Just because she’s beautiful.
Latest
Kara’s Birthday Clutch
This was the purse I made Kara for her birthday. I wasn’t too happy with the buttons, but it is a real pain to hand sew on each button and make them perfectly in place.. I guess I wouldn’t know though because I did not even come close to the buttons being equidistant! However, this purse was actually the first one I’ve made that was completely seamless on the inside. In the last ones I made the top flap as a separate piece, but with this one I figured out how to not have that seam in the middle. I love that!
France Meets Mexico
Kind of gross, but kind of delicious. I often roast a variety of veggies and either just eat them like that or make veggie quesadillas. The other day I had bought veggies but no tortillas and I had some crepe batter leftover so I thought it might work.
The veggies are tossed with a ton of pepper, sometimes a bit of salt, and in this case some sort of limey seasoning stuff. I always roast my veggies at 475 F for a total of 40 minutes, pulling the roasting pan out of the oven and mixing up the veggies every 10 minutes.
I made some quick guacamole using just a half of an avocado and added it to the crepe in the pan along with some salsa and cheese and then put some veggies in the center.
Fold up, eat, repeat if necessary.
Definitely need a can of Coke with this one.
CD/DVD Case
It’s amazing how with each project I feel a stronger sense of pride in my work.. they just keep getting better! Maybe not the actual item, but for me the process becomes much more exciting, the perfection begins to feel crucial, and after spending 6 hours on it (which actually only feels like 2), the end result is the second best feeling from beginning to end. The first, however, is giving it away and seeing the appreciation on a friend’s face. I can only hope it doesn’t sit in a drawer collecting dust for the next 10 years. That’s why I try and make things that are useful. Structure is nothing without function.
My friend Laura and I went on a Target excursion recently, and one of the things she needed was a cd case for her P90X dvd’s. She didn’t find one that day. So a few days ago when I was trying to think of new projects to create, I immediately thought of her and the case. So I found out there are 12 dvd’s in the set and I started planning a design for these. I knew I wanted it to be compact, foldable, and closable. I googled around for some tutorials and/or pictures for ideas, but there was nothing! The only ones I saw tutorials for were those car visor cd cases, so it was time for me to think about it and come up with my own design. I stuck with the same simple idea of the rolling wallet I made awhile back, but just added layers and straps and measured out for the cd’s.
I actually made one first that turned out to be a huge fail. But I took it with me to her place last night and showed it to her and she loved it, so it was definitely worth a second try. The second one (pictured here) turned out perfecto-mundo. If cd’s were still popular, this would be a little more useful… oh well. I guess we do still have dvd’s.
By the way, I should mention… Laura, my favorite bartering and kitty cat friend, is the lovely lady who bought me my amazing Olfa self-healing mat and gave me her rotary cutter. I can’t thank her enough for those things, they are what makes all of this possible and what puts a huge smile on my face every single day. Thanks, Laura!!
Tissue Pack Cover
What on Earth did I ever do without these?! First of all, they are the easiest things in the world to make. Secondly, they are super duper uber cute and I will be making lots of them.
Tutorial can be found HERE but tweaking is necessary for the size of the tissue pack. I guess most of them are a standard size, but I have about a gazillion pharmaceutical ones that were given to my parents by reps, and their sizing is way different than the standard. So be sure to check!
It’s All For Love
Crate & Barrel has a wedding contest, and my best friend needs votes to win!!
Please click HERE to vote for Tracy & Greg
Thank you!! And don’t forget to tell your friends. :o)
Reversible Clutch
I know everyone is probably really sick of seeing all the same prints, but this one is still my favorite! I loved the clutch I made Mitzi and wanted to make one that was reversible. At the time, I didn’t know how to do that, but I have since learned! It’s a bit tough, but worth it in the end.
