From my studio last week: April 25, 2011

Last week I showed you a slouchy knit shirt that I made myself, and promised photos of two more.

Here’s the first, in a black and white and teal stripe:

And (my favorite) an orange and white. The white stripes have silver threads stitched through it so it shines all pretty and summery. I finished the edges with a pale robin egg blue foldover elastic.

But those were both made in the previous week. Really, the only things that were actually made in my studio this past week were the rhinestone t-shirts I made for the Silhouette Rhinestone Starter Kit review. (Read my review & enter the giveaway.) I’ve already posted them with the review, but I’m going to repeat them here anyway.

Peace sign t-shirt. This was my test run with the rhinestones. It turned out that my first attempt worked perfectly so I used it as a patch on a tank top. I got the knit from an adult-sized t-shirt, rescued from the donate pile. I added the ruffles at the shoulders to give it more interest, and then finished off the edges with a pale yellow foldover elastic.

Pink kitty shirt. The little girl loves kitties. I mean she loves, loves, LOVES kitties! When I saw the kitty rhinestone design in the Silhouette online store, there was no question that it would be put on to a shirt for her. Simple. Easy. Sparkly.

Silver Lining shirt. This is my favorite of the three shirts. I like it so much I gave it a name. It was one of those projects that come together so00 easily, with all of the exact right fabrics bubbling to the top of the scrap bin. The cloud is made from old denim, with rhinestone creating a sparkling outline. I had some fabric in my stash printed with blue glittery raindrops. I cut a patch of it to become the rain. And then hot pink hearts just to make it all cute.

So that’s what I made in my studio last week. My plans for the coming week involve creating a tutorial for the slouchy shirt. I’ve also gotten some requests for the pattern for the American Girl panties. I’d love to oblige, but I don’t have a scanner. I’ll have to sweet-talk someone into turning my hand-drawn pattern into an electronic file.

Next Pattern:

I am just smitten with this felt gingerbread house bag. This would make such a sweet special Christmas accessory for a kid. It’s a free pattern at Benzie Design, designed by Gracie from Hello Gracie Makes. It’s packed with adorable gingerbread house details, like swirls and stripes and scallops adoring the doors and windows.

And while all those details might seem like this would be a complicated pattern, it’s actually not. The bag itself is made from felt, which makes finishes edges unnecessary. (All of those scalloped edges are just cut from felt, no edge finishing required.) The strap is super simple, made from rope with knotted ends. And all those details are made with some basic hand embroidery stitches. Sparkle felt makes it extra cute.

The striped scallop roof is actually the top flap of the bag. A magnetic snap makes it a secure closure. The rope straps are attached through felt loops at the side of the bag.

They rate this project as an intermediate level, and it should take about 6 hours to make start to finish. That’s doable for a Saturday project or a couple of evenings. Full color photos step you through the entire process.

The project includes a shopping list for all of your supplies. They’ve got a shop so you can order all of them from Benzie if you like and get exactly the supplies used in the project. I noticed it includes a pair of scallop shears, which makes cutting all the scalloped edges for the roof and around the door a breeze.

Finished dimensions of the little felt gingerbread bag are approximately 6 ½” wide x 7 ½” tall. That’s the perfect size to hold a small book, a small toy, or a notepad and some cute pens.

Go to Benzie Design to get the tutorial and free pattern for the felt gingerbread house bag.

Next Pattern:

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