Mish mash and photographer fail

 So....first of all, I've done a bunch of regular sewing but failed to take photos.  Remember those boppy covers I made for my sister-in-law way back when?  Well, a colleague asked if I'd make some for her.  I said, sure, why not?  I used a flannel from my stash as a prototype to check the fit, then made covers from the three fabrics shown below (she provided those - this was the pic to see what she thought of snap possibilities), and then also found another hilarious flannel in my stash for the fifth one (that was a tie-dyed flannel with skulls). And then did I take any pics after finishing them?  Of course not....sigh....

I also finished a baby sling (think this one with orange binding instead of pink) and appliqued sugar skulls onto three baby onesies the night before the shower.  Forgot to take pics of anything.  Grrrrrr....

During that time, I also made two new pairs of PJ shorts for me, to see which pattern I preferred.  I haven't taken pics of them, either, but at least they live here with me and will be photographed eventually.

In the meantime, let's be amused by the other cross-stitch finishes I've had recently.

A friend moved into her first home, and I knew she'd love this.  The pattern is more explicit, but she was concerned her family would object, so I redrew it to include the asterisk and adjust the spacing.

And then I had to make PacMan for ME!  It struck me as an awesome bookmark, which it is now.  I'm still debating backstitching as called for, but I'm not sure that it would do much, since it's on black....We'll see....

Some more cross-stitching

I'm definitely enjoying picking up the cross-stitch needle again.  This little project was an impulse buy at WM - saw the kit and cracked up.  I added the words "Made it" as a inside joke for the friend who's getting it for Christmas.  She's going to laugh herself silly.

This one was started as a 30th birthday/housewarming gift for a friend who really needed a pick-me-up.  Then it took longer than I'd intended, so now it'll be her Christmas gift.  I found the pattern on Etsy, and it's just perfect for her.  She has (too many) pomeranians, and her favorite color is pink.  I'm pretty sure she's going to hug me when she gets this.  I bought a frame from IKEA for it - just have to press it and frame it now.

Drawstring backpack to order

Thing 2 has eyed Thing 1's drawstring backpack for awhile, and I'd been promising him one.  And I finally followed through near the end of summer.  Unlike Thing 1's, which was a surprise, I let Thing 2 help design his.  He wanted one like my Chicago Blackhawks version, but bigger like his brother's.  No problem!

Outer is black twill like mine, but he chose a red zipper.  Good choice!  And like mine, there's a full pocket on this side but not the other.  

I added the D-ring again, and he got his own jersey key fob, made by my friend Sheila, who does amazing work as well as custom orders.  Also, this year he needed his own house key, so he got to pick out the ribbon he wanted on his key fob.  He loves going to Subway, so I wasn't surprised that he picked out the Zombie Subway ribbon.

Chicago Blackhawks block print for the lining of the outer pocket.....

....as well as for the lining.  And this time I actually lined up that print for a full inner pocket.  Look at that pattern matching!  I'm still tickled by it!  I think I used black for the backing of that pocket.  I should probably look, because I don't remember.

And then I used some of the heavier black cording I got from Home Depot.  It's been holding up pretty well.  Thing 2 has used this bag pretty much non-stop for the last three months now!  He's asked that the next one be camo for his "military" adventures with his friends.

A little cross-stitching

So I've been doing more cross-stitching lately, since it's so easily portable.  This was inspired by a finish I saw in one of my FaceBook stitching groups.  The pattern was free online (I repeated the hearts across the entire length), and I used a font generator to get the quote charted.  (I can't remember which font generator I used, or what the font was - oops!)  I made one for a Dr. Who fan friend, and I'm currently working on another for another friend.

These are small designs I found free online - Boba Fett and stormtrooper helmets.  I did them on Aida cloth stretched over frames.  I found them at Michaels - both online and in store.  These are done on oatmeal, and I really liked the way they turned out.  I have plans for a bunch more.  The great thing is that you don't have to decide how to finish them (frame, hoop, whatever) when you finish stitching.  You're just done.

Wow...it's been awhile....

Let's see if I can remember what all I've worked on since my last post and find pics for some.  Bear with me....

So I made prototype shorts for my niece.  This is the Easy Ruffle Shorts pattern by LLK - it's an older pattern that they are no longer supporting, apparently, but it's still out there.  I think this was size 6.  I need to try it again, because it was too tight on her.  I even bought more fabric for it, but so far hasn't happened.  We'll see....I'll probably try size 8 next.

However, the doll version DID fit. As one would hope. 

And I also made the poor doll a few T-shirts.  The gray is scraps from one of Thing 1's shirts, and the sparkly purple was one of mine.  I used the Liberty Jane Trendy T-shirt pattern, which worked up really well.

The Project that Will Not End

So titled, because that's what I called it during construction.  

My friend is a martial artist.  I was looking for crochet graphs for potential fund-raising projects, and I ran across the martial artist graph.  That graph is intended for filet crochet, and I knew I wanted to use all single crochet stitches.  So I rewrote the graph so that each X on the graph became a 2x2 square on my graph.  Then I started stitching.  This has taken countless hours - mainly because I wanted it to be perfect.  I got almost halfway through the graph and realized I'd lost two stitches somewhere, so I ripped it back almost to the beginning and became much more obsessive about counting stitches.  I ripped the borders off and redid them three times, because I wasn't happy with how they were lying.  Ultimately, there's a lot of work in this afghan.  (It's covering my queen-size bed in this picture - I don't know why it looks so square, because it's definitely a rectangle.)  But it turned out amazing, and she loves it, so....well-worth the headache. 

Twirly dresses!

My niece loves to twirl, and she loves her aunt-made clothes.  And she loves her doll.  So I got a request for clothes that have matching doll clothes.  And I had every intention of getting these done much sooner, but life got in the way, and the sewing mojo vanished.  Doing the baby sling got it going, however, and I finished these prototypes.

I had gone through different pattern websites and run some ideas by my sister-in-law.  Some passed muster, some didn't.  This one did, and I hope my niece approves.  This is a prototype, to see if she likes it and how the sizing is before I use "new" fabric.  I used long held stash fabric.  The stars/lightning print was either a JAF or WM find when Thing 2 was a baby, because I remember thinking about using it for a diaper bag.  The green broadcloth happened to be in my stash, which was great, since it goes well.  I also didn't realize until later that there's totally a watermelon vibe going on here, but that's fine since it's summer.

This is a size 6 - tea length, with the waist ruffle.  Next time, I plan to try piping at the waist instead of a ruffle.  Just for kicks.