breakthesky.net » Crafting

Hope Dream Wish Believe by Cross Stitch

Manda — Wed, 19 May 2010 13:15:56 +0000

(Click image for full size.)

This is by far the simplest cross stitching project I have completed, but it might just be my favorite. I love the message of “Hope Dream Wish Believe.” The dandelions look great throughout the piece; the different shapes and sizes add detail to such a simple design. The fact that the silhouette is making a wish on a dandelion looks absolutely perfect, too.

Parisian Flower Shop by Cross Stitch

Manda — Mon, 10 May 2010 14:57:06 +0000

Almost a year ago I posted a sneak peek of this particular cross stitching project and finally, it’s done. (Click image for the full-size version.)

This is without a doubt the most complicated cross stitching project I have undertaken (for comparison, take a look at A Weekend a Paris and Celestial Gathering) and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. After completing the Parisian Flower Shop, I feel like I can tackle anything in the cross stitching world!

I’ve already started on my next cross stitching project, but it is an incredibly simple piece. I’m sure I’ll have it completed in no time, which means that I might have time to whip up another handmade craft to give away on this blog in the coming weeks…

Cross Stitching a Flower Shop

Manda — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:00:49 +0000

Since completing my Celestial Gathering cross stitch I’ve started a new cross stitching project, this time one of a Parisian flower shop.

It’s a refreshing change to stitch on a white canvas again (Celestial Gathering was on a dark navy one). I started working on the bottom half of the piece first. The bottom half is comprised of the storefront as well as some miscellaneous decorations around the store. You can see the blue framework of the store, and I’ve already filled in the top four windows as well as the store sign at the top. The open front door is also visible, and I’m slowly working my way through filling out the longer bottom four windows.

It’s coming along quite nicely, although I’ll be taking a break from cross stitching soon – it is rather strenuous on the eyes!

Six-Pocket Ladybug Bag

Manda — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:00:24 +0000

While browsing Craft, Crafty, Craftier, a fantastic craft resource site, I found a pattern for a six-pocket bag. I like sewing, I like bags, and I like pockets, so I set about making a six-pocket bag of my own.

It turned out very well, especially since I haven’t sewed anything from a pattern in a long, long time. I love the three fabrics I picked out and how they all match together, as well as the six pockets on the outside, three on each side. I even added a little pocket on the inside of the bag (I told you I liked pockets). The batting I used to reinforce the sturdiness of the bag works very nicely, and it’s plenty roomy inside to stash my keys, phone, wallet, and all the other stuff I need to cart around from day to day.

I already have my next six-pocket bag in the works. I have my fabrics picked out (even if it did nearly kill me in the process to come up with three compatible fabrics that I liked), all I need is to sit down and start making it. I’m going to make my next one a little bigger than this ladybug one though, so I can use it during the school year to carry around my laptop, textbook, and notebooks!

Celestial Gathering by Cross Stitch

Manda — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:00:18 +0000

After some “sneak peaks” here, here, and here, I am proud to announce that my Celestial Gathering by cross stitch project is finally complete.

The sun, moon, planet, stars, and borders were all done in a cross stitch, while the constellations, galaxy, and other background detailing were done in a half cross stitch. Outlining was done in a backstitch, and the little dotted stars were done with French knots.

Not to toot my own horn or anything, but damn, this looks amazing.

My Bed Sheet Skirt

Manda — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:00:19 +0000

When I was moving out of my dorm room at the end of the last school year, I snagged one of my roommate’s bed sheets. It was a plain white sheet, with a simple black polka dotted border running along the hem. She had been planning to throw it away, but I thought the sheet would make a really great yet simple skirt so I asked her if I could take the sheet. She let me keep the sheet and I set about trying to find a pattern/tutorial to turn a bed sheet into a skirt.

I found this tutorial on how to turn a bed sheet into a simple skirt in around half an hour. It was exactly what I was looking for, and as you can see in my June Every Hour on the Hour post, I set about making my skirt. After some measuring, cutting, lots of hemming, and more measuring, my finished result was exactly the skirt I had imagined when I first saw the bed sheet. Plain and simple, yet trendy and stylish, the fullness of the skirt is perfect for a light summer day, and the white contrasted with the black polka dots match very nicely with my black flats!

If only I had more bed sheets lying around that would make fantastic skirts…

Two New Knitted Scarves

Manda — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:00:18 +0000

I’ve added two new items to my Etsy shop yesterday: a cream-colored wave stitch scarf, and a crimson-colored twisted drop stitch scarf.

All the scarves I have knit previously have either been in a simple garter stitch or a rib stitch, so knitting the wave stitch was a welcome change. The pattern was worked in ten rows, so I just repeated the pattern until I got the desired scarf length. The great thing about the wave stitch is that it is reversible so that there is a “wave” pattern on both sides, which is always a must with scarves! I loved the cream color of the yarn too, cream is a great color that goes with any outfit and I like it better than the brightness of white for a scarf.

