Good Morning, all! At least, I hope your morning is going well. Mine is fairly quiet and a lovely change from this last weekends bustle at the craft show. The rhubarb festival didn't go quite as planned, but it was a learning experience. I met a few nice people and got to try rhubarb soda, so not all was lost. But, enough about that! What I really wanted to share with you today is the apron I sewed myself for craft shows. I was getting a little tired of not having my money very accessible, not having pens and paper on person, and simply not being hands free! I looked for a few examples of 'vendor aprons' and 'utility aprons' online and came up with my own little pattern that fit my style and would show off my sewing and embroidery skills. The very first thing I did was to embroider my logo onto fabric. I chose a natural color muslin to do it. I like the sandy look and the fabric has lose enough fibers to create a small cross hatch which helped me keep things even. Here's the finished product below I actually had another vendor comment on my apron the day of the show. She liked it and I let her know I did it all myself with the embroidery done by hand. She was floored. I was floored that she was floored! She was surprised that it was done by hand and showed her husband, too, saying "You know that $1300 machine I just bought for embroider? Well, she did it herself by hand!" I admit, I'm happy with the way it turned out. It's not absolutely perfect, but it's well done. The next thing I did was picked out a couple other fabrics to compliment my logo and reflect my personality. I chose a cute pink polka dot pattern fabric that was as close to my color palette as possible and a neat gray wood pattern fabric to connect with my love of nature. For the rest, I knew I wanted a big pocket in the back and several little ones in the front. The large one would allow me to store larger items and the smaller pockets could hold pens, paper, and business cards. I backed the whole apron with the gray and used the pink to create a long ribbon tie. I found that this apron style to be very useful in addition to be attractive to wear. If you're someone who sells at craft shows or even farmers' markets you definitely need one of these! I am contemplating sewing more aprons in the future, so keep your eye out if you'd like one from me someday! :)
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A couple weeks ago I got pictures done for the infinity scarves and put in the shop. So, this post is a wee bit late! I am slowly learning how to take photographs for myself and using myself as a model for shop items that are for adults. It's a work in progress, but since I've opened the shop (coming up on a year ago) my photographs have improved quite a bit. At least, in my belief. Enjoy the photos below of the scarves and how to wear them. I have most of them wrapped once around (two for the jersey knit ones), but you can wear them as a single loop, too. Click on the photo to go to the shop to purchase! Since it's too hot to go out and play these days, I decided to pull out the sewing machine. Saturday morning continued into an afternoon of fun whipping up these guys. What are they?
Infinity Scarves! Seriously, they are way cute and can be worn two ways. If that doesn't sell you on them the fabulous fabric will. I need to get out and model them in some evening sun later. That is if my husband will help. ;) Plan to see them in the shop next week! I have been playing with the idea of creating a wristlet purse for the past week or so. I already have a pattern that I'll use to display lace crochet on, but wanted something a little different for myself. I don't make much for myself anymore. If I do, it's just a prototype that I'll wear in public -- hoping that someone will comment, so I can give them my card! I also don't have a whole lot of patriotic colored items in my wardrobe or accessories. I DO have an Old Navy flag t-shirt, but it's from 2001. A bit dated don't you think? So, this seemed like a perfect opportunity to make myself a new purse that could display my pride for the Spirit of 1776! As I searched the internet I came across Noodlehead's pattern and tutorial for a gathered clutch. I fell in love immediately! Such a neat look and pretty easy to make as well. I found the patriotic colored fabric at Hancock fabrics as well as the denim. Both were on sale! A huge plus. For the most part, I followed Noodleheads pattern to the T except for a few things. 1. I used a 9 inch zipper, not an 8 inch. 2. I increased the width 1 inch. 3. I increased the height 1/2 an inch. 4. I added a wrist strap. 5. I didn't use the fusible interfacing. With all these changes, does it still work? Of course! Being free with patterns to suit your needs is always a possibility, so don't think you have to follow directions exactly as they are. Just make sure you know what you're doing first. I did run into a problem, though. Mostly because of my lack of skill behind the sewing machine. I had a difficult time when it came to sewing everything together and figuring out to do at the zipper area. I'm sure if I were familiar with inserting zippers with covers, I probably would have known what to do in the moment. In hindsight, I think I may sort of understand what I was supposed to do. Anyway, in the pattern you are given the option of adding two types of pockets. I added the double pocket card holder one. Pretty snazzy, huh?
