Keeping my Buddy Warm

Meet Buddy. He does not like to be cold. The blanket he is covered in was on the back of the couch but he pulled it onto himself. He always likes to be under the covers unless it is extremely hot outside. It is very difficult to get him to go out when it is cold outside. Being the crafty aunt that I am, I decided it was time for my Budman to have a nice cozy jacket.

Trekking to Joann Fabric, I found McCall 4684 and purchased some nice warm fleece that was on sale for $2 a yard, extra wide binding tape and some velcro to whip up a dog jacket in an afternoon.

After about 3 hours of cutting, ironing and sewing, Buddy was the proud owner of a new jacket. We weren't sure if he would like it as he as been generally averse to any kind of doggie clothing but, given its blanket-like nature, he was quite pleased with the result and did not like having it taken off for modifications.

I will warn anyone thinking about making this pattern that you will have to heavily modify it to fit your dog. Although I measured Buddy and determined him to be a medium, it was extremely large in certain areas (too long, the straps hung below his waste) and too small in others (everytime he moves, the neck velcro comes undone.) If you are going to make this jacket, either do it in cheap fleece to try it or do a muslin before investing in more expensive fabric. I also would recommend skipping the binding and sewing the lining and outer garment together wrong sides together and turning it right side out to finish. Two layers of polar fleece combined with the binding tape were extremely difficult to sew and the binding did not add much to the garment.

Sew Much Fun

If you are interested in sewing, I highly recommend that you check out Film in the Fridge. In addition to making beautiful and inspiring quilts, she offers a great tutorial on how to made reversible rick-rack napkins. I sewed these two sets for Christmas presents. They are a quick, fun project. I have the fabric picked out for three more gift sets and then will need to get cranking some of these babies out for myself. I really enjoyed picking out the coordinating fabrics and sewing these napkins. As someone who is fairly new to sewing, I learned alot about turning corners and could see my skills improve with each napkin.

Reversible Rick-Rack Napkins

Pattern: Film in the Fridge's Reversible Rick Rack Napkin Tutorial

Fabric: 100% cotton 1 yard each print from the quilting fabric section purchased at Joann Fabric

Notions: Medium Rick Rack (4 packages are needed to make 6 napkins) purchased at Joann Fabric

Notes: One yard of each coordinating print is enough to make 6 napkins measuring 13.5" x 13.5"

Score!

I stopped in at Joann Fabric today to check out the patterns and found a Butterick pattern that was exactly what I was looking for to make a purse for my mom. When I went to the register to purchase Butterick 5054 (for view E), I found out that the Butterick patterns were on sale for $1.99. Not one to pass up a good deal, I went back to peruse through the book more thoroughly and ended up with 4 more patterns!

I thought 5145 was fairly cute and could either be used for a casual coat or something a bit more dressy.

I loved view B of 5089 for a cute cropped jacket to wear in the fall. I think this would look nice with either jeans or a skirt.

I've been seeing a lot about wide legged pants this season so I grabbed 4861.

I've always been a fan of vests and liked each of these four patterns in 4815.

I am about to embark on a marathon knitting project. I have had the pattern book for the Great American Aran for a while and have not yet had the courage to start it. In some great news, my brother is getting married next spring and I am going to knit this afghan for his wedding present. I ordered Cascade 220 Superwash in cream that is supposed to arrive Monday and hope that I have the perseverence to finish the GAAA in time.

Happy knitting and sewing everyone! Soon, I should begin posting cabled square after cabled square to the blog.

It's alive!

It may appear that I have fallen off the face of the earth due to the length of time it has been since my last post. It has been a hectic few months! I've moved. Dealt with family illnesses. Worked my butt off at work and... have not accomplished much on the crafting front. Things are starting to return to some semblance of normalcy and I have been knitting and have a few sewing projects planned. Heck, I even got a chance to take some pictures last night for today's post.

My Gryffindor Toe-Ups are moving along nicely. I finished both heel turns recently and have reached the mindless part of knitting the leg. I'm hoping to wrap these up soon so that I can move on to one of the gazillion other sock projects for which I have yarn.



I have also been plugging away on Tube Toporini. I think I may have 4 or 5 cable repeats to go before this officially becomes an FO. I'm looking forward to wearing this top over the summer and have a pretty serious queue full of other warm weather knits that I am itching to cast on.

I also have a few sewing projects planned. I was at Joanne Fabrics last weekend and noticed that Butterick patterns were on sale for $1.99. As most of my summer work clothes are starting to look a little worn, I thought I would attempt to make a summer top. The pattern is Butterick 4549 and I am going to make the sleeveless version pictured.

I picked up this shirting fabric that was also on sale to make the sleeveless top. I think it will look nice with khakis.

I also picked up New Look 6843. I am going to make the A-line skirt shown in black and white. I found this brown floral print fabric for the skirt.
I also bought the entire bolt of the burgundy paisley fabric pictured below. I am going to use the paisley fabric to make curtains for my new place. The curtains will be in a yellow room and the fabric matches a quilt that I have.

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

My first sewing FO of 2008!

Hi Everyone!

Let me introduce the double duty bag from Sew Baby Pattern F868. This pattern is great for a sewing beginner as it is very simple and has step by step directions. I've found in a number of patterns that the manufacturer expects you to know what to do until you reach a certain step and then explains the intricacies of that one step. That is not the case with this pattern. Each step is carefully and completely explained leaving minimal guess work for the beginner. I chose this project as I thought it would make an excellent knitting bag as it is reversible and includes 6 pockets around the middle for yarn and notions.

The following shot is what I will use as the exterior of the bag as I made a few mistakes on the pocket side that make it better suited to serve as the lining.

The interior includes 6 pockets that go the entire way around the bag. I think these will be useful not only for notions but also for putting different colored balls of yarn in while doing color work.

I bought both the pattern and the fabric at JoAnn's Fabric with a gift certificate my brother got me for Christmas. (Thanks John!!!) I started working on this project Saturday afternoon, March 15 and finished by Sunday, March 16.

I had put my March socks, the Embossed Leaves Socks from Interweave Knits aside to focus on my sewing and to read a book, The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory, but have made it a bit further along than these pictures indicate. I am through the heel and gusset on one sock and now have the heel and gusset on the other sock to complete before they are both back on the needles. I am hoping to work on them this week and to finish them up by the end of the month so that I can stay on track for my sock a month goals.

I am quite pleased with how the pattern looks in this yarn, Miss Babs Superwash Sock in the Grasshopper colorway. This is my first time knitting from a chart and I have realized that I have been reading the chart backwards. Fortunately, it has not messed up the pattern, just reversed the direction of it. I guess you do learn something new with each project.

Quick Update

Things have been fairly quiet in jsinsland lately. I've cast on for the puffed sleeve feminine cardigan from Stephanie Japel's Fitted Knits. I am only on the collar so I do not have a picture to show. I love the red from the version in the book so I am unoriginally knitting it in the exact same yarn in the exact same color. I've used the same yarn that a pattern called for before but I think this is the first time that I am also using the same color. (It's Knitpicks Merino Style in Maple Leaf.)

I have also knit 2 dishcloths as part of the Year Long Gift-A-Long. If I can keep focused on folding in gift knits with my standard selfish knitting, I may actually have a stress free Christmas this year.

In non-knitting but other crafting news, I have signed up to take a sewing class at the Community College of Allegheny County. I am really looking forward to taking this class. I have a sewing machine and have made curtains and pillows with it but I would like to become more proficient with sewing and tackle some more complicated projects.

Happy Monday!