Queen Amidala of the Naboo

I had a decent amount of this fabric, which I found in the basement:

My original plan was to make this dress, but I had forgotten the details of the instructions, and I actually didn't have enough. So.... I improvised! First, I was going to make a skirt, but it was a lot shorter than I liked, so I added a ruffle, which I didn't really like, so I sewed the bottom shut, added a strap, and called it a bag:

Before I got to that point, I cut off two pieces, one of which I used to make this maxi dress for my cousin's doll:

It started out strapless, but I thought my aunt and uncle might not appreciate that, so I made it a halter:

It goes well with the strings on the back of her neck.....

Can you spell creepy?! Speaking of creepy, check out the inside of Queen Amidala's head!

I started her last night, and here's what I had this morning:

I had and issue with making the hair/skin division even, so after a few tries, I just decided to do a sort of duplicate stitch over the parts that weren't the color I wanted them to be.

 I used an empty cardboard box for the base, and colored it red so it wouldn't show as much:

This morning I got up at 5 for a trip to my state's capital, but because of some cruddy weather, it got canceled, and know I'm stuck at home all day. (I'm not bitter, I'm not bitter, I swear I'm not bitter!) Luckily, I was able to put the time to good use, and I worked on patching up her hair.

Look's pretty good, eh? It took me over an hour, during which I realized I could never be a hairdresser is real life:

I got so frustrated, I had to resort to drastic measures. Anyway, due to my lack of safety eyes, I can't go any farther on the head (hence the cut yarn) so I did all the other pieces instead:

I have to admit, I didn't think the collar would fit around her neck, but I made it work. However, I was not as happy with the sleeves:

I like the shape of the one on the right a lot more, but I figured it would take forever to make two that matched. I just stuck them on under the collar, and they look fine. I haven't decided if I want to do the whole pipe cleaner thing. I think it might look better if I crocheted a little border instead. Finally, I made her hair:

which happens to look a lot like dog poop. And not in a good way.... I lost count of my rows five or six times, so I just guesstimated for the length. Once I get the eyes, gold metallic thread, and possibly clay (I might  have something that'll work) I'll be able to finish Her Majesty, but for now, I have a date with the TTT:

Have an awesome day!

A Parade of Two

Here is my parade of two for today:

That's two WIPs out of the way, which isn't bad for one weekend, right? Here is the detailed, descriptive list of my other WIPs I want to finish:

1. I have a cross stitch kit for a hummingbird coaster, which I started a few months ago. (Well, I say kit, but it didn't come with thread.) Anyway... I kind of messed up the pattern, and I'm not sure if it's something I can just live with. I might need to rip out the offending stitches and redo them. My goal: finish
2. I would like to get a good start on my HP cross stitch project. There are a lot of bits and pieces to it, and I do need to do some research to figure out what thread I need, but I will be starting this soon. My goal: buy/find all thread and do the four house emblems (center rectangle)
3. In my latest WIP count, I mentioned that I wasn't going to finish the needle holder until I had accumulated all the sizes of DPNs, but that I wasn't going to just buy them all. For my work on this, I will just be sewing the first six sizes, all of which I have. My goal: sew the "pockets" for sizes 000-3 
4. For my brown skirt, I honestly would just like an idea of what I'm doing with it. If I can, I would like to implement this, and right now, I'm thinking about getting another zipper and sewing it in by hand. My goal: figure out and (hopefully) finish the closure
5. You know, I just realized I should probably put the etching projects on here. Just saying. They need an Exacto knife and a free afternoon. My goal: finish
6. Oh boy. The sequin skirt. Here's my plan. While I work on all of these other things, I will sew on ten sequins every day. Then I'll see where I'm at, finished-wise. There are a lot of sequins, though! My goal: sew on ten sequins everyday while I work on everything else

Here is the simplified list I will be putting at the bottom of posts, just because they make me happy:

To Do To Start:

• cross stitch hummingbird coaster
• the center square of my HP cross stitch (house emblems)
• sew the pockets for needle sizes 000-3
• figure out and implement the closure for the brown skirt
• make the etching projects
• sew on ten sequins every day I work on these other things

I like having a nice little list of everything I need to do!

My First Blogiversary

In honor of my first blogiversary, I finally did something I have been meaning to do for ages. I went back through all my archives, and made sure they all had the correct labels. A lot of my earlier posts were missing labels that I made after I made that post, so I am glad to have that all sorted out. I also fixed some of the fonts that were wonky, and corrected some typos. But I'm sure there's a bunch more!

