Tis the season... for weddings!  And with weddings come a whole bunch of commissions.

The first commission this wedding season is a throw.  The order comes from a coworker, Erica.  Her sister is tying the knot and needs an uber-awesome gift.  It will be a square, crocheted throw in earth tones.

How I do blanket commissions:
The client picks the colors.  I pick the design.  The size, materials, and how long it takes me to make the finished piece determines the final price.

Pictures to follow!

And thank God too.  If I have to crochet another stitch on this one, I might have murdered a hobo.

Anyhoo:

Channah, the eldest daughter of my friend Mandee, needs a doll.  A kick ass doll.  So here we go on a weekend project (which, by the way, I did in the middle of the week).

I love dolls.  I do not make them enough.  But dolls can be a time consuming pain in the neck.  So I went the quick and easy route:

Needs:
Pre-sewn (but un-stuffed) 12 inch muslin doll
Cream colored thread
Yarn for hair
Thread to match hair color
Needle
Stuffing
Fabric Markers
Dress for a 12 inch doll

1. Stuff the doll.

2. Use the fabric markers to draw on a face.
I hopped around the intarwebs for a while checking out doll faces before choosing some features I liked and practicing them on paper.

This doll has hazel eyes.  To get the hazel look, I dabbled green around the pupils and brown along the outer edge of the iris.

I gave her a purple heart on the cheek.  :)

3. Lay out the yarn a little longer than the length you would like it to be on the doll.

The yarn I am using here is Berroco's Optik #4944.  I'm not sure the yarn is still in production.  I've had it in my yarn bin for years now.

4.  Sew on the hair a bit at a time down the middle of the head.

5.  About half an inch away on both sides from the center stitch line, sew another line in order to hold the hair flat to the head.  Doing this eliminates the need for a weft.

6. Trim hair to designed length and dress.

Action Shot!!!


This doll took 4-5 hours to complete.  The dress is actually a 'teddy bear' dress.  I also painted her nails pink with the fabric markers.

Here's the bag I made for myself:

Because this will be a beach bag, I opted for a liner with a zippered pocket.

When adding the liner to the bag, I did not use interfacing or tack it down to the bag.  My main reason for this was to make it easier to get sand out of the bag after being at the beach.  All I have to do is turn the liner out and the sand comes out too!

Here is the constructed piece with handles.

Here's the interior with the zippered pocket.  I'll be honest here.  I kind of screwed up the zipper install.  You'd think I hadn't done a million zippers by now.  But it turned out okay and no human or animals were hurt in the installation.

Action shot!
Yeah.  I know it's a crappy photo.  But it fits all our beach stuff with out a fuss and that's the point.

Lookin' sharp!

The bag below was made for at So much crap to make, so little time.

After prepping the bags, it's time to sew them together.  But before we start, there are several important things you need to know.

1. If you intend to sew the Capri Sun bags, you need a sewing machine.
2. You will need a heavy thread. 
        You can use all purpose, but it will snap pretty quick.  Machine quilting thread is perfect.
3. You will need a denim or leather sewing machine needle.  (They aren't hard to find.)
4. You will need to stop between each section to rest the needle.
       It's metal going through metal.  The needle will get hot and if you haven't washed the bags properly, the needle will be sticky too.
5. When you finish the bag, the needle will need to be tossed. 
       It will be way too dull to use again, even for fabric.

On to the Sewing!  This bag is 2x2x1.

Over lap the bags to sew them.

Here is the front panel of bag, fully sewn.
Give the back the same treatment.



Remember to rest the needle!

Sew the front and back to the bottom.

Sew the side panels.
Sew them to the front and back panels doing both sides first.

Sew the side to the bottom last. 

See how I have the bag squished down?  Twist and squish anyway you need to in order to keep the bag from getting hung up on the machine.

Fold in the lip and sew it down.  This keeps the top of your bag from having any sharp edges.

Attach handles.  I used 1 inch white webbing and made short handles.

Done!  The bag is now ready for knitting needles and yarn.

Action shot!

Before you sew a bag out of Capri Sun bags, you need to prep the materials for sewing:

1. Get rid of the sticky glue on the front.
Pull as much of the straw cellophane off the glue as possible.  Soak the glue in Goo Gone.  I am using a Goo Gone pen in the picture.  Let the Goo Gone sit on the glue for about five minutes before wiping it away.

2. Cut out the bottoms.
I totally cut the bottoms out.  If you want, you can just slit them open, but they'll take a little longer to dry after washing.

3. Wash 'em!

4. Let them dry.

5.  Flatten them down so they are ready for the sewing extravaganza!

I needed a new checkbook cover, so I pulled out my plastic canvas and went to town.

Recipe:
1 sheet of plastic canvas in your choice of color (I used plain old clear.)
yarn in color or colors of choice (I used Red Heart Super Saver in Seagrass and Aruba Seas)
plastic canvas yarn needle (You can substitute a metal big eye yarn needle typically used for sewing knitting together in a pinch)

Cut the sheet into:
Two 42x22 rectangles (front and back)
One 42x19 rectangle (front interior)
One 42x20 rectangle (back interior)
One 42x3 rectangle (join edge)













(Crappy picture, Go!)

For decoration, I cut into the corners on the front rectangle.  It's a design choice.  You don't have to do it, but if you do, make the same cut in the interior backing of the front (the 42x19 piece).






(This picture is also called 'I didn't set the camera to close up.)

The Back!

Because the back of your pieces needs to allow for your checkbook pieces, make sure you go with a design that will ensure a 'flat' back.  I just went single stitches to the right.  The striping effect is part of the yarn I used.

Sew the back and the interior back together.  There will be a two square lip at the top.  Do not sew across the top edge!

Sew a design on the top and sew the two pieces together.  I went with a heart (which you can kind of make out in this picture.  Do not sew the top edge.










(Look, I remembered the close up feature on the camera!  I R SO SMRT!)

Sew the join edge without sewing the actual edges. (as in the picture).

Sew the join edge to the top and bottom to make one piece.

Insert checkbook stuffs and you're done!












Ta da!

This project took about 5-6 hours to complete.  I used left over yarn from a previously made baby blanket (Aruba Seas) and my niece's blanket (Seagrass).

The Park Slope Afghan involves 60 octagons.  Rather than do them single color, I have the middle in navy, the 2nd and 3rd rounds in seagrass, and the 4th round in navy.

I finished all 60 of the navy centers and have started the 2nd and 3rd rounds:

I hope you noticed that the octagons look very 'grouped.'  Here's my knitting/crochet tip of the day:

When you are making a large number of blocks, circles, triangles, motifs, etc., tie them together in groups.  this will keep you from losing work because you can't find a block you thought was in your bag.  Also, by tying them together, you have the added benefit of not having to count all your motifs over and over.  Just count them by the batch and multiply.

For the navy centers, I have a piece of yarn threaded through the center holes to keep them together in sets of ten.  For those with the seagrass treatment, I have the piece of yarn threaded between two double crochet posts at the join.