Good morning Crafters!

Welcome Zorita and Aphil!

Aphil-Is that one of your belly dancing costumes in your avatar pic? I remember being taught to belly dance when I little! I bow down to your superiority. Could I ask you about my sewing questions? I would loooooove to be able to actually wear the clothes I make!

MaNdA22-It does take determination to finish a full size afgan! It would probably take me 2-3 months to make one that size. I would advise NOT changing colors. Seems like it would make stripes. Speaking of color, did you get enough yarn to finish the project? The yarn makers suggest buying all your project yarn all at once, so the dye lot (color, tone, hue) is the same. Just ask if you have any questions!

As for me, I can't find those bike shorts I was going to use as a pattern! Styimed again! Maybe I'll just work on my knit scarf I started last winter.

Hope to have pics soon! Love to see other pics too! Have a good one!

Ooooh, what a cool thread idea!

I used to do all sorts of crafts - knitting, crochet, cross stitch, embroidery (used to do some killer stuff on jeans), decorated old cigar boxes and made them into really cool gift boxes, even did stained glass for a while then I just sort of quit doing anything (no idea why). I was looking through some of the goals I had written down for myself for this year and one of them was to get back into doing something creative. I have a design for a beaded bag that's been floating around in my head forever. Maybe you guys will inspire me to get busy on actually creating it

Kim- what is altered journaling? sounds like something I might enjoy. Also- ATC?

I want to know how to sew so badly- but it's very intimidating to me. I have a sewing machine I have never used.

heavyandhomebound-

Yes, I made the costume both in my avatar pic, and in my profile picture.

Feel free to ask anything you'd like.

I do a little bit of almost everything ... but none very well

Lately, I've made a scrapbook brag book about my new granddaughter.

heavyandhomebound-my niece is 2yrs old. I meant that i am creating my own patterns for her to wear. Although, i did teach my older niece who now is about 14 how to crochet. I had bought her the plastic mulit colored hooks and she loved them.

i am currently trying to master the afhgan stitch. i think i am doing something wrong it doesnt look like the pics. I have taught myself all i know on my crafts, with the exception of knitting. There was an older lady who was knitting at Borders and i worked up the nerve to ask her how she did it. She spent a good 10-15 min showing me how to do the stitches (i realized i wasnt moving the yarn over when i switched from knit to purl) I had my first project completed by the end of the week. It was a dishcloth, but it looks so pretty that i have never used it.
I dont have any ideas for christmas yet, but i really wanted to make stuff this year and the same old scarf just doesnt seem as if it has enough umph to it. im a pro at making throw/afghans and such but sometimes its so consuming that i put it away for months at a time. i once mad a n afghan and it literally took me three years to finish, i would do a few rows and then get tired and move on to something else. Does anyone else do that?

Hi Yoyo! What kind of bead (stitch) design? I seemed to have mastered the square stitch. Peyote is still a little tricky. When I was selling beaded amulet bags, they always got a lot of attention, but could never sell them for what they were worth! Again, I ended up giving what didn't sell away to friends! I have sooooo many size 11 seed beads, I wish I could come up with something else to make with them!

There was a question a little ways back, How to start? I know that Michael's sells beginning booklets for all kinds of beading. I think they were hanging in the isles with the beads. That's how I started.

Aphil, Thanks so much. When I get my camera back from DH, I'll show you one of my tops I'm not happy with.

lizziep-check out the beginning sewing books, maybe at the library (for freeee!). They usually include easy projects. Any advice Aphil?

SusanB, welcome welcome!!

Christmas ideas - I've crosstitched people both bookmarks and ornaments. The bookmarks you can pick out a Christmas pattern or any pattern particular to them. Adding a name adds a personal touch. Ornaments I've crosstitched a pattern & name on a rectangle. Sew up the raw edges on the tops, fold it over (cover the pattern you've stitched) and sew the sides together, and sew some red or green ribbon to make a loop to hold the bag onto the tree with, and right side it out to make a square bag (size-wise ~3x3"). Put some candy or something fun inside. We always had a few ornaments with candy on the tree growing up (luckily our dogs weren't interested in candy, or you can hang them high on the tree to keep out of pets & kids reach). My sister crocheted snowflake ornaments using this teensy tiny crochet needle. I think she found a pattern book for it at the craft store. You lay them out and starch them stiff, and they look very pretty on the tree. We were very industrious children, lol.

I also made the little candy bags for Jewish friends and put the star of Jerusalem on them, so it doesn't have to be just Christmas.

I cross stitch, and my sister taught me to knit last Christmas so I'm working on my first scarf. A lot of my friends are at the age where they're starting to have babies, so I can't wait to start booties and such. I've been working on a series of 4 cross stitches called "Four Seasons Faeries" by Teresa Wentzel (sp?) for about 9 years now, lol. They're very pretty but not in my decorative tastes, so I just give them away. I sew too, but not extremely well, so I stick to curtains, hemming pants, and taking in clothes.

My roommate and I made ceramic/tiled flower pots for a friend's baby shower, and put baby (get it, baby for the baby shower) succulent plants in them. That was fun but I can only make so many flower pots - I've already given a bunch away. These would make good gifts too!

Occasionally I will scrapbook too.

