Author: Michelle

A Few Projects, Lots of Coughing

~ Michelle

After my wonderful trip to the mountains a few weeks ago, I came down with the worst cold I can remember. And I coughed so much my ribs were hurting! I’m finally feeling a bit better and getting at some new projects.

But first, let me share a cute moment from our trip. One of the highlights my husband and I enjoy about going to the mountains is seeing the wildlife there. This trip we saw a few deer, coyotes, and bunnies. Yes, bunnies. At some point in the not too distant past, someone thought it would be a good idea to let domestic bunnies loose in Canmore. Well, it’s not uncommon to see the little furry guys hopping all over the town. But back to my dear husband. He kept saying he wanted to see bears. I reminded him, bears hibernate, but he still kept saying he wanted to see them. On our last day in the mountains, we were driving around and at the top of a road near the Banff Springs we came across this adorable family of bears!

Banff Bears

This made my honey’s trip! He got his bears.

As for me, other than coughing this past week, I did get my scarf done. I love it. I really mentally debated how to finish the outside part. And I actually knit up the better part of a ball of wool in a seed stitch. But I kept thinking with the straight border on either side, the overlapping edges of the middle part would give it a clear front and back side. And I didn’t want that. So, I abandoned the seed stitch and sat (and coughed) and tried to think of something else to give me that black border that looked so nice. I decided just to do some crochet all around the edges and I really like the result.

Red & Black Scarf

I love the contrast between the variegated red and the black. The black wool is 100% Merino.

close up scarf

Hmm. Although I’m using my camera again, and editing my photos. I still don’t love the quality. However, this does show that variegation better. It goes from pale reds to really deep burgundies. Just lovely colors.

And I’ve also been mulling over what changes I’d have to make to my Fantasie Vivienne clone. I knew a few changes I wanted to make. A narrower bridge, and lower too. And seeing as my wires are shorter than the professional wires, I’d need to adjust the side’s height as well. I was also trying to figure out how to adjust the cradle and use my correct wire size which is one size smaller than what was in the original.

So I started that too. No cutting out yet. Just figuring out all the changes. So let’s look at that first one. Narrowing the bridge won’t affect anything else very much. But lowering it will. I had to adjust the upper cup accordingly. Same with lower the side. I adjusted the side panel and then the band. And lastly, the cradle. I was having a little trouble figuring out how to adjust for one size of wires. Would I have to re-draw the whole cradle using the wires as a starting point? I decided to take a 1/4″ out and eyeballing it, it looked good. There’s still some splay room for the wires, so all should work out okay.

bra project

Here are my re-drawn pattern pieces with the adjustments made, my bra kit from Bra Makers Supply in a pretty black with pink detail in the lace, and the picture of the original bra as a reference. I’m thinking with the changes to the bridge I’m making, it may end up looking more like their plunge bra.

plungenon plunge

Here they are for comparison. I’ll have to see if this is more along the lines of what mine ends up looking like.

Happy creating!

Another Clone Finished

~ Michelle

There were just too many blog posts where I hadn’t finished the bra clone I started. So… I finished it!

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Here’s my Prima Donna Duchess clone. She turned out really nice. A few minor bumps on the road, but still very nice. I wore this bra on my recent mini-vacation to the mountains and I was very comfortable in it – more so than the original.

One of the things I did was make an ‘exact’ clone of the bra, right down to the wires. I used wires I’d had from an old Prima Donna. I’ve found most RTW bras have longer wires than what I use. They must be extra long, because I buy long wires. I don’t really prefer these longer ones, but didn’t want to do any alterations on this. The only thing still missing is sewing a little crystal & bow on the bridge.

One of the bumps I had was I didn’t have enough channeling in the kit I’d bought! This was a kit from I purchased before they closed. I was surprised there wasn’t enough, but was determined I’d get this done. I didn’t want to use any channeling from any of the other kits I have either, so I used a single bit I had left over from a past bra. I have BAGS of bits and it came in handy.

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Here’s the inside of one cup showing the beige channeling. This also shows the seam in the lining. I really like that extra seam for the support it adds to the lower cup.

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And here’s the black channeling. I didn’t have any beige bits! However, I decided this won’t bother me because I’m the only one who will see this – at least when I wearing it every day. Anyone reading this now knows my bra doesn’t have matching channeling!

