Easy Seed Stich Dishcloth {Tutorial}

This will likely be the easiest tutorial I ever write.  

Most knitters could very easily figure this one out, but I kept forgetting how to make it and couldn't find a pattern, so I'm making one!  Probably as much for me as for you.  

Ready?

Supplies:

- cotton yarn

- knitting needles in the size recommended on the yarn label

- tapestry needle for weaving in ends

A note about cotton yarn:  I usually use sugar 'n cream or peaches 'n cream...the stuff you find at Michael's (and, of course, I always want to call it, "cookies 'n cream").  But, even more lovely to  work with is Pima cotton.  I found a nice one that comes in great colors at my LYS (local yarn shop).  I also heard from a very reliable source (an online friend!), that Hempathy is wonderful for dishcloths!

Got your supplies?  

Instructions:

Cast on 39 stitches (or any odd number)

All rows:  k1, p1

Cast off when dishcloth is the size you want it to be and weave in ends

See?  Wasn't that easy? 

Let me know if you make any!  

xo,

Melissa

Meet Elizabeth

Hey there and Happy New Year!

May I start out by saying that it is a lot of work to sew AND blog?  Sewing is fun and exciting and I love to do it every day.  Blogging is harder for me.  I want to rush through it and just get to the project photos already! 

This year, I want to make this blog have meaning and add value to the people who take the time to read it.  I haven't quite figured out the how yet, but I'm hoping that my blog will add value to others this year.  

And, that is as close as I am getting to making a New Year's Resolution.

I want to introduce you to Elizabeth today.  I listed her in the My Gigi Doll Etsy Shop in December and I have been using her as my model today.  

I am really drawn to this doll, and think I may keep her.  

From the Etsy listing, here is Elizabeth's description, "Elizabeth is a giggly girl who loves to dance and romp through the woods. She can get lost in her thoughts for hours while exploring nature. A crown with leaves and flowers is the perfect accessory for her. She is a true nature princess!" 

Doesn't she should like fun?  

I'll let you in on a little secret:  Elizabeth is based on me as a little girl (my middle name is Elizabeth).  Her hair should be a bit more messy, okay, a lot more messy, and she should have dirt smudged across her face, but besides those things, this doll is pretty close to me as a girl (YES, I had light blonde hair when I was little.)  I actually seriously thought about adding a tiny smear of dirt to her face, but just couldn't do it.  Models don't have dirty faces.

Hope you liked meeting Elizabeth!

Another thing I'd like to tell you about today is that I have something really fun coming to the shop soon:  

Doll/Child felt crowns!

Not only do the doll crowns fit My Gigi Dolls, but they also fit American Girl dolls!  You've already seen the crown on Elizabeth, but here is a sneak peek at the doll AND girl/boy crowns:

 

Thanks so much for stopping by.  

If you have a minute to leave a comment, I would love to hear what makes a blog valuable and meaningful to you.  

xo,

Melissa

Gianna's Library Bag

  Whoa.  It's been almost 3 weeks since I last blogged.

That's really too long!

The good news is that I've got a LOT of fun projects to show off in the new year, and a lot of things I'll be working on in 2013!

Today I want to show you the library bag I made for my daughter's 9th birthday.  She will be so excited to head to the library with this bag sporting her favorite insect - a ladybug!  

 I found the pattern in Sew Liberated by Meg McElwee. 

 

Gianna has been asking me to make this bag for her since I checked out Meg's book at the library.  I hope she loves it!  

I thought it would have been fun to fill her bag with library books before giving it to her, but I didn't finish it in time.   So, she gets the joy of filling it up for the first time!

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday.  See you in 2013!

What fun projects have you been busy working on?

Update:  She LOVES it!

 

What's In The Mail Today!

Guess what is in the bag?

Yep, it is a Doctor Who doll!

I will be posting pics of the doll in about a week when I finish making the 10th and 11th for my sons for Christmas.  This one is for a customer and I want her to see the doll first.  :)

Lots of pink in this little blondie! 

Her name is embroidered on the tummy.

And...I made this, but it's not in the mail, it's on the tree. 

 Every year my kids grab red and green construction paper to make a paper chain to count down to Christmas.  The other night at dinner my husband asked my daughter why she hadn't made a paper chain.  She told him we didn't have red and green paper.  I jokingly piped up and said, "I can sew one!"  (I kinda sew a lot) And he said, "No!  You don't have to make one!"  To which I (of course) said, "Don't boss me!"  (imagine Puddy is saying it to Elaine - like that)

So, I made one with felt and velcro!  Maybe next year I'll add numbers or some kind of decoration.

