Shawls

I've been a bit shawl making crazy this year. They are so satisfying to make. Also make a train journey very quick.

Here is a run down of a few. Check out my Ravelry page www.ravelry.com/projects/MandyMade  if you're interested in making one for yourself. The majority are now gifted, I managed to keep some to myself :-).

I'll start from the latest. Unfortunately I didn't get photos of them all finished and being "modelled".

Elise Shawl

Diagonal Shawl

Diagonal Shawl

Progress on my Sugar Sparkles Shawlette by Linda Permann

Mapleton

Tender sandstorm shawl

Boteh Scarf

Multiplicity Lace Shawl

Diagonal triangle shawl

Elise Shawl

Another pencilcase

Pencilcase for Max

Another of Little O's friends turned 5. His name is Max, so I just had too!!!!

Crochet Ballerina Mice

Ballerina Mice

There are so many projects that I have forgotten to write about. First up are the finished Ballerina Mice I made for my Nieces for Christmas. I added photos of the mice in the making but forgot all about the finished ones. Well here they are.

They were lovely to make. You can read all about the materials used on my Ravelry page. I mainly crocheted them on the train so they came together pretty quickly. They are so cute and were well received. I didn't add cheeks, I thought they were ok without them.

The pattern is Ballerina-Mouse by Mari-Liis Lille.

Pencil case

Dino pencilcase

Last weekend Little O had a birthday party to go to. I didn't know the child. Too many kids to keep track of at kinder! Lucky for me it was a dinosaur theme. So, I figure he likes dinosaurs :-). I was really not in the mood to rome the shops searching for a gift. I was in the mood to sew. So I dug out some dino fabric and made a pencil case. Love a gift that lets me get some sewing time :-). 

Time for some sewing

All cut out

It was too hot on Monday to do any crocheting so I thought I'd make a start on AJ's Christmas present. He's getting it early as he needs it for his dance concerts this weekend. Couldn't stand him carrying around a supermarket green bag with his dance stuff in it anymore!! So we both dug deep in the pattern pile and he chose I Think Sew's Katie Boston bag. I love how he can see a pattern and be able to project his own take on it, doesn't just look at it and see a girls bag because of the fabric used in the pattern. Yay!

Nearly finished

Just need to add the bias binding to the inside and I'm done! Think I might also add a base. I used thick fabric and interfaced but it needs more structure. Perfect size for him this year, I'm just grateful he's doing hip hop and doesn't need a tu tu!! Some of the bags the girls were dragging into dress rehearsal were enormous!

Days 4-6 Progress

Progress days 4-6

Check out that pink!!!! Not a colour I am used crocheting with, so bright. I'm not a pink girl, but my niece is. Both of my boys have gone through a pink phase, but not bright pink.

I'm going to have heaps of it left over, now I need to work out what I can make with it! Pink dinosaurs maybe?

Day 3 progress

Day 3 Progress

I'm not used to such a large project!! These 100g balls are causing a bit of a storage problem. Hopefully they will minimise considerably. I've got more colours to add though ;-).

Christmas gift progress

Day 2 working on Christmas Gifts

I'm really enjoying making on the train again, and these girls are coming along really quickly. I'm a bit behind in writing about them, but that's ok. If you want to skip ahead check out my Instagram (look for dittocrafts) or flickr (click on the picture above).

Handmade Christmas 2014

work in progress

Hello totally neglected blog! It appears having two blogs doesn't increase blog writing, it just makes you ignore both ;-). Well I'm hoping that will change! This blog is after all meant for my personal craft making, not making for Ditto Crafts. So here is what I'm making at the moment. Gifts for my neices for Christmas. Can you guess what it will be?

Super Space Alien

I know it's been a while, and it's not that I haven't been making, there has been heaps of that going on.

Like this Super Alien I made for Little O for his 3rd birthday.

Here he is in the making. I enlarged the pattern, i think by 150%. He looked like he was going to be too small to cuddle.

And here he is finished. Very easy to sew. I splurged and got real wool felt for the cape. I'm sick of the cheap stuff pilling.

He's a bit shy. I have to be honest. I didn't get the reaction from Little O that I expected. I think I should have made another robot or under the sea creature, he's not shy telling me what he thinks!!

Maybe I should just keep him for myself ;-)

Pattern by Melly & Me

Messenger Bags for my Nieces

I love a handmade Christmas. I think this year has been one of the biggest handmade Christmas's we have had in a long time, not just me giving handmade but others too. Understanding it doesn't have to be them making something either, just as long as someone has handmade the item.

One of the handmade times were these messenger bags I made for my Nieces. I knew they were getting a hand held tablet thingy, so I made cases for them. Not knowing exactly what they were and going by the dimensions only, I was a bit worried they weren't going to fit. But they fitted perfectly.

Messenger Bags

I wanted them to be really padded to protect the tablet. If I was to make these again with a lot of padding, I would make the inside slightly smaller or use a larger seam allowance. It ended up being slightly bulky at the base and hard to push the corners out. It worked out fine in the end. The added padding also made the flap shorter.

With the flap up

I love this front pocket, there is also one inside to put extra games or toys into.

View from the back

The back is super cute too

 

The back with the flap open

The flap opens all the way back so it's really easy for them to put everything in the bag.

Ready to be gifted

If you would like to make one of these bags head over to Michelle Patterns. You will need the Messenger Bag pattern and also the Just Pattern Pieces, for the extra smaller sizes. Happy sewing, if you do make one please let me know. I love to see all the different varieties people make.

How was your handmade Christmas?

