Faire à la main

Easy Make Ottoman (or hamper)

2008-02-12T04:06:00.001-05:00

Last summer and fall my boyfriend and I did a lot of garage sale-ing in our new town. We'd see signs just about every weekend and found a lot of great cheap stuff. We got a color printer/scanner/copier/fax with cables and lots of cartridges for $50, as well as books, clothes, and other odds and ends. At one sale, we found a rattan ottoman that opened up to be a hamper. It was damaged in a few places, but it was $5.

We've been using it as a hamper in the bedroom and since we purchased it, I'd intended to cover it. The inside is nice sturdy cream cotton, so that I'll let be. I checked what was under the rattan, but it was a very flimsy wooden board, so I chose to cover it, rather than take it off and start over. All I needed now was a staple gun and some fabric. A few weeks ago at Sears, my boyfriend steered me to the hardware section and we found a cheap, household duty staple gun for $11. Score! I was in business, finally.

Tonight I set the hamper in the living room, under good light, and brought out an cheap fitted sheet.

It's a dark blue K-Mart muslin cotton sheet. When I bought it, I had no idea that sheets less than $5 were no where near soft, even as 100 percent cotton. I used the set on a double-sized futon mattress, but donated them to my own fabric stash once I graduated from that bed. The sheet had more than enough fabric to cover the hamper.

The project didn't take much time or many tools -- just the light duty staple gun and staples ($14 total, I think), some fabric scissors and the fabric, and some regular scissors.

I used the regular scissors to trim any pieces of rattan that were sticking out and falling off of the hamper. I did it in less time than it took to wash and dry one load of laundry. It's so easy, anyone could do it (but of course be careful with the staple gun and other sharp things).

With the fabric generously draped over the closed hamper, I cut enough all the way around it for the lid -- just about an inch or less bigger than I needed so I could fold the ends under. I set the big square-ish circle on the floor and set the lid, upside down, on top of it. I stapled one side in a few places, then stretched out the fabric so it was tight and stapled all the way around. This took a few more steps of folding the corners and checking the other side so that I had enough to spare and the top was tight, etc, but you get the picture.

For the body, I basically took a random part of the big "O" shaped piece of sheet I had left and stapled it to the upper lip of the hamper. Then I wrapped it around, stapling it at the top and bottom as I went, right on top of the rattan. This took some finagling, as I'd ended up stapling the fabric on the bias, but I did some creative snipping with the fabric scissors and folding edges under, and it all turned out OK. On two sides, one corner has staples going up the side (I tried to make it look as stylish as I could) to connect the two ends or hide where I had too much oddly angled fabric and had to fold it under. But it looks nice, even though it's not perfect.

Because the sheet is sort of see-through (it's the same fabric I used for covering the wicker table pedestal, which I'd tried out as curtains that were too translucent), you can see the texture of the rattan when the light shines on it. I actually like that, since it's covered in a pretty dark blue hue. I'm not sure what storage ottomans cost new, but even at Target they've got to be at least $20, right?

Now it matches the table, as well as one set of bed sheets (nice, soft ones) that are dark blue. I think we have a dark blue and sage green theme in the apartment -- the sage was already here, but the dark blue looks nice with it, so it isn't a bad color situation to fall into.
:-)

New camera case!

2008-02-10T23:54:00.001-05:00

I spent a nice, but relatively quick chunk of the afternoon today sewing up my birthday gift from my boyfriend. He found a cute camera case pattern on Craftster.org and gave me a printed out copy of the tutorial, along with a promise to buy me the fabric and notions for it.

We went to Kaimuki Dry Goods in Honolulu for the fabric, which ended up being a pretty Asian print in blues, pinks, and light brown. I had wanted to get some Amy Butler fabric, but I was drawn to this one. I got some light blue flannel for the lining, too.

There are really only two pieces to the case because the lining and the outside are identical. I made it as the tutorial said, but at the end I added a pocket on the side for extra batteries -- mine only takes two AAs, so they fit on the side just right.

I wish I'd done this before I sewed it all up, though, because it made attaching it that much harder. But it worked out alright in the end. I closed both the pocket and the case with sew-on velcro. There are more pictures on my Flickr.

The only thing I would've done differently, other than sewing on the pocket before I did the seams, was to make it sturdier. It works fine, but could have more padding, either with a heavier fabric, interfacing, or batting. But it's pretty and I don't usually throw it around much anyway, so it'll be OK. Also, I have a good deal of fabric left (thanks to me over-calculating how much I'd need (I'm awful with guesstimating how much I need without a definite pattern that says, "Buy x yards," so I generally overestimate to be on the safe side), so I plan on putting it to use in the tote bag I've been wanting to make for toting things to work (lunch, books, etc). On that project, I'm still not sure if I'm going to search for a pattern or just make one up.

Frugal Fashion!

2008-01-29T02:30:00.001-05:00

My friend Kacie is the writer of a great blog about being frugal. One of her recent posts was about a giveaway she's doing. The prize? A book about being a frugal fashionista. I put myself in the running for it, of course, although I don't consider myself a fashionista by any means. But I do love clothes and style -- and I hate paying full price for any of it. That's why I sew and alter my clothes, as well as shop thrift stores and sale and clearance racks almost exclusively, except when it's an item I just can't get anywhere else -- like comfortable shoes that won't kill my feet (I'm not a cobbler and cheap shoes, even from my beloved Target, have always let me down).

Anyway, even though I don't need another book, it's fun to support Kacie's blog and her giveaway. So head on over there and put your hat in the ring for one of the many giveaways she's having -- or just explore all the great advice and community she's developed in a mere few months of blogging and living a frugal lifestyle. She's a great writer, to boot.

And speaking of fashion (er, well, clothes, at least), I am planning on getting to my "to alter" clothes pile very soon, and I'll post about what I make. I'm also trying to come up with some posts about basic sewing stuff and how-tos, per a few friends' requests. Soon, I promise!

Homemade journals

2008-01-26T21:41:00.001-05:00

Two of the people I made Christmas presents for were K's sister R and my cousin M. They are 20 and 18, respectively, and are both good with words and artsy stuff, yet in different ways. So I decided to make them both journals for Christmas. Because they're so different, I didn't want to make them the same item at all. And because it was homemade, I wanted it to be a really cool journal that you couldn't buy in stores.

