sugaree - I'm so glad you liked your package! And the tank looks supercute on you! I know I mentioned it like 1,000 times already, but I'm glad that you inspired me to craft outside my comfort zone.

Thanks for all of the crafty love, I was heavily inspired by two different tanks/tees on sugaree's wists and hope that I succeeded in making something that was gibbous-inspired without being too fussy.

Pleated bag pattern is the Buttercup Bag. Pattern available for free here: http://www.made-by-rae.com/2009/02/free-buttercup-bag-sewing-pattern.html  It is an easy pattern that requires a small amount of fabric.

I have a picture of the extra flowers - these were so easy and fun to make. I kind of want to make a dozen of them and pin them onto every plain thing I own.



Boo for flakers! I'm bummed to miss out on the awesome gourds.

I've been slack on commenting on all of the fabulous geezerly projects for this swap, but I've been stalking the gallery faithfully and have been so impressed by the talent in this bunch.

And some photos of my fabulous package from Mamaphunk:

All of the loot


Baggie of (vintage?) buttons and a book about buttons


Key fobs - I love these!


Fun girly things! Lots of kanzashi flowers, a pendant, fab felt flower pin and a tiny little matryoshka doll. Plus, an assortment of combs, pins, clips and whatnot - my daughter requested that I make some of them into clip-on flowers for a headband for her.


But wait...there is more! Check out this awesome quilt made from vintage sheets!


And I can't figure out HOW Mamaphunk knew I liked this print because I can't find it on my wist or in my Etsy faves, but what a fun little surprise to find these tucked inside my package:


My kids loved the lollipops, kept them quiet for a good 20 minutes.


And Lucy is a fan of the quilt - see how big it is?


THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SUCH A SWELL PACKAGE! I'm thrilled with everything in it!

Guess what I got in the mail today??? That's right, an AWESOME package from Troublet.

The loot: Adorable stenciled tote bag/grocery sack, swiffer cover, set of 3 crocheted dishcloths, three dryer balls, tin full of homemade granola bars and (not sure why it didn't make the picture) some homemade apple butter!


One more view, this time with the other side of the bag:


Close up of the swiffer cover and dishcloths. I love the "hair" on the swiffer cover. I just want to pet it.


We have already sampled the granola bars and they are YUMMY. Thank you so much for such a great package, I love it all!

[You will need:]

First, a sneak peak:

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn312/lynsay_photos/IMG_1082.jpg

8 months into my third pregnancy, I have finally mastered the art of making my maternity pants more comfortable for the expanding belly. It never fails that by the time the last trimester hits, pants that fit in the butt and thighs have uncomfortably tight waistbands, or the waistbands twist in about 17 different places. If I wear pants that don't squash the growing fetus, I'm constantly pulling them up and/or look like I'm carrying a load of pebbles in my rear end they are so saggy. I wish I had discovered this quick fix about two kids ago!

I should also give credit to the following places for the inspiration for the recon:

http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=28377
http://sewchic.blogspot.com/2008/08/tutorial-how-to-convert-jeans-into.html

Without further ado, how to make your maternity pants more comfortable using $3 worth of elastic and a thrifted t-shirt.

You will need: a pair of pants, a t-shirt that fits snugly around your waist (I used a cotton/spandex blend), 3-inch wide elastic (enough to fit comfortably under the belly)

I found these GAP jeans at a secondhand store for less than $10, but the only thing holding the pants up was this blue knit tube of fabric. After about an hour of hiking the pants (and my underwear  ) back up, I decided they were good candidates for a custom waistband.


To begin, use a seam ripper or scissors to remove the old waistband.


You should get something that looks like this:


Then, take your t-shirt and cut it straight across under the armpits to make a tube of stretchy knit fabric.


Cut your elastic to size, leaving an extra inch of seam allowance for sewing it into a band. For this particular pair of pants, I ended up with a band that was about 38 inches around. I used 3-inch elastic, it seems to lay flatter than narrower widths for me. Not all elastics are created equal as it turns out. Some elastics are very stiff, this particular elastic is quite soft and doesn't have quite as aggressive of a stretch as other wide elastics. I'm not sure what purpose the little ruffles serve, I think they are supposed to be decorative?


