Toasty Hands, Thankful Heart

I have spent the weekend sewing. It was blissful, glorious, and so incredibly relaxing. I was able to catch up on 2 backlogged projects people had paid me to do back in September right before I broke my arm, and do a little sewing for myself. I was able to use some of that creative fog swirling around in my head - making things a little clearer. I am so thankful to regain both the time to sew and the physical ability to use my right arm again.

I finished this bag for a repeat client - the specifications were hers, and I think it turned out really crisp and awesome.

I made some placemats for another repeat client - and then was in a hurry to leave the house and forgot to take a picture. D'OH! Nothing too complicated there, just basic 2-sided placemats. She wanted Christmas fabric on one side and fall fabric on the other. I did feel that I was channeling Project Runway and Tim Gunn a little, since I had some trouble with my original idea and ended up having to rework it a couple of times. ("Make it Work!!"

The other thing I worked on was just for me. I work evenings at various sport events to earn some extra money, and I generally work the ticket booth for football and soccer games. I can be there for as long as 4 hours at a time, and the weather this week turned really cold and wet. I can't wear gloves to work the ticket booth because I can't make change, and in addition, the palms of my hands tend to run really warm and I can't wear gloves for long without ripping them off. But I did want something, since my wrists and arms get cold, so I have been contemplating fingerless gloves for some time. The problem was that all the online tutorials I could find were for knitted or crocheted gloves, and I can't do either of those things.

Last night while I was working the ticket booth, I just sort of rolled the idea around in my head (between drunk and smelly parents buying tickets for the game). The problem was that I wanted thumbs on the gloves. It would be easy to just sew a tube, or sew a tube and cut a slit for the thumbs, but I wanted actual thumbs in the gloves. I had a bunch of jersey knit I had gotten for free off of freecycle a few months back, so today I pulled it out and just started playing with it.

One of my biggest concerns was that I have had very little luck with knits. My mom's machine ate knits, so I never sewed with it growing up. In addition, I do not have a serger, which seems to be the accepted and easy way to sew knits. But the fabric was free, it wasn't like I was going to be out any money, so I just jumped in.

I ended up with these. I may have made 4 pairs already. I love them. Everyone is getting a pair for Christmas. Easiest Christmas Present Ever.

I like that they have long thumbs and long hands, so they can be folded down or up, depending on what you need, and the sleeve end can be folded or scrunched as well. I also like that they are t-shirt weight, which is light enough to wear easily and still stay warm. They could also be worn underneath a heavier pair of gloves without any trouble at all. I am a little proud of these. I may make a bunch and try to sell them. I looked on etsy, and as far as I can tell, there is nothing quite like these listed. If nothing else....I am both trendy AND warm. I can't decide whether or not to do a tutorial. I have the pictures for it, but am going to let the idea roll around for a while before I decide.

SSSSSsssssss.............

I NEVER thought I would like a snakeskin bag. But I do. I really, really do.

The VBH Python Clutch with Crystal Detail. I'd link to the website....but they are so snooty they don't have one.

Buns in Ovens

I am planning on "celebrating" Halloween by cleaning my house and hopefully sewing, but my friend Jessica had a CRAFTING EMERGENCY, so I went over to her house this morning to help her make her costume. Jessica is 4 months pregnant, and wanted to go as an oven with a bun in it. So.....

The oven is a box that we spraypainted white and cut out a door. We then cut out a window and put a piece of plastic wrap behind it. We drew knobs on the top of the box and put black bias tape "suspenders" on with hot glue. She found a picture of bread and we ironed it on to a white t-shirt...and done!! I think it's totally cute!

Hoochie Blockers

At least, that's what I would call them. And I would like to market them to my teenaged female students. It's called the Paparazzi Protector Slip, and you can find it here at Sheltini. *********

In unrelated news, still no sewing (STUPID GRADING!!!! ARGH!!!!) but I am done with homecoming and hoping to sew this week sometime. I have to....or I will be giving IOUs as Christmas presents.

