Pinterest

Hello there!

I know, I know. Its been a while. I could list a whole variety of reasons (slow craft season due to the heat, crazy at day-work, new computer) but the main reason is that I broke my camera while I was in NZ and haven't been able to replace it yet. And what is a craft-blog post without a picture? A little bit boring, that's what.

So, until I can scrounge up the funds for a new point and shoot, if you are missing me you can follow me over on Pinterest. Pinterest is a new online inspiration board type site, where users can "pin" pictures etc to their "boards". Its very addictive and hugely time consuming, so perfect for procrastinating. My favourite.

Some pretty famous bloggers are over there pinning up a storm, which is awesome because you can "re-pin" anything you like to your own boards.

Check it out if you are one of those people constantly saving images or ripping pages out of books.

Here is what one of my boards look like, to give you an idea.


Like I said, what is a craft post without a picture...

PS: Leave me a comment if you would like to be invited to Pinterest. It's invite only and I have 7 left. Otherwise it takes a few days, if you request an invite.

Crochet Cushion

For my Mother's birthday in April I had a go at making a crocheted cushion cover based on this pattern that I found on ravelry for dishcloths.


I used chunky machine washable 100% wool in a dark red and grey marl. The yarn was nice and soft to work with, not splitty, and the finished cushion is nice and snuggly thanks to the thick fabric that the chunky wool creates.


You can see here that the way the pattern is worked, you end up joining the seam across the middle of one side of the cushion.


But because I wasn't posting the cushion inner to New Zealand, I left it open and send some spare red yarn to Mum so she could sew it up herself.


All in all I think it was a success and a really easy pattern. I would like to try it in a finer yarn next time and maybe in single crochet instead of double, to see if it works in a thinner material etc.

Happy Birthday Mum!

Introducing Mr and Mrs...

When I was back in the homeland earlier this year, I attended the beautiful wind-blown, west coast wedding of some very good friends H & M. Here is a pic of the lovely couple...


For their gift I made some personalized pillowcases with their new names...


The pattern and pillowcases are both from Sublime Stitching.


Here they are installed on the marital bed. Quilt hand made by H's Granny :)


I think they were quite well received. Fewf.

Loving...

... reapproriating vintage jewellery:

a'la PS: I made this

This cute guy (lost link, I know I am really bad at keeping links - how do people do it??)


And these Wedding Bouquets from Fantasy Floral


Yet another excuse to shop.

Crochet Inspiration

I had a bit of a craft burnout after Christmas so haven't really made anything since then. I want to get back into it and have found the below pictures inspiring, when it comes to crochet anyway:

Hand knotted (HAND!!!) Mega-Doilies by Ladies and Gentlemen.


This awesomeness from Pickles


Lampshade tutorial here.


Nordic Light Pendant tutorial here.

Rubber Doily Coasters from Gretel


Doily and embroidery art (lost the link, sorry!)


This crocheted necklace - I think from etsy.com...



Might go get my hook out...

Craft-a-presents

Hello! It's me! I'm back finally. Woo!
I've had a lot going on during the last few months that have kept me away from the bloggy (mostly holidays/vacations) but I am back in freezing New York so can show you all that I have still been crafting. Don't. Worry.

First up, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 2 months late is better than never, right? I hope everyone had a fantastic time and is still keeping to their NYs resolutions. I am not :/

I spent the holidays with my friend-family in London, England. What up, Bow? Many good times were had and lots of cute gifts exchanged.

Here is my contribution:

First up, many, many reusable crocheted cotton grocery bags!


I love this pattern, it is super quick and easy to do while commuting. Pattern here from Purl. I actually made more than are in the photo, but you get the idea.


I like that the straps are long so you can sling it over your shoulder. Particularly good in NY if you live more that a couple of blocks from the Supermarket. Like me.


I have one to send to NZ that I forgot to give while I was there, (sorry K!) and then I am going to experiment with some multi coloured ones for myself. All were made with machine washable cotton.

Next we have the cowls:

The first I made for myself as a test, as I didn't have a pattern but I thought I could visualize what I wanted. Made with one skein of Brown Sheep's Burly Spun in "Lemon Drop". Sorry about the blurry picture!


