Fatten up hubby and bag yourself a new, erm, bag!

Okay, I'm not actually suggesting that you go ahead and feed your hubby to chubbify him in order make him throw out loads of his clothes under discrete duress so you can plump up your crafting stash.  Neither am I suggesting that mine is a porker - he just loves  a bargain: 'it was less than half price but I've never worn it'.....  I thought it was only us chicks that suffer from that philosophy!!!  But, thanks to his impulsiveness, I have a 'new' bag!

I love books and we have four 3" x 6" book cases filled with books.  Despite loving owning books, I still love my local library service because it allows me to try books without obligation, or indulge what may just be a passing crafting phase without forking out.  Although I love taking the kids to the children's section of the library, I don't like the scowls I receive when I try to look about the adult section ('adult' sounds pervy, but you know what I mean!).  We have a wonderful mobile library service that visits us once a fortnight, which I'm sure there are many available up and down the UK.  Oxfordshire library service has an excellent web interface that allows one to browse the entire county catalogue and even links to Amazon so the user can take a peek through the book.  A few clicks later and a small fee (£1), and the books of interest can be added to the mobile library round for convenient pick-up. 

I've always felt rather daunted by the thought of making handbags, in particular in the lining of them, until I came across this book by Emma Brennan (if you're interested in looking it up, it has ISBN 978-1-86108-502-3 and belongs to the Dewey Decimal classification 646):

I have to say, it hardly is a sewing book for the faint-hearted, but Emma Brennan does go into amazing detail about lining, zips, fastenings and embellishments.  What I love most about her book is the way in which she gets the creative juices flowing by (for many of the bags) using the same template but finishing them differently for two very unique looks.  You can probably tell from the photograph that I opted for 'Vivien'. 

Now that my little ones are out of nappies and I have them carrying their own snacks and drinks, it's high time I ditched the nappy bag and start something more grown-up.  I love that 'Vivien' is a fairly compact bag that is plain enough to use during the day but also feminine enough to use as an evening bag. 

I made a few modifications to the pattern to make it work for my Mummy lifestyle.  Rather than simply sewing in both sides of the handle, I salvaged a metal rectangle from a 'free' belt that came with one of the boy's pairs of shorts and attached it to the main body of the bag where the handle should have been attached.  I cut the handle one and a half times longer than the pattern required and sewed some velcro to the underside of the handle (don't make the mistake of thinking that buying stick-on velcro will help hold it in place while you sew - it will just stick to your sewing machine needle and jam!).  I used approximately 10 cm of hook at the loose end and 25 cm of loop immediately after that.  Why on earth would I do such nonsense?  My pushchair has a single bar for the handle instead of two handles so I can just throw my bag over it.  Of course, I could also attach my bag to the handlebar of my bike.  I photographed it looped around a dining chair and like to think that it adds a bit of security when I'm out and about because it makes it harder to pinch.

Emma Brennan's bags use magnetic handbag fasteners, but I couldn't find any so instead added some jeans poppers.  I have a Prym Vario Plier and absolutely love adding no-sew fasteners to my projects (I cannot stand it when my duvet covers come with button fasteners and add poppers to the opening as soon as I buy a new one).

Of course, I used the jacket lining as the bag lining and salvaged the buttons.  The central navy velvet ribbon ribbon detail, although disguised as a continuity stripe following from the handle, is in fact hiding the seam that I had to add due to the narrow sections of fabric I managed to un-pick from the discarded jacket.

I'm very pleased with my first handbag project and will promptly be making a patchwork bag for the girl but will fashion the bow detail such that it looks like a butterfly =)

More stash-busting mug hugs!

I am absolutely itching to get out to buy some gorgeous yarns for some new projects but my new-found self-discipline that has come with having children (who am I kidding?  It's purely single-income-family-induced!!) tells me I have to use up all of my stash first.  What better way of using up little odd balls than making a whole load of mug hugger coasters?  With only three mug huggers in the house, we didn't have enough for when gets were round!

My original mug huggers had button loops that passed over the handles of the mugs but I decided to make my new ones with button hole bands that pass under the handle for two reasons: the mug huggers are more versatile and can be used with different height mugs and hubby kept complaining that the mug hugger came up too high on the mug and got in the way of his lip as he drank his tea!!!