That's it for today. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Artist's Smock for Little Claire...

I've been really excited to blog about what I made for my youngest niece Claire for Christmas.

I'm excited because it's such a cute pattern, but mostly because I get to show off how STINKING adorable Claire is!

That's Claire getting her first haircut.

Adorable, right?

I bet you wish you looked that good in jeggings!

 "Yeah, I'm just hangin' out, bein' cute."

Are you dying of cuteness yet?

Trust me, I could post a million pictures of Claire, but there is an ever-so-slight-chance that you all would not enjoy that as much as I would.

But, you have to admit that a cutie pie as adorable as Claire really needed a super duper cute handmade Christmas gift, right? 

Then, read on...

As soon as I saw the artist's smock pattern in Sew Liberated by Meg McElwee, I knew I would be making one for Claire.

The smock is designed to fit ages 2-6, so it needs to last, which is why I chose navy blue kona cotton instead of white for the main color. 

Since Claire will be spending Christmas at Grandma and Papa's home in Italy, rather than embroider "L'aritiste" on the smock as the book directs, I chose to go with Italian and embroider, "L'artista".  

The pattern really was very easy to follow.  There were a few techniques that I had never done before and the directions made it very easy to follow.  

I would say that a beginner could definitely make this smock.

Here are full photos of the front and back:

I love how it just slips over the head with no fasteners to worry about.  It can easily be hung from a hook.  And, it grows with the child.

It's really a great pattern!

 I'm trying to do some re-usable gift wrapping this year and I thought the perfect little bag to wrap Claire's smock in is this one that I made using Jeni's Lined Drawstring Bag Tutorial.

 

So fun!

I'd love to hear how cute you think Claire is too, so feel free to comment.  ;)

Value Added QAL {Quilt Top}

What a FUN project this has been!

I had been wanting to do a chevron quilt when I saw that Rachel at Stitched in Color was planning a quilt along (QAL) with Leila (Where the Orchids Grow), Amy (Badskirt), and Jolene (Blue Elephant Stitches).  I thought joining the QAL would be a great way to make that chevron quilt.  

I learned so much about value from these amazing quilters! 

Converting a color photo to black and white, I learned, is a great way to see value.  Isn't that cool?

 

Until making this quilt, I didn't give value a thought.  I would just choose fabrics that I loved - usually bright, bold (and relatively dark) fabrics.  The way I chose to study value in this quilt also involved a color study.   I wanted it to have a simple and clean look.

The inspiration for this quilt came when I saw a very bright and colorful Mexican serape blanket like this.   I wanted to do something similar using colors I loved and a chevron pattern.

Learning something new  in sewing (in this case making a chevron top) takes so much mental energy for me that I didn't want to have to also worry about numbers.  I just purchased the smallest cut of fabric my fabric store would cut and that determined the size of the quilt. I chose a dark in value patterned fabric then 3 solids in the same color but each differing in value for each color:  orange, green, blue, purple and pink.  

After using white in my last quilt and not really loving it (love the quilt, not the white), I knew I was going to use a natural linen to make the colors stand out.  Linen isn't soft and isn't that much fun to work with, but I absolutely adore the rustic and natural look next to the bright colors. 

I will set this quilt aside for a week or so while I work on some Christmas doll orders.  In the meantime, I'll decide how to finish the quilt.  I am trying to decide whether or not to add a linen border.  Do you think I should add a border or leave the top as is?  I'd love to hear your input.  

As always, the kids and I had fun taking quilt pics!  

Here they are throwing rocks in the desert:

 My quilt holder finding a good spot to stand:

 My totally-not-photo-shy 14 year old:

Thank you Rachel, Leila, Amy and Jolene for hosting this QAL!

The next value quilt I am going to make will focus more on value and less on color.  It is the second picture in this tutorial by Sew Katie Did.

White {yes, WHITE} cloth napkins!

What do you do when:

you are too sick to be out and about but not too sick to be in bed all day;

you are depressed because you realize you are going to need to lose a good chunk of weight before you can train for that marathon you wanted to run;

you are disgusted that your house hasn't been thoroughly cleaned in forever;

and 

you are avoiding a huge project that needs to be finished?

I don't about you, but,  I make white {yes! WHITE} cloth napkins for my family.

 Could this be the sign of a deranged mind? 

White everyday napkins for the messiest family in the world?

It just so happens that I had the fabric on hand and I really wanted to embroider each one with an initial in our favorite colors. 

I followed two tutorials to make these:  here and here.

So, there you have it.  White embroidered napkins.  Tell me I'm not crazy.