I found lots of great ideas and instructions for making journals here, here, here, here, and here, and although they were all lovely, I wanted mine to be different.

I went to my local craft store and went to the scrap-booking aisle. I perused this aisle probably twice for at least thirty minutes at a time before I made my decisions. I bought packets of additional scrapbook pages -- the kind in plastic sheets that attach to the cover with pegs -- and I bought stacks of printed cardstock pages. I fell in love with the Amy Butler paper, of course, and I found cool rock'n'roll patterns, too. I also stocked up on glue and chip board for the covers themselves.

Basically, I followed the instructions for the technical stuff when making these, except I made them bigger. I made R one that was eight inches by eight inches -- I found scrapbook pages that were already this size, and just made a spine that was wider than called for in most of the tutorials. I made M's eight and a half inches by five and a half inches -- I just folded a bunches of regular sheets of paper in half. Both times I made signatures and sewed them together, but I also glued them to the spines, as was recommended in one of the tutorials. I had to cut R's paper to a special size, but it wasn't that big of a deal. As for making the holes in the paper and signatures, though -- use a hammer and nail if you don't have any of the fancy bookmaking equipment called for. I tried to use a thumbtack and ended up cutting up and bruising my hands. I used the chipboard for the covers, and covered them in fabric. Before I glued it on, I sewed pieces of paper to the fabric to decorate it -- I cut out shapes of their first initials and other pieces. I used pink-patterened Amy Butler paper for R and swirly rock'n'roll inspired paper for M.

Here's R's cover, after I sewed the paper on and before I glued it to the chipboard:

I thought the best part of my journals was that I used those scrapbook pages so that they could have pockets to store notes, pictures, or whatever else they wanted to. I switched out the blank white inserts with colored paper from the cardstock stacks, cut to fit. I had sewn in the pockets along with the signatures and paper, so they're just as snug as any other sheet. They also act as dividers, if they want them to be, because they're easy to flip to.

They both loved them. My only regret with R's was that I ended liking the back cover better than the front. She did, too, but she's left-handed, and it turns out she prefers to write from the back to the front, anyway. So the back is sort of the front now on hers. :-)

Unfortunately, despite swearing that I took pictures of this process and the finished products, I can't find any more pictures of these journals. I'm going to ask their recipients to send me pictures of them. I'll post those when I get them. And despite being time consuming and frustrating at times, it was really fun and a good challenge -- they looked really cool at the end. I really love journals anyway, and lucky for me, both R and M do, too.

Pedestal table slipcover

2008-01-26T18:29:00.001-05:00

Today I'm waiting for K to finish up some work (on a Saturday :-() so that we can go out and run some errands. It's taking longer than expected, so I've decided to fill the waiting hours with easy and simple crafty projects.

The curtains in the bedroom are sage green sheers -- cheapy ones from Wal-Mart. They are fine, but they're too see-through for me, even with the mini-blinds behind them. So I took a double flat sheet and snipped the stitches on the edges of the top part of it. This opened up the folded over decorative edge and made it into a pocket I could feed onto the curtain rod. I thought it looked cool, because it was one huge piece of dark blue fabric, but K didn't like that it didn't open in the middle and that the fabric pooled at the floor because the sheet was really long. So my curtain project is on hold, as I also discovered that they weren't as opaque as I'd thought. They let in all sorts of light this morning.

So I took the sheet down and made it into a slipcover-like thing for our dining table. The table is just a gigantic piece of glass over a wicker pedestal. I like pedestal tables, but I hate wicker. And our entire collection of apartment furniture is... wicker. The glass is also annoying, as it gets dirty a lot and sticks out far, making it a bigger table than we need, very heavy, and easy to accidentally run into. But it does easily clean (very often) with Windex.

I draped the sheet over the table. Some of the corners pooled on the floor because it was too long, and other ends stopped halfway down. So I laid it out on the floor and measured the pedestal. It is 29 inches in diameter and, including its waist-like shape, is about 31 inches in height. I added that all up and proceeded to cut a big 91 inch circle out of that sheet. Of course, it wasn't quite 91 inches square -- it was more like 92 inches by 79 inches. But I measured to the center using the radius of what I wanted the fabric to be (45 1/2 inches, which I rounded to 46 so it used up that last inch of the sheet's length). I marked it and measured outward around the sheet in a circle. Of course when I got to the short end I ran out of fabric to mark on, but I fixed that for the most part a few minutes later.

I cut it out, following the chalk markings, and realized it may have been easier to mark the center and then fold it in half and in quarters with the dot as the center (rather than the center of the fabric as the center). I'm not sure if my logic is working on that, but since I was trying to make a symmetrical object, I thought that would be smart. Anyway, the fabric was a circle except for one side, which was about 13 inches too short. I took the scraps from the corners I cut off and sewed one onto that side, the long, curved edge to the straight, uncut edge. It added more than 13 inches to it, but only in the middle, because the corner piece was, well, a corner piece, and sort of a triangle shape. I didn't feel like sewing on more, so I put it on the pedestal to see how it looked so far and arranged the folds of the fabric so that you can't see the wicker where the short gaps were. It looked pretty good, and you have to look hard to realize I put minimal effort into it. I tied it with a cream grosgrain ribbon and put clear nail polish on the ends.

And voila!

It looks much better, I think. I had been thinking of this for a while, but never thought about color. I love blue, so I like it, but I have no idea if that is the color I wanted for the dining table. I think someday I'm going to cover those chairs, too, so perhaps I'll choose a lighter color that matches this dark blue.

The newest addition to my creative arsenal

2008-01-21T02:39:00.001-05:00

I have very exciting and big news.

It's not a new sewing machine -- it's better. It's a project desk!

I've been dreaming about this desk since September, I think. On Saturday K and I went to Hardware Hawaii and got a 30 inch by 80 inch hollow core door. Last Sunday we got the 2x4s and had them cut at Home Depot in Pearl City. My parents gave me the sawhorse brackets for Christmas. I'm not sure how much the sawhorse brackets cost, but I can't imagine much, because they only consist of heavy-duty molded plastic and the bolts to secure them together.