Here's how I did it: 

Button hole row 1:  After working the mug hugger 1" shorter than I wanted its finished height to be, I started the button hole band.  I like my buttons to face outwards when I hold my mug with my right hand, so after reaching the end of a wrong-side row, I worked a chain of length 8. 
Button hole row 2:  I turned and started the next row in the second chain from the hook.
Button hole row 3:  Work the row until 6 stitches remain, chain 4, skip 4 stitches, work the last 2 stitches
Button hole row 4:  Work first 2 stitches.  When working button holes, I find it easier to work the stitches to wrap the chain rather than work into the chains.  Work 4 stitches to wrap the chain, then work to the end of the row

Work 2 more rows, break yarn and weave in loose ends.


I like using quite large buttons, or indeed co-ordinating crochet ball buttons (see my water bottle carrier pattern for how to make a crochet ball button).  You may find you need to alter the size of your button holes depending on the buttons you decide to use.

I think I'm well on my way to banish these resilient and pesky odd balls!

Pretty little panty liner pouch

Let's face it, they're not the most glamourous of things, but we all use knicker stickers, don't we?  I always buy the unwrapped ones.  Never mind the fact that the wrapped ones are more expensive, I simply cannot justify all the extra wastage created by the plastic wrappers!  The problem with the unwrapped ones is that they have a tendency to go rogue in one's handbag and attract all manner of debris.  So, using a few scraps and sewing a few straight lines, I made myself a little pouch for throwing into my handbag.  You could of course just apply the same principle to making tissue or nappy pouches, or even a cover for your baby wipes =)

The crossover feature means that there is no need for closures, so no buttons or button holes!  All you need is a few scraps of fabric, and if you'd like, some bias binding.

The cutting part is so simple: all you need is five rectangles of the same size.  I decided to allow ½" room plus ¼" seam allowance on each side, so cut out five 4" x 8" rectangles.  I wanted a criss-cross effect so cut two of my pieces with the pattern running in the opposite direction from the others.

Fold two of your rectangles in half along the long side and two in half along the short side, such that the right-sides are facing outwards:

Now to start layering your pieces up ready to sew:

1.  If you are planning not to add a border of binding, and will therefore be turning your pouch out after sewing it, place the unfolded piece right-side up (if you are going to bind it, place it wrong-side up) and place a long piece on top of it aligning the side with the two raw edges with the edge of the bottom piece and the folded edge running along the middle.
2. Place a short piece aligning the side with the two raw edges with the edge of the bottom piece and the folded edge running along the middle.
3. Place the second long piece opposite the first long piece.
4. Place the second short piece opposite the first short piece, tucking one side under the first long piece so as to create the criss-cross.
5. Pin all the pieces together.
6. Sew a ¼" seam all the way round.  If you are binding your pouch, do this now.  If you are not binding it, sew a zigzag over-casting stitch all the way round to prevent further fraying and turn your pouch right-side out.

'I can never find my phone in this huge bag!'

I've never been one to be over-precious about my phone and have never bought a posh phone case....  What's the point - I'll get a free upgrade in 18 months, right?  So why on earth did I make myself a phone sock?  Well, it just started as my first ever attempt at Tunisian crochet (I've always loved the woven look of the fabric and wanted to try it), and because I bought a double-ended hook I wanted to try working it in two colours in the round.  After a few rounds, and because I just happened to make my practice piece the correct circumference, I decided to make a phone sock. 

Now that I've made it, I simply can't understand why I didn't make one before!!  I added a button at the bottom for easy access and a button hole at the top for  attaching a lanyard.  I made two: one long enough to wear around my neck for when I don't want to carry a bag, and one for attaching to my bag handle or for sliding on to my belt.

I wish I'd made one when the kids were still in nappies and I was always carrying around an over-sized nappy bag.....  I'm not the only one am I?  I had the biggest change bag ever and always managed to fill it with all manner of junk, most of which I didn't need, and the things I did need (phone, wallet, keys) would always get lost somewhere in amongst the nappies, baby wipes, and the various mystery items the kids would end up throwing in.  Now, I can just attach my phone to my bag handle, pushchair handle or belt so I can quickly find it.  Now the kids are out of nappies, I often take them out for quick trips without a bag at all and I can just button my lanyard onto to phone sock, throw in a cash card and some cash and off I go =)

A bit too blobby for your t-shirt? Hand it down to your mini-me!

Come on, admit it: you've got a tonne of clothes that you have stashed away for when you 'lose those few extra kilos'.  Ok, if you won't, then I'm coming out with it: I have loads of clothes that I put away when I became pregnant.  When it came to unpacking them again, it was clear that I would not be wearing them again.  With some of them, it's not even just because I've turned into a blob, but more because they're not really very 'me' anymore.  I love my Coco Monkey t-shirts, but they're quite short and I no longer want to flash my midriff.