(OK, so I know most people probably don't care, but I am obsessed with being organized, so it makes me very happy.)

Anyway...... I had originally put all of this stuff with yesterday's post, but it was kind of super long, so I split it up.

I've been working on the catnip ornament:

And I made this little pouch:

which clips on to things. I actually just took a zippered pouch I had, and shortened it, but still. I like it!

And I played with the hot glue gun:

All done! But I still want to make two new ones. It's not pretty enough to give away! :)

Yesterday afternoon I was a gingerbread ornament machine! I made three little guys in about two hours. I have a set of two that are going together, and one that will be going with a necklace. I could have sworn I took pictures of them, but I'm not going to aggravate myself trying to get that organized now. That can wait until Monday!

My Crafty Christmas To-Do List

• make two etching projects
• make a mohawk hat (I have a printed pattern, I just can't find the link right now)
• make two necklaces
• finish catnip ornament
• make another cross stitch ornament

I hope you're having a great day!

I Went Shopping!

I am super happy, because I went to Michaels and AC Moore on Monday, and I got almost everything on my list! Here it is:

• a bunch of black 10/0 seed beads
• size 10 16" circular needle
• chain for bag handle
• assorted jewelry items (chain, music charms, jump rings, crab closures)
• glass etching kit

The only thing I couldn't find was the cord for the globe knot necklaces. I'm not really sure where to get that!

I've also been messing around with my Christmas list, and I think I have the final copy here:

My Crafty Christmas To-Do List

• make two etching projects
• make a mohawk hat (I have a printed pattern, I just can't find the link right now)
• make two more globe knot necklaces
• finish catnip ornament
• make another cross stitch ornament
• make both ornaments from this pattern

New and improved! (improved because there's less cross stitch!) What I'm going to do for the ornaments is pretty simple. I'm going to make them like I did last time, with worsted weight and beads. Then I'll join them together, to make one ornament. I might also be making two more girls to go with the globe knot necklaces. (Or instead of, if I can't find the cord I need.) It mostly depends on time, and how bored I am! :)

Have a great afternoon!

Another WIP Count

I like doing these, mostly because I have to pull out all the things that are in time out. It keeps them from being stuck there forever. Here we go:

This is my Harry Potter cross stitch project. It's in time out right now, not exactly because it was being bad, but because I don't have the thread for it, and I have more important things to be doing. Once all my Christmas stuff is over, I'll be able to go through the charts, make a list of the thread I need, then get it. And, you know, start this. All those little pieces of thread mark the corners of each picture. I probably counted wrong, but I'll start with the middle one just in case.

This is so wrinkly! This is actually the project I stole the zipper from for my pleated pouch. I just couldn't make it work, so I put it in time out. Now I need a new zipper. But I'm trying to think of something else I could do that would be a little easier.

I just need a chain for the strap for this, and it'll be done. It didn't do anything wrong, so it's just a shopping trip away from completion!

This is a little trickier. I was trying to make a needle roll, but I don't have all the sizes of DPNs so I can't measure where to sew. I've decided that I'll just leave it in the bag, because I will get all the sizes eventually. I'm only missing 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9, and at some point, I'm sure I'll need to buy them for some project or other, then I'll be able to finish this. 

This is going to be in a kind of half time out for a while, because I need to get my more priority projects out of the way. I think I'll just work on it for a few minutes every day, then once I have time I'll work on it full time.

I'm sure I could find other things that technically qualify as WIPs, but I just pulled out the main ones. Here's to finishing some WIPs!

I Should Have Eaten It!

The M&M dishcloth has officially been frogged. And I'm not going to try to get it back. I had a chart, I did everything I could to make it work, but I just couldn't figure it out. Once I figure out how to scan it, I'll post the chart for all you people that have chart-smarts.

Anyway, let's move on to something that makes me happier:

my very first (successful) zipper! Don't get me wrong, I have put in this zipper many times. Four or five, just for this zipper, just on one item. (It's not this item.) But I decided that finishing this project was going to make me happier, so I stole the zipper from the time-out bag and now I have a little pouch!

Isn't it purty? I love this fabric so much! It actually matches my mom's purse pretty well, so I might give it her. Or I might keep it. I kind of like it a lot. :)

So, did you notice anything strange about the first picture? Yeah, it's inside out. And shut. And fully sewn. I'm kind of an idiot! I didn't open the zipper before finishing the sewing, so I had a really hard time trying to open it so I could turn this right-side out again. Yes, you can laugh. Go right ahead! Here's what it looked like before I fixed the shape:

And this random picture of it before I sewed it:

Not exactly sure why I took this!

