vanessa.oxygenvalve.com

So I have this luscious piece of scrap wool from a hat I made FOREVER ago. I don’t even have the hat anymore since it was slightly small to fit my head AND my bushy hair. I recently rediscovered it in my scrap bag and I’ve wanted to do something special with it ever since. I thought a skirt would be just the thing, but there’s not even enough to do that! Perhaps I could use it as contrasting pockets, or maybe even a little ruffle like this awesome anthropologie skirt I’ve had stashed in my “inspriation” file.

I just don’t know that I’d get much wear out of a fancy skirt like that, but then again, I just might! I know some of you are super-crafty, what would YOU do with the scrap??

I thought posting every day for the month of October was going to be impossible, but somehow I managed to find something to say for 31 days! I suppose if I was going to start participating in NaBloPoMo, I’ve already missed the first day, so I’m just going to chill and post as often as I can, just to keep up some momentum. Seriously, October was a huge accomplishment for me and I had a blast participating and finding so many new sites to read!

The Halloween party is but a memory now, and I’m not looking forward to putting away all the decorations. That’s the crummy part. You spend all that time and effort making things “just right”: setting the stage, buildng props, making treats, sewing costumes, etc. And in a blink of an eye, you’re left with a mess, lots of leftovers, a bunch of photographs, and some great memories. However, there’s Christmas to look forward to… Ugh *sarcasm! If you were following me last year, you’ll remember that the Halloween party aftermath left me with a destroyed kitchen/dining room floor. Therefore, I couldn’t put up my Christmas tree because the repair/replacement took place in mid-December. No big loss really. I was sort of glad to be free from the chore of decorating for one year.

Now I can return to business as usual with freelancing, sewing, etc. I had to postpone a number of craft projects in favor of Halloween prep, and I’m glad to get back to them. Stay tuned for what I hope will be a craftacular winter — as long as I don’t freeze my arse off in this office! :)

Dear Retro Butterick Pattern #6582,
I had such great plans for you. You were going to make me look so fabulously Mad Men. But when it came down to it, you didn’t make me look anything but misshapen. Poo.
Regards,
Vanessa

If you follow my twitter feed, you might have seen my note that said, “Grrr. 95% finished with a dress I’m supposed to wear to a wedding next week. A. It’s HUGE. B. I hate it.” Well, this was what I was referring to. I got almost done with it (everything except the hem) and realized that it was about 3 sizes too big. Now, I followed the pattern based on my measurements to a tee! Clearly, the pattern people thought I should look like a potato sack. So I took it in about 2 inches each side, and I still didn’t like it. I should have known not to buy a pattern that only had an illustration as the picture. It looks way cuter on the barbie-shaped drawing than it does on me. Plus, the fabric I bought is a little stiff and doesn’t drape nicely at the pleats on the shoulders. However, I must say that I did a bang-up job assembling the thing. I did my first zipper and darts, and once again made use of my serger to finish the edges. Alas, this cut just doesn’t look that good on me.

Looking at the photo I took of myself, it doesn’t seem too bad, but I think it looks awkward in real life. Mike is usually easy to please when it comes to dresses, but he doesn’t like it either. Because my legs are kinda short, I have to hem the dress at my knees, throwing off the overall balance of the dress. Since the neckline of the dress comes up so high, the whole thing makes me look a little top-heavy, and not it a good way. Oh well. At least it was an awesome learning experience.

As for the wedding this weekend, I went to every damn store in the mall, as well as a bunch of other places around town and was lucky enough to find something I sort of like. It’s OK, but Mike REALLY loves it, so I guess that’s a win. I’m just disappointed I won’t be wearing something of my own creation, and I had to spend money on a new dress on top of what I spent in materials.

For the past month or so, I’ve been juggling freelance, slacking off, and a large crochet project. Since the cat is out of the bag (i.e. the gift has been given to its new owners) I can post about my crochet madness. I made a large afghan for my friends who are getting married in September.