The thing I love about t-shirt fabric is that it doesn't really fray.  This quality makes it really easy for modifications to be made with a few snips and no overlocking (and indeed for making tarn ).  I had some grey organza from a posh bunch of flowers that hubby bought me a while back that I've been saving to make a tutu for the girl.  I thought it would look perfect added to the bottom of the grey t-shirt.  As the t-shirts were already quite short (just over 55 cm from top to bottom), I didn't want to shorten them too much.  I cut of the sleeves, the necks, and after cutting off the bottom cut two 2.5 cm strips from the bottom of the grey one to be used as drawstrings for the necks of both dress.

For the pink one, I simply folded each side of the neck inwards and sewed a 1.5 cm channel through which the drawstring would be passed.  I then drew a strip of the grey t-shirt through the channels and tied a bow.  I used a flexible bodkin, but you could simply attach a safety pin to one end and use it to help you ease the drawstring through the channel (a trick my mum taught me).

I took a few extra steps with the grey t-shirt.  After cutting 15 cm strips from the organza, folded it in half lengthwise and stitched 7 mm from the folded edge with my shirring foot, I was lucky enough to end up with a ruffled strip roughly 2 cm longer than the width of the t-shirt (it went from 115 cm to 40 cm).  I made 4 of these strips and sewed them onto the bottom of the grey t-shirt, two staggered on each side.

Obviously, the end size of the sun dress will depend on the start size.  My t-shirt started out as a fitted UK size 8-10 and ended up fitting my rather small 3 year old.  Indeed, you could use the technique to turn hubby's old t-shirts into a top for yourself (go on, poke holes in the sleeves of his t-shirts).

Of course mini-me wants a mini-Mummy sun hat!

Before I even finished making my wide-brimmed crochet sun hat I knew that my daughter would want one for herself so I asked her to pick out the yarn for it.  She chose Wendy Supreme cotton DK in 'seashell, 1946', a soft shade of pink (of course), of which I used approximately 110 g.  And here it is, a matching mini-me hat with slightly different shaping.  I have yet to make a flower (believe me, she won't let me forget that I haven't yet), but am going to sew it rather than crochet it.

She's a small three-and-a-half year old with a head circumference (measured diagonally from the back of her neck and round her forehead) of 47 cm.  I think it will fit quite a range of ages as the mother of a 9 month old just couldn't resist trying it on her little girl today, and there is still plenty of give in it for my daughter.  The cotton gives it a slight weight that is lacking in sewn cotton hats and it doesn't blow off, and the bpdc detail gives the hat a slight firmness that can handle the brim being left down or rolled.

As I emphasised with the pattern of my adult sized hat, this is not the simplest of patterns as bpdc takes a little while to master but you really must not omit it because it tightens the trebles and the size would be completely wrong without the bpdc rounds.  I write all my patterns in UK terminology so make sure to check out my post on terminology.

I have worked hard creating my original patterns and am happy for them to be used for free.  Please do not sell the patterns.  If you do sell the end products please state clearly that they were made using my design, and that the pattern came from www.craftymamasanchez.blogspot.com.  Thanks, and enjoy! 

What you'll need:

• Yarn(s) of choice plus the crochet hook required to work to a tension of 22 dc to 10 cm
• Yarn needle
• Small safety pins or stitch markers

Techniques used (UK terminology):

• ch: chain
• slst: slip stitch 
• dc: double crochet (US single crochet)
• htc: half treble crochet
• tc: treble crochet
• dtc: double treble crochet
• bpdc: back post double crochet
• working rounds by joining
• working in continuous rounds
• magic circle  

Working bpdc (back post double crochet): 

Back-post double crochet is a special stitch that is worked around the posts of the stitches of the previous round in order to push the characteristic 'chain' at the top of the work to the front of the work.  It can be a little fiddly to master at first, but please do not try to omit the bpdc rounds from the pattern - double crochets work up a lot tighter than trebles and double trebles and the hat and the bpdc round will tighten the previous round slightly.

1. A yellow and a pink arrow have been placed to show where the hook will be inserted from the back and from the front respectively in working the first bpdc after the slst
2. Insert the hook at the back of the work in the next stitch such that it emerges at the front
3. Reinsert the hook from front to back in the next stitch.  The hook will now be lying on top of a post
4. Yarn over and draw a loop through, yarn over and draw hook through both loops on hook 
5. At the end of the round, slst to the first bpdc of the round to join
6. There will now be a circle of chains that has been pushed forward to form a ridge, and a new circle of chains at the top into which the next round will be worked

Hat:

This project is worked without turning.

