Starbella Knitting!

Late Night Summertime Sewing

I was up WAY too late last night sewing. Wanted to share my projects!! No patterns, just online tutorials and whimsy. Sometimes I think I should have a separate craft blog called "Pinterest After Dark" *shrugs*

First off, the sewing machine cover. I am really happy with the way it turned out. I won't be remaking it, even though it is not as wide as I would have liked. I measured. I must have lost more inches than I had planned to in the seam allowances.

Its double sided.

Side one is a patchwork striping of blue/purple/green cotton fabric. I used grommets on the sides so that I can cinch it with ribbon.

This is the other side. I love this little sewing notions fabric! Cute colors, the buttery yellow suits my sewing space really well. I put a pleated pocket up front so that it can double as a sewing mat. I will be making a matching thread catcher.

 I am really pleased with it. Despite being thinner than I had imagined, it will do the job of keeping dust off of the machine and prettying up the space.


And then I made a bag. But not just any bag. This back is from Noodlehead. Its special for another reason, too. Ill get to that in a minute. This little pouch is about 12" wide. It's got a squared off bottom so I can use it for my makeup and actually see the makeup inside. Pouches can be so irritating to riffle through! But, not these. There will be many, many more in my future. Izzy loved it!

This is why its special. See that on top. Its a ZIPPER. MY FIRST ZIPPER!!!!! *squeal*

 So much procrastination has used, so much elastic has been used....all in the name of not sewing on a zipper. I was intimidated. But, not anymore. I did what everyone told me to. I went slow, I pinned alot...and it was easy.

 So easy that I decided that I needed a skirt with no elastic waist. I used a hummingbird fabric that I bought a while back at Joanns. Its a quilting cotton. I just traced a skirt that I liked, sewed up the sides (minus where the zipper would go). I did a turned hem on the top and bottom edges. Once again, lots of slowness and pinning at zipper time. And its perfect! Fits just right, no bunching, and the zipper has no gaps or mis-sews.

Its hard to tell but the side has a little pocket on it...if you squint just right you can see it right there.

 Front view.

 Pocket and zipper view. Yeah...the pink doesn't match. I love when things don't match. Everything has to match perfectly or has to be a completely different color.

 Then, I used a Pinterest tute on making a thing that Velcros your babies to chairs.

Where were these when my babies were of the age to be Velcro'd to chairs?! This would have been great at grandmas' house when I had a stroller in the living room so that I could take a 15 minute break from chasing them. But, I can let bygones be bygones.

This is for a friend, Joelle, and her brand new baby boy!! I would post a picture of him, but that is rude to do without asking. Lets just say....GORGEOUS!

I used black quilted cotton fabric on the inside and a print that I bought way back that is also made of cotton. They were both "oops fabric" at Joanns. I had enough to make two of these. So, I actually made two of these for $4 + thread and a little velcro...so $5.

 Here it is all laid out. I actually attached the pieces wrong. The bigger piece on the bottom is supposed to connect to the other piece on the shorter side. So it will need to be folded as shown above.

And finally...another dog bow. The pink one. I love the way light pink pops on Pickles black coat. The fabric is glittery and looks great on our walks out in the sunshine. No tutorial. I just winged it. I used scissors to cut 1.5" scallops along a 2" wide strip of fabric. It was the edge of a bolt, so 45" long. Then I ran a wide basting stitch and gathered the fabric. I spiraled the gathered fabric to form the shape of a flower, got it just right and then hand sewed it to keep it in place. Once it was just right I hot glued a button on the front and some double sided Velcro on back. I am  hoping the Velcro will stay on better than the alligator clips have. *fingers crossed*

Well, that't it! After this I noticed that it was 3AM and my husband was getting up for work. So I threw in my new Jillian Michaels DVD (the butt and thighs one AWESOME - 30 minutes and a nice mix of circuits and old school butt exercises), hit the showers and went to bed for a few hours. Now I am off to walk the dog! Happy Thursday!!!

WIAW...What I Ate Wednesday!

These aren't my pictures because I found this too late in the day. I have decided to take part in a wonderful activity! I love Peas and Crayons. She has the prettiest healthy recipes! Go visit!!!

I started the day with a quesadilla. (I actually just had to google it to find out how to spell it correctly *hangs head* I am not a big breakfast eater. But, this sounded good today. Mine looked just as greezy and white floury as this one. I'm not proud.