The final step was simply putting in the wrist strap. I had a little gap by the zipper, where I had troubles figuring out what to do, and wiggled it in there after I turned everything right side out. Then I just used a little bit of glue to hold it in place and whip stitched it secure. I am absolutely in love with this wristlet. I'm also super excited to show it off while we're out and about for the 4th! I had a wonderful Easter with family last weekend. We travel to my Great Aunt's house for holidays now. The older generations in my family are slowly disappearing and I want to spend as much time I can with the ones that are still with us. Well, the Easter season and spring weather inspired me to step out of my comfort zone. My result was this cute toddler dress. The top is completely knit with buttons on the back to close it up and add a little bit of interest. The skirt is actually an old pillow case. It made it pretty easy to put together. I just used the already hemmed edge of the pillow case for the bottom and gathered at the top. I attached the two together by sewing the skirt onto the cast off edge of the dress with the same color yarn that I used for the top. When researching on how to do this I think some people used cotton thread, but I found that to be too flimsy and didn't hold very well. I'll have this dress in the shop soon. I am planning to attach some yoyos for decor and add a hair piece as well to match. If you remembered a while ago, I made myself a large needle organizer. Ok, it wasn't just for my needles, but it did clean up the chaos that my tools create. I had someone ask if I would be selling them in the shop. At the time, I didn't think I really wanted to create any sort of organizers to sell. I didn't have fabric either, and I'm not quite in the position to go out and buy whatever I want unless it's a special order. That's my choice, though, right? BUT like I said, if you ask real nice I'll make what you want how you want it. ;) Well, I noticed I had a bit of fabric left from my organizer and decided to whip a small one up. The finished product is shown in these photos. This one matches my organizer, but I've put it in my Etsy shop if you'd like it! The beautiful thing about this smaller organizer is that it can be used for make-up items, too. So, if you're not a crafter, but still could use an organizer like this for other things this is for you! I've also made up a purple and yellow organizer that can be found in the shop! I'll have more available as I make them up. You can always special order as well. Happy Organizing! The other day I was working in the living room. I had no idea what I wanted to make, so I pulled out all my needles and hooks and several skeins of yarn. All laid out on the coffee table. Needless to say, it was quite a mess. As I rummaged through, things were falling off the table, the cats thought the hooks and needles were play things, and I may have lost something in the process. I even left it all there to sit for a few days. Ya, I'm not the greatest at picking up after myself unless I do it right away. My husband came home from work one day, looked at the mess and said, "You know I sure wish I could actually use this table for what it's for." His indirect way of reprimanding me and getting his point through. I knew he was right. I knew I needed to clean it up, but I also knew that it would look the same in the cabinet I use to store all my crafting things. (I am REALLY looking forward to the day that we can build an office for me.) So, I started my quest for a needle organizer. I knew what I wanted it to look like, but needed a basic template to help me get started. (Usually, I just go with the flow and make my own patterns, but I wasn't feeling it.) Most patterns I found were a bit small for what I wanted, until I found Alexantra's Knits Tutorial. It was EXACTLY what I envisioned. What I used from her tutorial was the size of the organizer. From there I made it my own. I didn't use the binding, but rather folded over the edges from the outside fabric. It turns out the be like a fake binding. It's easier since I'm a beginner sewer, but I also like the look a little better, too. I made the number of vertical pocket number and sizes my own as well. I felt it worked better for me compared to what she had in her template. I still need to make ties, but the organizer still does it's job without them. I'm thinking of a sweet knit icord in a gold. As for fabric, I knew I needed durable. So, I used the denim I had lying around to make most of the insides. The floral fabric I used for a blanket in my shop, but absolutely loved it! Luckily, the remnants from the blanket were enough to sew this organizer (since this fabric I know isn't available at the store anymore). In the end, I have an AWESOME organizer for all my knitting and crocheting items. I absolutely love it and there will be no more needles lying around willy nilly! Wish I could say the same for the yarn. ;D |
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My name is Annissa, owner of MissNissDesigns. I am a knitter, crocheter, sewer, and all around crafty lady. Archives
April 2023
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