The 2x4s were $1.99 each, untreated pine (I think). We got five pieces of lumber, but we calculated that we really only needed four, because our math was wrong and the legs ended up shorter than we originally thought. The lumber was around 90-something inches long, so we could have gotten three of the 30-inch legs out of each (we needed eight total), but we had calculated the legs to be 38.9 inches -- too tall. I wanted it to be a standard height desk of around 30 inches. Despite the angle of the legs making it less than 30 inches tall, the brackets, crosspieces, and the door make the table just under 32 inches tall. So it's a little taller than a standard desk, but it works well and is great for standing up and sitting down work.

The door was a plain, unfinished hollow core door. We got it for $37 at our local hardware store, but it was cheaper at Home Depot for $30. However, it would have cost us more money to have it delivered ($75), use their "you haul it" truck ($20/hr), or borrow K's boss's truck and drive 30 minutes each way (figuring in gas and time). So paying $7 more and hauling it ourselves in that truck was way cheaper, as the hardware store is about three miles away.

I only had to drill four holes for the bolts to fit into, so assembling this was easier and faster than any store-bought piece of furniture (we've assembled two in the last few months). Someday I may paint, stain, or varnish the door and/or legs, but for now I like them bare. If I ever paint or glue on the table (quite likely), it will get the spills, splashes, and remnants of those projects. I like that idea.

So I paid about $47.75 for the desk, not including the brackets, which I doubt would add much to the cost. So cheap, and I saved a ton over every other possibility I found on the internet. It's easily taken apart -- the door is very light because it's hollow. We carried it out of the store ourselves.

I'm so excited about this desk. I haven't put much on it yet, except for my computer, my sewing machine, and a lamp in the far corner. Underneath I put a three drawer rolling chest full of fabrics and yarns. It fit nicely underneath one sawhorse and is easy to get to and see. On the other side I have a basket of patterns and a bag of current yarn projects. The desk is perfect for what I need. My computer, possibly with a pattern or instructions, can sit on one side, while my sewing machine or other project will have plenty of room on the other. And you know what? My dressform (which I'm trying to think of a name for) looks great standing next to it. It feels like my creative space now.
:-)

Now if only I could find the time to catch up on posting about the crafty projects I have completed and start on my new ones....

D(ecorate)IY Messenger Bag

2008-01-21T02:17:00.001-05:00

So my craftiness has been nil lately. I still have Christmas projects to post about, but first I'll post about something I worked on recently (that was a Christmas gift) and I'm continuing to work on.

K's grandma gave me a bunch of sewing notions for Christmas, as well as a small tan messenger bag that came with embellishments you could add on. I sat down with it last Sunday and had some fun cutting out the iron-on transfers and designing it. This is what I came up with:

The transfer sheets had all different shapes, patterns, and themes, but most of them included stars, so I made a pattern of stars falling from the upper right to the lower left. I mixed all the colors together and designed it so the stars were closer together at the bottom, like they were collecting in the corner. I like it. :-)

For the shoulder strap I used one of the fuzzy letters for my initial and two of the swirly transfers to give it some color.

My only complaint about the bag is that the fabric is very lightweight, so it doesn't have a lot of structure. It is a small bag, so it's unlikely, especially as I'm no longer a student, that I would be carrying around big rectangular books and notebooks in it that would give it a good shape and some stability. I'm going to put a lining in it with a sturdier fabric. I'm not yet sure what the fabric will be -- perhaps I don't have it yet. But I think it'll contrast or compliment nicely with the star motif and tan color. Once that is done I think I'll get a lot of use out of it. I really like this project, as it was a gift, but I still get to alter it and add my own personal touches because that is the spirit of the item. :-) Thanks, K's grandma!

Dresses can now be formed

2008-01-10T04:08:00.001-05:00

I got a new crafty toy in the mail today.

Yes, a dressform! I'm so excited. I've wanted one of these for so long. It's a Uniquely You Dressform. My mom (thank you, Mommy) bought it for me for my birthday from Sew Vac Direct online. It is soft-sided, so I can pin things to it, and we must have chosen the right measurements, because I didn't really feel the need to alter the cover, as the instructions said to do. I'm also lazy and tired after being at work all day, so I figure I can alter it later, if need be. I think I have to do a horizontal dart under the bust -- the instructions made it seem everyone had to do that. Oh, well, that is for another day. It's great! It is sitting in my corner of the living room, next to my computer desk. I can't wait to use it (ooohh, I think I see a weekend project on the horizon)!

Projects coming soon

2007-12-31T23:04:00.001-05:00

I have several projects to post about now that Christmas is over and I've already given the presents I made out. I'll get around to that soon. It's been a while since I've posted -- I apologize!

Lost in the world of creating

2007-12-13T05:50:00.001-05:00

I can really lose myself when I'm working on a project.

Like tonight.

I've been working on two similar Christmas presents. This evening I got so into them, putting things together and doing detail work, that I lost track of time. I've been setting 10 p.m. as my bedtime, so I can get up for the early bus. But just a few seconds ago, I looked up at my computer screen (which was far out of my eyesight while I was crafting away), and realized it was almost 1 a.m. I knew it was past 10 p.m., but I didn't realize how far.

I have to be up in just a few hours.

*Sob*

I'm already mourning the loss of those precious hours of sleep.

Yarning on the bus

2007-12-05T03:24:00.001-05:00

So I'm taking the bus to work now. I brought along my current yarn project, and I crocheted while I rode across the Pali.

But just as I got ready to put away my project in preparation for my stop, I realized I completely messed up -- I didn't turn (or turned twice? Is that possible?) and made two motifs on the wrong part of the item. (I'm intentionally not telling you what it is, because it's a gift. Holiday season really messes up the crafty blogging, huh?)

In the evening, I had leftovers from lunch on my lap, so I couldn't balance crochet again. Oh, well, there's tomorrow.

But the really great news: I sat sideways on the bus while crocheting (for a good 20 minutes), and didn't get the slightest bit car sick. Yay! That's a major feat for me!

Ocean and fishy baby quilt

2007-11-26T19:21:00.001-05:00

Ah, I can finally post about this. The baby quilt I made for my new cousin (once removed), Ryder.

He was born October 12, but, in the tradition of me, I didn't have it done. Not anywhere near done.

