Handworks Crochet and then Some!

Below is Burda 8116. A super easy tank top with a wrap topper. The pants are from BWOF. This was such an easy pattern!!! I made the below tank and topper in an hour... seriously! Ofcourse I must say having a cover stitch machine greatly speeds up sewing knits. In fact the day after I made these... I made 2 more tanks, another topper.... and the below view from the same pattern... a simple mock wrap top. The jeans were made last year from a pattern I copied from rtw. Anyways for those of you looking for a quick project... gotta get this pattern! Below here is NL 6429. It was easy too.... I actually made this last fall and never got to wear it... I wore it last night to Latino night at the Fairbanks.... good times! I wouldn't mind making another dress like this in some less 'fancy' fabric. Another shirt for my Bald Man... this was his B-day present... made once again using that wonderful Islander pattern. I embroidered a cross on the pocket... Some crosses on the sleeve... A

Last Tuesday we took alittle trip to Hendersonville and Asheville, NC. We stayed at the b&b where we got married, The Claddagh Inn, pictured below... ate the excellent restaurant we ate at our wedding night, Flight. It was very nice! AND.... went fabric shopping!!!!!!!!!! Who knew Asheville had such rockin' fabric stores!! Real fabric stores!!! 3 of them! Yep, I could live in Asheville.... A very good trip. I'll post about the fabric stores and my huge splurge another time....

Busy times lately!! And I've made a promise to spend less time on the Internet to myself! So I took myself off facebook, myspace and many other time wasting venues I had going... Ofcourse I love to blog, its like my journal , so no cutting back or stopping it. Recent projects... From BWOF 7/03 I made this pair of pants and a navy pair. The bustier is from Burda, made for New Years. The jacket was from a Mc Calls pattern and I cropped it. The pants had a waist band that I left off. They fit much better without it. By the way I'm dressed I guess you can tell we were going out on the town! I have several other things I've made lately that I will probably wear this weekend... along with the Bald Man's new shirt I made this week! On the crochet front... I took this picture Monday... now its done!!!! I can't believe I crocheted a whole sweater!!! And just in time because its turned off super cold here. I'll be wearing it this weekend too... Look at lil' pac...

Nancy finally made it over here to try on and pick up her costume. Its hard to believe this used to be a prom dress!!! She happily posed for some pics for my blog!! I am very happy with the way it turned out! And so is she... which is what really matters... I made everything but the belt and veil... which she already owned. Ofcourse its easy to make a bellydance costume look good when I'm putting it on a body like hers!!! You go Nancy! I wish I could be disciplined enough to workout like Nancy... but thats not gonna happen is it ;) Not likely!lol!

The Bald Man and I have been expanding our cooking skills.... We have been cooking such amazing stuff lately we've not even been out to eat in well over a month... and we've not missed it!!!! Like..... Caesar Tortellini Salad with Sauteed mushrooms... Easy... not expensive.. but soooo good! Very easily can be a whole meal... This pic to the right looks like a mess but it was one of the most wonderful dishes I have ever ate!!!! And I've eat at some amazing places.. If you like seafood... its a must... 4 layers of seafood... light white fish, bay scallops, shrimp and crab cooked in an amazing, super rich sauce... Its called Seafood Melange. I made it this week for Bald Man's B day. He was over joyed with it! And Sicilian Cheese cake a wonderful crust less cheesecake made with 2 lbs of ricotta... bliss... pure bliss.... You can find versions of all these recipes on All Recipes A great site for trying new things with plenty of reviews! They even have a feature where you can

I LOVE this pattern! I made the vest, shirt and the shorts (much to cold to show those!) I had no problems with this really... FBA on the top and the vest. I used the corset like closures instead of buttons.. I normally do not like baggy loose fitting tops but this is really flattering with the vest! Here's the top with out the vest... still cute... but not as cute! I did make a mistake and use a interfacing that was to heavy for the collar... I should have use a lite fusible instead of med. I want more and more of the vests!!! and will defiantly make another shirt in a darker fabric. What I'm being paid to sew..... a Madonna costume tutu!!! Making tutu's is fun... I hope the lady having me make this will send me a pic of the entire outfit when her and her buddies go out! In the Crochet world..... From March Crochet! magazine.... Took about a week to crochet... I love open work tops like this... always have! Now I can make my own! I have to say this about crocheting..

I have been so busy with my crochet and sewing projects lately! But last weekend my niece came over for the weekend and instead of staying on the Internet or texting like she does most of the time we did some projects together. Using OOP McCall 5489 we made a skirt... instead of making the matchy match jacket we just distressed out a brand new Gap jacket mom got from a yard sale last year ($1!) and she crocheted a small draw string bag! Here's the jacket... it was a heavy jacket.. she thought it was to heavy. We took off the bottom band which made it alot lighter! Then she run a seam ripper in between the double top stitched seams. I put it in the washer, with water and white towel, added about a cup of bleach.. let it set for 5 minutes.... she loves the jacket! I liked it to... I'll be going to goodwill for jean jackets to destroy ... Here's the skirt. She's only made quilts and pj pants... I think... so making a skirt was different for her. She did great! Jus