The Midori Challenge

This one was born out of drooling over the amazing midoris we came across online.  We decided to make a challenge of our (my?) ever-growing obsession with them.  The task: to make your own midori out of materials at hand.  The results:

m's Mydori:

Okay, so I cheated here a little bit.  The cover material is felt.  I didn't have any on hand so I bought some.  One layer was not enough so I used two and sewed them back to back.  It made for a nice dual color cover.  

For the inserts I used a couple of old notebooks I had in my stash (yes, I'm a notebook hoarder too.)

The top notebook I use as a journal of sorts.  The pages came printed with a design so no embellishments needed there.  The kraft notebook is a section from a thicker notebook I had that came apart.  I use that for doodles and other random stuff.  I decorated the edges of the page with a simple running line made with felt tip pens just to jazz them up a bit.  The last notebook is a regular lined notebook which I transformed into a calendar, because I really need a calendar nowadays.  I use the extra box for doodles.

Extra felt got turned into an insert with pockets for my stickies and other random stuff.  The pockets are just scrap pieces of plastic cover from the kids' school books.

The bands used for holding the note books together were scavenged from another notebook...

...as was the colored garter.  I glue gunned the heck out of this one because it came off a couple of times.  Apparently felt hates glue.

There you have it.  My first midori from scraps (yes, except the cover).  Next time I might try making the inserts/ notebooks too.

cat's fakedori

 This is the outside. The leather is from an old belt (!),  and is super duper soft.  I left the inside as is, I just changed out the stitching with red thread to match the elastic I used for keeping it shut. The cat and fish are from a keychain.  The fish is attached to a thin piece of leather and serves as a marker, the other end of said leather has a ring which makes a handy dandy pen holder.

A closeup of button used to reinforce the elastic that serves to hold the booklets.

First booklet for random notes.  The cover page for sticking important reminders.

For this booklet, I figured out a super easy bind using a rubber band!

First half of a divider.  This part made from leftover cardstock, attached to the other half using fabric tape.  Note the animal-print magnetic bookmark made from a fridge magnet and some printed duct tape.

The other half of the divider, of recycled plastic cut from some packaging. Used to hold sticky notes.

 posted by: m & cat

Rush Printing Job

The results of a rush printing job requested by a friend.  It consisted of a canvas sack-bag that had to be printed on both sides. This was one side, and the other side had a lengthy quote. Silk-screen would've been the ideal way to go, but there just wasn't enough time.

So stamping it was.  Though the method was not untried (Have stamped dino names on a pillowcase for Boo.), the cloth was, and I had no extra fabric for test runs.

Still, I thought it came out okay.  Well, it came out, anyway, and my friend was happy.  Happy enough to pay me with m&m's!

posted by:cat

Cord Maker with Turk's Head Knot

 Pimped-out cordmaker with a 3-bight turk's head knot, using some jelly string.

Did a blue one with translucent string, but somehow the pictures come out weird.  *shrug*  Oh, well.


posted by: cat

Cord Maker

Repurposing some thread and knitting up chunky yarn for m, but knitting seemingly unending i-cord by hand can get pretty tedious.  I needed something different, and internet gave me the lucet.

I tried out an out an old, cheap fork I had leftover from another project.  It works, except, the cord it makes is too small when I used the repurposed thread.

Then I re-discovered the knitting nancy.  

I managed to make a this small one out of a small branch from the garden (with a convenient hollow core) and some staples. 

Here's a shot with Abe for size comparison.  It makes the approximate size cord, although I need to play around with it more to get the tension the way I want it.

I find that my boredom with making i-cord has gone.  For now.


posted by: cat

Literacy Week Shenanigan

Yes, it's an ant mask. The kids (meaning parents) were supposed to make a mask of a book character for their literacy week. Jake really wanted an ant so I made one and just told him to tell his teacher it was from "The Ant and the Grasshopper". For something that was make-as-you-go-along, and was hurriedly made in half a day it turned out better than expected.


posted by m

Anyone Wanna Make Miniatures for Me?

So this is what I did today. Well, I was doing some garden work, actually, and not lurking about the bushes like this guy here. Can you see him? He's actually an idea for a craft project that I'm not gonna embark on anytime soon, because I do not have time to make any miniatures. I absolutely do not.

Why am I posting this exactly? Because the pictures of the actual project that I made didn't come out right, and I have to retake them tomorrow, so this is all I have for the moment.

posted by: cat

Pants Leg Bag

This is the first of three messenger bags I made from old pants. It's also the first project I ever made using french seams (so I didn't have to put a lining coz i really sick at linings). It's basically a simple messenger bag made out of a pant leg. Since this was to be Jacob's bag for his drawing book when we go out, I decided to make the strap adjustable so the bigger he gets he could still use the bag. I just haven't finished sewing all the button holes yet tho.

I made two more of these, slightly smaller and sans the adjustable strap but with side pockets for pens. Those were Christmas gifts for Jake's cousins which I hadn't had time to photograph as they were finished just in time for Christmas. hee.

posted by m

Turning Into a Knit-wit

Learned how to knit over the Holidays and this was my first ever finished knitting project. I say finished becasue I did actually try to make a little bag for Pip's bunny but I never finished it. I used double pointeds my sister made out of barbecue sticks (because she's more resourceful than I am), and that yummy-colored yarn i just had to have.

posted by m

Completophobia

So, I started this bag today. It's supposed to be a craftbag for my current knitting projects, since I found it a bit funny that I carried my knitting in plastic bags that my needles poked holes through, and if there is anyone who ought to have a proper craftbag, well, it's me.