It is super warm and just what I wanted. Let me know if you want the pattern. I was inspired by this picture from (I think) The Sartorialist.


Since the yellow one turned out quite well, I made two more for gifts, out of Lamb's Pride Bulky from my stash. Colours, Emerald City and Mystic Blue.



Next we have a Gold trimmed lace scarf/wrap for someone I owed 2x Christmas presents AND a birthday present. Let's call her C.


To make this I got a yard/metre of lace from Mood Fabrics (Thank you, Mood!) and edged it in gold, with a couple of rows of single crochet, then a final round with loops to create a picot-ish edge.


And here is C modelling it! Yay!


Next is the Brighton Cowl for my Mother:


Pattern on Ravelry here.


I almost got this done with one skein of Cascade 220 Heathers in Mallard (2448), but I ran out with 3 motifs to go. An-noying.


My favourite part of lace scarfs is how pretty they look when blocking.


And last but not least is the Felt Cushion Cover I made for my bro.


It doesn't look it but its made of Navy Wool felt and I basically made up the stitch pattern in some different contrasting colours to make it more interesting.


Super easy if you try it yourself!

Ahhhhhh and that is it for now. I will be back more regularly I promise with some more pretty pictures later.

xxx

Mumma and Bubba

My good friend R had a gorgeous baby a few weeks ago named Lucia. This is super exciting as she is the first baby among my group of friends, and boy is she cute. Unfortunately I won't get to see her until I am home in New Zealand next January, so in lieu of actually attending the baby shower and visiting her in person I made and sent some custom swaddling cloths from some gorgeous fabrics I found at Purl Patchwork.



The pattern is actually from Purlbee.com (Purl Soho's blog). You can view it here.

I chose some soft double cotton gauze and shot cotton to make a matching set of three. All fabrics are Kokka I think.





The back fabrics were all double shot cotton, in complementing colours. And then I added a running stitch around the edge of each cloth to tie it all together.


They are super easy to make and feel nice and soft, perfect for babies born at the beginning of southern-hemisphere Summer, like Lucia.

If you are not familiar with swaddling (and I wasn't before I saw the pattern) here is a how to video:



Of course I was super late with R's birthday present as well (January) so I popped a blue scarf in the package as well.


A tried and true pattern at this point.



Yay babies!

Oh Dolly

Behold. My first embroidered portrait:


In case you can't tell (from the quite dark photo), it is the one and only Dolly Parton.

A friend, Z requested an embroidered bag for her birthday (which was in March!!), so as I was SO late I decided to capture her favourite diva in stitches.

Started with sewing a simple drawstring bag...


Decided on a portrait to copy


Traced the portrait with a pencil


Went over the pencil with a thin sharpie felt pen. Put the pen drawing inside the bag so I could trace it with disappearing fabric pen


And started stitching that pretty face


What do you think? Did I capture her likeness?


Here is is all finished and ready to be wrapped.


Further Dolly enjoyment below...

Brides and Feathers

Wow. It's been a while huh? My bad, I hope you have all been ok without my in-frequent posts. I have been super busy and also went for a much needed holiday to Tuscany (via London) for a friends wedding. Oh god it was good. Beautiful setting, beautiful ceremony, beautiful couple.

Before I left I asked the bride if there was anything I could help with, and she asked if I could make her something to wear in her hair. I freaked out, but of course I agreed. I don't have much experience making things for the hair but I knew I had enough time to learn.

So after a few emails back and forwards we decided on a blue feather number (no peacock!) with some sparkly bits thrown in to tie it to the dress. The whole wedding had a vintage 1920's theme, and K's dress was an original flapper dress from the era.

Below is the final product:


K was such a relaxed bride that she put all her trust in my judgement and said that she was sure I would make something great. Awww, so nice. Me being based in New York, Kate in London and the wedding in Tuscany meant that she didn't see it until the day before the wedding (eeek!), but she loved it in the end and it looked great.

Here is Kate and I at the post-ceremony cocktail hour (first face photo of me on the site *gasp*).


So pretty right?

I was a LITTLE bit paranoid about K not liking the blue headpiece so I made a back up, based on a picture of a ban-do headband K had sent me.


And here is me wearing it:


K liked this one to, but in the end the blue one won out.