march of the projects

The following are the rest of my completed projects from March. Two of them are big projects I started too long ago. And the other two are projects I’ve been wanting to sew for several months.

Project #1: 2009 Scrapbook

start spreading the news

It’s done! I didn’t start it until 2010. Since I’ve been so behind on scrapbooking, I’m taking a long break. I spent time going through all my things to give away and throw away. I kept enough supplies to make cards and complete small scrapbooks.

Project #2: Baby doll blanket

a cpk in my strawberry shortcake rocking chair

A friend gave me some yarn in 2008 that needed to be used. I thought it would be a good time to experiment with patterns and needle sizes. This is a pattern for a much larger blanket, but I used really small needles. It ended up being much smaller than I originally thought. This will be a good gift for a little girl; I still have the ones my grandmas made me.

Project #3: Wristlet

This pattern is from Noodlehead. I wanted to make something to carry all of my receipts and budget envelopes for my Etsy things.

I have a couple extra zippers when I made this top and bought the wrong color and then needed a different size. The zipper I used was big for this project, but I followed the directions on the package for making it shorter. I used Dressform in yellow, Vintage News in yellow, and Scissor in white (Tailor Made by Cosmo Cricket for Andover). I used charcoal ribbon to cover up part of an advertisement for infant apparel because I thought that would be weird on a clutch. I added a strap to make it a wristlet.

I didn’t add the credit card holder, and I didn’t have interfacing. I used my appliqué heat bonding stuff instead on the outer part of the clutch to make it sturdier. That made it much more difficult to sew. Not all of my ruffles quite made it into the right place; this is a prototype for a much nicer one the next time.

Project #4: Mug rugs

I’ve been wanting to make a mug rug a.k.a. snack mat for quite awhile. I’ve never quilted before and I don’t really plan on becoming a quilter. Mug rugs are mini quilts for your afternoon tea time or morning coffee break or midnight snack or daytime diet coke emergency or you could use it for a mouse pad.

Anyway…I now have a rather large project before me to make placemats for my mother. I want these placemats to be suitable for company, so it’s very important that I know what I’m doing before I start making them. Mug rugs are a good way for me to make a few mini prototypes before making real size prototypes of what I really want to make.

I used three different methods when making these mug rugs.

Mug Rug One:

I simply sewed the two sides wrong sides together, turned right side out, sewed the open corner and then topstitched a border. I also outlined one of the tea pots as a bit of decoration. If I use this method for the placemats, I will have to be very, very precise in my stitching to make sure all of the placemats are exact.



i'm a little tea pot

 Mug Rug Two:

The front side is a smaller rectangle than the back side rectangle. I folded the back over the front to make the binding and then topstitched to secure the two sides. I played around with one of the embroidery stitches on my machine for the decoration. I don’t particularly like the final product, but I like the idea of it. If I use this method for the placemats, I will have to be very precise in my measuring.

Mug Rug Three:

I sewed the two sides as I would want to look at them and added bias tape as the binding. This is the second go-round at the binding because I happen to be quite bad at that skill right now. On my second attempt, which you see here, I used larger bias tape. I don’t like the way it looks on the back. Also, I didn’t have enough bias tape, so I attached ribbon to finish that edge. I outlined a couple pots and cup. If I use this method for the placemats, I’ll have to be okay with bias tape binding not being perfect on the back.

I've had enough mug rug making.  I thought I would enjoy them more, but I don't so much.  I think it's because I don't really know how to quilt, so I'm not very interested in going all out in making them really cute.  I really like making bags/purses/totes more than anything else.