Hi Lovely Paper Crafters--

I work at Soldiers Media Center where they publish Soldiers Magazine and they have BOXES of them about to be thrown away. I'm ashamed to say that I bet they aren't even going to be recycled...just put in a dumpster.

I was talking to some people and we think it's kind of silly not to give them away and I know tons of people make crafts out of magazines like magazine bowls so it doesn't even matter what's on the pages.

If you want some free magazines, let me know and maybe we can work something out where you can pick them up one day (probably during the week only). The office is in Crystal City, about a 10 minute walk from the metro stop on 23rd Street.

*Stephanie

My mom made this. She's working on cork boards now. This one is in my apartment but she's made a few different ones for herself, my grandmother and my sister.



It's just a hay-like wreath from an arts & crafts store, lots of wine corks, hot glue and fake grapes. I really like it and wish it wasn't stuck in my dark hallway/foyer. One day when I'm not a renter....I tell myself that in reply to all my complaints of my current place.

[chain]

Completely inspired by Lilyzilla's post (http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=186454.0), I finally did some embroidery. I bought the Stitch Kit almost 9 months ago and have yet to use it. I even bought this embroidery stuff from DMC (or whatever that company is that makes all the floss) a year and a half ago.

I used one of the tea towels that came in the kit and I'm thinking I'll use it to do all my practicing.

With further ado...



I used the chain stitch, the satin stitch and the backstitch. I'm pretty sure I messed up all of them. Ha. Especially the chain stitch. The thread just wouldn't separate in a visually appealing way. I'll be the first to admit that it could be entirely due to user error.

Either way, I'm totally stoked I finally used my embroidery stuff. I hope to keep this up, maybe every couple of nights doing some embroidery before bed. I feel like an 82 year old. Ha 

Yay! Oh my god you did so much better than me. <3 I'm too chicken to try the chain stitch but yours turned out so cool, I might have to.. Love it!

oh silly me, i didn't do the chain stitch, it's the split stitch.

So my friend taught me how to use a Knifty Knitter in the winter of '05-'06. I'd like to learn how to knit with needles but I have a hard time learning from illustrations. One day I'll find a real person to teach me.

Here are all the things I've made:

A baby hat, the first thing I made-


A green and green/yellow set I made for myself. I love the scarf because it's really long but I never really used the hat-


Purple hat, part of a set for a friend-


Purple scarf that rounds out the set. This is the first time I added tassels-


First hat I added a pom pom to-


Close up of the pom pom-


Furry blue hat, it is super soft but I wish now that I used two strands of yarn instead of one to keep it from stretching out so thin when it's worn-


Dark blue hat, part of a set for a friend-


Dark blue scarf that finishes the set. I love this color; I've been meaning to make myself a set with it for myself-


Bright blue hat for a friend. This was done with a fairly plain yarn, with two strands of it so it is nice and thick. I forgot to take a photo of the scarf.-


Sparkly red scarf-


Cream colored hat for my mom. I made a scarf to match but I don't have a photo. And then, the hat was too tiny anyway-


This a set I made for my niece Piper. It is a very multi-piecy yarn so it isn't very warm but she lives in California. You can see my sister in the back wearing a scarf I made her. Disregard her bitchy look. I made her a hat to match the scarf too-


And another photo of Piper because she's adorable (completely unbiased of course)-


I can only make scarves and hats on the knifty knitter looms. I've tried mittens but they turned out to be a disaster. I know people have made bags and clothes and other things, which amazes me. Not to mention what people can do when they're knitting with needles. I need to find a grandmother who can teach me this stuff.

[Here is the finished front.]

Followed the tutorial on Instructables (http://www.instructables.com/id/E4WTUT5F3KLNTHZ/) with a few minor changes. And I'm a horrible sewer so there are differences from that too.

Onto the photos--

Here is the finished front.

(My musical tastes are very...varied. I love Lala's $1.75 cds.)



Here is the pile of awful yellow bias tape I was using at first. I hate bias tape and the feeling is apparently mutual.

(Ripping out the seams from a very tight straight stitch is hell. And time consuming. I think 88 cent seam rippers from Wal Mart make it harder as well. You can also see the white strips of this lining stuff I tried to use to make the center stiffer. I ended up pulling it out because I blamed it for the bias tape troubles. The final project was lined with nothing. but the cd's and being on a dashboard visor thing will keep it as stiff as it needs to be I think.)


Here is the finished back.

(See, I made straps that match the fabric and sewed the Velcro on. I think the girl who wrote the tutorial used some kind of Velcro that is two sided.)


Even though I made my own bias tape out of black fabric, I still can't, for the life of me, figure out how to do corners without looking like I'm high and blind.



Eh, I'm pleased with it. I think the fabric looks like confetti vomit and yet I still like it. It's nice and bright and will look good in my very plain, dark gray car that has no real embellishments.

 

So I made a tote from the Easy Peasy Tote Bag tutorial (http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=52143.0). This is my second attempt...see http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=180227.msg1872775#msg1872775 for my first ever attempt.

This one was actually a lot more difficult because it turns out my sewing machine does not like 28 cent thread from Wal Mart and will let you know its feelings by screwing up your sewing and make your project look like crap. But I finally finished and I still love this bag. The fabric was $2 a yard from Wal Mart and I have it in black too. It's originally meant for skirts and comes in round panels.

Full Bag Shot:



And the interior (just one pocket):



The pocket was not supposed to be so high but again, I had lots of issues with this bag. The cheap thread, me not understanding how different brands of interfacing work and ruining an iron, a needle and lots of fabric...yeah. Did I mention I'm new to sewing? Haha. You live, you learn.

