Getting ready for a craft show

Mittens by Stitch 1 Stitch 2

I'm getting ready to do my first craft show in a few weeks.  I started looking at my shop and noticed I didn't have very much winter stuff.  This is Minnesota after all, where winter lasts for 6 months (or so it seems).  So I got to thinking, what could I make for winter wear that I could make several of in a short time.  The answer, fleece mittens.  I attempted mittens a few years ago, but the pattern and instructions were so confusing and resulted in lots of tears, frustration and only 2 pairs that didn't turn out all that great.  This time I went looking for a much simpler pattern and I found it at FleeceFun.com.  She offers free downloadable patterns in different sizes and easy to follow instructions.


I made a test pair out of some old fleece I had and was a little disappointed that it didn't seem true to size, but that was my mistake because I forgot to change the scale to 100% instead of scaled to fit.  I went back and downloaded the pattern again, this time correctly, and I figure I can use the first pattern for kid's mittens.  I've been very busy the last week and a half cutting, pinning and sewing mittens.

Chicken wire frame from knack.org

Also as I'm getting ready for the craft show, I started reading about craft show tips.  One thing that stuck out for me was displaying things at eye level to draw people in.  I started to think about how I could do that.  I have a table to set thing out on, but how was I going to be able to hang things so people could seem them from a distance?  Then I started looking on pintrest for display ideas and really liked these chicken wire frames.  I started to think about how I could put something like that together.  First I thought about a couple large picture frames hinged together, but I didn't think that would be big enough.  Then I thought about building something out of lumber, but (a) I'm not very mechanically inclined and neither is Hubby and (b) I really didn't want to spend a lot of money on it.

Repurposed closet door

Then one morning as I brainstorming ideas, I remembered the bi-fold closet door that used to be in my daughters room.  The hardware that held it in place broke and the door sat in the basement hallway for years waiting to be thrown out, but the basic frame was still in pretty good shape.  I removed the shutter slats and sanded it down.  I was going to paint it but I liked the distressed look the sanding gave it.  My daughter helped staple the chicken wire to the back of the frame and now I have what I think is a pretty cool looking free standing display all for under $5.

If I ever get my own sewing room this will be a permanent fixture, because I can think of so many other uses for it.

I only think I want a new sewing maching

Every so often for the last couple years, mostly when I see ads for sewing machines, I think I oh it would be so nice to have an automatic button hole, or look at all those fancy stitches just think of the decorative top stitching I could do, or like the one I looked at last year that pretty much did everything for you but cut the fabric.  And then I think about my sewing machine, we have a history together.

My sewing machine was built in the mid-70's.  There's no bells and whistles on it.  It does a straight stitch, a few zig-zag stitches, and a back stitch.   It's the sewing machine my mom bought when I was 3 or 4.  It's sewed lots of clothes for my sister and me, quite a few patches to my dad work pants, a few Halloween costumes, a couple stuffed toys, at least 2 baby blankets, other decor items and clothes for my own children.  Never in all these years have I or my mom ever needed 22 decorative stitches.

It's a real workhorse machine.  Solid metal body and parts, there's no plastic in there anywhere.  It's heavy, so it doesn't get moved around much and it powers though everything I put under the needle.

So yes while it would be nice to have a newer machine with lots of features, I'm not sure if I'd use them.  I think I want a new sewing machine, but I'm kind of attached to the one I have.  It would be like trying to replace an old friend.

They just don't make them like they used to

I know it's kind of silly, but I'm feeling a little sad today because I took my old 1985, rabbit ear, 13" analog TV to be recycled this morning, and not because it didn't work.  It worked perfectly as long as it was hooked up the cable.  Sure the UHF dial was missing, and it wasn't capable of being hooked  up to modern devices like our now obsolete dvd recorder/vcr, but it still had a decent picture and worked for watching tv in the sewing room.