Sew the ends of the elastic together to form the band.


Open the seam, then sew along each raw edge so that the seam lays completely flat.


I don't have a photo of this step, but mark both the elastic band and your tube of knit fabric in four places - center front, center back, each side seam. Then, pin the elastic to the INSIDE of the knit fabric (about 1/4" from the raw edge of the fabric), matching your markings on the sides, front and back. Use a straight stitch to secure the elastic to the knit tube on each mark.


Pin the knit tube with the attached elastic to the inside of the jeans, the OUTSIDE of the knit tube should be next to the jeans, the elastic should be the innermost part.  Be sure to match up the marks on the elastic to the center front and back seams and side seams. Pin in these locations, then stretch the elastic and band to fit and add more pins to secure it to the pants.


Use a zigzag stitch to secure the elastic and knit tube to the jeans. Again, you may need to stretch the elastic and the knit tube as you go.


Reach inside the pants and pull the knit tube up like this:


Fold down the top of the knitted tube and pin it to the pants, hiding the elastic band in the process. You'll want to make sure that the serged edge of the jeans isn't folded down as you pin. If necessary, stretch the knit fabric so that it is even along the edge of the pants.


Use a zigzag stitch to carefully secure the finished edge of the knit tube to the jeans. Watch out for any rivets and use extra care when going over thicker seams.


Here is a close up of the finished outer portion of the pants:


And a close up of the finished inner portion:


And finally, some pictures of the pants in action! The band can be worn up or down, depending on how much material you want over your belly. So far, this style of waistband has worked really well for me for the past few months. It passes both the sitting down and standing up test, plus the bending over to pick stuff up test with hardly an adjustment needed.








Thanks for looking and I hope this tutorial helps another momma-to-be from suffering the discomfort of bunchy or too tight elastic waistbands.  

What a happy surprise! My swap angel package arrived this morning - thank you so much Daniethanas! You outdid yourself with this package - I love it. Without further ado, here are the goodies:

The mug and goodies inside. Yum! This mug arrived just in time as I start back to work tomorrow morning after a few weeks off. Glad to be able to bring my coffee with me for a change!


Samples of some New England roasted beans including two fun flavored coffees:


Coffee themed marble magnets! Hard to tell in this photo, but the are the XL size. Very cute!


All of the handmade items together. A dishcloth, small scrubby, crocheted coffee cuff, coasters, and colorful bookmark. These are all great! I can crochet, but nowhere near this fancy.


Slightly better view of the bookmark. This thing is AWESOME. Daniethanas used thread to make it and it is so delicate. I can't imagine all of those tiny little crochet stitches. The best part is that I was just thinking the other day that I needed a proper bookmark as I tend to use receipts, envelopes, or whatever other scrap of paper I can find to mark my page. This one is much better.


Lots of fun extras! Little buttons, plenty of hot cocoa, cookies, candies, and a purse-sized planner.


Thank you so much for your thoughtful package, Daniethanas. It was well worth the wait!

Technically my partner hasn't received her package yet (it is out for delivery right now), but it appears that she has gone MIA and deleted her Craftster account.   I'm guessing that she won't be posting pictures of what she received, so here they are from me instead. nerdlover indicated that her favorite colors were pink and brown and that she liked polka dots, so this swap package features both.

Everything together:


Mug and fillers:

The bottle is a small bottle of vanilla coffee syrup. I included a few felt-topped wooden stirring sticks and a crocheted mug cozy.

Drink samples:

A few packets of tea in a polka-dotted tea wallet, single-serving hot cocoas, and a half-pound of coffee from one of my favorite Minneapolis coffee shops. I believe the owner gave me his organic Turkish roast, which he roasted himself.

Marble Magnets:

Might be hard to see in the photo, but they spell out coffee, tea and brew.

Coffee Cup Cozy:

Empty Caribou Coffee cup not included.

And finally, some tile coasters:

Thrifted tiles with pink and brown scrapbook paper decoupaged to the top with felt bottoms.

