No, I didn’t forget about you…

This sleeper was supposed to be finished and sent to the little brother of the two nephews receiving the Pokemon shirts. But because I wanted to get the shirts to the older boys for school, the sleeper did not make it into the package since it wasn’t done at the time, but it is done now and on its way.

I made the sleeper from the larger size pattern I have and left the elastic off the back, thereby not defining a waist line. I also ran the stretch up and down instead of around. Hopefully, these two modifications will give the sleeper more grow room. (Special note for the nephew’s parents: Please let me know if leaving out the
elastic gives more grow room or if you would rather have the elastic in the back next time.) I am fairly sure that the vertical stretch will increase the grow room. I used some fabric scraps from the stash to make this sleeper and I used every inch of the scraps. Hurray! another piece of fabric out of the stash and in use. The sleeper sewed up great.

I was suppose to put a Pokemon design on this sleeper to match the nephews shirts, but I just couldn’t do it with all the cute designs I have. The wearer of this sleeper is young enough that I don’t think he really cares what is on his clothes and I don’t think his brothers really do either. While sewing the sleeper, the stripes kept saying baseball to me and of course, my favorite baseball player is…Snoopy, so Snoopy playing baseball was the correct design for this fabric and this sleeper. I think it is the perfect match.

Skip Stitch Blade #1 Vs. Flannel: FIGHT!

According to the information on the skip stitch blade’s web site, blade #2 is designed for flannel. As you read in a previous post, that is what I used on the first flannel blanket I tried. This time, rather than matching the skip stitch blade to the fabric of the blanket, I matched it to the yarn and I am happier with the results. Before I skip stitched the blanket, I decided that I wanted to use regular weight orange yarn rather than a baby yarn or a crochet cotton. With that decision, I used the skip stitch blade #1 instead of #2 even though the blanket is flannel. The slits are farther apart with this blade and so it accommodated the heavier yarn better. It did not seem to make a difference on the flannel whether it was cut with blade #1 or #2.

I also trimmed my seam allowances so that I could make the skip stitch slits closer to the edge of the blanket. I cut them at 1/2 inch this time. Because I was closer to the edge, I did not have to fold over the edge and that made for less bulk. Although the 1/2 inch margin is far better than the 1 inch margin of the previous blanket, the next time I think I will try to cut even a little closer to the edge. The more blankets I crochet the more I like the drop into the slit to be smaller. I like the look of the smaller drop and there is less yarn to get caught in the use of the blanket.

The first row on this blanket is chain stitch in the slit then 1 chain stitch, then 1 chain in the next slit, and so on around the blanket. The second row is chain 2, skip 2 stitches, 5 double crochets in the next stitch, chain 2, skip 2 stitches, then chain in the next stitch, then repeat. This blanket could be for either a boy or a girl, although the second row makes it a little more feminine to me. I am pleased with the end results of this blanket, both with the use of skip stitch blade #1 and the pattern I used for the second row.

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One Fat Walrus

“Do Not Overstuff!” I have read this a million times in patterns, both sewing and crocheting but never really understood what they were talking about until I overstuffed this little walrus. In an attempt to make sewing of the pieces of an amigurumi together easier for me, I tried assembling this walrus before I stuffed him. The pattern says to stuff the body, then stuff the other parts and sew them to the body. I did the opposite. I stuffed the tusks and sewed them to the unstuffed muzzle. I then stuffed the muzzle and sewed it to the unstuffed body. It did not make the sewing any easier and when I was done I could see that I have overstuffed the tusks and the muzzle. Especially the muzzle. It did not make placement of the pieces any easier and I missed not having the stuffing help secure my stitches. Lesson learned. I will from now on follow the patterns for stuffing amigurumi. Even with the extra pudding, Wally, as he has quickly became named, is as cute as can be. And, I didn’t think anything could be cuter than the seal, but I think Wally is. He makes me smile.

That Voodoo that You Do

My work is very stressful. So, we like to use humor at work to lessen the stress loads. One of my co-workers is particularly funny. She often says “Well, if you don’t help me with this, I’m going to go home tonight and stick pins in your doll.” At which we all respond with a chuckle and “I’m not afraid of you.” Although now, she is going to be afraid of me.

