My New Old Vintage Needlecase

To enter the not-a-contest giveaway at Apron Memories, you have to create something from vintage "fabric, hotpads, handkerchiefs, table coverings, curtain paneling, toweling, embroidery, doilies, placemats, napkins," so I took this vintage embroidered piece, some bias tape (pretend it's blue in the photo -- there was a change of plans after I took the picture) and some gingham...



...and, made this needlecase



No, I was not drunk when I stitched that.

Here it is, opened up, so you can see the inside.



I was inspired by the needlecase project that Barbara from Oodles and oodles shared on her blog awhile back. I modified her instructions a bit -- she forgot to include a step on attaching your bias tape with the most crooked and uneven hand stitches you have ever sewn in your life and then tell everyone your two yr old did it -- I had to come up with that one all by myself. And, I put my needlecase together differently and now see lots (tons!) of room for improvement. Next time I make one, I'll completely follow Barbara's directions.

And, can I just say it KILLED me to cut up that embroidery...um...piece. What is that anyway? It's from a set of three that was part of a larger group that I found on eBay and bought because one was a dresser scarf with puppies embroidered on it. (Got all that?) It wasn't stained or dirty but it was spending its days stuck in a drawer. At least now I'll get some use out of it.

I'm still laughing hysterically at my "sewing." (Why didn't I just blanket stitch it?)

Thank you, Barbara, for the bias tape, the gingham, and the inspiration to make this!

How About Some Embroidery Links

After a certain someone told me my blog was feeling neglected, I vowed to post something every day for the rest of my life. Or at least until I got a boyfriend. Ok, not really but I did want to share some embroidery freebies with you all today.

A little while ago, Miri over at Milk and Honey Quilts posted some vintage Springtime embroidery patterns of a lady bug, a butterfly, birds, flowers and a boy and girl.

If you don't regularly check One Pretty Thing, you may have missed the recent Embroidery Pattern Roundup.

Did you see the corset pattern from Flickr member Rectangle that was linked on Feeling Stitchy? How fun!

Need a pattern for the skateboarding bull dog, a LOL cat or Rick Astley? Check out the internet memes at Totally Severe.

And, if you're new to embroidery, check out Kandra's post on Sibling Craftery for links to some great resources.

Two Giveaways

I have a couple of giveaways to tell you about.

First off, Llyn is celebrating her one year blog anniversary by giving away some cool prizes. Go see them and enter here before Friday, May 1st.

And, over at It's Daffycat, you could win some of Sharon's hand-dyed cross stitch fabric. All the details are on this post. The contest ends on Monday, May 4th.

Alert The Media!

Don't have a heart attack but I actually made something this past week (in between taking countless quizzes on Facebook). I wanted to do a cross stitch quickie so I used two charts from a Japanese website with loads of freebies. (As soon as I figure out how to get back there, I will link to it.) I did a koala first (pictures later) and then I did this bear. What do you think that thing on his head is? A flower? It was supposed to be done in an off-white but I didn't like that so I substituted a darker color, which made it look like a birth mark to me so I just ripped it all out and re-stitched it in the same yellow color as the rest of his head. Also, there was a bright pink under his eyes (that's missing in the picture below) and I didn't like that either so I just used more of the same yellow.



I used 14 ct Aida which I really stay away from these days. I hate how you can see all the holes in it. Here is "Pookie Bear, Blue Shirt" all finished. And, yes, both pictures came from the same camera and I have no idea why the colors are so off in the second one.



I toss all of my floss ends in my orts jar but I save longer lengths on cardboard. Since running to Michael's is not an option for me right now, I try to get as much use out of my threads as I can, but sometimes I wonder if keeping an eight inch piece of three strands of floss is worth it. Well, most of what I used to stitch up the bear and the koala came from this collection of leftovers.


I have a little room left on my Aida so I'm going to add one more animal from that website.

The Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long April Report

There's a new moon today so that means it's time to report in for the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long over at Dragon My Needle. So, here is my orts jar. I started this one about a month ago.

Look At What I Found In My Backyard

Anyone know what this is? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?



It's leaves on my peony bush! I discovered them the other day and was soooo excited. I really thought it was dead. I know they hibernate (or whatever) for a bit over the winter but there really were no signs of life going on at all and I was about ready to write it off until I saw the leaves.

I just checked my blog and found that my peony had buds on it on April 23rd of last year so it is running a little behind this Spring. I'm glad it finally came out of its coma.