But I finished it a week and a half ago and mailed it out quickly. My cousin and his wife let me know they got it right before Thanksgiving. Their daughter (Ryder's older sister, who is almost 3) loves it. Oh, well, the baby will come around eventually, once he learns how cool fish are.

Here is the progress:

I've posted this before, but just in case you don't remember or didn't see it, I put it up again. This is the topper without any applique on it.

This is an appliqued fish, before quilting. I posted this one before, too.

This is the topper after I pinned it for machine quilting. This is the first of the pictures I had to hold back, so it would still be a surprise. Below are two more close-ups of it. (I had pictures of the topper done before I set it on the batting, but my old hard drive took those to the lost data afterlife. Remember to back up everything!)

I borrowed K's boss's mom's nice Viking Husqvarna machine, which she leaves here so she can sew during visits, to do the machine quilting. I had the ability to lower the feed dogs and set the presser foot pressure to a low setting so I could free-hand machine sew. I think it worked pretty well. I tried to do the same color thread for the different sections (dark to very light blue), but I accidentally (OK, I did it even though the book said not to) used cotton hand quilting thread for the dark blue section (my last section to quilt) and it messed up the tension in the machine. So I changed to dark grey, then to black when I ran out of that, and it's only noticeable in certain places. But not to a little kid, I'm thinking. I redid most of the messed up tension parts. It's not a very big quilt (about 32 x 42), so I was able to machine quilt it in no time -- during a few hours one evening. And the freehand wasn't that hard, since I just wanted it to look random, like ripples in the water and sky.

The book told me how to make bias binding, which I made from the scraps of the squares, in the bottom three blue colors. It wasn't too awful (I think I only cut myself with the rotary cutter once or twice), but I think you can buy bias binding -- I'm doing that next time. Sewing them together was a pain and I ended up making way more than I needed, so I cut a bunch of fabric into bias strips and sewed them and I can't yet think of a use for them. I had to hand sew it on, too (except for the first time around). Although I dreaded it, it wasn't that bad. I think it didn't take as long as I thought it would. I took it to my yarn group and finished it there. I wasn't entirely happy with how it looked at the end, though, so next time I will be more precise in my stitches and binding techniques. I was afraid the binding wasn't secured well enough, or that you could peek into the underside of it. But that was the only part of the quilt that I wasn't happy with. Everything else went well.

I didn't quilt on the fish and sea creatures, except in the biggest yellow one. It was too large to not have any quilting there. So I quilted a fin on it and the inside edge. I also quilted a circle on the inside of the sun for the same reason. It's hard to see unless you go to the "Original Size" tab on the Flickr page.

The back looked cool, I thought. The middle two sections had a bright blue thread, the top had white, and the bottom dark blue/grey/black (basically, it looks dark :-)). I really liked how it showed through on the green (their baby room had blues and greens, so that's why I chose green for the back).

I finished the quilt the next morning (Friday) by writing on a twill patch in a fabric paint marker and ironing it on to the back in the lower corner. I appliqued it on with stitches so it looked neater and would fray less.

And here's the contrast of the back and the front. I like this one best.

I almost didn't want to give it away. Not because I didn't want my new cousin and his parents to have it, but because it was my first project and it was my original design, which had just popped in my head. I kind of fell in love with it. (*Sniff* I'll just have to make something for myself next time, and in bigger size!) It's all cotton fabric, except for most of the fish and creatures, which are cotton/poly, so it's snuggly (although next time I will use pieces of flannel for batting, instead of polyester batting, as my mom said that is supposed to hold up better). I can't wait for pictures of their kids with it. I was very excited to hear that it was received well.

Stockinette

2007-11-25T15:46:00.001-05:00

Last Tuesday I met up with my knit group friend Opal to chat and knit. She lent me three books (and actually gave me on of them! How nice of her!) to look at for beginning projects. I continued to work on my knitting, and she suggested I do stockinette for the rest of the dishcloth that is my first project.

I think it went well, and fast, too (I only messed up and did the wrong stitch for a whole row once):

This is the purl side, which isn't my favorite side:

And saving the best for last, I present to you my favorite side, the knit side!

It's so pretty. The purl side is so boring, I think.

We're going to try to meet up again this coming Tuesday, but hopefully I'll have worked on it more before then. I think I really enjoy working on my yarn projects with other people, so I haven't been picking them up while I'm on my own.

Christmas list, very crafty

2007-11-22T04:53:00.001-05:00

I haven't worked on any crafty things this week (so far), except for sewing in that new zipper (which was on a skirt that I wore for a job interview, which went so well I got the job. So let's give another round of applause for hand sewing!). But I did make my Christmas list, which is obviously sewing-heavy.

First and foremost in the sewing category, I asked for cool fabrics. I didn't specify anything other than cool prints and solids in special fabrics are great, and I prefer natural fibers. I really hope people don't get scared away by the broadness of this list item. Cuz I really like fabrics, but can never buy them for myself unless they're remnants, or I have a specific project in mind (that I actually intend to make).

Then I asked for a dress form. I've been wanting one for ages. I priced them, sobbed, and then sobbed more when I looked at the shipping to Hawaii. This would be a very helpful item, and would actually improve the decor of "my side" of the main room of the apartment (where my computer and sewing stuff live). Two for one!

I also asked for cool sewing notions, if anyone comes across them. I have no idea what I'm asking for here, but I thought it covered all the other bases.

I asked for yarn, although nothing of a heavy weight or super warm quality. My new knit/crochet friends have successfully convinced me to make things for myself, as I've rarely done that in the past with crochet. Knitting will possibly turn over a new leaf in my project direction, I think.

And I asked for books and gift cards, which could translate into a whole bunch of surprises, discoveries, and fun mini shopping sprees.

But more importantly, I now know who all I need to buy Christmas gifts for (my extended family draws names so we all buy a gift for a specific person), so I can officially plan out what I'm going to make and buy. I need to get on it. I want to have it all done before I fly home for the holidays, so I have little or no shopping left to do.

Stuck Zipper Fixed

2007-11-19T04:38:00.001-05:00

I had a clothing problem this weekend, but I managed to thwart it and learn to appreciate a time-consuming task.

I bought a skirt Friday, for $11.30 (including tax), marked way down from about $35. From Macy's. I was thrilled. It sits at my natural waist, so it's very retro and classic. It's black, so it goes with everything. And the length is below my knees, but not too long. I tried it on a few times at the store, with different shirts. Then, when I got home, I tried it with a shirt I already owned. When I went to zip it up, the zipper got stuck. Really stuck.