I needed to start my next project, so I started working on the first cross stitch ornament. (Of four. This may not have been my best idea, since I'm really slow at this. Hopefully, everything will work out!

My Crafty Christmas To-Do List

• make two etching projects
• make a mohawk hat (I have a printed pattern, I just can't find the link right now)
• make two more globe knot necklaces
• finish catnip ornament
• make three more cross stitch ornaments
• figure out something to do instead of the M&M dishcloth

FO-Embroidered Bird Bag!!!!

Ahhh! I'm so excited!

The embroidered bird bag is done! Here's a close up:

Even though I didn't intend to do this project, I am very happy I did. This is my first ever embroidery project, and I am super pleased with the result! Members of my household with no interest whatsoever in crafty things (yeah, men) were impressed, which is always a good sign! I think it will make a great gift.

Once I finished, I jumped right in to my next project, the cross stitch ornaments. After reading through the instructions on the kit (right, because I did that first.....) I determined I needed to draw 4x4 squares:

And cut them out:

Before starting. The first one is going to a cat lover, and luckily, there's one featuring a cat. Perfect! I'll probably start that some time this weekend.

Yesterday, I was feeling a little grumpy with my two WIPs (bird bag and M&M dishcloth) so I decided a brand new project would cure me of it. Instead of picking a pattern and making some kind of doodad that would cheer me up and put me back on track, I decided to go crazy and make my own thing. It didn't go well:

I actually just took this picture because I thought it looked like a little girl's apron.

I was trying to make a little pleated bag, but the opening was to small for the rest of the bag:

It has wings, for crying out loud!

So once I take it out of time-out, I will reshape it into a little pouch, and if I'm feeling generous, add a zipper. At this point, some kind of snap is more likely.

I have been in a super good mood today, because yesterday I bought the Star Trek soundtrack and put it on my iPod. It makes everything an adventure! :)

My Crafty Christmas To-Do List

• buy supplies for, and make, two etching projects
• buy yarn for, and make, a mohawk hat (I have a printed pattern, I just can't find the link right now)
• make two more (better) globe knot necklaces
• make four cross stitch ornaments
• finish the M&M dishcloth (this could take a while, since I have to mess with the pattern too)

Back Again, Am I? (2 Months of Pics, Part 2)

The next post was this week! But because I didn't even leave the computer, you have to wait for hat pictures. Sorry.

I had a brief foray into the world of needle felting, attempting to make the Heartfelt Bunny from Softies by Therese Laskey. It didn't really go that well, and it is taking a time out.

This is my Dad's Christmas present, before it was finished. There was a lot of hand stitching (see the pretty stitches?) and machine stitching (I don't like Velcro anymore!) and frustration, but it was worth it, because I think he may have liked it.

Behold my mom's Christmas present: a bulletin board for her new office. As you can (hopefully) see, it isn't finished in this picture. What happened was, I needed to use the staple gun, but I'm a little nervous around "tools," so I had to wait until I could have help, and when I finally could, I ran out of ribbon after only a three strips! I went to Michaels on Black Friday, but I couldn't find this exact ribbon, so I had to go back later to get a different one that still matched. Then I pinned all of the ribbon into place so I was ready to staple as soon as I had help. My mom loved it, and I don't think she took it into the office yet, so I will try to get a picture of the finished product soon.

I got this bag for Christmas, and I really like it! It has a lot of pockets, and I am using it to hold my WIPs right now (time out zone!), but I could definitely take this on a trip, maybe even as a regular bag!

I am trying to make a t-shirt quilt with camp shirts, sports teams shirts, etc. (Just a note for the sharp-eyed, there isn't anything wrong with the shirts, I just blurred out the years and the name of the camp.) On the bottom is the bottoms of all the shirts I cut up, which I may use for my evil, upcycling purposes. Muhahahahha!

 This is a little drawstring bag I made from a jeans leg. I thought I had posted about it ages ago, but I couldn't find any pictures of it elsewhere.

My aunt once made all of her nieces purses like these, which inspired me to make my own. The hardest part was stitching over the part in the middle where the zipper is: I kept on thinking I was going to break the needle! The strap is an old belt, and the purse hangs down to my knees, so I think I'm going to have the shorten the strap somehow.

 Next post: The finished product pictures of my parent's presents, what I made my brother, and a few projects that haven't come up yet at all!

And the hat. I almost forgot the hat!