The twisted drop stitch was also a new stitch for me. It was much more simple than the wave stitch, so it was a quicker and easier knit. I worked the yarn over slightly larger needles than needed for the gauge for a looser knit, as the gauge wasn’t necessary for this particular project. The twisted drop stitch, like the wave stitch, is also a reversible pattern, so it looks the same on both sides.

Both of the scarves have fringes at the ends, which is something I’ve never done with my knitted scarves. When I was done knitting them, I felt like they were missing a particular element, so I added a fringe and the scarves were complete! I find that not all scarves look good with an added fringe, but I feel that these two particular ones would look unfinished without one.

As always, feel free to follow my Etsy shop’s Twitter account for all my Etsy updates!

Cross Stitching the Sun

Manda — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:00:00 +0000

In March and May’s Every Hour on the Hour posts, there has been a photo of my current cross stitching project. I’m working on a piece called “Celestial Gathering” on a dark navy blue canvas that measures 14 x 11 inches.

I started off stitching the right side of the canvas, as the chart and key for the pattern was split up into two sheets. I finished stitching the moon in March, and stitched the constellations nearby the moon (Scorpio, Sagittarius, and Cancer). Then I added a galaxy, stars, lots of cloud-like stuff, and a planet. All of that was pretty much finished last month, and then I started stitching the sun.

Man, stitching this sun is not as easy as I thought it was going to be. There are so many shades of yellows, golds, oranges, and browns, and the rays of the sun extend so far out from the sun’s center that I’m hoping there will still be space left on the canvas for the rest of the celestial gathering! It’s coming together quite nicely though; the sun’s face can be distinguished and the rays are starting to look quite pronounced!

Knitted Cupcake

Manda — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:00:47 +0000

In May’s Every Hour on the Hour post, one of my photos that represented an hour of my day was that of me sewing the seam for one of my current craft projects. I was making a knitted cupcake with a removable cake case! I purchased the pattern from Cakes Knits and Cosies at Etsy¹, and I’ve been experimenting with different colors for the cake cases, as well as different icings and decoration for each cupcake!

This particular cupcake was the very first one I made. It has a blue cake case, which can be removed from the actual cupcake, a vanilla cupcake base, yellow icing, with a pink cherry on top and pink sprinkles scattered atop the cupcake². The cake case was knit in a rib stitch, the cake base and cherry in a stockinette stitch, and the icing in a reverse stockinette stitch (for a more textured look in comparison to the smooth cake base), with each piece of the cupcake and cake case having various other stitches for increasing and decreasing during the knitting process. It was a fairly easy knit; I had knitted and stuffed the cake case, cake, and decoration in one night!

I gave this cupcake as a present to one of my high school teachers. She was the faculty sponsor for my high school’s knitting club and over the years has become more of a friend than teacher to me, a sort of “mentor,” if you will. It only seemed fitting that any gift I give her be one that I knit, seeing as I spent so much time with her and other members of the club knitting! She loved it, and I think that cupcakes will make perfect gifts. They’re lovely to look at and very cute, and they would be very handy pincushions!

For those who crochet and do not knit, I believe Cakes Knits and Cosies have crochet patterns for cupcakes as well as knitting ones.
You can’t clearly see the sprinkles in the photo due to the lighting and my poor photography skills, but if you click on the thumbnail for an enlarged version, the sprinkles are visible.

My Etsy Shop

Manda — Wed, 27 May 2009 13:00:07 +0000

I’ve thought about opening my own Etsy shop for a while, and I’m proud to say that I finally bit the bullet and have done so. I’m not looking at this as a serious business venture that will generate massive amounts of income as that would be unrealistic; I’m looking at this as a hobby/side project, an entrepreneurial experiment, if you will¹. Regardless of whether or not my Etsy shop existed, I would be making crafts anyway as I’ve loved to knit, sew, cross stich, etc for as long as I can remember!

My Etsy shop can be found at disalarming.etsy.com. Currently, the only items listed are scarves knit by me with novelty yarns such as fun fur/eyelash and boucle. I’m looking at adding more scarves knit in with traditional yarns, as well as beanies and berets. I don’t want my shop to be limited only to knitwear though, so I’m looking at dabbling my hand in some other projects, one of which involves hardcover books!

I’ve set up a Twitter account for those who are interested in being notified when new items are added to my shop: twitter.com/disalarming. Feel free to follow to be updated on the status of my shop. I realize that this is all at a very bare bones, basic beginning stage, but hopefully as time progresses and I add more items to my shop, this will be at least a little successful! :)

And if I didn’t try, then I wouldn’t know how it would have turned out, right?