Not a lot of crafting going on at my house. I'm still having fun on Facebook. But my foot surgery has been scheduled for May 15th (FINALLY) and there's a two to six month recovery period so I have a feeling, I will have crafts coming out my ass in the near future. A few ideas for things to make have been bouncing around in my head for awhile now. I just need to log off of Facebook long enough to actually do them.

One more thing: Mollie over at Wild Olive is sharing a cute Earth Day embroidery pattern.

Vintage Thingies Thursday -- Girl Scouts

Yesterday, I posted a picture of two of my friends and me in our Brownie uniforms from when we were 9 years old in 1972. I really enjoyed the comments I received so I thought for Vintage Thingies Thursday, I would share a few of the things from Girl Scouts that I've held on to all these years (and not old pictures of my mom's family as originally planned).

Like my time in Brownies, I don't remember much about being a Girl Scout. I think I only lasted one year wearing the green uniform, and once again, no s'mores were ever made. My troop didn't sell cookies but we did sell calendars. My memory is really hazy but I think there was some kind of event held at the Anaheim Convention Center to celebrate our sales and the sales of a zillion other Girl Scouts in the county. I could be wrong but I think that's where I picked up these patches. It's funny because as soon as I dug the Scout Sampler '74 one out of the shoebox where I keep this stuff, my first thought was "I could totally make that!" because of the satin stitch and cross stitch on it. (You can click the pictures to get a larger version.)



Karen mentioned having a sash for her Girl Scout badges. We did too but for some reason, my badges never were sewn on to mine. I get what the GS one stands for but what does the cup of coffee mean? I keep thinking we did some kind of cooking project to earn a badge but maybe we just learned how to make cappuccino (yes, it's the barista badge*). As you can see, we had to make our own soccer badge. If only I knew how to embroider back then. I could have made a nicer version with some black and white floss.

I no longer have my Brownie purse but hello, I still have the Genuine Cowhide Girl Scout green one. You can't tell from the scan but the Girl Scout logo is still a nice shiny gold.

And, what's inside the little purse? An identification card which cracks me up. Employed by? No one. Sex? Girl. Blood type? Red. The humor of a ten year old. (Who told me my hair was frosted?)



Unfortunately, I don't have any photos from my days as a Girl Scout. but here's one more from Brownies. In case any of these girls decides to Google herself one day, that's Nicole Royer, Leslie Talley, Shelly Adler, Shelly Monroe, Cristi Bondra and me.



*The cup of coffee badge was for Hospitality. The Vintage Girl Scout Online Museum has photos of tons of badges and I found the coffee one on the page for Junior badges 1963-1980. The one I drew the soccer ball on is called Our Own Troop. Look at all the nifty purses on this page and the hankies and aprons and needlework. Who knew?

Next week, I'll post my Girl Scout pins. Thanks for visiting my blog! To see who else is sharing their Vintage Thingies today, check Colorado Lady's blog.

Did I Miss Christmas?

(This has nothing to do with the following post but was anyone shocked to see Kim Bauer Monday night? And, I don't even want to talk about Tony. I can't wait for Jack to kill him.)

I've been sitting here, working on a post for Vintage Thingies Thursday and thinking I need to hurry up and finish it and then post it before I go to bed, when I realized it's just after midnight on Wednesday and not Thursday like I was thinking it was. (Later today, I am totally making myself a giant calendar to hang up on the wall I'm facing so I can keep better track of which day it is.)

I'm posting some old pictures for VTT tomorrow but this one doesn't quite fit with my theme of Meet The Kraygers (my mom's family) so I'll share it now. This was taken in June 1972, after the Brownie ceremony where you "fly up" to Girl Scouts. That's me in the middle with Leslie Talley on the left (your left) and Shelly Monroe on the right.

I know Leslie is on Facebook but I'm still debating sending her a message about our time in Brownies together. She may not have fond memories of it. Mine are kind of sad. My mother was the troop leader and I don't know why not but we never got to make S'mores. Once, we went to the local fire station for a tour and only one fireman was there because everybody else and all the trucks were out on a call to put out a fire in the field next to our elementary school. (I wish I could remember the name of the kid who started that fire -- we all knew him.) That's really all I remember about Brownies. And, now I'm wondering why I didn't have the cool orange tassels on my socks like Leslie did. Good times.

Happy Not Vintage Thingies Thursday, People!

Happy Easter!

I posted this image last year. I like it because it has Lassie dogs and the tree makes me think of cotton candy.

Happy Easter!!

