Claire's Picnic Blanket

Do you remember the picnic blanket that Laura and I made for Mindy's Birthday last year? Well, while the present was unique, it wasn't the only picnic blanket that we made at the time. Our other friend Claire had a similar zero ending birthday in November, so we decided to also make her a picnic blanket as a birthday present.

At the base of it, the picnic blankets are the same: a 6x6 grid of squares of a selection of fabrics, bagged with a backing, tied with perle thread and added ties to hold it closed.

However, if you refresh yourself with the what the other picnic blanket looked like you'll see that the fabric selections are veeeery different! I love both fabric selections, and both perfectly suit the recipients.



We backed it with a patterned dark grey fabric, remembering that the back of the picnic blanket may get dirty we chose a dark coloured coordinating fabric.

The blanket then rolls up and once tied is a nice small bundle that's easy to drop into a bag.

Apologies for the poor quality iphone photos, but since we made and gifted this in November and I only just got any kind of photos this weekend, I figured iphone photos were better than nothing!



A massive belated Happy Birthday to Claire!

A similar picnic blanket for myself has been added to the to-do list...

Cabled Neck Warmer

Before I went away I shared a sneak peek at a new knitting project. That project was a little neck warmer. It was inspired by one that my friend Claire had made, so she kindly wrote me up some very cute instructions on how to make one myself:

The only change I made was to put the button holes at the beginning rather than the end, since I had started it at her house she was there to offer moral support for the button holes if I did it at the beginning!

Above and below are some pics that show the knit pattern that I chose (a nice and simple cable pattern, that I can't remember the name of... I picked it out of a book of knitting stitches that Claire has).

Combined with the variegated blue yarn it kind of looks like a wavy ocean doesn't it?

After blocking I just needed to add a couple of buttons and it was done! I got these lovely little wooden buttons from GJs and it think they're just perfect!

It's already been worn a few times - it's perfect for keeping the chill off my neck while I'm riding, without adding the extra bulk inside my jacket that a longer scarf does.

(The ravelry entry for this project can be seen here)

Pyjamas!

Easter weekend means sales at the fabric stores, so this afternoon me and Claire popped across to Spotlight as they had 40% off all fabric. I have been in need of some new PJs for a while, especially since I was generous and used half of the dinosaur camo fabric to make a second pair for the boy rather than a pair for myself.

I was very restrained, and only bought what I went for. I bought three pieces of fabric, which totalled about $30 including elastic, so $10 a pair of PJ bottoms isn't bad. The birds are flannelette, and the spots are poplin. Once they're made up I'll be able to get rid of some that are getting very very sad!

Laptop Cases

Before I could come across to Perth for Christmas I had to make a laptop sleeve for the laptop I bought a few months ago. So me and Claire got together for a couple of sewing dates and made one each. We used this tutorial by Elizabeth Hartmann from sew mama sew, which was very well written.

I used two pieces of fabric that my brother got me in Africa a few years ago (above) , and Claire used some IKEA fabric for the outer and some scraps I'd cut off the bottom of a curtain for the lining (below).

We followed the instructions and the laptop sleeves came together really smoothly, I would definitely recommend this tutorial.

Our laptops are now lovely and snug in their new sleeves.

A lovely crafternoon

Yesterday I spend a lovely few hours enjoying a "crafternoon" with some friends. A very nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Nichola and Claire knitting up a storm

The others were all knitting - Claire and Nichola being very acomplished knitters and Mindy just learning.

Mindy learning to knit

I was, surprise surprise, working on the quilting of my genome quilt top.

I'm making good progress with the quilting, with maybe 1/4 of the top left to go - all the circles are marked now I just need to plod along with the stitching to get it finished.

Above shows the awesome little goldfish bag that I've been using to hold all my quilting supplies - it was a gift from my lovely friend Kelly and is perfect for the job.

Skills trade - Part 2 - Claire's Jenny Skirt

Yesterday I showed you the amazing wrist warmers that Claire knitted me, today I can show you the skirt that I made her as my half of the "skills trade".

I used the "Jenny" pattern that I've used a couple of times before, but instead of making a wide waistband I made one 1 inch wide to give it a more standard pencil skirt look.

(Please excuse the crumples/creases - these photos were taken after a delicious and leisurely brunch)

 

For the first time with this pattern I lined the skirt, with the lining the same as the skirt but hemmed an inch shorter. This has led to a small problem that the lining is visible in the back behind the slit (see above photo). I was hoping someone might have some wisdom of what I did wrong, or what I could do to solve this problem?

Skills trade - Part 1 - Knitted Wrist Warmers

I recently arranged a "skills trade" with my lovely friend Claire. You see, Claire is a knitter and I don't knit at all, so we came up with the idea that she would knit me something and I would sew her something.

She fulfilled her end of the bargain a few weeks ago by knitting me these gorgeous wrist warmers.

A bizarre request to make during Australian summer, I know, but I requested wrist warmers so that I can wear them while ice skating as the fronts of my wrists sometimes get cold on the odd occasion that I skate fast. I've worn them every time I've been skating since receiving them, they're definitely a huge success! Just the right size, just the right warm-ness, and awesome uneven gradiated stripes. Win, Win, Win!

Thank you HEAPS Claire!

Stay tuned for photos of the item that I sewed her in exchange, hopefully I'll be able to get some tomorrow at Brunch.