Author Archive for Melanie

Thing 224

by  on  in 365 Things, Sewing

So I’m back from another vacation. Life is rough. We spent the October break in Croatia with friends, enjoying the last few days of summer on the Adriatic coast before we prepare for the winter ahead.

 

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But now it’s time to get back to real life. I mean it this time. I’m still determined to finish this 365 project, which means making and posting about just over 140 Things before the end of December. Pshaw. Easy peasy.

Today’s Thing is another little project from the summer backlog. I wanted to give Thing 44, a Swarovski necklace, to my sister, Heather, when I went back to Canada. It just needed a gift bag.

I rummaged through my Liberty scraps and found a tiny piece of the blue flowers from my Sorbetto blouse.

 

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A silver velour lining cushions and protects the pearls and crystals.

 

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I used a length of blue satin cord for the drawstring and the gift was ready.

 

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And happily, the bag also just happened to be the exact right size for Heather’s sunglasses. Multi-purpose, baby!

 

Cost of this Thing: 0
Cost of all Things to date: €279.74

Thing 223

by  on  in 365 Things, Crochet

Today’s Thing is the first of the summer backlog. I made this keychain back in July and meant to attach it to a gift. That didn’t happen so it’s still in my stash. No worries, it’ll find a home.

I’ve used this pattern before (Things 212 and 213), but this time I added a small flower button.

 

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These flip flops are quick and fun to make. I brought my crocheting supplies to Canada for the summer and fully intended to crank out at least half a dozen.

I made none.

In fact, I haven’t crocheted at all since I made this. There are at least ten unfinished projects in the basket: a dodo, another flip flop, a maple leaf, a shawl, Christmas ornaments…

In good crochet news, the weather has turned and it’s definitely fall. Cool weather brings out my crafty side. I hope.

 

Cost of this Thing: 0
Cost of all Things to date: €279.74

Things 220 – 222

by  on  in 365 Things, Beading

Hi! I’m back. That was a longer hiatus than intended. It’s so much easier to keep going with a project when the forward momentum is in place. My summer break was glorious but it’s been hard to get back to real life. However, I have only two and a half months in order to finish this 365 project, so the panic is now sufficient to kick me into gear.

I made enough Things before the summer and had all the best intentions to post about them throughout July and August. By September, of course, I would be back in my disciplined daily routine. Ahem.

On the up side, I have lots to post about. And, since my beading ladies and I are back to our Wednesday evening ritual, I even have some new bracelets to show. I’ll start with those.

I don’t have much beading wire left but I did find an unopened 25m spool of elastic. Stretchy bracelets it is, then. I pulled out boxes and baggies of glass beads of unknown origin and sorted by colour.

I started with black. There were enough beads for three elastic bracelets. Then I had the idea to attach them with a pendant from the same stash. This reduced the Thing count from three to one, but I like it much more.

 

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Next I went for an assortment of aqua glass. I had enough for two bracelets, but again, I liked them attached with a pendant, this time a (fake) gold heart with an aqua enamel centre.

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The final bracelet used up some flat glass ovals I’ve had for far too many years. I separated them with some large black seed beads left over from the black bead pile, and had enough for two bracelets. I attached them with a large antique coin pendant.

 

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And that’s the story of how I made seven Things but ended up with three.

 

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The pre-Christmas sales start in a couple of weeks, and I hope these end up in someone’s stocking this year.

 

Cost of these Things: 0
Cost of all Things to date: €279.74

 

Note: I have temporarily disabled comments. Spammers, the bottom feeders of the blogging world, have overwhelmed my pending comments box. When I got back from vacation there were over 7,000 — 7,000! — spam messages awaiting approval. I can only delete them 100 at a time. Ain’t nobody got time for that. So until I figure out how to repel them without upgrading to a paid-for blogging platform (I’m cheap like that), comments are closed. Sorry, Mom.

 

 

Guest Post: Things 218 & 219

by  on  in 365 Things, Guest Post, Sewing

This post was written by my daughter over five weeks ago. Due to internet issues and the onset of a vacation-induced total lack of interest in my blog I failed to get it live. But we’re back to real life now and the jet lag is beginning to fade, so without further ado… 

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This Guest Post is written by Martina. If you read 365 By 3 regularly, I’m sure you’ve heard my name mentioned in previous posts. My mom has made Things for me in the past, ranging from crocheted little critters to skirts for special occasions to tissue pouches for tears to things that should never have been mentioned on the internet (see Thing 92, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 165, 193, 194, 195 and 208).

But first of all, happy holidays! School years are a long haul and you’d all agree that every precious week of the summer vacation should be enjoyed thoroughly.

Today’s post is about pyjamas that my talented mother made for me. I needed pyjamas for summer so I asked if there was time to make a set. I probably should have thought about the problem earlier, considering there was not a lot of time left before we would leave for vacation and my mom’s schedule was so full there was not a single minute to spare. But time was eventually made, thanks to the previously mentioned talented mother.

 

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These pyjamas are made with a fabric from the Haagse Markt. I didn’t come along that particular time so by the time my mom and Esther reached the fabric stand my phone would not stop receiving text notifications containing photos of fabric. Yes, that’s how much we love fabric.

 


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I had a lot of options. There were many variations of hearts and flowers in particular in many different colours. In the end I chose a white fabric with purple hearts. It’s the right type of fabric for what I needed it for; it’s a thin, breathable and pretty fabric, which fills the criteria for summer pyjamas. That’s why this fabric was also used for a nightgown (see Thing 203).