Wee Bunny & Wee Eggs

Here are the bunny and eggs I finished yesterday. I wish I had a paler blue felt for the bunny. The colors of the eggs are off in this picture-- they're not as bright as in the photo. I had planned to embroider the eggs but that was tough to do after I cut them out. I should have stitched them first. I couldn't get the bottom seam on the bunny to look right, which is why the eggs are covering him up. I don't have enough felt for the handle of the basket I started last night so Mr. Bunny and his eggs will just sit on my dusty shelf for now.



I didn't add the pom-pom tail because I like having it sit on my night table. It makes me happy to see it and I could really use that right now. (Not having enough felt just led to a crying jag, which just made me realize (once again) how long I have been stuck in this house and how much longer I will be here, blah blah blah).

It looks nothing like the original but the bunny pattern is from Wee Wonderfuls and the egg patterns are from Wee Folk Art. And, I learned how to make the pom-pom from Bella Dia's tutorial. It took me three tries to get it right so keep at it if you give it a shot.

Wanna see my pom-pom again? I know you do.

Even More Links

The hits just keep coming!

Check out this tutorial for Peeps made out of felt over at Dusty Bottom Acres. As soon as I am done with this post, I am off to make some Peeps. I also started on a basket for my bunny this afternoon and I'm hoping to get that finished tonight. Maya Made has a pattern for a felt basket. So does Tiny Decor [via One Pretty Thing].

My supply of felt is dwindling but if I have a large enough piece, I also want to make one of these cones from Tangarang.

A vintage elephant embroidery pattern has been added to knitting-and.com.

So September has a tutorial for a reversible flower pot wrap. Cute idea!

I love the bunnies and chicks embroidery patterns at Blue Bird Studios. I found that blog thanks to a link on One Crafty Place and now I see even more patterns for dollies and eggs. And, take a look at the Spring wallhanging that Heather of Blue Bird Studios made with her sketchings turned patterns. Oh, I wish I could sew!

A Pom-Pom and A Bun-Bun

Say hello to my pom-pom. It's the tail for my newly made Wee Bunny. It's kind of big for the bunny but that's ok.



I am not at all happy with his mouth but I've already stitched it twice and don't feel like doing it a third time. Usually, I embroider before I stuff, but this time, I did it afterwards, plus I didn't draw any lines to follow, and me without a pattern just does not work.



This blanket stitched seam will be done over because I want the edge smooth and round like it's supposed to be. I think mine turned out funky because...well, I don't know why but I think I can fix it.



After the little rabbit is completely finished, I'll share a picture. I'm only posting now to show MaryBT I haven't been on Facebook all the live long day.

No Facebook?

OK, I can't get on Facebook at all. I can't get to my page or their blog or anything. Is it just me or is anyone else having a problem?

Is It Time To Put Up The Xmas Tree?

For the past two Saturdays, I've thought Easter was the following day. Seriously. Since I don't do much of anything that involves any kind of planning anymore, I never know the day or date or when the next major holiday is. Plus all the chocolate eggs I've been eating makes it feel like that bunny should be here at any minute.

I haven't had anything to blog about since I haven't finished a single cross stitch, embroidery or felt animal in quite awhile, and I have yet to do anything fun or illegal that's worth writing about. Oh, I did go back to the foot doctor who still has not heard anything about my surgery getting approved. It's been four weeks since she first suggested it so that's another month down the drain. In my mind, I keep extending the date for when I will once again have a life and I've now set my sights on December 25th.

Well, I'm depressed. Excuse me while I go shoot myself. Hey, how about some links to make us all feel good?

This one makes me happy. You can win a snazzy sparkly pink reversible vintage apron over The Polka Dot Barn. (I so want that cake in the blog header photo.) Details on the giveaway are here. Link via The Apronista -- check this post for even more Apron giveaways.

Kandra over at Sibling Craftery has been sharing a set of DOW embroidery patterns of these cute little ninja girls. My favorite is Thursday's ironing ninja. You can find links to all of the sisters' wonderful freebies here.

There are some new embroidery patterns up at knitting-and.com: a flower and Victory Kittens. Oh wow, it looks like Sarah has added even more vintage transfers since I was last there (last night?). The latest additions are bunnies and piggies and Weldon's Nursery Designs, both circa 1930, and she added a missing bunny to a set of Semco transfers. (That's where I found the puppy I used for my iPod cover.) You can find an index with links to all the patterns on this page.

