My Oscar Contest has officially stopped accepting new entries, so I figured I’d better show you all what you’re playing for. Meet Oscar the Sock Monkey! As you can see he’s all dressed up in black tie and silver sparkles. He’s got googly eyes and a big grin, and he’s even got his own little Academy Award!
As the response to the contest was about ten times what I was expecting – 144 entries? Who the heck are all you people? – I’m also providing regular sock monkeys for second and third place. The Awards start at 5:30 PM Pacific time Sunday, which means 12:30 PM Monday afternoon here. As I’ll be at work all day at the draconian, no-Internet unnamed printer company, you’ll have to wait til I get home for the results to be tallied. Basically, plan on the winner being named about five hours after the Awards start. Good luck everyone!
I’ve been obsessed with bags lately. (It offends my feminist pride to admit I carry a purse.) I keep accumulating them because I can never find the ideal one. I got a suede one recently that’s damn near perfect, but every time I carry the thing it rains. Anyhoo, last night on the train home I had a flash of inspiration – why not use one of my now giant (courtesy of the diet) pairs of corduroys to make a bag? The result is before you. It’s lined with a red bandanna and I appliqued felt hearts to the front. Isn’t it cute?
I’d seen several people on Glitter recommending the “chop off the legs and sew up the crotch” method of making a jeans purse. When I spread out my cords, though, I had to give up on that idea. I mean, they’re huge. I can’t believe my bum was that big. It wouldn’t be a purse; it’d be a duffel bag. So I decided to go halfway. I cut off the legs and then cut it in half vertically near the zipper. Then I spent a good half hour messing around with pins and basting to try and decide how to sew the thing up. Eventually I just said “screw it” and sewed a semi-straight line down the side. Then it came time for the bottom…
The bottom was the hardest part. See, jeans kinda “pooch” out more in the back to accommodate your bum. So I had more fabric on the back side than on the front. The solution, I eventually figured out, was to put a couple of darts (i.e. folds) in the back piece to make it work out. You can kinda see ’em on the picture of the back. Again, I just kinda eyeballed everything, but it came out looking much better than anticipated.
Next was the strap, which I made from one of the legs. I like a long strap, so I slit a leg lengthwise and sewed the lengths together to make one really long piece of fabric. Then it was just a matter of folding it together so the seams didn’t show and running a line of stitching along the edge. (I’m happy to report that my little Janome sewing machine handled layers of corduroy very well. My only problem was that occasionally it was a tight fit getting everything under the presser foot. There’s probably a way to lift it up higher though that I just don’t know of.) I sewed the straps to the inside of the waistband, trying out my zig-zag stitch for the first time. I figured there was no way to hide the sewing, so I might as well make it look intentional. 🙂
Looking inside the bag at this point, I realized I needed a lining. The front pocket was still hanging in there, and the seams and stuff just looked really messy. I had some bandannas in my fabric stash so I grabbed a red one and fashioned a pocket of similar size to my bag. (Because my bag is kinda trapezoidal in shape, I sewed the lining rectangular at first and then progressively angled in new seams at the top til the opening fit the waistband.) The I just stitched it in place inside the waistband.
Lastly I decided it needed a little decoration, so I pulled out a piece of felt and cut out some hearts. Then I just sewed them to the front panel (being sure not to go all the way through). They’re just tacked on, so they should be easy to remove if I want to change it in the future.
The whole time I was making this, I kept imagining that I’d ruined my pants (not that I could wear them anymore anyway) and that the end result would look ridiculous. But when the Snook got home and complimented me on it, I realized that it actually kinda works. I like the fact that it still has pockets and stuff for my mobile and train tickets. It’s yet another product for my eventual craft stand! 🙂
Well, the Walk Against Want was today, and unfortunately yours truly was too sick to take part. I don’t think this amoxycillin is doing the trick. Anyhoo, I still plan on tackling the distance (15 km) on the treadmill as soon as I’m able. To thank my three sponsors, I spent the day crafting sock monkeys for them. Aren’t they cute? They’re actually much better than the first one I made for the Snook (but don’t tell him that).
“Ehhh, monkey!” Yeah, it’s yet another craft. For some reason the other day I decided I wanted to make the Snook a sock monkey. It was a really quick project and I finished it in just a couple hours. I found the original instructions, but I ended up using this page more. As you can see, it turned out all wonky. (His arms, for example, are clearly not lined up.) The Snook likes it though, and he’s named him “Johnny Vegas” (after the comedian that did the On Digital ads with the sock monkey in the UK).
Cutest. Craft. Ever. I’ve had this Funky Chicken Pincushion pattern bookmarked for ages, and last night I finally decided to give it a try. They’re really easy to make. (The hardest part was getting the squares, uh, square.) I did them on the machine, but you could probably hand sew them too. I stuffed them with leftover quilt batting and sewed on buttons for eyes. Aren’t they so friggin’ cute? I have a ridiculous urge to make about fifty and sell them at the hippie market on the weekend. They’d make awesome Christmas presents.
Sidenote: I was just going to embroider the eyes until the Snook pointed out that there’s a button shop just a couple blocks from our house. I’m like, “How can anyone run a business that only sells buttons?” Curiousity piqued, I scampered off to find it. Turns out it’s called “All Buttons Great and Small”, and it really does just sell buttons. There are big ones and little ones and shiny ones and ones shaped like farm animals. I loved it. I wanted to possess all the buttons. Am I turning into Martha Stewart or what?
UPDATE: The link to the original website with the pattern doesn’t work, so I wrote up what I could remember from memory here. Please don’t e-mail me saying you can’t find it!
As promised, here’s a picture of the current state of my Storm at Sea quilt. I’ve got a lot more rows to attach, but you can get the design starting to take shape. I love the way it gives the impression of curves and waves, despite being made up of all rigid geometric pieces. I’m pretty proud of it. Man, quilting this thing is going to be a beeyotch though.
The quilt is done! I finished the quilting yesterday and spent all day today finishing the edges. (It took me about ten hours of sewing. Yeah, I now have arthritis.) But it’s done! I even embroidered my initials and the date down in the corner. Snookums is sitting under it on the couch right now. It’s so damn warm! We are gonna put this sucker to good use. It’s suddenly gotten real cold at night. 🙂
Since Snookums has been busy with his computer (recently unpacked from three months in transit), I’ve kinda been avoiding mine. It just doesn’t feel right that both of us should be hunched over computer screens for ten hours a day when we’re not being paid for it. So instead I quilt. I quilt and I watch Buffy. This is a picture of my quilt so far. That’s five rows out of about twenty-five that I have planned. (Yeah, it’s massive, I know. But I like big blankets.) All the colored squares are different shades of blue, some with patterns and stuff. It’s gonna be awesome.
Oh, and re: Buffy. When you Americans finally get your Season 3 DVD, be sure and listen to the commentary on “Bad Girls”. The guy speaking (the writer) talks quite candidly about the “lesbian subtext” of Buffy and Faith, and how Eliza Dushku was always pushing for more. Snookums and I found it both hilarious and fascinating. 🙂
Is your house drafty? Never fear! It’s Tara D’s Craft Corner to the rescue! This week, TD teaches us how to make a draft snake. Now if I just had some decent pinking shears…
