A coworker and I just discovered that Whipstitch Fabrics has moved into West Midtown! Ooh this could be dangerous. Their new place is right across the street from my office. They have lovely fabrics, super friendly owners, and offer a lot of sewing classes. I will definitely be back…
So, technically, winck n’ crane started at a craft fair last fall. But the craft fair was rather poorly attended (maybe 60 people throughout the day). Since it was our first event, we didn’t have overly high expectations anyway, nor did we even have that much merchandise to sell! We did sell a couple of things, though, which was enough to convince us to try to make a go of this craftiness…
Well, we’re going to another craft fair in a little less than a month. Even though it’s technically our second craft fair, I’m as nervous as if it were our first, mostly because this one has been around for a few years and is historically well-attended. But! Beyond having attended a few craft fairs, I really don’t know what we’re getting ourselves into. Ha! So now it’s time for me to frantically start crafting on the off chance that we sell more than the 3 things we did last time around. Wish me (& Chandra) luck!
Adorable, if I do say so myself. This is the baby gift I posted about a couple of weeks ago. Now to mail it off to the parents! This pattern is fun to make and comes together really easily. It’s also quick to make, but maybe that’s just because it’s a newborn size, so everything is miniaturized. =)
I always get nervous sewing without a pattern. I think it’s my hate of wasting anything – what if I cut wrong? What if I make it too small? I’ll have wasted that dollar I spent on a t-shirt from Salvation Army!
Inspired by Dana’s 90 Minute Shirt tutorial, I attempted to make a (fitted) shirt out of an old t-shirt. Her pattern was intended for little ones, but since I don’t have any little ones, I thought I’d modify it for me. To make the “pattern”, I used an old shirt of mine as a guide for the bodice, but cutting out sleeves made me nervous – mostly because I didn’t have much fabric left. Finally I got smart, and pulled out a sleeve pattern piece from a dress I made a year or so ago.
After cutting a test sleeve out of other fabric and determining it would work, I wound up with this:
Obviously I need to add the other sleeves, and I’m going to smooth out the curves on the neckline. I’m also pondering what to do with the neckline – add some flowers? ruffles? extra layers of material to spruce it up?
And if I don’t count the time I spent thinking about this shirt and debating what to do with the sleeves, it probably did only take me 90 minutes or so.
It seems like another friend of mine has a baby every month or two! Most recently have been little girls, and this pattern has quickly become my go-to gift: Itty Bitty Baby Dress. Brought to you by my cousin Rae, a fantastic crafter, this pattern sews up really quickly. In the 30 minutes I had to start this today, I already have the dress half done! I’ve made this for a couple of friends already and they loved it – hopefully the next recipient will too!
Pic is of Rae’s original – I’ll post a pic of what I made once I finish it!
Seems like everyone is creating awesome crafts lately! Here a few fun crafts I’ve come across recently:
Sashiko embroidery – lovely
Invaders t-shirt – I know someone who would really like this
Spray-painted pillows – must try soon!
An applique based on the Winck n’ Crane crane (Beatrice), in what is currently my favorite fabric in my stash – this cute orange paisley.
I’m not totally happy with the way the legs turned out – they’re just zigzagged stitching down to the feet. With such thin legs, I wasn’t sure what else to try – any ideas for round two?
At my parents’ house a few months ago, I dug out my old counted cross stitch supplies. And there they sat until I decided I need to do something about the matching ugly pillow to this one.
I debated for a while what I should cross-stitch on this fabric – gumball machine? sheep? But, what better to put on a couch pillow than… a couch? After sketching a pattern out, I stitched lots and lots of gray:
Cute, but not the most exciting thing to stitch. =)
The recipient: the parents W
The craft: a pair of black t-shirts with an appliqued tandem bike – half on one shirt, half on the other.
The process: After measuring the combined width of the t-shirts, we drew out the applique on paper, trying to keep it as simple as possible. Once we were happy with how it fit on the shirts, we cut out the pieces and used them as a pattern to cut out the gray cotton “bike”. Lining up the bike parts was a bit of a guess, as we had to estimate the height difference between the parents W to make sure the bike lined up when the shirts were on. Using silver thread, I appliqued the bicycle pieces, and as a finishing touch, added spokes and the chain in thread.
The verdict: A smashing success!
The recipient: the good folks at Octane, where Winck & Crane spend, erm, a little bit of time
The craft: O is for Octane onesie
The process: In true Winck n’ Crane fashion, based on Chandra’s clever suggestion, Emily appliqued a brown cotton “O” on a onesie, and Chandra painted “is for Octane” next to it.
The verdict: Cute!