My boyfriend even got pliers out, but it wouldn't budge. One side would go through the slider, but the other side was stuck. And the zipper teeth had come apart, so what I had just zipped up had suddenly become unzipped without the slider moving. Annoying.

I ended up getting the skirt off, but the zipper was irreparable, as the slide had completely detached from the previously stuck side of teeth. So I got myself a new invisible zipper on Saturday, along with the appropriate zipper foot. Only it was one of those annoying plastic zipper feet, made especially for the brand and type of zipper I had to install. It took me about a half hour to figure out how to install it (thanks to this blog). My sewing area was cleaned right before I started this project. It's a mess again (although not as bad as before, I must say in my defense).

Then, when I went to sew it on, it kept getting stuck in the machine, probably because the directions want you to install it before seaming it. But this was an already-made garment, so I wasn't about to take out all the stitches on that seam just to install a nine inch zipper. My fabric was already a few pieces thick -- too much for the little plastic foot.

So I hand sewed it. I generally hate hand sewing, but I've done it at least twice in the past week. It's growing on me, I must say. Perhaps hand sewing isn't the evil, time-consuming chore I once thought it was. Or at least when you're making something look nice. You can't tell the zipper in my skirt has been replaced, let alone hand sewed. The inside is another story. I think it will take years of needle and thread work to get me to hand sew a straight line with even stitches.

Vintage Pattern Wiki

2007-11-14T17:52:00.001-05:00

A few of you, if you know me personally, know that I love vintage patterns. I love sewing, but vintage dresses are a soft spot for me. I wear pants, and I treasure a great pair of jeans, but I wear skirts whenever I can.

A blog I read, A Dress A Day, announced today that there is a vintage pattern wiki out there now! So far it's very small, but you can get reviews and information on a pattern that you want or even already own on the wiki. I'm excited. I've already fallen in love with a few of the patterns posted. I'll probably have to contribute my own, as a few months ago I discovered the fruits of eBay and went to town on their vintage patterns up for auction. I now have about 20 or 30. In my defense, I got most for under $5 and I took advantage of discounted or free shipping from certain sellers. I have to hold myself back from shopping on there for any more. My bf says I need to actually sew some of the dresses before I spend money on more patterns.

So many rules! (But, I admit, he is right.)

About my blog's name...

2007-11-13T22:39:00.001-05:00

I used to speak French. Fluently.

But now I rarely speak it, read it, or write it. When first creating this blog, I thought it would be cool to give it a French name, to reflect my love of everything French. So I whipped out a French-English dictionary and looked up how to say "handmade" in French. Only lately, I keep stumbling upon sources that lead me to believe I translated it incorrectly.

Like this one.

So I used the infinitive instead of the conjugated verb. Oh, well. I guess this blog is just literally "to make by hand" instead of "made by hand," as I originally intended. C'est la vie!

It's a good thing most Americans speak Spanish as their second language, not French.

If anyone wants to correct me or make me feel better about butchering my favorite European language, feel free.

An update:

Per Kacie's request, this is how you say my blog's name (for all of you non-French speakers out there) -- fair (as in the festival) - ah - lah - man (but a softer version, don't enunciate the end of it). Does that makes sense? Fair-ah-lah-man.

First Christmas gift finished!

2007-11-13T21:36:00.001-05:00

Last week, in the midst of my cold, I found the energy to sew a Christmas gift. It was very easy and fast, and I didn't follow a pattern. But since it's a Christmas gift and we have more than a month to go until the person receives it, I can't post about what it is. Too risky.

But I can show you what fabrics I used...

and

So once I give this gift, I'll show you what I made and how I made it. I'm very excited to talk about it.

Bathrobe finished and quilt topper done!

2007-11-04T21:49:00.001-05:00

I've had a productive last couple of days, project-wise.

First I finished the applique process on the quilt I'm making. Here's a sneak peek at the topper:

I won't show any more until my cousin and his wife have seen it. Hopefully that will be soon. I'm still trying to decide if machine quilting or hand quilting is best. The foot for machine quilting is $30, but hand quilting takes so much longer (and I don't have a hoop yet, either). So I'm not sure what I'll do yet. Once I figure it out, I'll baste the sandwich together (I like the food reference in the sewing terminology very much).

The other project I worked on was one that I started and finished. Friday night I cut out all the pieces for Kevin's bathrobe. It isn't a gift -- he just asked me to make one for him. He claims to have never had one before. I was shocked. I was also shocked I didn't know this already. I picked up a unisex PJ pattern, bright blue flannel, and a little bit of bright green and white patterned flannel at Kaimuki Dry Goods last week while my computer wasn't out of commission. I wanted all of the fabric to have a pattern, but the solid flannel was cheaper.

I cut out the pieces on Friday and started putting them together. Last night I made a lot of headway, getting the three main pieces put together, as well as the collar/facing piece. Then this morning I finished it up. I let him try it on a few times to be sure I was making it correctly. I have a tendency to not always follow pattern directions. I alter them and sew things up how I like to, especially when I see things that I think aren't necessary, like topstitching. I only sometimes will do that. But it was a flannel bathrobe, so I didn't do much of that to it.

He'd been wearing it for a bit when I took this picture, but you get the idea!

It was fun to make. The soft flannel is of course nice to work with, but it does stretch a little, so some places have puckering. And I was very confused about how to match up the back to the shoulder/neck part of the front. There weren't any clear instructions on how to do it. I even matched up the circles and triangles, but there was more fabric on the collar/front piece than the back piece. I ended up just giving up on making it look really nice, since that part won't ever been seen, anyway (it's underneath the green collar in the back). Oh, well. He likes it. :-)

My first attempt at knitting

2007-11-01T22:34:00.001-05:00

So my computer is back up and running, with a new, twice as big hard drive, and the new Leopard OS. It's fun to play with!