I have three felt egg shapes sitting in front of me that need some embroidery so I'm going to go play with them. Maybe the next time I post, you will see a picture of them. No guarantees though. Happy Not Easter Sunday!

Look At The Totally Cute Bunny Pattern, Kandra!

Kandra, this is all I have for now but it's a good one!

There's a really cute bunny embroidery pattern over at Orange You Lucky (via Pimp Stitch).

If Only I Got Paid To Hoard

My sister got involved while I was snapping shots of my orts jar. And, no, she's not giving me the finger. She was making a sideways peace sign. (See next post down if you want to know why I was taking pictures of a jar full of pieces of leftover embroidery floss.)

Say, what does that Monetize tab up above, in between Layout and View Blog, do? Let's click it and find out...nah, nothing exciting. It just shows you how to set up AdSense so you can add Google ads to your blog. Dang. I was hoping it was a way to make my blog look like a painting by Monet. For what's it worth, I have never clicked an ad on a blog before, and most likely, never will. (Links to Etsy shops do not count.)

Ok, moving on...guess what I did last night? Besides catching up with several episodes of "Burn Notice" on the DVR, I also hoarded more patterns. I promise this will be the very last time I mention my addiction -- I'm sure everyone else is getting as sick of it hearing about it as I am. I will do something crafty or fun or even illegal over the next few days so that when I am ready to blog again, I will have something else to talk about.

My latest hoards:

Prairie Schooler's little house with rain falling on it cross stitch freebie

Easter Egg Trio Tea Towel embroidery freebie from Bird Brain Designs

Redwork hedgehog embroidery pattern from a Flickr member

Pretty Posie Pushpins from Polka Dot Pineapple

Elephant pull toy embroidery pattern from So September

Embroidered Pint-Sized Pocket Pillows from Goody-Goody

Elephant quilt block from Miri

Pretty much everything from Wee Folk Art (join their Crafting Club so you can see all of their freebies)

Hopefully, I will be back later in the week to tell you about something I made from one of these patterns. Have a great Monday!

The Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long

After Jennifer shared her very cool orts jar last year, I started one of my own and have been tossing all my pieces of embroidery floss that are too small to do anything with in it. It's nearly full now and I was thinking it was time to dig out another jar. (Not that I have a small collection under my bathroom sink or anything.) (OMG. I'm a jar hoarder too.) and get another one going. Here's my first orts jar. (Nice water spots. Someone's not using Cascade.)


Today I came across the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long. Talk about perfect timing!

This fun SAL is a little different that the other ones. Just start putting all your floss leftovers into a see-through container of some kind and then share pictures of it every time there's a new moon for the rest of the year. (The next date to share pics is April 25th.) It's open to everyone and you can join in at any time. Bonus: there will be a prize for one of the participants at the end.

Link to SAL via Wahroonga.

There's Got To Be A Morning After

Earlier today, some guy knocked on the front door and I was ready to jump up from the computer and go answer it when I realized it was after 2:00 in the afternoon and I was still in a robe and pajamas. How did that happen?! I seem to remember coming up with a plan, while I was eating breakfast, to give my bedroom a good spring cleaning -- I was even going to move furniture so I could vacuum everywhere -- and then next thing I know, it's early afternoon and I'm still in my PJs and playing on Facebook. Have you tried the Pick Your 5 application yet? It lets you make lists of your five favorite whatevers -- movies, bands, TV shows, beers, sports teams, books, slopes, dog breeds, etc, and then share them on your page. I love doing that kind of thing, and also seeing what other people put on their lists. And, making fun of people who think Hannah Montana is one of the best shows ever always cheers me up.

And, it wasn't just Facebook that kept me busy today. I also wasted a ridiculous amount of time trying to get a pattern to print. Normally, I'd give up after the second try but it's for this adorable donkey on Etsy's blog and I HAD to have it. Who knows why but I couldn't get the pdf to open no matter how many times I tried, and printing the page only gave me the sidebars -- the entire middle section with the pattern itself was blank. Signing into Etsy didn't make a difference and neither did using Firefox instead of AOL's browser. To make it more fun, my computer kept freezing up when I was trying all these things so I had to keep starting over. The weird thing is I had the same problem a few months ago while trying to print another pattern from The Storque blog. I would love to link to that other pattern now but I just got stuck on Etsy again and had to re-start AOL. Anyway, the donkey is cute and I am sure you will have no issues printing the pattern. I think I'm just special that way.