From round 3 and every odd round thereafter, work bpdc for the entire round, slst to first bpdc to join round:

Round 1:  With main colour make a magic circle, ch2 (counts as first tc), work 13 tc into the circle, slst to the top of 2ch to join round [14]
Round 2:  Ch 2, tc into slst, work 2 tc into each of the next 13 st, slst to top of 2ch to join round [28]
Round 4:  Ch 3, dtc into slst, work 2 dtc into each of the next 27 st, slst to top of 3ch to join round [56]
Round 6:  Ch 3, 2 dtc into next st, (dtc, 2 dtc into next st) x 27, slst to top of 3ch to join round [84]
Round 8:  Ch 3, 4 dtc, 2 dtc into next st, (5 dtc, 2 dtc into next st) x 13, slst to top of 3ch to join round [98]
Round 10:  Ch 3, 5 dtc, 2 dtc into next st, (6 dtc, 2 dtc into next st) x 13, slst to top of 3ch to join round [112]
Round 12:  Ch 3, 6 dtc, 2 dtc into next st, (7 dtc, 2 dtc into next st) x 13, slst to top of 3ch to join round [126]
Round 14:  Ch 2, 20tc, 6htc, 72dc, 6htc, 21tc, slst to top of 2ch to join round [126]
Round 16:  Ch 2, 22tc, 6htc, 66dc, 6htc, 25tc, slst to top of 2ch to join round [126]
Round 18:  Ch 2, 24tc, 6htc, 60dc, 6htc, 29tc, slst to top of 2ch to join round [126]
Round 20:  Ch 2, 26tc, 6htc, 54dc, 6htc, 33tc, slst to top of 2ch to join round [126]
Round 22:  Ch 3, 7 dtc, 2 dtc into next st, (8 dtc, 2 dtc into next st) x 13, slst to top of 3ch to join round [140]
Round 24:  Ch 3, 8 dtc, 2 dtc into next st, (9 dtc, 2 dtc into next st) x 13, slst to top of 3ch to join round [154]
Round 26:  Ch 3, 9 dtc, 2 dtc into next st, (10 dtc, 2 dtc into next st) x 13, slst to top of 3ch to join round [168]
Round 28:  Ch 2, 10 tc, 2 tc into next st, (11 tc, 2 tc into next st) x 13, slst to top of 2ch to join round [182]
Round 30:  Ch 1, 11 htc, 2 htc into next st, (12 htc, 2 htc into next st) x 13, slst to 1ch to join round [196]
Round 32:  Ch 1, dc in each stitch round, slst to the 1ch to join round [196]
Round 34:  Slip stitch round

Weave in loose ends.

Old clothes, 'new cushion'

Ta da!!!  I've finally finished the quilted cushion cover I made from old clothes.  I started it back in January and it feels like I've been working on it forever.  In actual fact, it took me just over two hours to rotary cut the fabric and piece the quilt top.  I've been holding on to the quilted cushion cover top for ages because I've not had time to go to quilting group (poorly kids followed by a poorly me).  About a month ago I finally decided to buy myself a working foot and it finally arrived this morning.  No, I didn't have it sent from the slowest company ever, I didn't finalise my transaction properly......  Flipping heck!  PayPal requests so many blimming confirmations of transaction!  I was such a fool, it took me over three weeks to look into contacting the seller and in looking for the confirmations, I realised there wasn't one.  Duh!

As soon as I received my package this morning, my sewing machine was out with walking foot attached.  I used some bias tape I'd bought for the binding, and I have to say, I almost lost the will to live while hand-sewing the back of the binding in place, but it was definitely worth it.  I have to say, I'm feeling rather smug about how 'clever' I am for using the front of a shirt I spotted in my husband's pile of things to throw out as the cushion cover back.  How lazy am I?  No button-holing and no having to sew buttons in place!!! 

I opted for mitred binding, which I thought would be tricky but was surprisingly easy.  I didn't really think this quilt out beforehand as it was my practice piece....  Next time I'll do mitred borders as well as mitred binding for a neater finish.

Well, the girl loves it and used it in place of her pillow last night and then carried it downstairs with her today.  I'm pretty pleased with my first ever quilting project and am looking forward to making a whole load of things from the old clothes I've amassed since January =)