Casserole Caddy

Have you seen these floating around? They're pretty nifty, and since I promised a friend of mine for her birthday last year, i finally got around to making one!

 

I'm fairly happy with the outcome, although there are a few things that didn't work out the way I wanted. Let's take a look shall we?

 

I used this pattern from Joann's. It was nice not to have to measure and worry about math, but as you can see i did some modifications. As cool and convenient it is to do the handles as the serving utensils, I personally find wooden handles to be not all that comfortable, and add a heavy dish full of food and I foresaw the actual carrier getting 'forgotten' in lieu of just carrying the casserole itself. Maybe that's just me. Either way, I didn't want to lose the convenience of having a place for serving supplies, so I just added a little Velcro strap to hold 'em.

 

You can see that the Velcro doesn't quite line up, the reason being isn't because I screwed up. Oh no, my 13"x9" dish is actually 13.25"x9.25", what weirdo designed that? But even with my unnecessary extra 1/4" sides it still fits pretty well.

 

So what didn't turn out the way i wanted? Well, I used flannel instead of the decor weight recommenced fabric and while I think it looks cuter and will function just was well, it proved a bit difficult to use with the 'insul-bright' batting. That being said I have never used any type of batting before, so there's a very strong chance my issues with it have everything to so with my lack of experience. Basically there was lots of shifting of fabric which led to puckers and some of my seams got shifted.

Oh, and I forgot to mention I put it together wrong first, and didn't discover my error until I had cut away the bulky seams and clipped corners! I blame it on the fact that it took me 2 weeks of 15 min here, and 20 min there to assemble and sew it together. Call it mom-brain if you must (thought you got your brain cells back after giving birth? Haha! Not a chance!)

I am overall happy with the outcome and will be experimenting with insul-bright again. Maybe a lunch bag for work? We'll see. I just hope the recipient likes and used this as much as I do/would! :)

Sewing machine cover complete!

This has been a dragging project for me, not because I didn't like making it (I quite enjoyed myself actually) but because it was sewn a seam here a seam there for WEEKS!! Ugh, I could have finished it in an afternoon, but I rarely get more than 15 isolated minutes to myself (I blame the butterball sleeping right now) but it's not just her- I have the cat and dog to blame too, I still have to shower them with love lest they think I've forgotten about them. Whatever, here's what you care about:

I'm so happy with how it turned out!! I really enjoyed the paper pieces portions too, I see more of that in my future I think!  But alas, this cover is not perfect. For one thing I screwed up my measurements (or ignored the bias completely… probably both). For I  a lazy sewer, often neglecting my iron and trying to cut shapes with out patterns… oh well. 

Anything I would do different? Remember I bought a paper pattern for this years ago and use that instead of winging it.

See that? Not long enough.

Same deal here, but I also sewed the extender I made to the wrong side… and didn't fix it. It's on the lining and really, no ones looking but me. It would have been a different story if this was a gift but it isn't so I don't care. I'm just happy it's finished!

And since we all love a good photo of others craft space, here's a few shots of my miserable excuse for a sewing station:

We moved in November, but I'm still unpacking. I mostly just don't know where all that crap is going to go. I do have some plans… perhaps if my scheming comes to pass I will update you in the future?

What do you think? Ever have projects turn out different than you plan but you still love them?

WIPs

It's been a rough week of the little lady not taking naps unless she is on me… so I haven't gotten a ton done like is like too. But here is an update on some things I'm working on:

Paper piecing for my sewing machine cover:

 

The running joke with my good pal Robin is that I cant start a new-to-me craft like a normal person who picks a pattern and follows directions.  I don't tip-toe, I run full speed into it by making my own patterns and ignoring any and all directions! Lucky for me it usually isn't a total disaster (usually). This is definitely wasn't one of my disasters! I am pretty proud of myself. While I cannot claim these as my own ideas/patterns, I didn't use the patterns available and drafted my own instead! I used Pinterest to gather ideas and use what others had done to make it myself! (I used this, this, this and this as my inspiration/spring board for my own patterns) There has been a bit of hand sewing involved due to my lack of forethought in some instances, but overall I'm pretty pleased! I can't wait to get it all put together and sewn up for I can leave my new sewing machine out full time!

Mystery Sock KAL:

 

So I kinda messed this one up. I didn't switch to the smaller needles like the pattern says 

because they're being used on another project and I'm too lazy to make notes to remember what I'm using) So I haven't decided if I like them enough to rip it and re-knit it to the cuff and do them properly, knit the second sock the same and deal with it or just frog it all together and use the yarn for a different pattern (because I LOVE this yarn color! Glorious!!!) So we'll see what ends up happening.

And something I'm working out that will eventually make it into my shop:

Can you guess what it is? :)

Drawstring Bags

Hey guys! Slowly getting back into the swing of things here! I have a few projects I am working on, but I wanted to show you some that were actually finished!

Behold! Drawstring bags! I needed a larger project bag for my sweater, so I decided it was as good an excuse as any to make myself one of those cute baggies I see popping up on Etsy and Pinterest.

