OCD Crafting

My OCD crafting ways have led me to finishing a tote bag for my niece's birthday. She's obsessed with horses, which certainly wouldn't be my first cute animal choice for a tote bag. Oh well! I think she'll like it. Since I still have a bunch of horse fabric leftover, I think I'll be making some accessories for her. Will keep you posted! Also must note that the "bandana" fabric made me a little fearful that this was going to turn out like a Vera Bradley bag or something - that would've been tragic.

I finally finished my trench coat (Simplicity 4084). It took me nearly a month (I admit I had to set it aside quite frequently) and the lining about killed me, but it's done! It's definitely not perfect, and is more in a fall palette (actually the season I bought it for). I shall make the spring version next year, this is an item I think you can only sew once a year! But the good thing is that I learned a lot from this project, and the next one will be a lot easier. The picture is terrible; taking pictures of yourself with the camera timer is not easy!



Now that my major project is out of the way, I can finally tackle the smaller things on the list. Right now I'm making a couple of basic elastic-waist skirts via the "Sew What! Skirts" method (one in denim and one in your basic chino/khaki whatever you call them twill) I also am making a hoodie using one of the many tutorials on the subject I've seen. I'm using this fabric:

My first quilt.

So, I want to make this quilt this summer, and I thought it'd be a great idea to try out this whole quilt thing on a smaller project. I got one of those quilt bundles at JoAnn's that make a little 30"x36" quilt for children. I thought I could give it to my friend Nicole, who had a baby last August (I'm only a little late). In theory, I think making a quilt will be easy. I only ran into a few problems making this, and most involved the dark brown plush material, which was extra stretchy. So, some of my measurements are off, and not all of the squares are perfectly square. Also, my sewing "in-the-ditch" between the center panel and border didn't end very nicely on the back (of course, I'm not going to show you!). All in all, I think this project was a success (according to the cat, at least), and hopefully, it won't fall apart the first time she washes it!

A Fishlet?

Friday at work, I found out that my friend used a half-size ziploc baggie for the makeup in her purse. This discovery required immediate action. So, I went home and immediately crafted her a little makeup bag. Unfortunately, I already gave it to her, but my craftiness did not end there. I made myself a wristlet out of this fish fabric that I've been hoarding for nearly a year. Finally a purpose! These wristlets will make great gifts, won't they? Easy, fun, and plenty useful.



Next up, a quilt I'm attempting to make for my friend that had a baby last August. Just a little late!