Mom helped me pick out a pattern that is relatively simple for my beginner skills. And let’s face it, I don’t have much patience for reading patterns; not to mention all that counting!!! I’m not sure why I don’t like reading directions. It’s not so much that I don’t read them; I skim. And take off running because I’d much rather be doing something than sitting there reading the Greek that is a crochet pattern. As it was, I think I tore out the first row about 4 times until I had the precise number of stitches. UGH. Anyway, the pattern was easy enough to learn once and and not have to look at again, until the end.

I might not want to mention this, because my friend might be reading, but I’m going to anyway. So I stitched away and at some point in the middle, I realized I had screwed up the pattern some 20 rows back: there were supposed to be 8 stitches between sections, and somehow I was only 7 on one section and then 9 on another!!! I had gotten too confident, brainlessly cranking along on auto-pilot that I had stopped counting along the way. Luckily, it wasn’t too noticeable, or I would have pulled it out. I fixed the problem going forward, and didn’t make another mistake for the rest of the project! As my grandmother always said, the little mistakes make it special and home-made.

At least my mistakes didn’t ruin the piece. Also, I finished it on-time for the shower and my friend really loves it!! Hurray! Now, on to the next project: Macrame!

With all this free time on my hands I’m catching up on various craft projects I’ve wanted to do for a long time! Here’s the low-down on what I’m doing.

I bought some clearance fabric at Jo-Ann at least a year ago, and have been too busy lazy to make anything out of it until now. I picked up a simple pattern —Vogue #8495—, and made this cute blouse. I also used it as an excuse to become better acquainted with my serger; a device that is pretty complicated, yet utterly fantastic. I used it to finish off the blouse’s side seams, and I think the whole thing looks pretty darned professional. Despite the fact that the blouse wears like a maternity shirt, I’m very happy with the final result.

Next up is this adorable yellow checkered hankie with crocheted edge. I inherited a bunch of vintage hankies from my Grandma (the pink one in the picture is hers) and I’ve been using them for a while now. I’ve started to phase out paper tissues as much as possible because, as I learned, “a total of 300 million tons of tree fiber from virgin forests in the US are used to make its paper products each year.” At any rate, some of Grandma’s hankies are very delicate and I’d rather not ruin them, so I decided to make some.

I want to point out the purple magnetic pin catcher… it is one of my favorite things in the craft arsenal. I used to lose soo many pins, but now, I can just run it over the floor and grab any rogue pins that may have escaped. Sorry, that sounded like a commercial! But anyway, on to the hankie!

First, I used the serger to create that beautiful rolled hem, and then I tried to copy the crocheted edge that my Grandma did on the pink one. I will say this about the crochet: while it’s cute and feminine, I won’t be doing that again too soon. The super-fine thread and tiny needle made it blinding work and it took me about a day to do. Also, as you may remember, I only have a very limited knowledge of crochet, so I spent the first few hours on the internet re-learning my stitches. For the rest of the hankies I plan to make, i’ll do something simpler, like just the rolled hem. That way, I can have a hankie done in 5 minutes as opposed to one a day.

I am an idiot. I was in Wegmans perusing the magazine section and like a moth to the flame I was drawn to Interweave Crochet: the winter 2008 edition. The sweater on the cover of the magazine called to me; I wanted it. And with the little knowledge I have of crotchet, I thought it looked easy enough, so I bought the magazine.

Now, I’ve crocheted a few things in my life (mostly granny squares), but only because my grandmother taught me how. When I got home with the magazine, I was painfully aware that I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO READ CROCHET PATTERNS!! Of course, they have the glossary at the back of the book that decodes the crazy pattern shorthand, but I’ve never made a single that had directions.

I’ve enlisted my mother to help me figure the damn thing out, but like all crafty projects I undertake, it will probably take me years to complete. Remember the 5-year cross stitch?! Not to mention the countless projects that still wait in half-completion limbo.