Spur-of-the-Moment Cell Phone Case

This past fall I downgraded my cell phone from a smartphone to just a regular old cell phone. Partly because I was tired of paying the data fees when I didn't use enough data to make it worth it, and partly because I don't need the distraction of a smartphone. My new phone has a large touch screen, and I wanted to protect it, not to mention be able to find my phone quickly in the black hole that is my bag.



A few months later, I finally got around to making one. I briefly looked for a pattern but didn't find one, so I just played it by ear. My perfectionist tendencies almost got the better of me (when you wing it things don't usually work out perfectly), but I kept going and after about half an hour I called it good and threw it in my bag. And really, the more I see it, the more I love it. Sometimes I need to use things for a bit to realize how much I like them.



I have a bag of wool fabric scraps that I purchased at the NH Wool Arts Tour a few years ago (I've been making a braided rug with most of them). I found one wide enough to cover my phone and folded up the bottom edge, leaving enough fabric at the top for a flap, and sewed the sides together to form the base. Then I hemmed the edges and bottom of the flap.



My husband had told me that it was bad for wool to have direct contact with electronics, because of static electricity, so I knew I needed a lining. I had a packet of fabric squares from a 1930s fabric collection, so I sewed two together with the right sides facing, and hemmed the top edge. Then I carefully sewed the lining into the case by hand. It's slightly visible on the outside but not enough that it bothers me.


I picked out a button from my button jars, sewed it on, and snipped a slit large enough for the button. Even though it's wool and partially felted, I decided to blanket stitch around the opening to make it more secure. I couldn't find embroidery thread so I just used regular sewing thread. Lastly, I sewed on some felt flowers I bought a few years ago. It looks a little wonky but it does a great job, and I can always find my phone easily. Even though I got a little frustrated at times, sometimes just going for it and using what I have on hand is the best way to go.

Winter Wardrobe: Bandana Cowl

I love just about every pattern that The Purl Bee posts, but some of them just grab me and demand to be made immediately. The Bandana Cowl was one of those patterns.



The short rows are a little tricky, but not too bad.



Pattern: Bandana Cowl from The Purl Bee
Yarn: Brooklyn Tweed Shelter, 1 skein in Faded Quilt
Needles: Size 10 (the pattern calls for size 10.5, but they also used a bulky yarn; I'm happy with the gauge and drape I got with a size 10, but it did turn out very slightly smaller than The Purl Bee's version)
Modifications: Other than going down a little on the needle size, none



I considered this part of my winter wardrobe because I finished it in January, but I think it will work very well through spring and fall. We are still having cool mornings and evenings here in New Hampshire, and it's perfect for warding off the chill.




A close up of the short row shaping at the back:



This was a nice quick project that was easy but still kept my interest with the shaping. Though it looks slightly grey in these pictures, it's really a lovely light blue that goes with most of my wardrobe. I love Brooklyn Tweed's Shelter yarn. It is soft and lightweight, and the colors are full of subtle tweedy changes--so beautiful.

Wedding Quilt

Jack and I were so lucky to receive this beautiful quilt made by my Aunt Toni as a wedding present.



A close up of the backing:


The backing matches all the colors of the top perfectly, and I love the heart-shaped quilting pattern:


I love the quilt top pattern, with one large block to show off the fabric and an asymmetrical border of smaller blocks:



Thanks, Aunt Toni! We appreciate your lovely handwork and we will cherish this for many years to come.

You can see more of our beautiful handmade wedding gifts here and here. I will be posting about more of our handmade gifts soon.

Halloween Needlefelts

I know we are in the midst of the Christmas season now, but I thought I would show you my Halloween needle felts anyway.



I was beside myself when I found out that the Spin-Off Autumn Retreat was going to be held in Manchester this year. Called SOAR for short, it's usually out west. I'm pretty sure that it hasn't been in New England in the past 7 or 8 years. I took Spinning on a Drop Spindle with Maggie Casey and it was wonderful. She is a fantastic teacher and a very interesting woman to talk to. I learned so much and feel much more comfortable using a drop spindle. It's great to have learned this portable technique for one of my favorite crafts.

Of course there was a fabulous vendor's market at SOAR, and I behaved myself for the most part but I couldn't pass up these great needle felting kits from Blackbird Crafts Needlefelting (part of the Mocha's Fiber Designs booth; the items are also usually available on Mocha's website).
I got all four designs because I couldn't choose between the ghost;



the fabulous cat;


the adorable pumpkin;


and the spooky moon with a bat. Plus, they all look great in a row as a banner!


I like the way they came out, although they don't look like the pictures and that bothered me while I was trying to make them, but I got over it. This was my first time doing flat needlefelting (previously I've made 3D objects like the gnomes), and it was a little challenging but still fun.

Now back to my Christmas knitting and crafting! Several items are gifts, but I will show you things as I can!

Autumn Leaves Stitching

I started this embroidery project last fall with my stitching group, and I finished it up and had it framed this summer. I currently have this embroidery for fall, and my "Smells Like Snow" embroidery for winter. Eventually I'd like to have one for each season.



This was an interesting project. We collected leaves from our yards (I ended up taking some of my mom's leaves, from the Japanese maple in her front yard), and traced around three of them on the congress cloth. Then we took those same three leaves and rolled paint on them to print the full leaf near the traced leaves. We used hand-dyed thread to work blackwork stitches inside the traced leaves, then metallic copper thread to outline all of the leaves and their veins. It was a great introduction to some of the blackwork stitches and a fun project.

Happy Fall!

Summer Wardrobe: Reverse Applique Kerchief

Ever since I saw the book Alabama Stitch Book, I was intrigued by the idea of reverse applique, along with many other stitching techniques presented there. This form of reverse applique is a little easier than the traditional version, where you have to turn the edges under (as I was told by a quilting friend).


In this project, you paint on the top fabric with fabric paint (I used a stencil included in the book) and then use a running stitch to secure it to the bottom fabric. After that, you snip out the inside pieces with embroidery scissors, leaving 1/4" of fabric between the stitches and cutting line.



I'm very pleased with how it came out. The running stitch is hand-stitched, so it can be a bit time-consuming, but it's a great TV project because you don't really have to think about what you're doing, besides trying to keep the stitches somewhat even. And really, the obvious handmade quality is part of the charm, so there's no need to rip out less-than-perfect stitches.





It's great for keeping my hair out of my face during the summer months, but I plan to wear this well into the fall!

Summer Wardrobe: Summer Socks

Just a plain vanilla sock, using Sockotta sock yarn, which makes the fair isle design. The yarn also has cotton in it, which makes it much more comfortable to knit with in the summer heat than wool, although the cotton can be hard on your hands. I bought the yarn five years ago to make my first pair of socks, and everything went great except I didn't measure the length of my foot or stop to try it on, so it turned out too small (I'm a size 9 and the pattern was written for a 7 or 8). I got much better at sock knitting after that, but by then summer was over and it seemed like I should save this project for the warmer months. I didn't expect so much time to go by, though--other projects just jostled their way in front of the socks. I was going to make ankle socks originally, but when I picked it up again recently I decided I'd rather have full-length socks.


Pattern: Classic Socks for the Family by The Yankee Knitter (an awesome pattern, I highly recommend it)
Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Sockotta, 1 ball
Needles: US Size 1