No blisters from this one (see first attempt) because I did the straps by cutting them four times as wide and folding them in like bias tape. The black thread looked awful so I ended up buying matching pink thread and ripped out lots and lots of seams.

I still like the bag and that's what counts, right? 

[STILL UNSENT]

Post your goodies!

(Original thread: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=177945.0)

I'm going to try and color code who has sent and if it's been received. The name on the left is blue when sent, green on the right when received.

If you have received and your name isn't green, don't forget to send dogsarecool or I a PM and post pictures. If you have done so and/or if you see any errors, let me or dogsarecool know. Also, if you are still waiting to get feedback, send us a friendly reminder 

STILL UNSENT
Name       Sending To
hertrigger --> WYOKrista
hertrigger --> gossamer_gull
Knitstuff --> Misskorilyn
Misskorilyn -->   SewingLori

DONE
Name       Sending To
Ariaya-->Flying Betty
Bonbabbu-->cold.dinner
bronzfrog-->TrashedClothing
bronzfrog-->gossamer_gull
carebear4890-->irasema
christinacoghill-->superhooker
christinacoghill --> dropdeadsuzie
cold.dinner --> bonbabbu
Colorfuldayz --> whatzudoin
dogsarecool --> ImAKite
dogsarecool --> hertrigger
dogsarecool --> bronzfrog
dogsarecool  --> yamwam
dropdeadsuzie --> SewingLori
dropdeadsuzie --> dogsarecool
fezzle --> dogsarecool
Flying Betty --> Knitstuff
geeber --> Ma Rut
GirlBrett --> fezzle
gossamer_gull --> christinacoghill
gossamer_gull --> superhooker
ImAKite   --> irasema
irasema   --> whatzudoin
irasema   --> dogsarecool
jesseeyore --> yarn_tart
jshires   --> TheLilCrocheter
Kristianne88 --> hertrigger
lunanne   --> teddybearbones
Ma Rut --> myklia
milwjamie --> carebear4890
Moonlightbliss33 --> milwjamie
myklia --> Ariaya
n u l l g a l  --> jesseeyore
punky*bratzer --> bronzfrog
sarush   --> Kristianne88
sarush   --> squir_l
sarush   --> lunanne
SewingLori --> Colorfuldayz
SewingLori --> dropdeadsuzie
superhooker -->   sarush
superhooker -->   Geeber
teartear --> yarn_tart
teddybearbones   --> GirlBrett
TheLilCrocheter   --> teartear
TrashedClothing   --> sarush
whatzudoin --> Moonlightbliss33
whatzudoin --> jshires
WYOKrista --> christinacoghill
yamwam   --> sarush
yarn_tart --> n u l l g a l
yarn_tart --> punky*bratzter


Angels
Name       Sending To
Wildfyre --> WYOKrista
sweetestangel --> gossamer_gull
dogsarecool --> SewingLori

So I made a tote from the Easy Peasy Tote Bag tutorial (http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=52143.0). I love this bag and am totally amazed it turned out. And, I'll actually use this bag, unlike the only other one I made a few months ago. I can't wait to use it on Monday and get to tell people I made it. Modest, I know 

Here is the bag, in all its glory:



And here is the inside (with an issue of Real Simple to show the size), with the only interior embellishment I added, a little pocket:



The exterior fabric is very linen-y and pretty thick so I only added interfacing to the lining. It was a pretty light interfacing so the bag isn't super structured but it is able to stand on its own.

If I ever make this bag again (who am I kidding, I'll probably make another one tomorrow), I won't make the straps like the tutorial says to, with turning those 26" long beasts inside out. The first one took me over 40 minutes and then I realized I could use my teeth (yeah, I looked pretty hot). The second one only took me 15 minutes, but when I was sewing the lining in, I pricked my index finger and all that pushing-fabric-inside-outness gave me a blister because I popped it! I never knew sewing could give me blisters, ha. It's an extreme sport apparently.

Seriously. So I finally made a chapstick holder for my keyring (see post http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=170412.0). The D rings I already had in my stock (for making belts from ribbon) ended up being a little too small, so I ordered some new ones that I calculated to be roomy. But not THIS roomy....


Mini Me, meet GODZILLA-So if you check out the linked post, the little D ring is the same size as the one I used. I never thought the new ones would be this MONSTROUSLY HUGE.


Hook Thingy-...that may possibly EAT my mouse.


Godzilla-And if the hook thing doesn't eat my mouse entirely, this will finish it off.

So do you guys think I can still use the monstrous hooks and d-rings for the same type of chapstick holder? Any other easy peasy crafts that might be better suited? The hook thingies are seriously big enough to be for dog leashes. And by dog leashes, I mean leashes for great danes.

I finally made a chapstick  holder! I love all the knitted and crocheted ones people make but I cannot knit or crochet. And if you keep reading this message, you'll find I'm not that great of a sewer either, but I manage to get by.

Onto the pictures--


CASE


CHAPSTICK-It has a snap closure. Which was tough since my snap setter does not really fit in the tube where the chapstick goes.


ME=BAD SEWER-All that fabric folded over did not make the sewing machine too happy. I've got to find a new way to use less fabric on top. Or learn to sew. Or get a better sewing machine.

I bought some bigger D-rings and even the hooky ones (yeah, that's their technical name). Now if I could get the hang of sewing without looking like I'm drunk and hard of seeing, and all the people in my life will be getting wonderful chapstick holders.