On to the good stuff . . . You can win a copy of either The Apron Book or The Kitchen Linens Book by EllynAnne Geisel from The Apron Goddess. All the details are on this post. You have until midnight, Saturday, March 28th, to enter.

Kandra & Renee at Sibling Craftery are holding their first giveaway for some great prizes. (fabric! a pincushion! floss!) You have until Sunday, March 29th, to get in on this one. And, I know I've linked to them before but in case you missed it, be sure to check out their fun embroidery patterns too. I heart the Valentine's Day one.

There's another way to win one of EllynAnne's books but it's a little more involved: EllynAnne, along with Colonial Patterns Inc., is giving away six prize packages (full of Aunt Martha embroidery transfers, some towels to stitch them on, and copies of her books), over at Apron Memories, but to enter this not-a-contest giveaway, you need to create something using vintage household goods, (fabric, handkerchiefs, toweling, embroidery, doilies, place mats, napkins), and then post it in their Kitchen Linens Flickr pool. The deadline to enter is April 30th.

I am really in the mood to stitch something now but first I must print out even more patterns. I wouldn't want to get kicked out of Hoarders Anonymous any time soon. They're all are for embroidery except the felt Easter cone, which is now on my to-do list. (I'm considering joining Felt Anonymous as well.)

Bunnies and chicks at Orange Flower: Patterns and Tutorials [via Meet Me At Mikes]

Springy Chicken Day, flower for Spring, and (my favorite) Itty Bitty Circus and (even more favorite) a felt Easter Favor Cone at Tangarang

Henry the Hedgehog and Padraic O'Malley (links are in the right sidebar along with a few more) at Chichiboulie

Bunny pattern for March from Bad Birds (thanks, L&L!)

Have a great Thursday!

I Am Certifiable -- Now with an added link for all you pattern geeks

Last night, I stumbled upon a stitch-a-long sampler on a French blog with four parts, which were all released last year, that I thought was really pretty. There are two versions, one in reds and another in pale pinks and greens, and it's a true sampler with a variety of different stitches that I have absolutely no clue how to do. So, guess what I did? I printed out all four parts in both color versions. As if I was going to someday stitch up BOTH versions.

Between all the WIP's I have going and plans to make "things" for at least eight friends, I am totally insane to keep printing out more and more patterns.

How many trees have I personally been responsible for destroying this past month thanks to all the paper I am using?

And, before you suggest I save the charts and patterns on my computer, let me say I can never find pdf's after saving them and I already have a busload of embroidery patterns saved.

Off to go find a few more three ring binders to store all of this crap!

Edited to add: Look at what Arizona made with the terry cloth bathrobe she was going to toss out. What a great idea!

I'm sharing this link because I think it's a cool way to reuse something and because it reminded me that I've been keeping a few old towels because I have instructions from Martha Stewart on how to make a rug with them. Yes, IT'S YET ANOTHER PATTERN IN MY VAST COLLECTION!!!!!!!

Edited to add #2 -- I've added a link to the SAL.

I Once Shellacked A Butternut Squash

Ok, I've never shellacked a butternut squash. I was just stuck for a title.

As usual, I'm behind with my blog reading and with answering email but I've completed 157 quizzes on Facebook. Go, me! Seriously, I am truly addicted to them. And, you can call me by my nickname from now on. That would be Junior Braniac, thank you very much.

It's been awhile since I posted some links to free patterns and tutorials so here ya go!

Over at Orange You Lucky, you'll find some really cute cat book labels to print out.

If you missed "The Party's Over" embroidery freebie from Pimp Stitch last year, you have another chance to download it at Craft now. I love this one.

Molly is sharing a vintage DOW transfer pattern with cute kitties at Molly's Place.

There's a cross stitch chart and also an embroidery pattern of a chicken on the French blog, Cachounette.

On Martha Stewart's site is a project for embroidering t-shirts but you could use the templates for any kind of embroidery. They include an elephant, a giraffe, a dragonfly, a firetruck, and a tractor that I believe is really a skip loader. (I think heads are going to roll over this!)

Want to make an adorable little felt coin purse with a cupcake on it and Johnny Depp inside? Ok, he isn't really in the purse but there is blanket stitching involved. And, also a zipper which freaks me out a tad. Thanks to paper-and-string for the tutorial and to Craft for the link.

Also via Craft is a felt bunny card how-to from One Crafty Mumma.

And, at Wild Olive, Mollie is posting some sweet embroidery patterns (think pirates, cowboys, mushrooms and a tree stump).

I'm hoping to have something finished and ready to share by Friday. Have a great week!