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I did like this shiny Lycra that was part of the kit, but didn’t find it really strong, so I lined it with power net. I had a small piece of black (again) and used that. What I ended up with is a really nice supportive band. I like the double material. It feels very comfortable. And it’s not the first time I’ve used it. I did a few bras with Lycra and lined them so they were doubled. Very comfortable.

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Here you can see the black inside. The only draw-back to this, which I didn’t anticipate is it makes it a little less forgiving when wearing. The original fits snugly, and this fits a bit too snugly now. So I use an adapter so I have that extra set of eyes I need. If I make this again I’ll add 1/8 – 1/4″ to each side of the band to make up adding that second layer of material.

I would have loved to match the lace so it was perfectly symmetrical on both cups, but didn’t have enough for that. Maybe on a future bra.

And the straps were a bit different this time. One these straps I did the lower piece which is covering the edge of the band and ends up enclosed in the hooks & eyes. And then only a one strap piece above that. Previously I had used two pieces above that. It took a little while of looking at it to figure out what I needed to do. I had already sewn the bra straps to the front of the bra, so picked out the stitching. Then I made the strap starting at the back. I put on the slider, then after that was sewn, I ran it through the loop on the top of the band. Then it could be attached at the front. This was how it was done on the original, so I tried this and I think I prefer it. So the last things I sewed together were the straps to the front.

There. Whew. This clone is no longer sitting on my sewing desk waiting for me to finish it. What a relief!

Happy creating!

Jewelry and a Pareo

~ Michelle

I bought a new bathing suit for an upcoming 3-day conference & hotel stay my hubby and I are going on.  He loves to hot tub, and I rarely join him, but decided I’d at least sit by the pool this time and keep him company. But sitting around in a bathing suit isn’t the most comfortable for me. I like to be a little more covered up. Maybe if I lived in the tropics I’d feel differently, but this Canadian girl likes to stay warm! A pareo wasn’t offered with the swim suit, so it was up to me to come up with something. There’s always basic black, but I only wanted to use that as a last resort. I was really wanting something that would go with the suit. Here’s what I found:

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I’m really pleased with how well these go together. Are they a perfect match? No. But there are similar elements and colors; enough so I will be wearing this on our up-coming trip – at least by the pool. The material is a knit, and I simply cut out a rectangle and did an overcast stitch around the edges. I also decided to use the material with the pattern running length-wise down my body. I’m not the tallest, and thought this would be more flattering than a wide horizontal pattern going across me.

Onto jewelry now. My classes have been filling up the last few weeks; I had five students this week in one class. That was my biggest yet. I made a few things and this time I LOVE the colors. A while back I made a blue and gold necklace, and really liked those colors together, so decided to do something in those colors.

Here’s the first piece of jewelry I made – a memory wire bracelet, and then an elastic bracelet.

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These bracelets feature dyed Imperial Jasper beads, Aqua & gold glass beads, and golden glass beads. I love it! I think I wore it every day last week. The elastic bracelet has the same beads in it.

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Then I had a Crimping class and used those same beads to make this necklace. Well, I was wearing the two items for a few days when I decided to be all matchy-matchy and made a pair of earring too! This picture is nice and close so you can see the three beads really well.

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And to really put the matchy-matchy over the top, I made a Medical ID bracelet to boot.

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So I think I’m good now with the matching Imperial Jasper. I did make one other piece of jewelry in my class this week. While waiting for my students to finish their projects, I put together an eye-glasses holder/chain.

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Completely different beads this time! Well, almost completely different. I still used Jasper, but this time undyed. And I used white, pale pink and pale grey pearls in-between.

It was a big jewelry week, but I love what I made. And am really pleased with the pareo. Still unfinished on my desk: the Prima Donna Duchess cloned bra. I have no big desire to finish it, but am determined to clean my desk off so will set a deadline for myself. Next post I will have it done!

Happy creating!