ANYHOW, I made myself one today... but as usual, haven't finished it. After about 40 minutes of torturing myself over the strap (One or two? Make one or use the ready-made one? Sew it outside or between the lining? And on and on.), I then reached a block on what to do for the closer thingy. Ya know, to keep the bag closed so the stuff don't fall out. *sigh*

Unable to decide, I started digging through my cloth stash to start ANOTHER crafbag. A better one, with inner pockets and outer pockets and... *sighhh*

I know something's wrong with me. Just haven't found out if there's a name for it yet.

posted by: cat

More Made Christmas Gifts

I just suddenly felt like making jewelry and decided it would make nice gifts this Christmas. Here are a couple of necklaces and some other stuff.

The earrings and bracelet were made from extra beads from my mom's eyeglass chain. I think I might keep these for myself tho. Melikes.

posted by m

Craft-A-Week Commences

M's Post:

Yes, we're doing craft-a-week. Wheeeee! And since we were doing a random project for this week, I decided to refashion those boy shorts for Pip that I've been itching to do fora while now. Abd here it be:

These are the hand-me-downs I got but they were far too small for Jacob so i gave them to Pip but they made her look too much like a boy.

I had to remove the two lower fromnt pockets before I shortened the shorts. That proved to be harder than I thought becasue they were sewed into the side seams. Anyway, I got them out and finally managed to figure out how to mend and fold the shorts. Here's the front and back.

And here's Pip refusing to stand up and model them properly for a decent picture (hey, this thing had a deadline). It still looks big on her but at least it doesn't look too boyish and, hey, room to grow!

posted by m

New Old Clothes

At last it's finished! My first attempt at clothes for me. My first jersey dress out of one of my favorite shirts (pink) that lost its shape a bit and a shirt (grey) i hardly wear. I had to reshape the pink shirt a bit to make it a bit more snug. For the skirt part, after I removed the sleeves, I cut the shirt straight through where the bottom edge of the collar was and reshaped it to form a bit of an a-line. Then I sewed it all together. It looked a bit plain so I added the ruffle thing. Am still contemplating if I should add more ruffle things.

posted by m

I know its months till Christmas but I found these pictures and realised I haven't posted them yet. I didn't make enough of these plastic bag crocheted stocking tree ornaments (whew! that was long!) to fill up the whole tree (for last Christmas) yet, but I might make more again for this year. Not all of them are red and green though, just in case you were wondering.

posted by m

Ami Octupus

While scrounging around the net for (more) ideas, I came across an octupus amigurumi pattern at lionbrand.com. I don't know why but I really really wanted to make one. Then Jacob saw it and he said he wanted one too, and that I should "make one, mommy, make one!" This is the "one" I made, from old crocheted table runner (I think it used to be), a dead pillow, and a couple of beads.

posted by m

Amineko

My first attempt at amigurumi was this cat I've been wanting to do for so long. Now I've finally finished it. This is the first crochet project I've done from a pattern...and actually finished! I'm pretty pleased with it, except for the face. It was 1 am and I was so sleepy but I wanted to finish it already, so there.

posted by m

Not Bad For A First Attempt

I'm not really a fan of sewing. It's my least favorite thing to do. I do most of my sewing projects by hand because: 1) I don't know/ have forgotten how to use a sewing machine; 2) I am secretly afraid to use one; and 3) I usually only do small plushies. Until my sister showed me a toddler's dress made from an old man's dress shirt. When I saw it my fingers were itching to try it out. I found this old shirt of mine and decided to use it as a guinea pig before I went rooting around in Dan's closet. This shirt was sitting in my cloth-for-plushies pile and originally had longer sleeves than that. Anyway, I used the tutorial form this site.
I simplified mine down a bit, used plain strips for the straps and did away with the frilly stuff altogether. The project took less time than I anticipated, even by hand. I'd have done it in a day if I hadn't had to do lifeguard duty at the inflatable kiddie pool, watch, bathe and feed two very energetic kids, take a nap, have my coffee break, and watch some tv. So here's the finished product: (front, back and on Pip)
posted by m

The Dollhouse Has Begun

Here are some of the dollhouse furniture I've started to make. The Gothic-inspired bed and chair is for the monster and the other furniture is for the bunny. I've tried to paint the bunny furniture with enamel but it doesn't turn out nice. The Gothic-inspired ones are still unpainted ( chipboard).

The bunny and monster are around 3 1/2 inches tall. The monster was designed by 4 year old Jacob (who has commissioned me to make the Gothic-inspired dollhouse by the way).


posted by m

Pip's Bunny and Cat

Here's Pip's Bunny again with her friend the Cat.

Pip's Bunny

Here's another recycled bunny. This one is about 7 inches tall (ears not included). I plan to make a smaller version to go with a dollhouse. I hope I can finish it within the year. *snigger*