So I was beating myself up over my latest failures - boohoo! - the too-small pants and the ill fitting bright orange dress. I know these things happen...and I shouldn't be too bothered...but I was. So I had to do what we know to do - Instant Gratification!
I need a simple, simple project. I should make a knit shell...NO! Simpler than that even...Hmmm. I should sew a non-garment item! YES!!!
I get to see Baby K this weekend - who is totally NOT a baby anymore - she walks and talks and has teeth and is growing up fast! So what can I make? I could make the crayon notebook thing. Hmm...I have no crayons nor paper. I need something SIMPLER.
Cue Momtastic's drawstring backpack tutorial! It's two rectangles sewn together. Seriously. Can't get any simpler. And it's meant for toddler's so it's a tiny little thing. I think the finished size was about 9" x 11".
My daughter being a total creeper! LOL!
Materials: two 12" x 14" fabric cuts, two 58" lengths of cord, any decorative elements you'd like!
*Starting with two 12x14 rectangles, sew a 1/4" seam around 3 sides on both.
*Fold the top down 1/2" then another 1", sew (this forms the casing for the ribbon/cord)
*Sew front and back together with a 5/8" seam
*Run cord (I used ribbon because I had no cord and she won't be carrying anything with too much weight around anyway) through the top as pictured below and along the outside of the bag, knot ends
*Open a couple stitches in corners and pull cord through to inside.
*REINFORCE the corners really, really well. I resewed the unpicked stitches and did several stitches/backstitches over the corner.
Awhile back, I saw these cool, bright colors of poplin fabric on FM's $1.99 page and they said they were suitable for garments like pants, dresses, etc. Well..uhmm, yeah. It's 100% nylon poplin so totally not garment wear but perfect for this little bag! The letter is a scrap piece of fleece. I just printed out a large letter K and traced it onto the fleece. I cut it out and attached it with a zig-zag stitch. My daughter chose the color pallet so we have the sort of turquoise fabric, hot pink letter, royal blue handles and yellow stitching - Perfect for a tiny person!
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Also finished was Frogginette's Entrechat cardigan. I was being woe is me about how "long" it was taking me to finish it, considering many called it a "one night knit" and so on. 1) I'm oh, about 6 weeks in to knitting and 2) I worked on it pretty much every other day and it took 10 days. Ok, I could probably knit it in a day on a weekend or over a few days doing the 30-60 minutes/day approach. Not too bad.
It's a super cute sweater and IMO is a genius design. I've already decided that everything should be top-down raglan - EVERYTHING! lol! It's soooo easy and makes life less complicated. What I really love is that the garter border on the sleeves is added straight, then bound off. Stitches are then picked up along the raglan, closing the sleeve and making me not have to knit tiny sleeves in the round - score! The decorative band is a little bit of a nightmare to do, not difficult just tedious. I also love the self-striping yarn (Knit Picks Chroma Worsted).
It has that cute little flounce at the back, decorative stitching at the band, and only needs one button!
(Ravelry Link)