Happy Australia Day and More

~ Michelle

I’ll start this post by wishing any and all Australian readers and friends a Happy Australia Day! My husband and I are part of the Australian Wine Club here in our town, and although I don’t drink, we have wonderful get-togethers and I enjoy them very much. We just celebrated Australia Day together and just look at our menu:

Pan Seared Chilean Sea Bass topped with Grape Tomato salsa, bedded with braised fennel

Wild Boar Consomme with Julienne green onion cake

Duck leg Confit & Port Belly, dried cranberry Saskatoon glace de viande, garlic asparagus & dilled baby carrots, and Potato & Yam pie

Sticky Date Pudding and Anzac biscuits.

It was delicious! We have such fun with our group.

But back to sewing and other crafts.

I completed my first-ever self-made pattern and sewed up the skirt. I mentioned previously the class Design and Sew an A-Line Skirt on Craftsy. Would I recommend the class? Well, I’m divided on this one.

In other classes I’ve taken on Craftsy the instructor has been great at getting back to anyone with a question. I can’t say the same on this one. I have contacted Craftsy about this, and they’ve been great, but my questions remained unanswered. That right there is why I don’t know I could recommend the class 100%

I did learn the basics of how to draft a skirt pattern myself, and how to do some basic alterations as well. I’ll be taking another go at it too, as this one sits too low for my liking. The instructor suggested a lower-sitting skirt as that’s more in fashion right now, but I’m not completely comfortable in it.

skirt

Here it is on me. It’s sitting about 2-inches below my natural waist. A pretty good fit though. So for that reason, I would recommend the class.

invisible zipper

And I’m thrilled with the invisible zipper here. Great instruction on that part.

I did use a longer zipper and shorten it. Thanks to Threads, I was able to do that easily. I found out an invisible zipper can only be shortened from the bottom. Threads is such a great resource! You can read about how to shorten a zipper here.

So will I recommend the class? I guess I will with one caveat. If you run into problems and ask questions, I don’t know if you’ll get an answer there.

Happy creating!

Conquering Crochet

~ Michelle

I’ve been having a struggle with my thoughts. As a teen I learned to crochet and knit, but by time my 20s came around, I was only knitting. I’d crocheted more than one afghan as gifts, but for whatever reason didn’t keep up with it.

Well, because it’s been so long since I’ve crocheted, I don’t really feel like I can crochet. So I’ve been challenging myself to pick it up again and overcome this thought that I can’t do it.

Scarf

Buying this pattern was my ‘jump’ back into crochet. I bought the pattern on Ravelry, and although it looked so beautiful, and I spent way more on wool than I’ll ever admit to my husband, I could not get the pattern to work. I tried numerous times.

One time was rather funny. My husband came into the room just as I was tearing out the work I’d done and the look on his face! He looked horrified. I had to assure him I could do this over and over it nothing was harmed in the tearing out.

But this pattern really frustrated me because no matter what I did, and I tried a few variations, I could not get the same look. It wasn’t encouraging to me.

I met with my friend, Valerie of Intricate Knits, and took my pattern & wool to her to see if she could figure out the pattern. She couldn’t get it either. She said she could probably take a lot of time and figure it out and re-write it but it just wasn’t worth the time.

This past year we got a PVR and I search for craft shows, well sewing, knitting, crochet and jewelry shows primarily, and record them. Just a few days after meeting with Valerie I was watching Knit & Crochet Now. I was so surprised to see them showing this pattern:

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This is close to the original center crochet pattern, but after looking at it and reading it, and contemplating it, I decided it was too ‘thin’ looking for what I wanted. So I started searching again. However, it is a beautiful pattern, and I will add it to my pattern stash. Here is the scarf pattern on Knit & Crochet Now: Madena Lace Scarf.

So, next was to find a pattern I really did like, I felt I could do, and would make me happy replacing the original pattern. After some searching on the net, I found a wonderful tutorial with nice clear pictures to explain any changes in the pattern she’d made. Here’s her blog site with this pattern & tutorial. It was great! Easy to follow and I’m so pleased with how it turned out. Perfect for replacing that original crochet part of the pattern.

red crochet pattern

My ‘camera’ (phone) doesn’t do this justice. It’s a beautiful rich variegated red going from vibrant reds to deep burgundies and pale blushes. The wool is a blend of Merino, Cashmere and Nylon. It’s wonderful to work with, and to feel. So nice!

I’ll have the knit part done this week and sew the scarf together.

Happy Creating! And I encourage you to do something you don’t think you can!

