Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Weekly Project List Update Wednesdays

I realized that I completed missed last Wednesday but I really didn't have much to report and by the time I had time to blog it was already Friday.

There isn't a whole lot new on the list but I did finished the two crochet headbands and a tutu for a birthday gift and right now I am working on an order for custom curtains!  My friend picked out a super cute and classic pink with white polka dot fabric for her girl's room.  They have basic curtains lined with black out fabric.  I will post about it when I finish them, hopefully the end of this week.

I also made a set of crochet coasters this week while watching TV.  I will probably make sets to sell once I launch my business as a cheaper option and also to have one hand when I need little gifts for people. 

Here is the rest of the list:

Rank Project Status How Many
1 Crochet Headband with Flowers COMPLETE 2
2 Custom Order Curtains 40% Complete 4
3 Green Knit Prayer Shawl Started 1
4 Swiffer Wet Jet Reusable Pads 3 Complete 6
5 Christmas Quilt 25% Complete 1
6 White Crochet Baby Blanket Started 1
7 Pink Eyelash Knit Scarf Started 1
8 White Newborn Knit Hat and Booties 50% Complete 2
9 Car Roll
2
10 Numbers Bean Bags
1
11 Small Rice Therapy Hot/Cold Bags
3
12 Crayon Roll for Boys
2
13 Riley Blake Jelly Roll Quilt
1
14 Car Mat Quilt
1
15 Animal Cloth Blocks
2
16 T-shirt Yoga Pants
2
17 Floor Cushions
2
18 Hooty Hoot Owl Quilt
1
19 Medium Rice Therapy Hot/Cold Bags
3
20 Alphabet Bean Bags
1
21 Red Knit Prayer Shawl
1
22 Crayon Roll for Girls
2
23 Pink Knit Baby Blanket
1
24 Girl Animal Print Rag Quilt
1
25 Baseball Knit Hat and Booties
2
26 Football Knit Hat and Booties
2
27 Food Fabric Bin
1
28 Cars Fabric Bin
1
29 Trains Fabric Bin
1
30 T-Shirt Bag
1
31 Kitchen Aid Cover
1
32 Sewing Machine Cover
1
33 Lovey Tag Blankets
2

Monday, June 20, 2011

Quick and Easy Crochet Headband

Last week I made of pair of headband's for our little neighbor's 3rd birthday party.  The little girl is into dress up and pink and purple so I made two headband and a pink and purple tutu for her birthday party at Build a Bear. For the headbands I followed a pattern I found online and I could whip up the headbands in about 30 minutes and did a few crochet flowers too.


 The headband uses a v-stitch with a ch 3 and dc on each end.  The pattern was very easy to memorize after making it once and I made the headbands about 16 inches in length then whip-stitch the ends together.  I sewed the crochet flowers on top of where I joined the headband to hide the seems.



For the first flower I found this pattern on the blog Action Hero after following links from Raverly. I loved the way the flower turned out and will probably use it as my go to crochet flower for headbands and hats.  It gives great dimension and isn't too big or bulky but can easily be made into a larger flower if need be.


The second flower I made was a quick and easy one from Aesthetic Nest blog that I follow.  She actually posted the tutorial when I was working on these headbands and the timing was perfect. She posts some great sewing ideas and tutorials plus some nice and easy to flower crochet patterns for those learning to crochet like me. I believe this flower took me 5 minutes to make!  It is a great way to embellish a shirt, hat, headband, bag, etc.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

WPLU Wednesday

It has been such a busy week here I didn't realize that I haven't posted in a week!  Of course, I have hardly been home and don't really have much to post about.
I have been working on a gift for a 3 year old girl's birthday party in two weeks with the little time I have spent crafting.  I am making a crochet headband with a fabric flower and crochet flower to attach.  I might also make a little tutu for her to play dress up with.  I am always excited when we get invited to a girl's birthday party because it gives me a chance to make some girly things.

