i LOVE aprons!!

Especially vintage ones. There is just something so frilly and feminine about them. They make me happy. They make me smile. I wonder who owned them, what that person did while wearing them. I think there is something really special about them. Maybe I was a 40s/50s housewife in another life. If I had more room, I would collect them. But I don't, so I can't.

I was searching thru a cabinet that I haven't looked in awhile and found one that my grandmother made.

 

Her name is embroidered on it.

This one I got at an estate sale. I saw it and had to have it. I think it was the flowers, they looked so sweet. And the really deep pockets it has. This began my obsession with them.

Yuck terrible pic of the bottom half of my face lol. I have been searching the internet for patterns to download. I will be making some soon. 

Happy Crafting!!

Fail

I forgot to blog about another cat toy that I made the same day as the Tube o'Nip lol. The problems I went thru trying to make it was only part of the fail. Continue reading to get the Epic Fail.

I wanted to make a little cat toy that they could bat around and toss into the air and do whatever with. So I got the idea to make a little cat head toy. I went to my computer and started to draw it up. Unfortunately on my laptop, the only "graphics" program I have is Paintshop or whatever the hell its called. I have a degree in graphic design, so I'm use to nicer graphics programs. It took me awhile to figure out the rudimentary tools. I finally got my cat head to look how I wanted. I went to print it out and low and behold.... the print screen couldn't find my printer. Long story short, I had to uninstall and the reinstall my printer. Thank god I had only installed it the other day so I still had the disk handy.

So I got it printed out, and of course it was too big. I reduced it. Too small. Tried 2 more times until I got the size I wanted. *WHEW* Printed it and cut it out.

I traced it onto my fabric and cut it out. Sewed it up. Had trouble at the ears when I turned it right side out, but I used the back end of my marking pen so it wasn't too bad. Poured some cat nip into it and stuffed it with stuffing.I even did a decent job of whip stitching the top :)

 

I liked it so much I made another. This time I didn't fill it with as much stuffing.

 

Yes, those are the fabrics I used on a sleep mask and my hubby's Kindle. Gotta reuse those scraps!!

 

Mojo really liked it. He's behind my ironing board pouncing on it lol.

Now comes the Epic Fail. I went to work for a few hours on Saturday. When I got back home, this is what I saw.

 

Yep, the toy was ripped open at the seam and all the stuffing was pulled out!! I almost cried lol. So now I have to figure out a way to make it stronger. That's where mom comes in. Thankfully she has a lot of knowledge in sewing and is a really great sewer herself. She made a lot of clothes for me when I was little. 

So remember kids, not everything you do will work out the way you want. For me, life has always been about trial and error. I guess that goes to crafting too. I will let you know if this Epic Fail gets resolved.

Until then, happy crafting!

New Project

I have a new project to attempt. It's a Cut... Sew... & Go! Cost $14.99 and I got mine at Joann Fabrics. It's a cute little tank. Can't wait to try it!!

And I thought I would show you a cute pics of my boys. I hope you aren't sick of seeing them lol.

 

Until later... Toodles!!

6 Crafty Cats

Kindle Sleeve

I finally figured out what I want to call my newest project. It's a Kindle Sleeve. lol. The hubby wanted one to protect the Kindle that I bought him for Christmas. He said he felt bad putting it into his messenger bag without any protection since it could slide around in the pocket with his pens and wallet and papers. I really had fun with this project, it was the first one that I didn't use some sort of pattern or instructions on, I just used my brain :)

First I measured the dimensions of the Kindle. Then I doubled the length, and added 4 inches for the flap.

Looks high-tec doesn't it lol.

So I cut the fabric and batting to my measurements.

Only problem was that I didn't cut my lines straight. Everything sort of leaned to the left (sings that Beyonce song) When I put my fabrics together, the edges didn't meet up. So I hunted down a metal ruler and squared off my fabric from the edge.

The black line is my new squared off rectangle. You can see how far off I was.  With that done, I got off to work!

 

Sewing went really well. No really big problems there. The problem came when I layed the Kindle on the sleeve to see how much room it had. Remember when I said I had to square it up? Well that took valuable space off my measurements. It was a really tight fit.

Not much room to sew the sides together. So now what? Do I scrap all my hard work and start over? Or do I soldier on? I talked to the hubby and he said I should keep going. And that's what I did (thank you babe for having faith in me) I conjured up my inner Tim Gun and "Made It Work"

I wasn't sure if I could even get the sleeve under my pressure foot. Once I doubled the fabric to create the pocket it was so thick, I had to wiggle it under the foot. But I got it to work. I slowly sewed up the sides (sorry no pic showing how close to the edge I was) The sewing machine did freak out on me twice, stopping dead in its tracks and cursing at me in its beeping language. I just manually raised the needle and continued on.

I finally finished it!! It is extremely snug, I must admit. Took quite a bit of work to wiggle the Kindle down.

After I took the Kindle out, I added a velcro closure that I hand sewed on. I only went thru the top layer of fabric so you wouldn't see the stitches when the flap was closed. And the second time we wiggled the Kindle into the sleeve, it wasn't as snug as the first. So hopefully with use it will get easier and easier.

The husband loves it and can't wait to show his friends at work. lol. I guess that's all that really matters :)

I am considering making some and trying to sell them on Etsy.com. I am TheGoddessEnyo if you want to look for me once I get things to sell. I'm also going to put my sleep masks up.

Thanks and happy crafting!!

6 Crafty Cats