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Strap Clutch

I made this Strap Clutch for a friend to give as a gift. (Through Ditto Crafts). This is the first time I've made this clutch. I love how the hole for the strap came together. It was a lot neater than I thought it would be, I thought I would need more practice!! I love how the bottom corners are made, I'll be making more like this, much nicer than a box bottom. I used a magnetic snap instead of velcro, they needed to be positioned a bit wider apart, know for next time.

Strap Clutch

I used fusible wadding on the lining and left the chord without any interfacing. It's so soft. I think if I had interfaced it it wouldn't have turned out so well. The chord was slippery though and needed lots of pins!

Strap Clutch Inside

I already had the Denise Schmidt fabric but needed lining and chord. It was a quick shop when I bought them and wasn't sure if it was all going to go together. Even when I was cutting I wasn't too sure (i was cutting out another in a different colour-way too, that's still being made). But as I cut and placed the pieces together they really did start to look like they were meant to be and I got excited to see the finished clutch.

Strap Clutch used as a Nappy Clutch, just add change mat!

And here it is. It's to be used as a Nappy Clutch so I also made a change mat, about a fat quarter in size. Loving this clutch but had to let it go to it's new home.

If you want to make one too you can get the pattern by Michelle Patterns here.

Happy Mothers Day

Secret Pocket Envelope Clutches, originally uploaded by MandyMade.

I know, a couple of days late. I had a lovely day, how about you?

These are the gifts I made this year for my mum and mother in law. They are made from Michelle's newest pattern, Secret Pocket Envelope Clutches. I made the size 3 version. Perfect to fit a Voucher inside. Now they just have to work out what else to put in them, endless possibilities!! They are very easy and quick to make, just what I needed at the moment.

Only took a quick photo with my phone before gifting. No amount of photo editing was going to help this photo so I just waked a filter over it!!

You can make one too, pop over here for a pattern. I want to make the other sizes too, I think I've got a use for every size at the moment.

Felt Foxes

Felt Foxes, originally uploaded by MandyMade.

Crafting for me lately has been mainly dreaming about what I want to make rather than the actual making. Too much other stuff going on, house reno, more stress at the real job and school holidays always stuff the routine around. Hopefully it will all settle down soon and there will be more making going on.

While the sewing machine is packed away at the moment I did get a little hand sewing time in the past week. I bought a Mollie Makes mag (issue 23) a few weeks ago, as soon as my sons saw the front cover both of them wanted a fox each. So instead of just putting it off till the increasingly long make list is complete I decided to squeeze them in.

I made from the pattern with the exception of using whip stitch to sew them together. They both came together really quickly, so if you need a quick gift, I recommend making them. They are now much loved :-).

Grocery bags

This is what I made from cutting into my DS fabric. Grocery bags for my sisters and crafty buddy. The pattern is from Michelle Patterns. I made the medium size. They came together very quickly even though every seam is double stitched. There is no interfacing which is very welcome after so many projects with iron on interfacing. I used calico inside. I love giving gifts that are potentially very useful not just sitting pretty on a shelf.

Gift making

The gift giving season has begun. But before I can start on chrissy gifts there are a few birthdays to gift to first.

And I am of course behind in my making so this gift was gifted yesterday instead of the beginning of the month!! Sorry about the photos, late night photo shoot, no amount of photo styling could help!! This was a gift for my craft buddies eldest. She turned 12 and has a mild obsession with the moustache at the mo.

The pattern is Michelle's Zip Pocket Pouch. This is the small version. Great for cards or coins. I added a loop and hook. If you would like to make one too pop over here, it's not too late to start the handmade Christmas!

Another quick gift

What do you get someone that has almost everything they want/need? A gift voucher for their favourite book shop.

What do you put the voucher in?

A fabric envelope of course.

Complete with Paris and Bikes, a favourite of the recipient.
Very quick and easy to make, and can be used afterwards for all sorts of things. I used my mum's gallery invite for the photo. Another perfect use.
So if you are giving gift vouchers for Christmas this year, why not whip up something special that can be used as wrapping and a handy pouch for later.

TTFN

Inset Zip Clutch

Inset Zip Clutch, originally uploaded by MandyMade.

I made this clutch so long ago but only just got it off my camera. I've started to become such an iPhone photo taker that I forget about my poor beloved Nikon. It's a faze I'm sure it is.

I made this clutch for my craft buddy's youngest for her 4th birthday, so she can carry around all those little toys girls play with these days.

I added a strap so she can pop it over her head to carry.

This may look like a tricky pattern with the zip inset like that, but it really was easy to make. I love how the zip turned out. I'd like to make more of these. If you would like to make one, pop over to Michelle Patterns (button on the right side bar). It also includes a smaller pouch version. If you would like to know how I added the strap, just let me know.

TTFN

Owl coin purse.

Owl coin purse., originally uploaded by MandyMade.

Feels so long since I've made something from Michelle's patterns, but it hasn't. I just keep forgetting to blog about it so I can record and remember it! Too much sewing not enough blogging? No, that's the way it should be!

Very cute and easy to make. I think this will be my go to pattern for girls birthdays for the time being. I added a snap instead of Velcro ( I hate sewing with Velcro) but I think its going to be too hard to open and close and may have to use Velcro. It's too small for a magnetic snap.

If you would like to sew one too click on the button for Michelle patterns on my side bar.

TTFN

Owl coin purse pattern from Michelle Patterns


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I've been busy

...very busy

   

making a crayon roll

   

and a pencil roll

 

and a pencil roll

 

and a pencil roll

 

I think I'm all rolled out!!

TTFN