Oh, Snap!

I bought some snaps this weekend and started applying them to the silverware case.

I got the tops parts in, but am having difficulty with the bottom parts. I think the fabric is a little too thick. Of course, it didn't help matters that I put them in upside down the first time. Hmm, maybe I need to cut a little hole in the brown vinyl part on the inside, so that the prongs only need to grip through one layer. I'll try that in a bit - I hit my thumb with the hammer trying to get the snaps applied, and need some recovery time!

Non-Ironic Cross Stitch

Here's a fluffy little cross-stitch kit I completed some time ago. As you can see, I did it with much smaller count fabric than suggested. I like to do this - I've always liked working on miniature scale for some reason.

Now I don't know what to do with it. It might be neat to put it in the cover of a blank book, but then I would have to learn book-binding too. :)

Fabrics In Baby Quilt

Here's a photo of the fabrics I used for my nephew's quilt - a cute tadpole print, and a plain light green flannel.

The First Bed-size Quilt I Ever Completed

This is my adorable nephew, a week old, with the little quilt I made for him. It's crib-sized. It's whole-cloth, not pieced - the entire top is made from one rectangle of a cute print of tadpoles in jars. I just quilted in straight lines between the print - it was pretty easy, but still looks nice since I let the print do the heavy lifting. The backing & binding are super-soft green flannel (in fact, just cut out of a flannel sheet). I've heard that quilters don't like yellow quilts - not sure why, since it's so cheerful and sunny!

Silverware Tote Sewn Together

Whew, I pulled it off! Here is how it looks (along with the pattern pieces I created from tracing the original:

I still need to buy some snaps to sew on for a closure. Maybe two snaps - I haven't decided yet. Here's what it looks like with the silverware inside (and flap tucked in for now):

Mr. Mongie has declared it "very cute." If I were to do it again, I would make it taller so that the silverware fit entirely in the bottom of the case and the flap folded flush with the top of the opening.

Difficulties

I'm having some trouble with the silverware tote I started. First, I had to cut the inner part down a bit and then resew it, as it didn't fit inside the outer case. The fabrics are more difficult to work with than I thought. The vinyl-coated fabric is pretty difficult to sew through, even using a small, sharp needle. The printed fabric is actually pretty ravelly - the waffle weave is rather loose. And I'm blind-stitching these two fabrics together with a 1/8th inch seam allowance! Clearly I'm not being challenged enough at work if is this what I'm doing for FUN. (^_^)

Starting a Silverware Tote

I have a set of backpacking silverware (fork, knife, & spoon that all snap together) that I keep in my backpack at work. However, I still keep them in the same plastic case they came in years ago - which is now all torn up. So, I'm going to sew myself a little tote/case!

I'm just going to trace the existing case to create the pattern. The brown polka-dot fabric is for the inside - it's vinyl-coated. The kitchen print, for the outside, has a waffle texture.