Monday, before I came home to a zombified computer, I drove down the beautiful Kalanianiole Highway to Hawaii Kai to meet my new friend Opal, from the Aloha Knitters group, at Starbucks. She taught me how to knit, and had me pick up some Sugar 'n Cream cotton and #8 circular needles on my way there. It was a very good day and we had a great time talking. But we did get a lot done knitting-wise. I think I completed two or so rows of knit stitch before we parted. Then I worked on it at home some, so this is how far I've gotten since:

Opal taught me the Continental method, which is what she uses. I think it's similar to holding the hook for crocheting, or at least it feels that way. But I did one row of English style, just to see what it was like. I didn't mind it, but my stitches were a lot tighter. My crochet stitches tend to be larger than gauges say they will be, so I think Continental will keep me consistent across my "yarning."

Here's a close-up of my needles and stitches:

I wondered if perhaps I should have picked a solid yarn, as I do suggest that for beginning crocheters, but because the colors vary here, I've been able to figure out which loops belong to which rows. It's still confusing at times, but so far the variegated yarn is working out for me. Tonight perhaps I'll get someone in the group to show me purling, as Opal is sick with a cold. She wrote about teaching me to knit on her blog, so I had to post this ASAP.

Projects to make the bathroom pretty

2007-10-18T21:03:00.001-05:00

Our bathroom is boring. It has white walls and white tile, as well as a white floor and cabinets. The only decoration was a vase with frogs on it and a fake bunch of shamrocks. It's not my style, to say the least. So I moved the vase to the living room, where it can blend it with the surroundings.

I found a pillowcase set and matching twin flat sheet on Target.com and immediately knew what I would do with them. I've made an exterior shower curtain out of a twin flat sheet before, for my college apartment, but that has been lost in the depths of storage.

The pillowcases had different prints on each side of the cases, so to make the window curtain all one print, I separated the two sides and then sewed up the two polka dot sides, making sure that the folded ends weren't stitched together all the way through, so that there was a nice big pocket for the tension rods. I finished all the seams, too. The window is tall, so I pulled the mini blind down a bit at the top.

For the shower curtain, I measured the width of the shower opening and then added about 5 inches (the shower opening is small, about 24 inches) to it so it wouldn't be tight. i measured the length to where I wanted it to fall, then cut it out and finished all the seams. I made buttonholes with my machine for the curtain rings to go through. And viola! My bathroom looks much nicer and more homey, too. On the counter is a reed diffuser in a nice, light, mango scent that is making it smell less like a bathroom, too. But I bought that.

I have plenty of leftover fabric from these projects, too, so I'm thinking of ways to use it. I'll keep you all posted!

New trapeze dress

2007-10-18T19:42:00.001-05:00

I made a summery dress a week or so ago, out of an Old Navy trapeze top. I couldn't figure out what to wear with it, as it made me look like a walking rectangle with no waist or hips. But it fit well otherwise.

It was cute, so I couldn't just not wear it. It was already pretty long, so I didn't have to add much to it to make a dress. I took the bottom off a gigantic muu muu I got at the Salvation Army and sewed it to the bottom. The rest of the muu muu will be in at least one more project. Since the bottom of the muu muu was hemmed nicely, I didn't have to do any hemming. I just sewed it to the dress and up the sides of the added pieces (muu muu was wider than the trapeze dress. I kept the flared shape for the addition, too.

It's a little wrinkled here, but it's very comfortable and casual. :-)

Upholstery fabric sample rug

2007-10-01T01:22:00.001-05:00

I made a rug for our front door (the inside). It's for wiping feet and covering the boring almond/cream-colored ceramic tile that sits all over the entry (and the hallway and the bathroom and the kitchen, too). It isn't pretty, I'll warn you. But it's easy to make and useful to have.

A few weekends ago, Kevin and I went to the Honolulu Recycling Fair. Among the many booths educating us on how to recycle lots of things was the craft section, which I gravitated to like a paperclip to a magnet. They had lots of books and upholstery samples and things that companies had donated, I assume, and visitors to the fair were to take home and use or make something out of them. I picked up a book of soft upholstery fabrics. I got about 64 large swatches.

I separated them out by color and then chose the ones I liked the least to start my first project with. These were mostly browns and grays and other gross colors that make you wonder why anyone would choose to decorate their home or office furniture with them. I set them up in a nice design, as two short ends next to one another equaled about the same measurement of a long side. I had one square-ish piece that I used in this project, too, that at least in the beginning, fit well in the puzzle-like arrangement.

Of course, once I trimmed off the glue-ish stuff that had held the fabric samples together and to the cardboard book structure, the pieces didn't fit perfectly anyone. But I sewed them together anyway, with a zigzag stitch. I didn't care what the color was, so when I ran out of bobbin thread, I just threw on whatever I could find. The result is very multicolored, but it's a rug, not a wall hanging, and it helps the drab colors that I picked for it, anyway.

I did have trouble with the fabrics unraveling too much. I had to go over several seams a few times. I just laid them next to each other, slightly overlapping, and pushed them through the machine. In retrospect, maybe sewing them together right-sides facing and then pressing it open would have been easier. Anyway, after I sewed it all together, I trimmed the outside edges so it would be an even rectangle. I considered leaving it uneven, as it gave it a nice staggered effect, but I went traditional. I zigzagged the edges to help stop unravelling, and it was done!

It does slide a lot, though, so I'm going to try to find that rubber stuff that sits underneath rugs to keep them from slipping. It's also thin, but it's easily washed and dried, too. The only thing now is that it's unattractive, so I hope that doesn't mean I'll end up throwing it out someday, in a fit of exasperated need for style in my entryway (which would defeat its purpose as a recycled item). But it's a floor mat for the front door, so of course it will get dirty and is supposed to. Only since it's brown of all shades, maybe the dirt won't really show up very much.

Quilted non-winter scarf

2007-10-01T00:54:00.001-05:00

My mom's birthday was last week. A few weeks before that, I decided I wanted to make her something, rather than buy something. When I bought fabric for the baby quilt, I got several bundles of a variety of remnant fabric, all Hawaiian prints. A few weren't right for a kid's item, so I set them aside.

Included in that bunch were two fabrics of the same print -- a big floral and palm frond print -- in cream and black.

I had six rectangles of each and pondered the different ways I could use it. Coasters? Mini quilt? Placemats or table runner? No, none of those would do. I thought a quilted scarf would be best -- if I set the cream pieces short end to short end to make one long strip, it was a nice scarf length and width.

