chinese-style robe

This project was actually started last summer as something to wear during my pregnancy, but I didn't finish the embroidery until the week after the baby was born! So now it just needs a belt to cinch in the waist. The material is blue linen with a white linen facing, and then just white cotton embroidery thread.

The pattern, from Folkwear, was extremely easy. I did do a few things differently than the instructions though. The trim is supposed to be a thick band of contrast material, but I turned this to the inside as a facing and just left a thin piping edge showing. The overlap of the robe is traditionally fastened with "frog" closures, but I couldn't find any--and I was snapping so many onesies on the baby that I thought snaps would work well, and they do! The belt was also an addition to the pattern. The best part about this is that I can easily unsnap it to nurse the baby. (Alas, much of my wardrobe is unwearable right now because of the need for nursing access.)

If I made another one, I would probably use a looser, more drapey fabric. The linen is a little stiff.

Bird Mobile

This is one of the few hand-made things that I thought would be worthwhile for a baby. The birds were amazingly easy and quick. The branch is cut and hung easily too--this one is from our crabapple tree. I really like the organic shapes of the branch and birds together, whether a baby knows what they are or not it's nice for me to look at!

The pattern is from Spool and there is a huge flickr pool of ideas.

It was really fun going to my favorite fabric store (Sarah's in Lawrence, KS) and picking out all the different colors. I bought fat quarters of every color and only used about 1/6 of each piece, so I'm trying to decide on another project to use them with.

This bird is one I made for a friend who just had her baby. The two-color combinations are endless.

Here's a picture I took of what the baby sees lying in the crib. And to my delight, I actually caught her looking and cooing at them the other morning--yay, it works!

And if you don't know any babies to make them for, I thought they'd look great on a Christmas tree or even as a wall decoration in the house. (I'll probably be making more of them at some point for one or both of these purposes.)

Do you know of any super-quick-and-easy projects like this? It seems like good ones are hard to find.

Excuses...

I really do have a good excuse for the long absence:

Our daughter, Galena Rose, was born March 13 at 2:17 pm, 8 lbs 6 oz, 20 1/2 inches long. We've been pretty busy just enjoying her company.

I do have lots of projects to post about, so hopefully I'll get to that soon.

Student Projects

My fiber art students (at the homeschool co-op where I teach) have just finished weaving their drawstring tapestry bags. They had a lot of fun with the color combinations of their stripes, and the bags all came out beautifully.

The project is from a wonderful book, Kids Weaving, by Sarah Swett. All you need is a piece of cardboard cut to the size that you want your bag. The best thing about the project is that the bag is woven all in one piece around the cardboard, and the drawstring slits are woven in--so there's no sewing or finishing needed besides tucking in loose tails of yarn. The book has a lot of other great beginner weaving projects too.

This bag is almost done, she's just beginning to make the slits for the drawstring to pass through. The students much preferred using a tapestry needle to weave, rather than just their fingers. Several girls have already started making another bag at home, they enjoyed it so much.

During the work time in class, students also took turns weaving on a rigid heddle loom. Everyone had a chance to practice using it, and the result was a pretty blue and white scarf that will go to the winner of the drawing.

World Crafts Village

Every year for Christmas, my mother-in-law asks me what I'd like from World Crafts Village, a nonprofit organization that supports artisans around the world by selling their handcrafted products. Most of the artisans are combating poverty, and World Crafts allows them to recieve fair trade prices for their work. I really enjoy reading the short descriptions of each group that makes a certain item. They have all kinds of stuff from all over the world.

This year I asked for some embroidered Christmas ornaments from Yunnan, China. I love the blue on white. We don't have very many ornaments for our tree yet, and these are really nice ones.

I'd been wanting this Turkish bowl set for a few years and was so surprised to receive it. I have a thing for handmade bowls, not mugs or plates or anything else--just bowls. I love the colors and detailed designs on these handpainted ones. (They're so nice, I'm almost afraid to use them!) The information that came with the bowls said that they're the type people have used for thousands of years to serve finger foods to guests, such as olives, nuts, and dates.

This tote's design is called the "Doors of Aceh", which represent the opening of Indonesia to the rest of the world. I'm planning on using it as my "mom purse" after the baby is born, since it's a lot bigger than the one I use now. I think the common theme in what I like about ethnic designs is the complexity and attention to detail. Most of the textiles and pottery of modern America is so plain and unadorned--it makes me appreciate the intricacy found in other culture's traditional style.

So, if you're into handmade stuff from other countries, or need ideas for presents--this is the place to go. They have items for any price range, I think the most expensive thing is the $200 Turkish area rug with a Mount Ararat design on it--amazing. (Maybe I'll save up all my Christmas money for that one next year.)

last-minute presents

I made three pairs of these slippers for friends that have cold wooden floors in their houses. I looked at a few different slipper patterns and ideas, but ended up making my own pattern and figuring out solutions to various problems that came up.

They are surprisingly easy to make and, since I did 3 sets of them and am now an expert, I'm hoping to put together a tutorial to post in a few weeks.

This is a close-up shot of an upside-down slipper. I wanted to show the sole, which is covered in a thin layer of silicone. I read online that it's a great way to make the slippers have traction, so they won't slip on smooth floors. I was a little unsure about spreading silicone on a nicely finished slipper, but it works wonderfully!

While we drove to St. Louis to see my husband's family for Christmas, I decided it was a good time to knit these fingerless mitts for a friend of mine. She has four children and mentioned once that she can't wear gloves because she's always dealing with carseat buckles and zippers and things she needs tactile ability for. So I thought she could at least keep her wrists and palms warm with some fingerless mitts, even if her fingers are still exposed. I used the Lovisa pattern from ravelry, but changed a lot of it. I made them shorter, used only one color, added ribbing at the two ends, and actually had to start over with 10 less stitches than the pattern because they were huge. (I must have had the wrong gauge or something.) But they came out nicely.

We had a white Christmas here in Kansas City, it's been snowing for two days now. I wish I could get a good picture of it. There's just nothing more contenting in the winter time than to knit or weave by the fire and watch the snowflakes coming down in thick flakes outside.

Christmas Projects

Here's a few things I've been working on for Christmas presents. First, a wrist pincushion using an offset square that I found a sewing tutorial for on Planet June's blog. (She gave excellent instructions!) This is for one of my co-workers who does a lot of sewing for Missouri Town. It was an extremely easy and quick project, and I really like the unique shape.

Next, a pillow for our annual Weavers Guild gift exchange. This year the theme was rectangles. I'd seen a pillow in a department store last year that was decorated with strips of different ribbons, and of course I thought, I could do that! The gift exchange can be anything sewn, woven, felted, etc., and I chose the easy route this year. If you're going to weave something, it's much better to have extra from an earlier project, since last-minute weaving doesn't really work.

Also, these baby oxen are a present for my other friend from Missouri Town (the ox-driver). I'm using the lamb pattern I made last summer and will eventually give them needle-felted horns and spots. I'll be sure to post a finished picture.

Of course, I have at least 4 other projects going that need to be finished in the next two weeks, so hopefully they will get done in time!

Do you have any great handmade Christmas presents that you've either given or recieved?