Along with a nice big cup of this:

Then we went to the mall to walk around and beat the heat...I had one of these:

(sensing a theme? LOL) I also grabbed one of these at Starbucks. Tasty!

Then I went to Target and got my son some popcorn and so I had a little of this:

Then we walked around Kohls and went home. For dinner I was on the run. I had a date with my son to walk the dogs. On the way home I grabbed one of these:

I didn't have any fries. I chose this picture because this is EXACTLY what it looked like and it made me laugh. Its a "low carb guacamole turkey burker" at Carls Jr. I had to chew thru half a head of lettuce to find that turkey and avocado. My face was exhausted. I had a plain iced tea with this.

Then I was home and I had a ton of strawberries:

Like that ^^ but lots more. Literally over a lb. I was in strawberry heaven.

And that was my day. It was pretty typical for me. I don't eat the same thing everyday. But, low carb turkey burgers, fruit, veggies, yogurt, tea and coffee are major players in my life. I have tried to go without coffee and I didn't note any benefits. And I missed it. Coffee time is my "me" time. And iced coffee times are my treats. They keep me away from "other" treats. I do limit myself to 2 cups of coffee a day. I have read that more than that can really interrupt your hormones. I also do not drink coffee after 2pm. As it is, I am a night owl. No need to make it any worse.

The Target popcorn was a fluke. My sons love it, but only the little one was with me and the heat really took its tole on his appetite. So, it was staring at me. I don't suggest it to anyone. My husband repairs the machines that make it. Not healthy stuff. Big vat of recirculating who-knows-what-kind of oil. I didn't feel well afterward, either. Blech...

So, there it is in a nutshell. Next time I'll use my own pics. ;)

Thank you for stopping by. I have gotten a lot of love through my blog lately. I am really enjoying the experience. <3

Wordless Wednesday

Someone loves the camera feature on my Ipod. Two year olds are amazing!

Trading Projects and Mohawk Hats!

This is what I made today!

I love making Mohawk Hats. I will work on writing out the pattern very soon. 

I made this for a new friend I met on Etsy. I admired her utility aprons while browsing Pinterest and followed the link to her Etsy Page, Aptos Beach. She sells some of the cutest and nicely made aprons that I have seen around. I send her a message and asked if she would like to trade for anything in my shop and she said yes! Yay!!! She opted for the mohawk hat above. So, now both are in the mail. The crafting community is a wonderful place. The apron I asked her for looks is in the same style as this one:

Except it is black with Royal blue and a pretty asian print. Cute, right?!

I love short, half aprons. Just something to keep on during the day. I am constantly in need of pockets and a nice place to dry my hands after washing them millions and millions of times. I don't like gathers or ruffles...they don't suit my body type or my wardrobe. 

Nail Time!

Hi and I hope everyone had a beautiful 4th! We played it very close to home. Literally...spent the evening playing video games. :) It was a nice surprise to find out my husband had the day off.

Today was a sewing and gardening day.

Then I did my nails!

Purple ombre with glitter.

I did get a nice surprise in the mail...my girlfriend from high school sent me one of her amazing anklets from her Etsy shop. :)  

Even the packaging was pretty! I love a little chiffon bag. 

One more shot of the last of our garden cucumbers and the blooming echinecea. 

Hunters Fourth Of July Tie

OMG...I was surfing around the linky party below and saw that Decor and the Dog had made her dog a tie! So cute...so I got to work immediately and made my chiweenie (chihuahua + weenie dog) a tie from the fourth of July fabric I have. So fast...so easy...so cute!

This is Hunter in his tie...thank you Decor and the Dog!

Little Garden Hat

I got the idea for this little garden hat this afternoon and got right to work. I am so pleased with how it turned out.

I used a K hook. The hat is child/toddler sized. 20" wide and 7.5" deep.

The base of the hat is a simple HDC beanie crocheted out of Lily Sugar 'N Cream Cotton Yarn. I increased to 54 directly (9, 18, 27, 36, 45, 54) and continued with 54 stitches down to row 15. I then switched to the green yarn. I totally winged the edging. The majority of the stitches are SC. My best attempt at describing the stems would be that I inserted the hook one or two rows below, yo, pull back thru and contined the sc in the next stitch. It was very simple, but awkward to describe. After that I continued with another row of 54 SC. Then fastened off.