Since I don’t have too many good clasp/button options laying around at the moment, I thought about other ways to close the purse. I decided to design this little wrap element which I really love! The best way to keep that working for both sides is to sew magnets into the fabric of the strap, that way it stays functional when reversed. I didn’t have magnets but was itching to sew out my design, so thought I’d just make it anyway. Here is the finished product! The first two images on the left are of the front sides, and the last two on the right are of the back sides. The middle pics show you what it looks like open and some stitching close up. Remember you can click the image to enlarge!
And just because I think it’s funny looking, I will post what I made last night. Originally before deciding on the wrap around clasp, I thought it would look cool to make a wristlet with a strap across it to tuck the top into. Once I completed the project, I realized it looked like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. Either that or a blindfolded soldier. I’m not sure how anyone could possibly make a wristlet that looks like a ninja turtle, but somehow I did. If any girls are planning to be a TMNJ for Halloween this year, let me know.. you will have a purse to take along!
I attempted to see what it would look like without the top tucked in, and I think that looks better. Regardless, I will probably not be using this wristlet. It was poorly made, and stupid, however it was definitely good practice for tonights clutch which I think turned out really well.
A Very Uncreative Dinner
Just for fun, I thought I’d post my dinner tonight. Olives and Coke. And for dessert, brownie batter (by the time the brownies were done I didn’t want any more chocolate so I haven’t even tried them yet). I have to say, boxed brownies are the best. A few weeks ago I attempted to make homemade brownies and they turned out disgusting. I must have done something wrong because I’m pretty sure I’ve had other people’s homemade brownies and loved them. Regardless, I’m still a fan of Duncan Hines. I always make them in the mini cupcake pan to create bite sized brownies. When I eat them, I top them with chocolate frosting and those crunchy little ball sprinkles. I probably should have posted a pic of that because it’s cute, but I forgot to purchase the frosting this time. The dinner of olives and coke was delicious though! I ate the whole can of black olives.
My very own website!!
When I started my blogspot blog a few weeks ago, a couple people suggested I purchase the domain name for Sew Knot Kneaded and eventually move over to the site. I took the advice, and my good friend Dave bought the url for me. I’ve been waiting to move over to this site until it was ready and I’m happy to announce it is finally here! My very first website!!!! This is very exciting.
You can bookmark this site, or thanks to my savvy html skills (or googling and direction following skills) you will automatically be redirected here from the blogspot site. (Stating that was completely unnecessary, however I was quite proud of my work..)
Hope you like this site. I’m really excited for it! Don’t be surprised if I keep changing the design on it.. I like to play!
Eyeglass Case
Ok, so I am fully aware of the fact that I need to buy new fabric. These are getting old, but they are cute enough for practicing new things just in case something happens to unexpectedly turn out awesome. This eyeglass case, however, did not. This was a huge pain in the butt to make because I was following a tutorial for a basic reversible case (without a flap and without batting) and it was just impossible for my brain to understand the logistics of some of the things I wanted to do. I could have just done the same thing I did with the clutch, but I wasn’t happy with the stitching of that. In addition, I wanted to add a flap top which I had to make beforehand, size to the width I guessed the case would be after glasses in it, and incorporate it into the sewing of the case. I think that’s the hardest part about sewing, you often need to be logic-minded and a good problem solver to figure things out on your own or to create new things. It’s tough, but that’s my favorite part about it. Even though I get frustrated sitting there looking at the 4 pieces of fabric and batting on my lap, after about 20 minutes of staring at it with high blood pressure, I calm myself down and decide to actually solve it. It’s fun. I like puzzles. For some reason, even though I can follow directions for something complicated (or rather, complicated for me but probably not for the rest of the world), it is still not enough brainwork for me and I always feel the need to add something else to it. In this case it was the flap top and the hand stitched flower cut out with the other fabric peeking through. I also want to thank Jen for the cute wrap button idea. I didn’t have any good string for it, but I had this laying around the house, so I used that.
Don’t ask me to make you one. Please, I’m begging you!
Oh and FYI, you can click on the picture to make it bigger and see it close up, as you can with all the pictures in this blog.