Presents and a Chicago Picture!

I just thought I'd share a couple of gifts that I gave three awesome boys!

For the oldest - a fake beard! Really now, everyone needs a fake beard or at least a mustache. This one is reversible! Blonde on one side, old man gray on the other.

For the middle - a tie! He's a ladies man and he looks quite dashing in a tie! The bright colors really suit him as well!

And for the youngest - a crayon wallet! It was like the one I made in the last post, except for this one there's a cover over the crayons so they don't come out as easily.

Other things I've made lately include a purse I took to Chicago (super fun city by the way!) and a dress (also super fun and awesome!). I'll try to post about the dress soon! I went based off a book, so it'll probably end up a bit of a book review.

(The blue thing to my side is the purse I made. You can't see it too well, but trust me - it's awesome!)

Way too close

Christmas is WAY too close! How did it get here so quick? It was just thanksgiving!
Oh well. I've been pretty busy! I've made a bag or two... a table runner... jewelry bags... what else? Crayon wallets! I've made two so far and I've loving them!

And one of my other new favorite things - coasters!
I made 3 sets of Christmas ones! Each set has 2 patchwork ones and 2 of each of the other fabrics (stockings and trees). We've been using one set around the house and they're working really well!


Now I've got a list of other stuff to do:
2 more jewelry bags
a crayon roll for a 5 year old
a tie for a 7 year old
a fake beard for a 10 year old
something for my mom (which I know what it'll be)
something for my dad (which I don't know what it'll be)

Only got a couple days left! Ahhhh!

Bumblebee Bag

Wandering around a fabric store, some yellow and some black popped out at me. And red! Yellow, black, and red - I knew I had to make something using those colors. And this is the result:

I've been calling it the bublebee bag since I started planning it. It's got a magnetic clasp and some tubing in the handles to make them a little more sturdy feeling. I thought the handles wouldn't be long enough, but they definitely are!

And the inside has pockets all along one side and then a half-circle pocket (made out of the area I cut out for the handles) that's big enough for cell phone.

I've got similar (but still different) material sewn together for two more bags like it... I'm going to see what people think and then maybe make them and put them on etsy... I'll see how it goes!

And while I was waiting for some of the material to dry, I started working on some Christmas coasters. Yep -Christmas! I made some patchwork that I cut out to make the tops of some. I've got almost 3 set ready to sew! Hopefully I'll work on them more tomorrow!

Halloween!

I'm not hugely into Halloween. When I was really little my mom made me some really cute costumes - a kangaroo, a coke can, a pumpkin...
But this year I decided to make my own costume! And I decided to be a Monster!
Over a year ago, I saw some guy at Universal Studios wearing a monster hoodie and I thought it was pretty awesome! I decided then I wanted one right then and there. I looked online and I saw one place selling them for $100. Well I wasn't going to pay that. So I bought a hoodie at Old Navy for $15 and used material and buttons I had at home to create my own!

There's super cool teeth around the hood and I lined the inside with red - like it's a real mouth! Added some eyes and claws on and it was ready to go.

I also had a skirt that was really long and I shortened it. And I made a tulle thing to go under the skirt to make it kinda poofy. And I bought some awesome tights at wal-mart!

And now I've got a super cool monster hoodie!

Little Suckers!

I started making these awesome little guys last year and they are soooo fun to make! And since it's around Halloween, I figured I would put this pattern up here! Hopefully someone can make a Little Sucker or two for the holiday.

Hopefully you've got some felt around, or it'll just take 2 sheets of felt - one for the body and one for the wings.

They're really fun! Their feet are loops so they can be hung upside down. Or they sit up pretty well if that's how they want to. And they're wings can be opened or closed, all with a tiny button!

And this is a great way to practice a button hole! I know sometimes button holes can seem a little menacing, but they're really not too hard.

If you would like to save this pattern and try it out (You really should! It's fun and easy and super cute!), then you can click here to download the file and print out the directions!

This is the first download I've done, so if it doesn't work, please let me know and I'll try and fix it! Either comment on this post or e-mail me at anoddduckcreates @ gmail.com. Thanks!

getting better...

Oink, oink. yep - I had that ugly old swine flu last week. It totally knocked me down and out. And I'm just barely back into the land of the living. So while the project I'm working on was right on my computer, my mind just wasn't letting me work on it.
But... I'm getting better! So I'm hoping to finish it and have it up at the beginning on next week! I hope!

Coming soon to a blog near you...

Something cool is coming soon...

I'm working on it...

Here's a preview: