Tuesday, June 30, 2015

CARDIGAN "PETALES" ADULT



In yesterday's post, I wrote about Frannie promoting from 8th grade.  It was a special occasion which required a pretty dress.  Rules were for no spaghetti straps, strapless or backless dresses, and no prom gowns or bridesmaid dress attire.  Basically, keep your shoulders covered and don't dress inappropriately, after all, this was a serious ceremony and not a fashion show.  We found a nice dress, although shoulders would be visible, but not too much.  Frannie asked me to make something pretty to put those shoulders at bay.

I made this cardigan one other time (posted about here) and we thought it would be just the right thing, this time in sparkly pink (difficult color for me to photograph, but it did match the flowers in the dress just right).  I used Vanna's Glamour Yarn in Deep Magenta and the pattern Cardigan "Pétales" by Marjoline Petit.  It is available as a free Ravelry download in both French and English.  I used a simple, vintage rhinestone button as a closure.  It goes without saying that it looked very pretty on Frannie - and I'm not just saying that because I'm her mother.  :)


S.W.A.K.

Don't forget to visit Frannie at CuteKatyDolls on YouTube!

Monday, June 29, 2015

E.T. PHONE HOME

Frannie was recently promoted from eighth grade - that means she is officially a high school student!  She did so well this past year that we felt a nice gift was in order.  I crocheted her a wristlet to carry it around in.  It goes without saying that everything is pink. Frannie's is made with Lily Sugar 'n Cream, Strawberry Ombre.  One skein is more than enough.  You can make one too.  The pattern by Misty Makes is available as a free download via Ravelry or and you can find the link on my Pinterest board (right side bar) filed under "Cozies".  The flower was my idea. ;)

S.W.A.K.

Don't forget to visit Frannie at CuteKatyDolls on YouTube!

Friday, June 26, 2015

CROCHET PILLOW & DUMPSTER DIVING

Just finished this pillow.  It's been staring me in the face every day.  All that was left to do was to stitch down the yellow flower and two leaves.  That's it!  Today was the day!  It's a simple single crochet stitch, round and round, done in spiral fashion.  A back, front and crocheted together with a shell border.  I didn't even have a round pillow form, but I did have a square one.  So I tucked in the corners and stitched them down.  It worked perfectly.  The pillow is crocheted from Lily's Sugar 'n Cream, variegated, Aloe Vera.  It is one of those cotton yarns that has an odor, smell, scent - I don't like that.  I don't go into a store and say, "let me smell your yarn".  Do people do that?  So why the need for scent?  But I liked the color, and that was that.  It reminds me of summer, cottage living.

As for the dumpster diving, it wasn't actually a dive, more of a reach my arm in and pull out that sweet, vintage, pale pink chenille full-sized bedspread.  I don't know how old it is, but probably a good 50-60 years.  When Aunt Grace's house was being emptied last summer, her two sons thought it was garbage and threw it in the dumpster.  I saw it peeking out later that evening and went over to give it a good look.  Well, there were only a couple of small stains on it.  I snatched that thing lickety split and made a b-line up my sidewalk.  It was going home for a nice, warm bubble bath.  After coming out of the dryer, all soft and snuggly, the stains had magically disappeared!  I felt a little guilty about swiping it and made a confession.  They told me that if I found anything else I wanted to help myself.  I might have found a few more things.

S.W.A.K.

Don't forget to visit Frannie at CuteKatyDolls on YouTube!

Thursday, June 25, 2015

A IS FOR APRON(s)







Yesterday, Frannie was re-organizing her American Girl doll collection wardrobe.  She called me in to show me how well it turned out.  I noticed a stack of aprons.  I had forgotten how many I made.  Pattern for these aprons was Simplicity #2761, which is now out of print but still available hereI can't decide which is my favorite - maybe the one that matches Frannie's apron (I still have it tucked away).  The very last photo is from a blog post dated September 2008 - almost 7 years ago!  This apron was made from a Daisy Kingdom pattern for Simplicity #7856, also out of print.  It was available as a separate pattern in adult sizes too, of which I have made several (Simplicity #5201).  This particular pattern was great for using up leftover quilt binding.  Reminiscing over it makes me want to make it again.  I think I'll put that on the list.

