needle wrap 3.1 upgrade

A couple of years ago, just before venturing to the UK, I made my travel friendly needle wrap.  I really liked it.

However, after a couple of years of use, I started to form some ideas for improvements.  So when I got my desk back from the babysitters I pulled out my old sewing machine and got snipping and sewing.  I had decided to put a little zip pocket on one of the panels for all the tidbits that can't easily be kept loose like stitch counters and stitch markers etc.  I made the little "pencil case" with the same fabric and made it all matching.  Now, I and 'sewing zips' don't work so well together.  We had some disagreements and misunderstandings that the stitch unpicker had to come and mediate.  We came to an agreed understanding and whilst it's not as good as it could have been (more practise will get us working smoothly together in future) I'm happy enough the with result.  I did, however, have a change of plans when it came to sewing the pocket onto my wrap and opted to just sew one end allowing it to flip up and still use the slots underneath.  I also gave some inbetween stitching to the larger slots so they more snuggly hold my thinner needles and hooks.  Wah-la!  Needle wrap 3.1.  And I'm smiling bigger than before.

 You can also see that over the past two years I've upgraded the supply list too. ;)

back in Oz sale

Hi everyone!!  I'm back in my homeland.  Good old Australia.  Or should I say young?  After two years in England and travelling round Europe I realise how Australia's hundreds of civilized years are not that old.

I've been back a month now and spent some good time catching up with people and adjusting back to Aussie life.  To celebrate my return I'm having a sale in my online store.  So pop on over to kelgellcreations in the Artfire neighbourhood to check out some bargains.

There's 30% off everything in stock!!  Sale ends 15th May.

 

indulgence

At first glance it appears I've been a little piggy this morning and indulged in a few too many chocolates.

I have indulged but not in chocolates.  You see, the other week I had an hour to kill before work so I decided to just go window shopping.  However, I only got to the next block where there was a Cass Art store and I gleefully skiddled inside.  Easy to waste and hour there drooling and trying to contain myself.  I didn't completely contain myself though.  I swapped £50 for art goods.  They have such great sales and seem so much cheaper than I could get things back in Australia.  With the idea of being back in Australia very soon--my two year UK adventure nearly at its end--I decided to go ahead and pick out a few things to add to my shipping boxes.

One of the things I splashed out on was a bigger watercolour pan.  I have a travel size one with 12 half pans which I really like and I decided I just couldn't go past this bigger bargain.  £20 for 45 half pans!  The box said RRP£69.99 and I checked out individual half pan costs and they start from £3 each so it really was a phenomenal bargain.  This morning I unwrapped the little treats.  Thirty nine different colours with a few double ups of the more common ones.  Then I had the simple pleasure of painting up a rainbow colour chart.

presents sewn

 My sewing machine has been getting a good work out lately.  I love having it there so I can just pull out fabric and whip something up when the desire inspires.  These first two objects were planned.  The fabric I saw and had to get.  The boy I was looking after at the time just loves helicopters and planes.  In the end, months after I got my hands on the fabric I was invited to his and his friend's 4th birthday party.  (His friend I also looked after on a regular basis and also loves helicopters and planes.)

I made the waistcoat for the boy I was working with (previous nanny job) from the pattern Burda 9990.  I had some challenge translating the pattern into product.  I don't have much practise in this area of expertise.  At one point I got really stuck and ended up emailing some pics to my friend, Tab, who's done much more sewing than I and asking her.  Thankfully I got it all sorted and was able to progress.  Pretty happy with the result.  Had some errors to correct after attempting the button holes.  (First button holes on my UK sewing machine.)  And after taking these photos I pulled off all the buttons and re-sewed them in positions that hold the points at the bottom on equal level.  And the boy loves it.  He showed it to me when I visited and pointed out daddy's favourite plane and corrected my "blimp" with whatever it is officially titled.  The bag is a simple rectangle lined with calico and the shoulder straps work as a drawstring.  Next time I make one of these I think I'll use finer cord though.  The eyelets were fun to hammer into the corners at the bottom and I sewed them off so that little things or dirt and such won't get stuck in the corners around the eyelets on the inside.

And then this week I finally pulled together the plan for a flag that I've had stored in the ideas bank for the same boy and his little bro for a Christmas present.  At their family's country house there's a wooden playground they call the Fort and the mum had mentioned in passing about finding a flag for it.  That's when the idea began. Months ago.  This is what I turned out.  I changed from the original plan of making a regular flag and went with a more knightly style.  Pretty basic design which is good since I was sewing it the day before I gave it.  Simple but effective I think.  Should look good on the fort and help inspire some knights and soldiers play.

tag! -- you're fun

My major craft projects this year are two quilts.  One is finished and I'm very happy with it.  The second is coming along nicely.  Unfortunately for you, they're Christmas presents so I can't show you yet.  I have been working on a few little toys though.

