Munchkin... being eaten by a frog

For the munchkin's birthday back in November, I made him a frog jacket. Complete with frog eyes. And the other day, he fell asleep in the backseat, and this was the image I had to capture forever.

Man, I love hanging out with that little guy on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

A Just the Right Size Purse!

It's not too big... it's not too small... It's just right!

I am having lots of fun with this pattern!

It's an adjustable strap...

(It can be really long, but the picture I took with it long turned out unsatisfactorily)

there's pockets,

there's a zipper in the back,

there's a magnetic closure, there's reverse applique...

There's just so much to like about this bag!

I made one for myself, then I was commissioned to make another. This is the commissioned one - I always forget to take pictures of the things I make for myself. I always forget to take pictures... I need to write notes to myself that say, "Take Pictures!" and put them on the sewing machine and the scissors and the cutting board and every other place in the sewing room. But back to this bag - this one had a kinda darker outside so that it won't get dirty to easily.

I really liked the material for the reverse applique! As soon as I saw it in the store, I thought the tree would be perfect to sew around. I love how it turned out! And I love all the greens!

I'm really happy with how it turned out and might make a few more... maybe... if I finish some other projects that are floating around my head

(drawstring circle jewelry bag, star trek bag, baby blankets, more appliqued stuff).

And I really need to start writing official patterns for these purses!

More Bags to Etsy

I just uploaded a couple more bags to Etsy!

There's 2 I finished recently and another that I finished a while ago but never uploaded.

First is one that is Black White and Red All Over!

Then there's the Patchwork and Polka Dot.

And last but not least is the Perfect Summer Beach Bag.

You can check them out at anoddduck.etsy.com

An Altered Hoodie

I love love love short sleeve zip up hoodies! I have a blue one which I wear tons and a maroon one I also wear a lot. I was at target and I saw some long sleeve black and white hoodies in the clearance section for $9. I decided I'd go ahead and buy a black one. It looked like this (apparently like a scary person when I tried to hang it up):

Then... I started to make some changes... First I decided to make it short sleeved! I practiced a little bit with part of the sleeve I cut off, including putting the ribbing back on. It stretched a little bit, but overall it worked.

Then I did a little bit of reverse applique in the shape of a heart with some other fabrics sewed together.

I LOVE IT SOOOOOO MUCH! I've already worn it a couple days. And so far it hasn't been way too hot for it.

And it was way easier than I thought it would be. I went back to Target and bought another black one (which I have no idea what I'm going to do with it yet) and a white one (which I know what I'm going to do and it should be pretty cute).

Easter Bunnies!

These were so much fun! Once I started, I couldn't stop.

I was using the pattern for a crochet monkey found here.

I didn't do the mouth or ears or tail. Then for the bunny ears I did:

1:With yarn, make a double loop with your finger. 6sc into the loop. tighten the loop.

2:2sc into each of 6sc

3: [1sc into the 1st sc, 2sc into the next sc]x6

4: [1sc into the next 8, 2sc into next sc]x2

5-30: Work 20.

Then I did a pom pom for the tail.

The first one I made was the one with the light blue stripe -

he has been named Odd Ball and belongs to the eldest boy I watch.

The one with the darker blue top was named Cool

and belongs to the Munchkin (the youngest boy I watch).

And then the one with the teal and orange stripe is named...

I can't remember what he's named! I'll edit this if I can remember it. Anyway - he belongs to the Chicken Nugget (the middle boy).

The girl one is named Daisy! I gave her to my friend Elsa who is a teacher. She took her into her classroom and the class decided to name her Daisy. Now they read to her. She sent me a picture of one of the little boys sitting across from Daisy in a chair and he would read her a page, then turn the page so she could see the pictures! How Cute!

I'm actually working on another one right now for me because I just think they're so cute!

Not all things work out

I keep thinking of stuff I need to put on here... the bunnies I crocheted for Easter... the 3 skirts I've made... there's other stuff too. But for today I'll put something up which didn't work out well.

I had seen on the Sew Mama Sew blog this super cute and easy shirt! And I'd seen where other people made it and it looked really nice. And I don't like sleeveless but I figured maybe I'd be okay with the ruffles because I have other shirts kinda like that.

Then I went ahead and started working on it, still skeptical. But as I was working on it, my hopes started to rise. I made it solid pink for the main part, then gray and black and white for the other part. It was looking good. By the time I finished I was pretty happy with it!

Then I tried it on. And then I saw it did not look good on me. At all. Only one person saw me wearing it and that's the way it's going to stay. It's really a really easy pattern and a cute shirt, but it's not cute on me. Oh well. That's just the way it goes sometimes.

And really - it looks quite cute in person! Just not on my person.

And I stepped on a thumbtack after that. So yeah, the thumbtack thing was probably worse.