Not So Much Sewing

~ Michelle ~ 11 Comments

I did a lot of sitting this past week. I hurt my knee just over a week ago and it started to get better and then I did too much. I drive a standard car, so all that shifting was too much for my knee. So this past week I did a lot of sitting and with my leg up and doing my best not to hurt it again. I’m able to go up and down stairs again with only the littlest bit of a twinge in the knee, so I’m almost there.

My muslin did get done though. And so did my A-Line skirt pattern.

a line skirt pattern

Pretty basic, just like an A-Line skirt should be. It looks a little off in the picture, but isn’t when it’s sewn up. Not sure why it looks this way.

I was having some trouble ‘squaring’ the pattern at the top where the waist and side seam meet. Seems there was just too much of a difference between my hip & waist to get a 90 degree angle on the pattern. So I raised where the hip line sat by about 4 inches so the curve is much less than it was, and also took the waist out by 1/2-inch to decrease that angle some more. This worked for the pattern, but when I put the darts in…

Well, before I put the darts in, I sewed up the muslin.

I’m going to break up my chain of thoughts here just for a moment to share I put in my first invisible zipper! I was quite pleased with how it turned out. The zipper is the same one I plan on using with my fabric, that’s why it’s black and not white.

zipper

But back to the muslin; I tried it on, then pinned in the darts and … (the frightening theatrical music would play right here) the waist didn’t want to go back over my hips. I tried to gently squeeze myself out of the muslin and those pins but it didn’t work.

tear

This tear is what happened – the muslin tore where the pins were for the darts. I have a matching one on the back too. But not both darts,  just the two farthest from the zipper.

dart in pattern

You can see here where I closed the dart on the pattern there is quite a difference between my hips & waist. So what to do?

I haven’t had a response on the Craftsy platform when I asked a question in this class, but wanted an answer from someone with more experience than I had. I put a call in to my local sewing store and spoke with an instructor there. She suggested I use elastic for the waist!

Well, back to my comment from last week, all my skirts are either elastic waists or they are too big in the waist.

It’s funny, I started sewing over 30 years ago, yet still don’t feel like I know it all when it comes to sewing. So am glad to have resources to call on for things like this. Even if it does confirm what I am already thinking.

She also gave me a good idea saying keep the front of the skirt free of elastic and just have it in the back for the straighter look A-Line skirts are known for. I liked that idea, but it might be too much elastic for the back of the skirt.

And will I still want a zipper if I’m going to use an elastic waist? I’m thinking not.

So as soon as my knee is up to driving again, I’ll be heading to the fabric store for some wide elastic. I don’t have any in my stash and I want a wide waist band. Which I’m going to have to draft because that wasn’t part of this course.

Happy creating!

Happy New Year!

~ Michelle

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year’s. Here’s a little something to remember times past and be thankful for where we are now:

Singer sewing advice 1949

A friend of mine posted this on Facebook, and I got a chuckle out of it. Just had to share.

Over my holidays, I decided to watch one of the Craftsy classes I’d signed up for during the year. Design and Sew an A-Line Skirt by Deborah Moebes.

So far, I’m enjoying it have started to design the pattern. I’m having a bit of trouble ‘squaring up’ the waist seam. Seems I’m really not very straight at all (says the woman with a 13″ difference between her waist & hips). Getting a 90 degree angle at the seam is going to be a challenge for me. I had my dear hubby watching the video and trying to help me. I think the only thing I can do about it is increase the waist so there isn’t so much of a difference between the hip & waist. Then take the extra out with larger darts.

It really must have been bothering me because I dreamt about it last night too, but didn’t come up with a solution in my dream for sure either. Deborah keeps reassuring us this is a first draft and we can still make changes. I may still have changes ahead of me. I do know from anything I buy in RTW, I either have to buy elastic waists for skirt, so or the waist band is too big.

Something I’m excited about is a really neat little book I came across last year, and this Craftsy class will go perfectly with it. The book is 27  Skirts from One Pattern. The author is Maureen Thompson. Here’s the original PDF file (page 5) where I read about Maureen’s booklet; and Maureen does have a web site here. There’s not a lot of information on there, but you can contact her.

