written by threadslinger

Since I am kind of a huge political nerd I threw a party on the day of the Texas/Ohio primaries a few weeks ago. I decided that for the event I would make a cake shaped like Texas. And, while it wasn’t a resounding successful night for the candidate I wanted to win, he did net the most delegates out of Texas. I think the cake had something to do with it.

written by marieann

I used the pattern featured in this post again to make a scarf to match the coat I featured in this post. This pattern is seriously such a breeze. It’s all double crochet in a stitch called front and back post (maybe you can find a tutorial online; my mom taught me how to do the stitch). This was the first time that I weaved in loose ends and it was actually pretty quick. This is why I love making scarves — you can make them to match your winter wear perfectly.

written by marieann

We’ve just past the first birthday of this crafty blog. Caro and I would like some feedback about why you readers visit the site and what you’d like it to shape up to be in the future. Please take less than a minute to take our four question survey (this expires on 2/9/08).

Click here!

Also we’re trying out some new design ideas for the layout, sorry for the construction around here!

written by threadslinger

I made this little strawberry shortcake doll for Marie for Christmas. This is both because she loves strawberry shortcake and because it is very hard to make something for a craftster that she can’t make herself. With yarn dolls/animals I felt pretty safe

I am not really sure how to write a “how to” for this doll because I made it up as I went along and did a lot of looking at pictures of her to figure out how to do it. But, I figure you all can enjoy her cuteness.

written by threadslinger

I made these wrist warmers before the break for a Threadless friend. They turned out pretty awesome I think and she likes them because they are warm and neon green? Who doesn’t love that?

I wrote a post awhile back that had a “tutorial” on how to make these so you can check that out of if you are interested in making some of your own.

written by marieann

I found this great tutorial here for a fabric bucket. I didn’t know what I was going to use it for until I realized we had nowhere to put our controllers. So I whipped up this bucket to store them and it works great. I wanted to try out the bucket with scrap fabric first to be sure I liked it. And I did! I made a few changes as I’ll explain below.

I made the bucket larger so that I could store all the controllers so,

For each bucket you will need:
· 9 ½ x 18 ½ inch strips of outer fabric, light wadding and iron–on interfacing.
· 9 x 18 ½ inch strip of lining fabric (note it is a bit bigger so you get the nice trim at the top.
· Circles measuring 9 inches across in outer, wadding, interfacing and lining for the base.

I also did not use any wadding (batting) because I used the fleece lining. This actually worked great. However, I didn’t know that you cannot iron fleece until it burnt the fibers and made my iron blue. Don’t do that.

Also I didn’t have iron on interfacing so I used sew-in interfacing. This worked alright. I think it would have been an easier project if I didn’t have so many layers to control but it was still really quick.

written by admin

My mom and I bought this great crinkly fabric during spring break a few years ago. She was like a kid in a candy store as she touched all the fabrics.

When I was home in August, we sewed matching tunic dresses. The pattern called for a tie made of fabric around the waist. We liked contrasting ribbon better. So we put elastic in the waist and then we can tie ribbons or belts around it as we want. I wore it without a band this day because the shrug sweater hit the waist too.

written by marieann

My best friend just got married. She had a gorgeous rainbow theme for her wedding because she loves bright colors — so I knew I’d choose similiar colors. I also love Hawaii (and details!) so I chose the pineapple pattern. Each strip is a mere 1.25 inches wide! I had it machine longarm quilted for the pretty quilting design. If you’d like to see more photos, including progress pictures, check them out here.

written by threadslinger

This is the first patterned sewing project I have ever made (Simplicity pattern 4625) and I think it turned out pretty good. I was looking for a more springy purse and I found this fabric that seemed perfecdt. It also is lined with brown velvet to match the brown pok-a-dots.

written by threadslinger

When I first got my sewing machine it came with a pattern for this secret pouch that was super easy to make. I call it a “secret pouch” because if you lift up the flap there isn’t a storage place, its actually behind the flap, thus throwing off sneaky pick pockets. It was a sew fast, sew easy project which I highly recommend for any beginning sewer.