S.W.A.K.

Don't forget to visit Frannie at CuteKatyDolls on YouTube!  She is up to 600 subscribers!  




Tuesday, June 23, 2015

BIB-bidi Bobbidi Boo



One of Frannie's teachers has a little girl, about a year old.  Frannie met her on Family Day at school.  Frannie thought she was adorable and asked if I might make a little something for her.  After seeing Thimbleanna's bib post, I have been wanting to make some too.  With a great deal of inspiration from Amy Sinibaldi of nanacompany, this is my interpretation of what a little girl should be wearing while enjoying a summer ice cream cone.  I don't own Amy's book, Sweetly Stitched Handmades, so I had to wing it by drawing out a pattern and putting it together without instruction.  I have had the fabrics for quite some time (you may have seen them here or there on this blog).  The bindings were left over from some previous quilting projects.  I put two layers of fabric together with a layer of cotton batting in between then quilted with a simple 1" grid pattern.  The two bibs have been completely hand-stitched and everything came out of my stash.  The pink cherries fabric is on the reverse of the cupcake print.  The cherries are crocheted with cotton thread.  You can find the cherries pattern here (originally found on Pinterest from nexttonicx).

P.S. - Have a scoop of chocolate for me!

P.P.S. - CuteStuffInside on Instagram.  Yeah!  Still learning the ropes.

S.W.A.K.

Don't forget to visit Frannie at CuteKatyDolls on YouTube 

 

Saturday, June 6, 2015

THAT'S NOT FRINGE


Made a traditional granny square poncho for Frannie in all her favorite colors.

(It sure is difficult to photograph these things!)


Pink shell neckline.  Squares joined as I went.  Six colors.  No pattern, just figured out the shape and sizing as I went along.  It looks awfully sweet on her.  Frannie loves a warm and cozy poncho.


Same shell border, different color, all the way around outer edge.



It has been steam blocked, but all those tails need to be woven in.  I think I'll wait until September because Frannie won't be able to wear it for the next four months anyway.  Onto another project or two... or three.  ;)

S.W.A.K.

Don't forget to visit Frannie at CuteKatyDolls on YouTube

Monday, June 1, 2015

LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT MY PURSE

A while back I found a cast-off, lunch-sized picnic basket at Goodwill (thrift store).  I don't know how old the basket is, but it appears to have been around the block a few times.  I paid $2.50.  Of course, I didn't take any before photos because I was too excited with my new found treasure and wanted to get started with the revamp right away.  You can take my word for it that it was in desperate need of some TLC.

Job number one was to gut the basket, thoroughly clean it, sand down the lid and paint it my favorite color.

Then I went to work crocheting numerous roses.  There are more flowers on the basket than you can actually see because I doubled some of them up to make them appear fuller and give it some various heights.

The flowers would need a platform to be attached to, so I made one using recycled cardboard and a layer of thin foam rubber which I covered with a scrap of natural colored cotton batting.  I used hot glue to adhere.

Next, I added a trim of cotton lace around the edge to hide any batting that might be visible.

After finding the center of the purse, I hot glued the platform to the top.

Around the edge I put some very sweet, pale pink velvet ribbon, just to finish it off.  The ribbon went on very neatly and I tacked it on with two sequin pins at the very back - no glue clumps here!

Then came the fun part of flower arranging.

Each flower is attached with a pearl head pin, some pink some white.  The leaves are also attached with pins, this way if anything should get dirty I can easily remove the flower for hand washing or simply make a new one, repin and send it on its merry way.

All the flowers are crocheted from various cottons such as my very favorite Tahki Cotton Classic, Paton's Grace, and maybe some crochet cottons as well as some embroidery floss.

On the front I added a pink umbrella dangle charm (which I found at Michaels) as well as some pink cherries to give the purse a front and back.

I have been stopped by more people than you can imagine (both men and women) who compliment my purse and want to know where I got it.  I proudly tell them.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my new old purse.  It's a real conversation starter.

S.W.A.K.

Don't forget to visit Frannie at CuteKatyDolls on YouTube