The other is (yet) another dice bag for my man, who I have decided has an unhealthy addiction to dice. I mean seriously! But they're easy to make and he likes showing off to his pals what his wife can do! He could definitely be doing worse. :p

So what have you been up to?

I did it!

I finished one of my New Years resolutions! 

She is quite small, and just practice, but she is entirely cross stitched!!

I have plans for a big project later, but I need the help of my friend to plan it so so I don't screw it up too badly. And although it will be a project for me I plan on putting it in the babies room once we have one!

Have you accomplished something lately?

Prototype

Who is this little guy? He'll eventually be put in the shop, but there are some kinks I need to work out. You can't tell (since I took the photos with my phone) but he is far to small to hold an iPhone, which is what he will eventually hold. What do you think?

Lazy Sunday

And I needed it after the week I had! I got to (kinda) decompress today, and I'm looking forward to some afternoon hobbying with John. He'll be modeling and I'll be knitting.

I finished the shark towel order for a former coworker, she was pleased!

Watson had SO much fun at the beach! (I think he was showing off for John).

And Charlie is surly because got a half bath because of an unfortunate accident earlier. 'Nuff said.

Hope your Sunday has been lazy too!:)

WIP

Look familiar? They are done! Well, mostly. I need to control those strings there.

 

Annnnd a new project too! This is also almost done, and a b-day gift, so the big reveal will be next week after the recipients receives him! Hope she likes it! 

Totoro and Soot Sprites!

These cute little dudes are now available in my shop! I'm very proud of them!

 I love the little candies I gave them! adorable! :)

 Then my sweet collection of Totoro's! I love them!

What do you think?

Finished!

I figured it out! The week break did me well! I finished this sucka last thursday, but I figured better than late than never:

Yup, I resorted to good ol' fashioned hand sewing! Who does that? Me. When I just can't take it anymore!

Here she is finished, beautiful and lovely. But I don't think I will be making this version again anytime soon.

 

And the inside of course, a beautiful shade of gray!

Sunday Funday... sort of.

Well, it started well enough, but I quickly found that putting the finishing touches on my purse was going to be difficult. Notice it's monday now? Yeah, I worked for a good 3 hours yesterday before heading over to my padres for dinner and the Oscars and still didn't finish.

 

I've used this pattern before, and opted for a different version this time (I went for the upper right as circled in red above.)

 

I started this purse last weekend as a leisurely pursuit, and it's turning into a ball of stress I want to hurl out the window! For starters, it's very difficult to find fold-over braid, because they don't sell it like that and it goes by names like "poly fold over" and what have you.  So after deciding to buy regular braid and iron a fold in my self I discovered that the gusset whats noting to do with it. (joy)

 

 Oy vey, I'm taking a break for the rest of the week from it and will resume work after my birthday next monday! Hopefully I will have an epiphany before then and it will be a slice of cake! Until then I guess I will continue to work on projects to sell in my shop...

Sunday Funday!

At least I hope! Heading out in a bit for a craft brunch with my friends! (Which has taken years of forcing crafts onto them)

Anyhoo, the other day I was hit with inspiration while combing over Etsy and my own lack of planner organization, so I drafted my own pattern and then whipped up one myself! (With questionable success) Take a look if you would:

 

 

So it's a bit bulky, due to the lack of interfacing/ stabilizer, also I didn't account for enough ease (sheeze!) and lastly, sine I made it from scraps not all pieces were the size they needed to be and thus I have some wee-bitty holes in there somewhere.

But wait, there's more!

 

Yup, that purple whatever it is (and it is made from I don't know what) bunched like crazy! Even when there were other fabrics to help it out, it wanted nothing to do with the project. Well whatever, prototype mostly a success as long as I remember not to buy more of that funk.

I am proud of that zipper action though. I though zippers and I were friends, but I learned the hard way that apparently we are not. Still, as hard as putting in a curved zipper is, it does not compare with trying to put bias-tape on top of it to hide my seams. Definitely a mess, but no one wants to see that do they? :)

(P.S.: did anyone notice that the pocket on the right doesn't match? yeah, it's totally inside out! whoops!)

Happy Sunday everyone!

Grand Opening!

Today is the day! MegaWench Workshop Etsy store is now open for business! I am nervous and excited and all sorts of mixed up emotions! This adventure's going to be a big one, I can't wait to see where it takes me!!!

One more to go…

I'm just about ready to open my Etsy shop! I'm not convinced my photos are good enough, but I fear I will need to make do.  I'm almost ready to go! It's very exciting.

Sunday Fun Day!

At least it was for my kitty cat!

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I made him some catnip toys. Super easy, super fast. Less than 10 min start to finish! (Including photos!) I used fabric scraps I had laying around, and Catnip I purchased form the 99 cent store, so it was also super cheap. (and I have a ton of Catnip left over.)

Gotta Catch 'em All!

Here are the last of my most recent project:

 

Pokeball coasters! They are to be part of my starter set collection. They will be available in my Etsy store soon!