27 skirts

I bought that book a year ago this past fall and was excited to get started doing something but our family had a few set backs. Unemployment and a death in the family both kept my motivation quite low. But time and new possibilities are great healers and I’m finally ready to try one of these 27 patterns – once I get this pattern for the A-line skirt corrected.

While I was looking at Maureen’s site, I noticed she has another booklet available now. I’m thinking I’ll have to get that one too!

Bodices by You

And one more little delight for me: I love to start new plants from clippings. This past fall we were at a friend’s home and I saw this adorable variegated African Violet. I really like variegated leaves on plants too. I asked for a couple of leaves and brought them home to plant them. I dipped the leaf stems in some rooting hormone and this morning when I was watering them I saw a new bud!

varigated african violet

Can you see that tiny bit of white at the bottom of the left leaf? That’s a new leaf just starting.

I still have that cloned bra to finish. I’m not that enthused though. The bra isn’t as comfortable as I’d like. That left wire is still not comfortable. It’s not poking through anymore, but I can still feel it every time I wear it. I’m wondering why I didn’t just clone the Fantasie one I have as it fits so much better and is extremely comfortable. But I will get it done. And maybe get my Fantasie pattern out too.

Happy creating!

More Sewing Done

~ Michelle

A great way to get some sewing done is take it on for someone else’s Christmas gift! Boy, that motivated me to get sewing. But I enjoyed all of it. Well almost all of it.

I didn’t love how the sleeves were set in on the pattern I was using. The first robe I made I followed all the instructions to a T. And the underarms of the sleeves weren’t as neat as I wanted them.

So on the second robe, I used a flat construction process, which I like so much better. However, I still didn’t love how the sleeves looked under the arm. But other than that, to which my dear husband says, ‘no one but you will even notice something like that’, I’m quite happy with how they turned out.

red robe

Here’s the red robe. And below is the blue one.

blue robe

I wasn’t completely done this one when I took the picture. The sleeves still hadn’t been hemmed, and the belt wasn’t done yet either.

They are very cute though, and should keep those wonderful boys warm.

While my machine was out and I was on a sewing roll, I repaired two bras that had some strap issues. While I was fixing them, I also shortened the straps on both of them.

But one bra that has been really bothering me is the Prima Donna Duchess I have. The left wire was popping out of its channeling and making it very uncomfortable to wear.

wonky bra channel

You can see here how it is a bit twisted. I did try to reinforce the channeling there with some hand sewing, but it wasn’t strong enough. So I popped that wire out and ran a few machine stitches over it. Put the wire back in and am hoping for the best now. Other than that, this is an extremely comfortable bra.

And I also worked on my favorite skirt. Having lost that weight over the last few years, my skirt was too big. But there was no way I was going to put it in the give-away pile. I opened the waistband where it was sewn to the slip, and then again under the elastic. I cut and overlapped the elastic and sewed it back up again. It fits perfectly! I was so happy with that little alteration.

fav skirt

And lastly, I had two jewelry classes this past week. Both classes were wire wrapping classes, where we made earrings. Here’s a sample of what I made in my classes.

black shell blue crystals

These are black shell with blue crystals on gold-plated ear wires.

black shell peach crystals

And a similar pair with the same shells but this time with a champagne crystal. Again on gold-plated ear wires.

bracelets

Lastly, two fun bracelets. The blue one with drusy stones, and the second one with red bamboo coral and turquoise. I love that one.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and New Year’s!

Finally Some Sewing

~ Michelle

Things have been so busy at my house. My wonderful husband has a new position as of Dec. 31st. He’s the Executive Director of a local society, so we are in full gear getting ready for that. My home is filled with phone calls now getting everything ready for a smooth transition for him. And lots of meetings. Many of those I’m attending as well. As if Christmas wasn’t a busy season already, but we’re welcoming the change.

I did finally get some sewing done. Not just hand-sewing this time either. This past week I set up my desk and got my sewing machine out and did some sewing.

But let me start with my new cabinet. I bought some drawer lining paper, and covered the shelves. It looks so much better inside. And I’ve filled it with sewing items.

New Cabinet

Inside Cabinet

I still have a few more things I want to fit in there, but it’s a great start! And I’m sure I’ll organize it more as I go along. I’m so happy to have it. It looks much better than boxes piled up. And those boxes aren’t in my living room or bedroom anymore. I think the best thing is if I don’t get everything put away neatly, I can just close the doors.

