Bags, bags, more bags, and a pumpkin shirt!

Due to feeling crappy but not extremely crappy, I didn't work on anything that took too much thought today! I made my first t-shirt bags from t-shirts I purged from the closet. This is the first one.

Once it was made, I realized that the handles were too long. I cut them shorter and sewed them back together. That size worked better, so this is my second attempt.

This one will work out very nicely! I plan on making a bunch of t-shirt bags to carry my groceries and other purchases in. I think they'll work really well. They are nice and deep, and they are strong.

Beth Ann and I went to JoAnn's big sale today (and used our 10% off our entire order coupon!). We bought 3 flannel fabrics to make Christmas napkins and 12 cotton fabrics to make Christmas gift bags. I'm not in a big rush to get those done. I plan on doing a few at a time.

Since I didn't feel all that great, but I really wanted to accomplish SOMETHING today, I decided to whip up some gift bags. I made 7 little ones and 1 big one. I used my orange t-shirt bag to store them in!


And finally, here's the pumpkin shirt. Eh, it's functional.

New Year's Goals

I've decided to set monthly goals in the new year! I hope that if I have specific goals, I'll meet them! :-) I don't have too many unfinished projects going, but I don't like having unfinished project. It bugs the heck out of me. I would put those on my list first, but I have to finish my maternity clothes first. So, my goals for January are: finish up maternity clothes, make cloth napkins and hankies, and finish Trey's scarf. Those are my January goals!

Last Christmas Scarf

Here's the last of the Christmas scarves!

I made an "overnight bag" for one of our friends for Christmas. This is the bag. I had leftover material from one of my maternity shirts, so I made the bag with it. I still have some material, so I am making more gift bags from it. I ran out of thread though, so I didn't get them done today.

I finished another maternity shirt - an easy one, but it's functional. I also mostly finished an orange shirt that I sort of look like a giant pumpkin in, but again - it's functional. Maybe now that I have the easy stuff done, I can actually do some of the cute stuff!

Maternity clothes - finally

Now that I have a little bit of energy and Christmas is over, I got to work on some maternity clothes. I have four outfits which is not going to last me for the next 20 weeks! I made two simple pieces today. I made a pair of white cotton pants and a white cotton top. Finally, I have a top that I can wear with the skirt I made earlier.

Now that Christmas is over...

I can post a few pictures that I couldn't put on my blog before!
Here is my sister-in-law's scarf.

Here's my other sister-in-law's scarf without the fringe - I added the fringe later, but I forgot to take another picture.

This is the only picture I took of my mom's scarf, and it was half done. I forgot to take another picture when I was finished!

The great juggling ball saga...

So, last week I spent most of a day making juggling balls for my brother-in-law. When I got done, I didn't like them. I tried making one a different way. They were too kid looking. Not being willing to give up, I gave it one more try, and I finally liked the result. I cannot tell you what a pain in the butt these juggling balls ended being! LOL. That's okay. My oldest son loved my first try, so I made him a Harry Potter bag, and put the first set under the tree for him. My youngest son loved the second try, so I am in the process of finishing up the third one for him. I also made him a Harry Potter bag, and they're going under the tree for him. My brother-in-law's went out in the mail today. Here they are:
First try:

Second try:

Final result:

The Christmas socks are finally done!

I finally found the second page of the pattern to the socks and finished Beth's socks for Christmas. Of course, I forgot to take a picture of them before I wrapped them up and put them under the tree! Oh well. I think Beth will really like them. The pink matches her scarf and hat.

Livi's Christmas scarf

Here's the scarf that I made for Olivia for Christmas. It's made from a chunky, variegated, Malabrigo yarn. It is so incredibly soft! I don't really need to include all these pictures of Louis modeling the scarf, but they're way too cute! This pattern is from a scarf book and it's called Blackberry Cobbler.

Ray's Christmas pillows

These pillows were super easy. Step 1: cut out four big squares. Step 2: Sew straight seams, leaving a small area to put in stuffing. Step 3: Stuff. Step 4: Hand sew the bottom. End result: Two cute throw pillows for Ray's new bed. Now I have to get some wrapping paper quick because where in the heck can I hide these huge pillows???

Beth Ann's Christmas scarf

I made a skinny scarf for Beth Ann for Christmas out of a Donegal Tweed ball that I received in a yarn swap. It can also be worn as a belt. I think it turned out really cute. I hope she likes it!

maternity clothes

I made my first maternity shirt last night. I've had this material for years. I love it, but I've never found the right thing to make with it. I ended up making this shirt a size too big. I held the pattern up to me, and it looked like it was going to be too small, so I made it a size too big. Oops. I suppose the extra room will be useful in a few months though, so that's okay.

I finished a skirt today. The design was all mine, and I'm kind of pleased with it. I'll make some adjustments the next time I make one. It turned out straighter than I wanted. I meant to make it a bit more of an A-line, but I still like it.

Blue and green heart summer dress

I finished a summer dress that I originally cut out for Beth Ann. Olivia wants to wear it badly, but it is just too big for her. I'll save it for her for next year.

Livi's blanket

Livi's "drag around" blanket is finally finished. She picked out the colors and has been patiently waiting for me to get it done!

Cute Jams

I finished up two pair of pajamas for Louis today. They actually fit Olivia, and I cut them out for Ray! I sort of forgot about them. Oops. Well, Louis will be able to wear them in a couple of years. I had to tuck the shorts in his diaper to keep them up for the picture! LOL.

Lady Bug Dress

I finally finished this dress up. I love the pattern on the material - it's so cute.

Knit outfit is done!

Okay, so the outfit turned out kind of cute, and Olivia loves it. Here are some pictures of it.

Knit fabric

Ugh - I forgot how much I don't like sewing knit fabric. In some ways it's very forgiving, but it always slips and stretches which makes it a pain in the butt. I finally carved out a little space where I can do some crafting. I made a couple of pair of shorts. I had them cut out for a while. They said size 3/4, so I figured they'd be way too small for Ray. When I got them finished though, I realized they were pretty big! One pair I made to fit Ray. I made the other pair smaller around the waist, so hopefully they'll fit Louis in a year or so. I have a shirt that I'm making to go with it. Neither shorts are from the knit fabric! I also made a skirt to go with an outfit I'm making Olivia, and THAT is the knit fabric. No picture of it yet because I'm not finished!

Scrapbook pages

Here are a few of my scrapbook pages. They have pretty simple designs. There's nothing spectacular about them, but I like them!

leftover yarn scarf

I made this scarf traveling across Kansas. I wanted to make something out of my scarf book, and I had this extra yarn, so I made it. Anyone who's traveled across western Kansas knows it's the most boring place to drive in the world! I'm not even sure where I got the yarn. I think it came from a yarn bag at ARC (thrift store). There wasn't a lot of yarn, so it made a very short scarf. It was the perfect size for Olivia, and she loves it! I like the pattern. I might try it again - longer length this time!

My hat and scarf

I got this super yummy yarn from another "Magic Ball of Yarn" swap. It's merino wool, and it is gorgeous and super soft. I decided to make something for me! I made this hat and scarf, and I love it. Beth Ann modeled it for me. She looks so grown up in this picture!

Beth's hat and scarf

Beth Ann picked out her own yarn and color for this combo.

Matching hats

I got this yarn from a "magic ball of yarn" swap, and I made Louie and I matching hats. The variegated colors made a really cool pattern on my hat. This yarn is super soft. I took these pictures before I blocked the hats, so you can see the little point on mine, but that went away after blocking.