummed when I didn't make it. Then Missy emailed and asked if I was interested in trying out for later season, in the fall. I said "For sure!" and went about my life.  Which included some craziness like this, this and this. When Missy contacted me and told me that it was time, I asked to be put back on the waiting list as we were getting ready for a major remodeling project. But I underestimated just how slow government red tape can be. Fast forward another six months and we finally have been approved for the funding and are starting our major remodeling project, which entails packing up and moving out for the next 3-4 months, in the next few weeks. At the same time Missy emailed me about auditions. I wasn't about to put this off again, so I said, "Why not?" 

It's do-able. Crazy, but do-able. It actually made for a nice difference, last year I was a nervous wreck the entire week the auditions were posted. This time around I've been much more relaxed and had an attitude of "If I make it... awesome. If I don't... it wasn't meant to be." (Don't get me wrong. Now that I'm in, I'm super excited and my brain is going overtime thinking up crafty ideas!) In one way it's really good for me because the situation (packing up and being away from my sewing room for months) means that I have to be very organized and prepared. No last minute procrastination for me, I have to decide on my projects and get them done. So even if I get voted off I will still post them over here and play along at home. 

Long story short, life is what happens when you're busy making plans and if you wait for conditions to be perfect before you craft you'll never make anything but plans!