I did the same with the black rectangles (mind you, these remnants all came cut to roughly the same size, so I didn't have to worry about measurements or cutting at all), too. I then set them back-to-back after pressing all the seams, and sewed them together on one of the short ends. Because the rectangles varied slightly in width and length (by about a 1/4 of an inch or less, nothing major), it doesn't match up perfectly, but I made sure it matched well overall by situating the two lengths of fabric on top of each other and making sure it was straight.

Then I pressed the seam and flipped it so they sat wrong sides together. I used my iron and a few pins to fold the edges to the inside and keep them there. I didn't use a specific seam allowance, but it was about 1/4" or less. I started with one of the long edges and nearest to the joining seam I just stitched and worked my way to the other short end. Then I sewed it, making sure to keep close to the edge so I didn't leave out either side of folded-in fabric. When I was done with that edge, I made sure it hadn't stretched or pulled oddly during the sewing, and then I pressed, pinned, and sewed the remaining sides (short side, then last long side).

I actually sewed around the edge on this scarf twice, because my machine was acting up and some of the stitching wasn't smooth (bad tension, I deduced). But it made it sturdier, I'm sure, and didn't look bad in the end, as I concentrated on sewing directly over the original stitches. Here it is finished:

And here it is all folded up, ready to be mailed to my mom!

I think the only thing I don't like about it is that the fabric is cotton/poly and not just cotton. But the fabric is nice and perhaps it'll hold up better. I washed it and dried it (machine dried it for a while, then hung it to dry when I went to bed, as to not hog the dryer) before I sent it, too. I'm also not sure if it's really "quilted," technically, but it's sewed together, so I thought it fit. Also, it's not a cold weather scarf -- it's more of a fashionable scarf or wrap, but using a warmer fabric or batting inside of it could make it so. My mom said she really likes it and could use it in many different ways, and I thought the print fit her style well. Also, it's technically Hawaiian, right? So it's a fitting gift for me to send right now.

Boxes!

2007-09-24T03:53:00.001-05:00

I made two boxes to hold my crafty supplies this weekend. Both of the boxes are small, so they're for small items, like needles, scissors, measuring tape, thread, etc. Basically notions and other accessories. In fact, I labeled them both. Conveniently, one already said "Accessories" on top (in several languages).

This first one came from my external hard drive box. I know some people keep boxes like this to store all the extra stuff that comes with an electronic device, but I rarely use them. Normally, they end up as packaging for a wrapped Christmas gift. But this one was perfect, as it already said Accessories on top. Also, it was a black box, so I didn't have to hide the boring brown cardboard color.

I used a lot of newspaper and magazine cutout letters, words, and pictures to cover the top. Since the background was black, I didn't cover even half of the space and left the bottom as-is. I covered the outside, the protect the newly rubber cemented-on pictures, in clear contact paper. That was a hassle, though, so I don't recommend it in one huge sheet, as I did this one. But it was a learning experience. I covered the inside in a blue flower print contact paper, and that was easier, as it was thicker and unstuck easier for repositioning. The only tricky parts were the inside corners and the tabs the tuck into the sides to close it.

And look! It's already a great box for holding my templates, such as the fish ones for the quilt I'm making. I cut those out today, from a Finding Nemo gigantic on-the-floor coloring book. They didn't have a big enough bag at Office Depot, so I had a fun time carrying it around while we were shopping in Ward Center yesterday. :-)

The other box I made Saturday morning. Since this one was regular brown cardboard, I found blocks of color in the magazines to cover it with before I put pictures on it. However, first, I altered the box. First, I taped down the bottom inside, as the flaps didn't sit flat. It was a regular little box, with four top flaps. But I cut off the two short side ones and one of the longer ones. I reattached the longer side, only this time I taped it to the still-attached long side, so the top became one big flap, instead of two opening up in the middle. Like so:

I covered the top of this one in the clear contact paper, but decided it just a.) wasn't sticky enough and b.) wasn't clear enough. I used a bunch of clear packing tape for the rest of the sides and to smooth out the raw cardboard edges. It gave a nice glossy look to it and was much easier to use. I covered the inside with the blue flowers again -- I thought it brightened it up a lot.

In the box for my external hard drive, I found two plastic supports that help to hold it in place while it's in the box. I put one inside of this box (it conveniently fit perfectly) for a caddy, like so:

I want to attached a ribbon or cord to the top of this box, so I can make a closure on it to finish it off, but I haven't gotten to it yet. But if and when I do, I'll post about it.

Future project: convertible dress

2007-09-24T03:21:00.001-05:00

I was surfing through some craft sites on Friday that I recently discovered and I came across this post by Rostitchery about a one seam convertible dress. I've seen dresses like these before and I've even come thisclose to buying a convertible scarf/top/skirt by American Apparel, mentioned in the comments of the post, at Cactus Flower in B-town, but I've never had any idea how to make an actual dress. I really want to make it now. It's very cute! All I need is a lot of cotton jersey fabric in a great color and I think I could make it quickly. Only I hope my machine can handle the knit and stretch of the fabric....

Quilt Update #1: Topper pieced!

2007-09-19T20:26:00.001-05:00

My quilt project has officially started and I've made some decent progress:

I like how the topper is turning out. Next I'll start cutting out the fabric pieces for the appliques. I need to find some easy to copy fish, starfish, seaweed, etc. for my stencils. I have to wait for some items to ship that I ordered online, but I'm excited that they'll make the project easier. I'm getting the fusible interfacing and a rotary cutter (and more machine needles).

The topper is four colors (bottom three are ocean and the top one is the sky), three squares of each. I made them 11 1/2" square. I made a template out of some paper and tape:

I like it very much.

I realized as I was creating these things that I need boxes to store my stuff. I almost bought some plastic bins online until I realized it was more economical, fun, and environmentally friendly to make my own. I plan on covering some shipping boxes that we have in magazine and newspaper cutouts and reinforcing/changing them into usable storage boxes. So they won't be clear, but maybe they'll look way cooler. Once I start making them I'll post pictures. I don't even have any glue yet.