Project List:

Rank Project Status How Many
1 Green Knit Prayer Shawl Started 1
2 Swiffer Wet Jet Reusable Pads 3 Complete 6
3 Christmas Quilt 25% Complete 1
4 White Crochet Baby Blanket Started 1
5 Pink Eyelash Knit Scarf Started 1
6 White Newborn Knit Hat and Booties 50% Complete 2
7 Car Roll
2
8 Numbers Bean Bags
1
9 Small Rice Therapy Hot/Cold Bags
3
10 Crayon Roll for Boys
2
11 Riley Blake Jelly Roll Quilt
1
12 Car Mat Quilt
1
13 Animal Cloth Blocks
2
14 T-shirt Yoga Pants
2
15 Floor Cushions
2
16 Hooty Hoot Owl Quilt
1
17 Medium Rice Therapy Hot/Cold Bags
3
18 Alphabet Bean Bags
1
19 Red Knit Prayer Shawl
1
20 Crayon Roll for Girls
2
21 Pink Knit Baby Blanket
1
22 Girl Animal Print Rag Quilt
1
23 Baseball Knit Hat and Booties
2
24 Football Knit Hat and Booties
2
25 Food Fabric Bin
1
26 Cars Fabric Bin
1
27 Trains Fabric Bin
1
28 T-Shirt Bag
1
29 Kitchen Aid Cover
1
31 Sewing Machine Cover
1
32 Lovey Tag Blankets
2
33 Crochet Headband with Flowers 50% Complete 1

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Weekly Project List Update Wednesdays

This is sad but there really isn't anything "updated" on my project list.  The only change I made was to crochet instead of knit a white baby blanket.  I already had the yarn set aside and will be re-purposing it.

I did teach myself the basic of crochets this week and I also had a major project fail.  I was attempting to make boxes for storage out of cardboard and mod podging the front with fabric.  It took a lot of time and effort and glue to make the boxes (multiple layers of cardboard needed for each side for strength), a can of spray paint for half of the box and I hated the way the fabric looked.  The box looked sloppy and unfinished, especially for the amount of time I put into it and I threw it away (actually recycled it).  I am working with my husband on making some wooden boxes instead.

I guess my week of non-productivity isn't that bad since we did host 2 BBQs this weekend and attended another one plus I had a sick boy for a day and a half. 

Here is the current project list

Rank Project Status How Many
1 Green Knit Prayer Shawl Started 1
2 Swiffer Wet Jet Reusable Pads 3 Complete 6
3 Christmas Quilt 25% Complete 1
4 White Crochet Baby Blanket Started 1
5 Pink Eyelash Knit Scarf Started 1
6 White Newborn Knit Hat and Booties 50% Complete 2
7 Car Roll
2
8 Numbers Bean Bags
1
9 Small Rice Therapy Hot/Cold Bags
3
10 Crayon Roll for Boys
2
11 Riley Blake Jelly Roll Quilt
1
12 Car Mat Quilt
1
13 Animal Cloth Blocks
2
14 T-shirt Yoga Pants
2
15 Floor Cushions
2
16 Hooty Hoot Owl Quilt
1
17 Medium Rice Therapy Hot/Cold Bags
3
18 Alphabet Bean Bags
1
19 Red Knit Prayer Shawl
1
20 Crayon Roll for Girls
2
21 Pink Knit Baby Blanket
1
22 Girl Animal Print Rag Quilt
1
23 Baseball Knit Hat and Booties
2
24 Football Knit Hat and Booties
2
25 Food Fabric Bin
1
26 Cars Fabric Bin
1
27 Trains Fabric Bin
1
28 T-Shirt Bag
1
29 Kitchen Aid Cover
1
31 Sewing Machine Cover
1
32 Lovey Tag Blankets
2

Learning to Crochet

I have been wanting to learn to crochet for a while but recently it seemed to become a popular thing in a few of the online sewing and crafting groups that I belong to.  While still learning to knit, I decided it was time to learn to crochet as well and follow the online trend.
I followed videos online from The Art of Crochet by Teresa Beginning Crochet playlist and also followed some of the tutorials from Lion Brand Yarn's Learning Center which has great crochet and knitting videos and other teaching tools.
I found once I learned how to do the single crochet stitch, the other stitches came easily.  It took me a little bit to get the single crochet stitch down but after that it was smooth sailing.  I wanted to start right away and make a blanket but I took a cue from my son's favorite TV show - The Biscuit Brothers and their most recent episode on practice.  You can't master anything instantly, you have to practice!

Using a size I/9 hook and some basic yarn that I had on hand which I believe is Red Heart Classic yarn, I started practing. I began with some basic chain stitches and single crochets.  Next I moved on to practicing half double crochet stitches, double crochet stitches and a row of triple crochet stitches.













Then I worked on learning how to do a crochet circle which is completed by doing chain stitches and double crochet stitches in a round till you complete a circle.


Next I combined my new skills of crochet circles, chain stitches and double crochet stitches and made a traditional crochet granny square.













I wanted to start crocheting a blanket but the other day it occurred to me that it is summer in Texas which means 100 degree days and I am completely crazy to start crocheting a blanket right now.  Instead I will make several granny squares and then crochet those together to make a blanket.