I sewed on assorted buttons to look like flowers on the stems.

My Melody Notebook

I have collected My Melody items forever! Her and I were both born the same year and share a name. But, somehow they changed her ears from her original red to pink. I'm not a fan of the pink ears. I am not one to do without just because a company won't produce something. So...I hand-painted my new schedule book.

I keep my schedule book with me all the time. More for jotting down notes and ideas than for keeping on schedule. I am lucky enough to not have to abide by a timetable. I do have to adhere closely to my toddlers temperament, though. So the book is necessary...I get to get everything out of my mind and onto a piece of paper so that I can focus without worrying about forgetting things as I run around like a mad woman. Its really great. I have my "need to buy" list for when I end up at a store. I also have my running to-do list...so when I have a spare minute I get to knock something out. This schedule sat on my to-craft list for quite a while.

Not perfect...but it makes me very happy. And I don't think anyone else has a schedule with My Melody snuggling a ball of yarn on it. ;)

Happy Crafting!

Watermelon Summer Hat

 I love the open work and the little green button! It looks so cute on.

J Hook, Lily Sugar 'N Cream Cotton Yarn
This hat is made in a childs size to fit a 2-5 year old, It is 7" deep and 19" wide.
 at the end of each pink row, Slip Stitch, ch 1 at the end of each green row.

Row 1: DC 12 times in a magic circle (12) Slip Stitch, ch 2
Row2: DC 2 times in each stitch (24) Slip Stitch, ch 2
Row 3: DC around, increasing in every other stitch (36) Slip Stitch, ch 2
Row 4 DC around, increasing in every 3rd stitch (48) Slip Stitch, ch 2
Row 5: DC around, increasing in every 8th stitch (54) Slip Stitch, ch 2
Row 6: DC around (54) Slip Stitch, ch 2
Row 7: DC 2 times in the base of the chain, *skip 2 stitches and DC 3 times in the next stitch* repeat * to * around. It should be 16 more clusters...forming 18 clusters of 3 DC and 18 gaps. (54)
Row 8:Slip stitich 3 times, (the 3rd slip stitch should land you in the first gap formed in Row 7)
Chain 2, DC 2 times in the same gap, *DC 3 times in the next gap*. Repeat * to * around (18 clusters of 3 DC and 18 gaps) (54)
Row 9-11: Repeat Row 8  (54)
Fasten Off
Change color of yarn. Attach near where you fastened off. Ch1.
Row 12-14: SC around (54)
Slip Stitch and fasten off.

Sew on a large button if you would like to embellish the hat as I did. I get the large buttons 6/$1 at Walmart.

I hope this was clear! Thank you for stopping by :)

Toddler Cotton Beanie

I crocheted this flower cap out of cotton yarn for the summer. I love the bright colors! It is created to fit a little girl that is 1-2 years old. Without the flower this makes a really nice beanie for a baby boy. 

J Hook and Lily Sugar 'N Cream Yarn

17" Around and 7" deep

Hat:

Row 1: 8 HDC in a magic Circle (8)

Row 2: 2HDC in each stitch around (16)

Row 3: HDC around, increasing in Every other stitch (24)

Row 4: HDC Around, increasing in every 3rd stitch (32)

Row 5: HDC Around, increasing in every 4th stithc(40)

Row 6: HDC around, increasing in every 5th stitch (48)

Row 7-14: HDC around (48), fasten off

Change color, attach near where you just fastened off. chain 1, REVERSE SC around(48), slip stitch and fasten off.

For the flowers I use a magic circle and work allllll of the flower petals into the magic circle and then cinch it closed. 

Large back flower, use K Hook

In magic circle, *ch 2, dc, tc, dc, c3, ss into the magic circle* repeat * to * 4 times to form 5 petals. ch 1, cinch magic circle tight (it won't close and that is ok...the gap will be covered up and actually makes the sewing a bit easier), fasten off. 

Smaller flower, use J Hook and repeat the instructions for the large flower. 

Center of the flower, in magic circle, HDC 8 times, cinch closed tightly. Fasten off, leave a long tail and use that to sew the flower on to the hat with a yarn needle.