So what have I been sewing? I mentioned in a previous post, I’ve been working on a cloned bra. I’m not done yet, but so far it looks like it’s coming together well.

Cloned Bra

Here are the cups, and bridge with band. I haven’t done the elastics, channeling or hooks & eyes yet, but it is taking shape. The cups here are sitting on some beige foam cups to show the shape. The material is a set I bought from ELingeriA. The clone is Prima Donna’s new Duchess bra.

One of the things I like about this bra is it is lined on the inside of the cups. But the lining is a bit different from many other lined bras. This bra’s lining has a seam in it. The seam runs vertically, so it gives more support to the lower cup.

You can see that in the picture below. That seam is in the lining. The lower cup front is one piece. I quite like that extra detail to add support.

Dutchess in Azelea

So ahead I still have some more work to do on this bra, but it has to wait a bit. I also have two house coats to sew for Christmas presents for a friend. I’m using a basic McCalls pattern for that.

And something I was so excited about this week was a great find. I was out looking in the second-hand stores for a sweater. We’re going to a ‘The Good, the Bad, the Ugly’ sweater party, and I don’t have a sweater. So I went looking for one, but had to look in the book section first. Look what I found!

Book Find

I was so excited when I saw these two books. Both are in incredible condition. There was a whole Singer library of books there that day, but I resisted. I was in there for a sweater after all.

And the hand-sewing I’ve been doing? I wanted an abstract-looking poinsettia pin for the holidays. I’ve made a few now and given them all away, but here’s my most recent one – on my coat where I’m planning for it to stay.

Abstract Poinsettia

Happy creating!

A Lot More Jewelry and A Bit of Handsewing

~ Michelle

I have been busy, but not a lot of sewing is happening. My classes have picked up and I’ve had four classes in the past week and a half. Seeing I only have three scheduled a week, I’m doing really well.

One of the classes I teach is Introduction to Wire Wrapping. Basically I teach my students how to make earrings. Here are some of my earrings from this week’s classes:

Imperial Japser and Swarovski earrings

These little charmers are dyed Imperial Jasper and Swarovski crystal earrings. We actually made three pair of earrings each at this class. We had fun!

Jasper and Imperial Jasper earrings 1

And these are my favorite from the class. We used the same stones, but made two or three  different charms to hang from the earrings. They look close enough that they match, but aren’t exactly the same. They look and feel very fresh.

Jasper and Blood Stone earrings

And similar to the last earrings, but these ones do match. I made these Matte Jasper & dyed Dragon Blood stone earrings to match a necklace and bracelet set I’d made.

Matte Jasper and Dragon Blood stone stretch bracelet

Here’s the matching bracelet. This is part of my Bead Stringing/Memory Wire class. I teach the students how to lay out a pattern and either put it on memory wire or elastic. This bracelet is on stretch elastic, so very comfortable to wear, put on and take off.

And just in time for the Christmas holidays, I’m including Wine Charms in my Bead Stringing/Memory Wire class. Here are a couple of the charms I made this week:

Wine Charms 1

Aren’t they adorable?

And I’m really enjoying some hand-sewing lately. And working with felt. I loved making those pansies I made, and wanted to make some more felt brooches. I found a wonderful Craftsy class called Fab Felt Holiday and made the Poinsettia brooch on there. That’s for my Mum, but my DH saw it and wanted one too, so I made him one too.

Poinsettia pin

I was quite pleased with how this turned out, but think I prefer something a little smaller.  This is quite large. Probably 5″ in diameter. And I think I’d like something a little more abstract looking.

I love the colors in this felt flower, so may make something along these lines in an abstract poinsettia.

And finally, my craft/sewing room… I did get my cabinet, and it fits exactly where I wanted to put it. I haven’t done much more to organize my space. I have felt, stones and a few bra patterns and one bra cut out – all sitting on my desk. I do believe I’m going to get a lot done in the next day or so though. We’re supposed to get 15 – 30 cm of snow in the next 24 hours! I will NOT be going out if I can help it. I will spend a nice warm day in my creative space and get it organized and start putting that cloned bra together.

Happy creating!