This is Lottie Lou. I made her to help me out at work with the ongoing voodoo doll joke theme. The next time I work with this co-worker, I will wait for the right comment from her, then take Lottie Lou out of the drawer and start sticking pins in her. I can’t  wait! This is going be hilarious!

I didn’t spend a lot of time in the construction of Lottie Lou since I had no pattern. I fashioned her after a “dammit doll” I had made previously for some family sports fans. I stuffed her from the top of her head, making it easy to just sew a seam to make her legs. Her hair was a little bit of a challenge.  I sewed the yarn to one side of the doll then folded the ends into the doll then stitched the other side of the doll to the yarn side. I had to sew the yarn a couple of times to catch it all and keep the look I wanted. The next time I make one I think a little bit of adhesive spray would help keep the yarn in place as I stitched. I was not particular about having perfect seams because I wanted Lottie Lou to be a little rough around the edges. I spent very little time on her shirt. I finished no edges. I wanted it to be in a rag-like style. Her face was fun to put together. Although the red lips and the glasses and the wiggle eyes make her look less like a voodoo doll, they do make her look more like my co-worker.

With Lottie Lou completed, I needed pins. I wanted big hat pins, but could not find any at Joann’s. (For that matter of fact, Joann’s does not carry doll making products at all, so my husband had to make Lottie Lou’s glasses for me.) I finally bought these heart topped pins. Fortunately, they are much longer than a regular pins and I can tell my co-worker that the hearts are because I loved her. Yeah, she will buy that story!

Tab Front Shirts

As you might remember from a post I made several months ago, I made a baby romper with a collar and a tab front. The pattern used a slit cut and a facing to make the tab. At the time, I was not that pleased with my end results. I decided that it was not a problem resulting from not following the pattern correctly, but instead it was something I was going to have to practice with because it was just a technique to be mastered. So, with that in mind, I pulled out some knit scraps from the stash and cut out some more tab front shirts to practice on.

I decided that rather than working with tiny infant sizes, I would make larger shirts, and that these would possibly be easier to do. My first try was the blue and white striped shirt see here. In the cutting process, I did not worry about matching the stripes on the facing. I actually thought to myself, “You won’t see the facing so it won’t matter if the stripes match.” Well, you do see the facing and it does matter. I learned that later in the project. I tried to sew very carefully to the point of the slit, tapering in at the end, then turning at the point and tapering back out, but even doing that the end result still puckered. I tried to snip on the tapers to see if I could get less puckering. Then I tried smacking it with a hot iron to see it that would help, but there is still a pucker. So, did I not sew carefully enough or do I just need more practice with this style?

On the second shirt, I cut the facing so the stripes match the shirt and I am much happier with the results on that one. I also tried to sew very carefully, tapering as the pattern described, but there is still a pucker. I wonder if I had not picked a stripe fabric to try this if the pucker would be less noticeable and more acceptable.  I am happier with the end results on the second shirt, but I still am not totally happy with the end results. I don’t know if I should continue to try and master this technique or try a different pattern. Most of the patterns for tab front shirts that I have made use this method. Many years ago, when I drafted a pattern for my husband’s shirt, I started with a dated pattern close to his size. It did not use the slit tab but had you cut a square out of the front of the shirt and replace it with the facing. His pattern has worked well for me in making the tabs, so I could alter the current patterns I have  to use this method, but I don’t know it that would be time well spent. Any suggestions from anyone reading this on how to perfect the tab front with the slit method would be appreciated!

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Wondering what to do with these shirts, my thoughts turned to the nephews. I asked them what they may want embroidered on the shirts and they picked Pokemon. Now, I know very little about Pokemon, so I had their mom list their favorite Pokemon characters. This did not work so well. I could not match any of the designs I had with the names they sent me, so I finally sent them the designs I had and told them to pick some. So, with that, each shirt got a Pokemon character embroidered on it.  These certainly are not the cutest designs I have ever done, but I hope the boys like them.

I followed the pattern for these shirts pretty closely wanting the tabs to come out correctly. When it was time to apply the buttons, I placed them where the pattern said to. On the second, smaller shirt, this placement was ok, but on the first larger shirt, I do not like the buttons. (Too late now!) If and when there is a next time for this pattern, I will use three buttons on the larger size and place them as I do my husband’s buttons instead of as the pattern said to.