It was the first big purchase that I bought with my own money, that I earned from my paper route when I was 12.  It was a big deal for me then, I felt so grown up walking into Best Buy knowing that I had finally saved up enough money to buy it.  It cost me $110 + tax, which seemed like a lot of money back then.

I had this tv for 28 years and never had a problem with it, in that same amount of time I'd also owned 4 vehicles and was always happy to upgrade.  The only reason I decided to part with my good old trusty tv was because we just hadn't used it in the last 2 years.  We upgraded our main tv to a digital flat screen, moved the one from the living room to our bedroom and the one from our bedroom downstairs to the sewing room.  My little tv just sat on the living room floor unused.  My son wanted to put it in his room, but there's no cable hook up in his room so it wouldn't him any good.

I took it today to the recycling drop off and handed it to the guy.  He said, "I used to have one just like this in my room when I was a kid.  Brings back memories."

It sure does.

On the needles

It's been a busy summer, but now I'm finding more time to create.  Usually I only work on one project at a time, but I broke that rule because I had to many ideas floating around in my head.

The first one is finished, so I did actually accomplish something.  Actually I've knit 3 of these hats in the last month.  It started as idea, and the first one came out a little to small so I put it in the shop as a child's hat.  Seeing how cute the first one was my daughter requested one for herself, with steampunk buttons, and after I saw how cute her's was I decided I needed one too but with a cool chunky button I bought from a seller at Zibbet.

Next is a sweater I'm knitting for myself, unfortunately I'm not making much progress.  I'm finding it very boring.  If I ever finish it, it will just be a plain hooded cardigan to wear around the house.

Next is a scarf/cowl that I'm making for the shop.

And last, although I don't have a photo because I haven't actually started it, I'm in the process of designing pants for myself again.  I have a pattern that I need to make a few tweaks to and then I can start cutting the fabric, but I have a good idea where I'm going with it.  I'd show you the sketch, but I'm a really poor artist.

How did I go so long without these?

In exchange for some yarn, I received a couple knitting books that I don't know how I went so long without them. 

Cast on, Bind off is just what it says, a book full of different cast ons and bind offs and when to use them.  Until recently I no idea there was more than 2 ways to cast on and this book came at the perfect time when I was finishing up a project and needed a bind off that would stretch just a little.

I haven't had time to really look at the finishing book yet, but I'm sure it will come in handy when I get closer to finishing the sweater I'm working on.

Jean Mulsin: Take 2.1

 I spend most of yesterday working on these.  I scooped out the back about a 1/2" and added to the back inseams which seem to help with the winkles some.  But now there's bagginess right under the butt and wrinkles in the front.  I'm going to rip them apart today and try adding to inseam again but this time extending it down to the knee.  I added mostly to the crotch point.  Also I'm thinking some of the winkles are coming from the sides being pulled up to far.  From the side view you can see the balance lines pulling up just a little, which is weird because it looks straight in the mirror.

I'm also thinking I might widen the pant leg a little, maybe give it more of boot cut.  I haven't made any changes to the leg width.  This is how how the pattern was designed.  Although I do like a tapered leg, I think this is a little much.

Jean Muslin: Take 2

The last pair I made were to tight, so I went up a size.  These fit better in the hips, but now they're to big in the waist.  Since it's usually easier to take in a larger size, I'm going to work with this muslin.  I'm running out of time so I may not get them to fit perfectly but if I can get them at least wearable without crotch lines and fix the waist, I'll be happy.

The front looks ok.  I will need to drop the waist band a little and move the pockets, but other than that I don't think there's to much to fix there.  The back, well that's going to take a little work.  First things that come to mind is scooping out the back crotch.  I don't have a wedgie now,  but if I pull up the back to make the balance line straight I will.  I'm also thinking I might need to add to the back inseams to get rid of the wrinkles coming from my inner thighs. So that's what I'm going to work on the next couple days.  Keep your fingers crossed that I don't cause more problems.