My current job is caring for an 8mth old boy who's just got the hang of sitting up without toppling often meaning playing has become a lot more fun.  Whenever I changed him he kept grabbing the bag of cotton balls.  I kept my eye on him to make sure he wasn't going to put the bag over his face or in his mouth but he preferred to play with the little strings you use to pull it closed.  That's where this idea came from.  Babies seem to find the tags on anything you give them to play with.  I'm not sure what the thrill is myself but they seem to be quite popular.

I made a little wheat bag to give this toy some interesting movement/sound/weight when you hold it and then made a cover for it.  That makes it washable when it gets dirty, snotty and slobbered all over.  The tags were a bit frustrating to put together.  Or rather my putting them together was a bit frustrating.  I'd pinned them all on when I realised I was pinning them the wrong way (sticking out meaning when I turned it inside out they'd be on the inside).  Lucky, I thought as I reversed them and then got to sewing.  But I obviously hadn't thought it through that thoroughly.  AFTER I'd sewn it, I realised that I'd still placed them in the wrong spot meaning they'd still end up on the inside.  There was no way around it.  I had to unpick and start again.  I ended up getting there a little more roughly than I'd intended.  A simple little something for textural interest and that baby thrill of tags and strings.  The only thing I'd do differently next time is not put one long strip of velcro to hold the cover shut.  It interferes with the flimsy movement of the wheatbag.

Toy number two which I've just finished is another simple one which I've made for a new baby.  Just two simple rings crocheted, one joined together through the other.  With the coloured ring I crocheted a bit of tube and then closed if off by decreasing to form a circle.  Then I picked up stitches back at the tube width and continued with tube.  I fit three small bells inside before I repeated the circle closure creating a little containment area for the bells.  I've added bells to toys before for that rattle aspect but find the stuffing mutes the sound.  Creating this little compartment means the bells have a bit more room to move to give it a nice soft rattle.  I then stitched a little flap of contrasting fabric around where I'd joined the ends together after stuffing.  Partly to make it look a bit neater but partly to add that extra tag fun.

shrunken hood

Remember this?  It's the Through the Woods hood that I crocheted early this year.  In the post linked to the pattern name I commented that I like the pattern and design but complained about the end result being too large.  I'd used Berroco Ultra Alpaca which was probably too soft of a yarn to hold much shape.  It's been mostly not used due to the disappointment.  I'd considered altering it but the only way to do that would be to completely undo it and start again.

I saw it again in my drawer last week and pondered again what I could do to salvage it.  Then another idea came to me.  Washing can shrink things.  Well, I decided I would never grow satisfaction for the hood as it was so I tossed it in the washing machine by itself to see how it came out. 

Did you know Berroco Ultra Alpaca felts really well??

 So, still not sure that I'm happy with it.  On the positive side, the tangled fibres let less wind through so yay for the warmth factor.  I stretched it out as much as I could with a big bowl under the hood part and pinned it down to dry.  It's really stiff though which is not so great especially in the neck area where it needs some flex.  It doesn't quite sit as well as I'd like and it's also a bit smaller than I was hoping for.  Anyone know of a way to soften felted products?

Oh well, what can one do?  Experimentation always comes with a risk.  Not sure if this one improved it or not though. He he.  New knowledge gained though.

giving the boy wings

Isn't that part of my job as a nanny? Ok, so these ones are literal.
Just the classic reshapped coathangers twisted together and covered with a pair of stocking and a couple of elastic loops to slip his arms in.

It was a bit of a spur of the moment. Or rather a spur of the afternoon. He actually gets excited when I suggest going to the fabric shop. ^^ He got some swimming badges from his swimming classes so I'm going to make him a swimming flag to put them on. You know the red and yellow ones at the beach? Swim between the flags? One of those. He can hang it in his room and add more badges to it as he earns them. We had somehow got onto the topic of wings and he asked me for some. Or perhaps I mentioned making some for him which he then repeatedly asked for. I had some funky stockings I had hoped to wear to a 1920s party a while back. But the "large" sizing was NOT a large pair of stockings. So wings they became.

I've also been sewing away on a "kelly-made". I make a quilt for all my nieces and nephews for their first Christmas and my older brother's kids all call them their "kelly-made's". Sweet. He had another gorgeous daughter this year so I've been designing and stitching together another quilt. It's finished. Not so girly as I'd intended on making it since I knew she was a niece but I think it's awesome anyway. Not without it's unique handmade trademarks. ;) I love how the design came out though. But I can't show you yet. All will be revealed after Christmas. I've another quilt to make yet for my younger brother's first tiny offspring due next month. But first I've some more urgent projects. My job with this family finishes up next month :( so I'm in the process of making some parting gifts. I'll be able to show you some soon I hope.