I enjoy the orderly nature of cross stitching, as I'm borderline OCD. It actually calms my brain down. And it's really, really helpful for me to keep my hands busy and out of the refrigerator when I'm watching TV. Crafts have kept at least a few pounds off of my hips.

How did I miss your post Penchick?

Yeah, I've done that! I can't tell you how many times I've started something, stop, and end up just taking it all out again! To this day, I have a half finished afghan that I never finished, and when I went to get more yarn, the dye lot was all wrong! I should use it for another project. I've been wanting my own afghan for a while now!

lizzie-
I recommend that you go to a general store with a sewing department, and buy a sewing manual. The one that I have is by Simplicity, I think. Read it, and then keep it handy. It will be great when you come upon something in a pattern, and you don't know what it means, or how to do it.

The first thing you should do, if you want to sew, is get the basics. A nice machine, pins, sewing machine needles, sewing shears/scissors, etc. Sometimes sewing stores/sections will have little beginner kits, with a lot of the basic items inside. Never use your sewing shears to cut anything but fabric and thread. Paper, hair, etc. will dull them.

The next thing I recommend, is getting a sewing pattern by Simplicity. They are the easiest, and the patterns are broken down the best for beginners. I recommend something EASY-a small totebag, throw pillow, or a pair of elastic waisted pajama pants. Something easy, that you can learn the ropes with. Your first pattern should not have zippers, buttons/buttonholes, darts, or fancy/slippery fabrics. You should not attempt to make a Renaissance festival costume, or a complete nursery on your first sewing attempt.

You would be surpised how many people DO try this, instead of taking it slowly. Then, when you finish that project, pick out another relatively easy one. Once you are comfortable with the sewing process, THEN you can slowly branch out...and choose a pattern with something that you have not done before-such as a button, gathers, etc.

Ooooooohh! Cross stitch beads? Think of it. Egyptian designs..... napkin rings, place mats, hand towels, wall hangings! Megan, do you know what you've done?! Thanks!

I was really thinking along the lines of a cross stitch or petit point pattern except using beads instead of thread. So far the whole thing is still in my head so I have no idea of exactly what would work. I was thinking I would experiment a little with different textured base fabrics - like velvet or satin to see what type of beads looked brightest etc.

Thanks for reminding me about Michael's! There is one right on my way home from work and I always just drive right past it barely even noticing it's there. Maybe I'll see what they have on sale that I can experiment with.

I am a craft addict. I have a craft room in our small 2 bedroom apartment, and it's gotten so full of supplies and books that I don't have room to craft in it (I have to clean and reorganize before I can even get to the sewing machine).

I LOVE thrift stores, garage sales, and amazon.com for finding old and new craft books. I could fill a HOUSE full if I had the money and space. I'm trying to learn to knit, as a left handed crocheter, knitting was really stumping me (I could knit stitch, but every time I tried to purl, I'd drop stitches). Then I found a yahoo group called knitting with crochet hooks, and I was able to learn to knit using a crochet hook with a string attached or two long afghan hooks. For some reason this helped me make the mental connection, and now I "get it." My mom's friend regifted me a huge box of knitting needles a friend had given her. So now, I have more knitting needles than crochet hooks.

Hubby and I are on a very strict budget now that we're both on disability. I have a humungous craft and yarn stash from when we both were working (when I had money, but not time - I was still addicted to crafting so supplies accumulated faster than I could work through them), and I still often find that I need something for a project that I don't have. Which is how I found thrift store craft shopping.

I'd shopped thrift stores for years, and had bought craft patterns, but not really craft supplies. Then I needed buttons and I wanted really NICE buttons and couldn't afford the ones I wanted, so I decided to try and look through the local church thrift store. The ladies that volunteer sort the buttons and sew them onto cards, so it's much like shopping in a sewing shop, except instead of several dollars per button, even the fanciest buttons are only .20 to 1.25 for a whole set, sometimes of up to 12 buttons.

I don't even shop just for special projects anymore. I've started my own "button tin" like the one my grandma had. Every time piece of clothing was cut up for rags, she'd cut off the buttons, and they'd go into an old round candy tin. My brother and I would play with those buttons for hours, sorting by color, size, shape... Every time I buy a card of old buttons, I think of her.

I've given craft gifts for every Christmas since our budget collapsed. Everyone loves them so much (to the point I'm getting "special" requests) that I wish I had done it sooner. It isn't the money factor (especially since many homemade items are as or more expensive than a similar store bought item) but the "wow" per dollar factor. And the satisfaction in having created something.

I've finally built the confidence that I want to start designing patterns to sell. I'm thinking about selling on etsy and/or ravelry. I've heard a few people say they've done well on etsy and it's a lot cheaper than ebay. It's a smaller audience, but since it's ONLY handmade art and craft items, people seem to be willing to pay more, at least that's what I've heard.

Good morning all! And welcome kaplods! I think my mom is the same way! She actually voulenteers at a thrift shop, and found these cute crochet edging bookletts from 1920's! They were only $.20 each back then!

Well, I still can't find those bike shorts, so I picked up my knitting. I think I should be done with my scarf real soon!

Keep sending those craft ideas this way!

This is a great weekend to craft! I wish I could find a craft show to go to or something. Still thinking about those beads tho. My OCD likes the idea!

How is everyone else doing?

Need to get my camera back, hope to have pics today!