Mojo Dyin'

I haven't been able to sew for a month.

A MONTH.

I broke my arm exactly one month ago tomorrow. My arm aches and I have actually lost movement in one direction (although I have gained quite a bit back in the other directions). I am cranky, weepy, and tired. I graded papers for 19 hours this weekend. I feel as if all my creative juices have been sucked out of my body. I have to do three lesson plans for this week and I haven't even started them. I can't do my hair yet and it is driving me nuts.

Right now I am feeling whiny and a bit sorry for myself. Hope to be back soon.

Frustrated but Reading

My arm is still not strong enough to sew, or rather, it's not strong enough to use scissors or a rotary cutter. On the other hand, I have been in and out of my sling all day today and at least my wrist feels loose enough to type fairly easily on my laptop. It's a little harder on my school computer, but at least it no longer takes me an hour to type a paragraph. But I still can't sew and it's making me CRAZY. What sucks even more is that I can't even sketch ideas out, because while I have learned to do quite a few things left-handed in the last three weeks, I still can't draw left-handed. =(


I am hoping to be able to sew this weekend, we shall see. Meanwhile, while I've been out of commission, I've been reading a lot of blogs and doing a lot more poking around on the internet. So I wanted to post a couple of cool things I've seen hither and yon.

• I am becoming a bigger and bigger fan of PurseBlog. I am learning all kinds of new designer names and have actually watched NUMEROUS slide shows from fashion week. (Alexander McQueen, anyone?? Those shoes are unbelievable, and digitally designed fabric is so awesome!) I have a lot of new ideas, whether or not they pan out remains to be seen.
• Speaking of purseblog, I almost don't want to tell you this, but they are having a giveaway there, a Katherine Kwei purse. I am only telling you for informational purposes only, don't you dare enter, you'll reduce my chances of winning and as a teacher, when else will I have a chance to own a high-end bag? Seriously. This one is my favorite. I firmly maintain that GRAY IS UNDERRATED.

• I am becoming a bigger and bigger fan of Daily Candy. One of their recent posts was on Malou bags. Seriously, how could you not love these? I'm not even a fan of big bags and I love them.

• I love being able to vote on Project Runway designs on Craftstylish. And on purseblog. And on Lifetime. Which is also, incidentally, where I watch Project Runway, since it is on TOO LATE.

• Check out these shoes that Tina over at glam.spoon made. Aren't they freakin' awesome? They make me actually want to wear pointy toes and heels. Er....I didn't ask her if I could use her picture. Sorry Tina....I owe you.

• When I was teaching in Dallas, I was matched with a mentor teacher my first year. We became good friends and she had a lot of influence on my teaching style. Apparently, I had a little influence on her too.....look what she's doing! Way to go Sarah!!!! (She's self-taught!)

I participated in a bag swap a week ago or so, I wasn't able to take pictures but am planning to work on that later this week. Have a great one!

Fabulous News of Infinite Awesomeness

Wait for it......

I TURNED MY OWN DOORKNOB TODAY!!!! AND WROTE MY NAME!!!!! WITH MY RIGHT HAND!!!!!

Big news indeed....Today I got my stitches out, got a new (MUCH lighter) splint, and can now take a shower without a complicated set of machinations involving two plastic bags and three rubber bands. I hope to get back to regular blogging soon, but typing is still a struggle. In fact, a lot of things are difficult.

This morning, while I was trying to get dressed, I got stuck half in and half out of my bra. Seriously. I had a few minutes of sheer panic as I contemplated having to call someone...or attempt to call someone....It took 20 minutes to get the stupid thing on. At least I don't have to wear the sling anymore. Now a SLING is a genuine torture device. I firmly believe it was invented by a man...since it was clearly designed for someone with massive upper body strength and no boobs to speak of. Not having to wear that anymore makes this a RED LETTER DAY.

I'll be back soon.....