Pants altered into a skirt

2007-09-13T08:16:00.001-05:00

Ah, gauchos. Also known as culottes' younger, hipper daughter. Only, I don't think they're all that cool. Why? Well, first of all, they make me look shorter, which I don't like. Second of all, I don't wear cool boots or any type of fun, trendy shoe that you're "supposed" to wear with them. And this particular pair, from Target for $4.99:

They have really awfully-placed pleats on the front. I'm not a pleat person for pants. For skirts, yes, but not pants. This pair also has a tie, which serves no purpose other than to look cool, and they are a pretty shade of purple-blue. I think K would call it a Royal Blue. Anyway, I bought them thinking I'd give them a shot. Only I hated them the moment I got them on. They just aren't my style. But skirts are.

So I decided to say goodbye to the gaucho and hello to another knee-length cotton pull-on skirt. Besides, I hate returning things by mail -- it's a pain (no Target here). First, I slowly and carefully ripped out the inseams of both pant legs. I've done this with jeans before, as I've made jean skirts in a similar way. This part took the longest and was the most tedious, but once it's done, the project is a piece of cake. Next, I put the skirt on and decided how short I wanted it to be. With the seams out, it seemed much longer, and I wanted a summer-y skirt, not a winter-y one. So I cut off a few inches and then laid it flat on the floor (no good work table here).

The only tricky part on this half of the project was figuring out where to sew up the seams. If you just sew along the edges, you'll end up with a weird seam with bulk. So I chalked a diagonal line from where the front seam (the non-inseam part that didn't get taken out) started to curve outward to the bottom corner. I sewed on that line, discovering in the process that my garage sale sewing machine isn't in perfect shape (the stitches weren't even at all), and tried it on. I ended up cutting off a few more inches so that the skirt hit right at the bottom of my knees. I also tied the tie to the side, instead of in the middle. I like the asymmetry for that.

Voila! It's comfortable and doesn't make me look shorter than I already am! And I'm more comfortable in it. Maybe someday I'll be a convert to gauchos, but not today.

When bad dresses become good

2007-09-13T07:57:00.001-05:00

I first saw this dress while I was browsing the clearance section of Target's Web site, and I thought it was really cute. After putting it in my cart to think about it and be sure I didn't forget about it, I went back and read the description and comments about it.

The comments for it on the Web site claimed it was unflattering and awkward because of a low-cut neckline, too-long straps, and worst of all, a band of elastic around the waist area. It was supposed to create a blouson effect for a knee-length dress, like on the left. And if you pull it down to get rid of that ugly effect, you get the dress on the right, which is just odd-shaped.

Yucky. As K put it, "it looks like a mushroom." Yes, it's trendy. I have a similar cotton dress that has the elastic at the waist, but it doesn't have the blouson effect (a.k.a. too much fabric up top) -- it's just there for shape. The comments for the dress included several people that found ways to alter it, so my initial attraction to it wasn't bothered too much. Mainly, they took out the elastic and loved the results. So when I ordered it, I knew it was a gamble and that the elastic probably had to go, and I was right, but I looked forward to a project and the pretty pattern on it. When I tried it on, the straps were a little too long, so it had no shape in the bodice. There's a nice gathered elastic spot under the bust, but with the straps as they were, it served no purpose and is hard to see.

Anyway, so I first dealt with the straps.

>

The knotted feature was cute, but the Web site said you could adjust them and that was really impossible without looking weird. They didn't untie; they expected you to somehow knot up the knots. I'm not really sure how that would work. Anyway, I cut through them in a sort of central location.

I think I untied the closest knots and then re-tied them in a crossed fashion, so now the bodice fits much better and it's higher up, too.

Next, I turned the dress inside out and snipped at the inside elastic seam until I could pull the elastic out. I'll probably need to wash and dry the dress before the creases from the elastic go away, but I think it looks pretty cool:

It's a breezy sundress, all for $6.24, a pair of scissors, and absolutely no sewing. If I ever get tired of the length, or longer dresses go out of style again, I'll just cut it off. It's a cotton/modal so it won't fray easily and it doesn't have a hem to begin with anyway. The lining only goes down to mid-thigh anyway, because it was supposed to be knee-length. So there's less work there, too, if I choose to cut it shorter. Although I really like it this way, and I had a lot of fun altering it.

Cozy alpaca toboggan hat

2007-07-11T18:54:00.000-05:00

I now live in a warm climate, but last winter I lived in a very cold and windy place. With many of my possessions in storage, I couldn't find my winter hat, so I crocheted a new one:

I used leftovers from the Misti Alpaca chunky yarn that I used on some Christmas gifts. I started at the top and crocheted in a circular fashion. I had to start over a few times to be sure I got the shape and size correct. The top sticks up a little, quite like an elf hat, but it falls down nicely when I want it to. I can also store things in it, if need be. The yarn is very warm, but not scratchy, like most wools.

And now it's away in storage again. But it's a great hat, and when I visit family at Christmas, I'll be sure to forage for it and use it to protect my head and ears from the winter weather.

Cozy Blankets

2007-02-09T18:57:00.000-05:00

In the past three months I've crocheted six blankets for family members. I call them afghans, but they're really throw or lapghan size, so they aren't nearly as time consuming or difficult as one might think.

Four are pretty similar, except for colors and some different stitches. This is the latest, bright blue one that I just finished yesterday. I'll add pictures of the others, which have their own looks, later on.
If you're looking for a really easy, fast blanket, this one has the right idea. Just use two strands of any bulky weight yarn and pick any stitch to repeat. I made ridges by working in the back loops and eventually added a border of a larger stitch, which isn't in the photo. Mine ended up around 42" by 48", but, of course, there aren't really any limitations on size, right?
Without distractions, it can be done in a day, I believe.

I made up the other two as I went along. The striped one was really easy to do and is by far my favorite. It's a bulky Misti Alpaca yarn, the softest you can buy. Alas, I didn't make it for me, but I loved giving it as a gift. In the photo it's displayed at her house.
I just started making double crochets in one color until I ran out, then switched to another and decided on my pattern. It took 6 skeins of the Misti Alpaca, but there were leftovers, which ended up in projects I'll post about later.

The other was difficult, as I started with a base of white and then used intarsia to add squares and rectangles in red and a sparkly white. It wasn't easy, and the yarn was worsted weight; so with single crochet, it took forever. My patience wore thin after only a quarter of it was done. So basically, if I make one like that again, I'll find a better way to do it. Like the variations of the blue one, a picture of the intarsia one is forthcoming.