National Sewing Month (September)

September is National Sewing Month.  I'm not big on sewing, but I do occasionally sew.  I leave that to Froggy and Otter, and occasionally to Bill.  I am planning a lap quilt for Bill, but I'm looking for fabric that fits him.  I have a lot of patterned fabric, such as tools, chocolate chip cookies, many TEXAS related items and also bandaids - if you know him, you know why bandaids are appropriate for him.  I'm trying to find fabric that at least resembles pachinko/pinballs but that might be a wasted effort.

Sewing machines have changed a lot since this, but the basic principal is the same.

This was one of Otter's early sewing projects, she made a fleece scarf.

She also made the pants in the pirate costume she's wearing in this picture, after she'd had a little more experience sewing.  I think it was originally a pattern for pajamas but it worked for what she needed.

Bill made this quilt, it's the one we refer to as mine and we use it in the spring and summer.  His quilt is the camo pattern and we use it in the colder months.

This was also one of Otter's early sewing projects, zippered pouches.  She made this one for me to keep my crochet hooks in and that's what I use it for.

So, get busy sewing!  And have fun!!

Kitty Cat Ears Headband

This is what Otter made for the anime convention she went to a week ago.  This is actually the set that she made for BF, he was a good sport about it and wore them.  They are brown felt, 2 layers with a layer of posterboard between them for stiffness.  The lighter inner color is tan acrylic paint, two coats with a little extra touch up.  The headband was one that she got at Hobby Lobby, it's covered in a brown satin-type fabric.  The ears were hot-glued on and I had to help her with that because the headband had to be held in the shape of the wearer's head for that step.  Basically, Otter covered her head with a hand towel and then a sheet of wax paper.  Then she put the headband on her head over that and I took the glue gun to it.  She had to hold it on her head for a few minutes, long enough for the glue to harden and cool.  It actually looked pretty good "in person" and held up well.  The fuzzy thing on the side of the picture is one of the tails - it was a feathered boa that was hot-glued to a pinback so it could be attached.

What a Well Dressed Pirate Wears

This is actually from 2008. Otter went to a costume party and being the Johnny Depp fan she is (rabid is the word that comes to mind!), she decided to go as a pirate.

The reason this is on the craft blog is because it was a sewing project. It's not the best picture, but we made the pants. They are a brown, velour type fabric and they turned out nicely. The pattern we used was for pajamas, and once the party was over the pants became pajama pants.

Otter took sewing class at school this year, and she really enjoys it. The pants were made before the class, but she did help me quite a bit with the sewing process. She's sewn a few things that will eventually make it here.

The picture isn't the best, but the only other picture I have of her in the costume shows her face. But you can get an idea of what the pants look like.