My package from CraftyMcGluestick arrived this afternoon!!! I'm really pleased with all of the crafty goodies she sent - she did a fabulous job of making things that really fit my taste. Seriously, I love it all! And now, the photos:

Recipe cards! So adorable with the retro housewife theme. They came in a rainbow of colors and with coordinating recipe box dividers and some blank stripey cards. I love that there are so many categories - now I'll have to find the time to actually organize my recipes!


Close up of the recipe cards. The front of each card says "You'll eat it... You'll eat it and you'll like it." and the back says "She was the life of the Tupperware party." Tee hee.


Then we have some fun marble magnets. I've made these for others, but have yet to put any on my own fridge! Love the bright colors and designs.


And then we have a set of cloth napkins. These are absolutely adorable. You can't tell from the picture, but they are very generously sized, which is perfect for my messy family.


A groovy little potholder crafted from CraftyMcGluestick's beloved worn-out jeans. Yay for recycled craftiness!


Other side of the potholder. Cute fabric! (I think I have seen this somewhere else...perhaps in your kitchen, CraftyMcGluestick?)


And finally, a snappy floral half-apron! I love the fabric - what a fun print. The rick-rack detail on the pocket is great.


Here is a parting shot of the apron in action. Well, sort of. I'm standing in my messy bedroom taking a self-portrait in front of a mirror that clearly needs a once-over with some Windex. I could do that in an apron, right?


Can't wait to put these items to use. I will have to don the apron in a few hours and see what kind of delicious dinner I can whip up for the fam. Thanks for sending such a fun package, CraftyMcG. You did a great job of filling it with things that I like. 

I'm about to head up to my room for more crafting, but thought I'd post a little teaser picture of what I'll be working with this evening. The hubby finally remembered to bring these home for me:

You'd be amazed at how many different uses one can find for old political campaign signs. And no, we didn't have all of the signs up in our yard.

Don't worry, Crafty McGluestick. It won't be this big when it arrives at your house.

I upgraded my sewing machine for my birthday this year and I broke it in with an Amy Butler pattern. My new machine handled it with ease and here are the results:

A birdie Birdie Sling!

I'm so pleased with the way that it turned out. It will be perfect as a carry-on bag for a trip I'm taking in October. I may even end up using it as a diaper bag.

My 3-year-old took one look at my new bag and immediately said that she needed one too. So....I scanned the pattern pieces, reduced them to about 65% and made a miniature version of the same bag:

I had enough fabric for the little bag, but ran out of the same interfacing that I used on my big Birdie. Rather than run to the store, I used slightly different fleece and interfacing and the bag ended up with a slightly different stiffness. Next time I will make sure to use the recommended material.

Momma Birdie and Baby Birdie:

I think that my 3-year-old and I may end up fighting over the Baby Birdie. It is a nice-sized little handbag.

And finally, a very poor quality shot of the interior and pockets. This view is of the big bag, the little one has the same pockets, except I did not divide the large pocket.

I like a lighter colored interior so that I can easily find my stuff.

I may add a magnetic snap closure to both of the bags and will probably need to make at least one zippered pouch for the Big Birdie so that I have a chance at finding my things in the bottomless pit that the bag could easily become.

Thanks for looking!

My package arrived today from.....kartiana!

Here are the goodies:

She made a super-cute apron and matching potholder for me. I really like how bottom edge of the apron is all flouncy and ruffly. And somehow she figured out that my current potholders need to be replaced! Now I guess I'll actually have to cook something this weekend to try out my new kitchen crafts.  I'll try to edit this post with a picture of the apron in action. I couldn't get a good one of myself, so I'll have to make the hubby do it tomorrow.

In addition to fun stuff for me, kartiana also included something for each of my kids. The crayon roll was for my 3-year-old. Here's a close up of it:


And here is my daughter being silly while showing the unrolled view.

She spent the better part of the afternoon coloring with her new crayons. I'd say that the crayon roll was a big hit!

There was also an adorable bib for my 8-month-old. It's a fun dot pattern on one side and flannel stripes on the other.


I had my son model it, but he preferred to eat it:


Then he promptly spit up on it.

I'm happy to say that the bib performed perfectly and he did not require an outfit change. 

Thank you so much for being such a good stalker swapper, kartiana!