my half of the brain

So yesterday morning I bought In Stitches, because I couldn’t spend another second without Amy Butler’s Wide Leg Lounge Pants. And yesterday afternoon I had two new pairs of pants!!! Made by me! Can you tell I’m excited? I’ve never sewn clothing before, and I did it! I made buttonholes! I made drawstrings! I sewed the right pattern pieces together! They fit!

This pattern was super-easy for a newbie to follow. I’m 5′4″ and one hundred seventy five pounds and I used the large size, and when I put them on they were a nearly perfect fit. I added one half inch to the side of each leg for the second pair, for just a bit more room. The pattern has very long legs, so I took a bit of length off, and then sewed a wide hem (I figure I can let them out if I get taller–heh).

Here is my first pair, made with a cornflower blue and cream cotton print. You may or may not be able to tell that they fit snugly across the hips:

Here is my second pair, made with a funky cowboy cotton print, and with just a bit of looseness in the hips:

And here are my next four pair, fresh from the fabric store!

I love these pants! Maybe I am a little short and squat, but I feel like a movie star from the forties in them.

Holy Moly! And Lila says

this is my first substantial bit of embroidery, and the first time i tried many of those stitches.

What an accomplishment! I’m insanely jealous of her creativity!

Miss Lila Mae: #13 pink.yellow.red

A lined purse with a squared bottom, and craft-weight interfacing. I think next time, I’d face the lining too, or use a heavier interfacing. This is my favorite fabric ever, which I bought at Joann’s on clearance 4 years ago, immediately wanted more of, and have never found since.

I made this craft apron to wear around the house or at girl’s night out for keeping all my stuff at hand. I used heavy brown canvas on one side and this great cowboy fabric on the other.

I made this bunny for mom for easter, from a pattern here. Things I learned:

• little ‘x’s for eyes aren’t nearly as nice looking as french knots would have been, but I don’t know how to make them yet
• when stuffing a toy with lots of long narrow bits, start somewhere in the middle instead of at the end of one of the long narrow bits
• if you get to the end of a strand of floss, and think your bunny will look OK with only two whiskers on one side of his face, you are wrong

These look delicious! In my mind, the frosting and decorations are made of marzipan. Just divine!

mr. monkeysuit: felt cupcakes

Back in November I made some felt cupcakes for Floyd’s cafe and a fellow blogger said she would like some for her daughter. Well four months later, and here they are ….or at least most of them. Of course, I haven’t finished them, of course not. I still have a couple of the larger ones left to finish but they are almost done now and soon the little swap we have arranged will be ready.
I love getting involved in swaps. It is neat to think of your things half way round the world (or even a few streets away) being played with by some crafty mama’s kids or even by the crafty mama herself. It kind of reminds me of keeping pen-pals in the 1970’s. Does that even exist anymore ? Perhaps the advent of the internet makes the idea of sending letters round the world to people you have never met before seem redundant. Ironically and fortunately the craft-blog world has reinvented it through swapping and I think that is so cool. I love that these will be in someone else’s little daidokoro, cocina, kuche, cuisine or cozinha and I may never meet the person who receives them but there is an invisible thread that connects us.