 

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The pyjamas are very comfortable and despite being so thin they haven’t worn out in any way. The fabric will last a while yet. And although they probably won’t fit me next summer, I can enjoy them for several months to come.

 

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Special thanks to my mom for committing to writing a blog post every day never failing! And spending hours a day in an oven of a sewing room…

 

Cost of this Thing: €2
Cost of all Things to date: €279.74

 

Thing 217

by  on  in 365 Things, Crochet

I finally finished one of Wednesday’s works-in-progress. I’ve abandoned the flip flop and I haven’t touched the dodo but the cupcake is complete.

 

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I’ve made cupcakes before this one and its mate but this is my favourite pattern by far. It’s so quick to crochet and easy to assemble.

 

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What a yummy pair!

In other blog business, my posts are going to be rather spotty for the next six weeks. I’m going to try post a couple of times a week but definitely not on a daily basis. I have enough Things made to keep me going but most of them will be posted in batches.

Happy summer! I’ve got some relaxing to do.

 

Cost of this Thing: 0
Cost of all Things to date: €277.74

Things 215 & 216

by  on  in 365 Things, Sewing

I was cleaning up my sewing room when I came across four small squares of fabric. They were the leftovers from the basket I made for Martina’s room. Today they became drawstring gift bags.

 

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When Martina was born my mother-in-law made her a green gingham quilt and gave me the leftover fabric. I’ve used that gingham for many projects over the years (including a sweet blouse for Martina when she was three or four) and I have only tiny bits left now. I used those as lining for these bags.

 

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I’m experimenting with different methods to make both lined and unlined drawstring pouches. I may put together a tutorial at some point. However, that won’t happen before the fall. I first have some vacationing to do.

 

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For now, I pulled out Things 170 & 171, the red and purple child-size wrap bracelets, and gave them a luxurious packaging. These will make the perfect gift for a couple of little girls.

 

Cost of these Things: 0
Cost of all Things to date: €277.74

Work-in-Progress Wednesday: Crochet ADHD

by  on  in Work in Progress

I spent most of today up in my sewing room, preparing a pile of summer Things. Every once in awhile I’d descend from my sauna (it’s about 400 degrees on the top floor) for a cool down and do a few rounds of crochet.

I have several crochet projects on the go, all which need to be done in the next couple of days. I haven’t been able to see any one of them through to completion so the side table in my living room is looking increasingly like a tornado-hit yarn shop.

 

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The grey one is the beginnings of a Mauritius Dodo. That’s the biggest and most ambitious of the current projects. The cupcake just needs assembly and stuffing and I could probably finish it in about twenty minutes, including the cherry on top. The flip flop has issues. One of the soles is too big so I’m on my third time of trying to crochet them together. It would have been quicker to just remake the sole.

I’m hoping for a burst of crochet enthusiasm tomorrow. I’d love to knock off all three.

Thing 214

by  on  in 365 Things, Beading

Last week Wednesday was our last beading evening before the summer break. I wanted to build up some holiday time buffer so I made three Things. I’ll spread them out over the next few weeks. They’ll provide a welcome break from crocheted flip flops.

I amassed a pile of random supplies: a scrap of wire, one bead frame, a packet of black flat rounds with AB coating on one side, black seed beads and a toggle clasp of unknown origin. These came together in an industrious fifteen minutes of beading and voilà, Thing 214 was born.

 

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More leftovers used up and another bracelet for the collection.

 

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And yes, my posts are getting shorter the closer we get to summer break. We’re deep in the end-of-school-year rituals and I’m trying to make twenty Things this week. I’m fairly sure the house will self-destruct before Friday.

 

Cost of this Thing: 0
Cost of all Things to date: €277.74

 

 

Thing 213

by  on  in 365 Things, Crochet

Esther told me today she needs another teacher gift, this one for the student teacher who’s been helping in her class for the last couple of months.

I made another flip flop, lickety split, in yellow and pink.

 

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This time I sewed the strap on right side up which gives it a more polished look.

 

 

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I didn’t have anymore lobster clips so this one got a regular keyring. I tied it on another bottle of Bath & Body Works soap.

 

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It’s starting to look like a gift shop in my house.

 

Cost of this Thing: 0
Cost of all Things to date: €277.74

Thing 212

by  on  in 365 Things, Crochet

It’s almost the end of the school year so that means teacher gifts. The last time my friend, Rochelle, was in town she showed me a bunch of teacher gifts she had crocheted. I fell in love and vowed to copy her. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right, Rochelle?

 

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The pattern is from a Dutch blog but it’s been translated into English as well. I crocheted it in cotton with a 2mm hook. The sole is actually two layers crocheted together with a contrast colour, giving it a firm structure. The straps should have the other side facing up, an error I will correct on future versions (there will be future versions), but this looks fine, too. These flip flops are quick to make up. Even with the multiple pieces and assembly I can have one done in under an hour.

I attached a small lobster clasp keychain from my stash and clipped it to a bottle of Bath & Body Works hand soap–an exotic foreign product here 🙂 This gift is for Esther’s teacher. Martina doesn’t give teacher gifts anymore now that she’s in high school. That would violate some pretty serious cool code.

 

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Now I just have to think of something for the Esther’s principal and vice principal. I’ll probably do a tissue pouch with a thank you note from Esther. And then we’re done! Summer vacation is almost here. It’s been a long time in coming.

 

Cost of this Thing: 0
Cost of all Things to date: €277.74