final x-mas presents!

my presents were all crafted and wrapped up in time for christmas. they included these fierce dinosaur towels for my nephews:

a top-secret book box for hiding treasures:

and a reversible placemat and napkin set:

voila!

merry x-mas!

crafters hard at work

a certain bandit and a certain ninnerson have been busy crafting wintry gifts in the fine city of baltimore. among their latest handicrafts are an elegantly upcycled pair of mittens:

and a multi-purpose pillow:

among its other uses are: heel rest, frisbee, yoga aid, etc.

more crafted x-mas gifts

another laptop bag to replace the ugly one:

and a crocheted scarf/hood:

belated halloween post

ahoy pirates! hope you all had a nice halloween. I've been meaning to post some photos of the costumes I made for my nephews. my sister-in-law came up with the idea of dressing them as sushi - ingenius, right? I googled "baby sushi costume" for some ideas, and apparently this is something people do a lot, because there were about a million hits. 

anyway, I sewed these stuffed salmon and shrimp pieces:

and here's the final product - salmon noah:

and shrimp aaron:

sweaterific laptop bags!

After seeing Lan's iPad case and making my own laptop sleeve, I decided to make netbook cases for my brother and sister-in-law for christmas. I used some cool material from thrift store sweaters, and added a zipper pocket on the outside of the cases (I followed this tutorial). Also, my own laptop case ended up really floppy, which makes it hard to get my computer in and out. So for these bags I lined the fabric with interfacing to make it stiffer.

The first one didn't come out as well as I had hoped. I really liked this striped sweater as the lining, but it was a bit tricky to work with. I ended up with bits of teal fluff coming out everywhere, and because of the way I attached the zipper, the edge of the sweater kindof gets in the way of zipping. I might try to do something to fix that. 

(since I don't actually have a netbook to demonstrate with, I used a regular book for effect)

I'm much happier with the second one. Having learned from my zipper mistake, I attached this one so that there is no raw edge facing the zipper, meaning it zips niiice and smoothly. The lining came from a thrift store dress.

Lan is back, and crocheting lots!

After a hiatus from our beloved Craft Pirates, I'm back! In an effort to participate more I've made it my goal to post at least once a month. Luckily this blogger app on my phone makes this easy. So, no excuses this time :)

For now I'll leave you with this lovely new crochet stitch that I learned called the crocodile. Cute, huh? I'm making a scarf, but due to my impatience, we'll see how far I get.

In the mean time, happy crafting and pirating <3

person sweater --> dog sweater

Greetings pirates,

Like I mentioned in a previous post, my sister-in-law is visiting with my little nephews, and also with her adorable dog, Sakura. Sakura is one of those cute little chihuahuas that their owners (including my sister-in-law) like to dress up in cute outfits. Kindof ridiculous, you may be thinking, but she really is cute. So I was inspired to make her a little sweater for the upcoming cold weather! I took a sweater I bought at my fave thrift store, deconstructed it and put it back together into this:

 pretty cute, huh? 

I used the trim from the sweater to line the leg openings, button placket, collar and bottom trim. She looks all set to attend a preppy New England college, right?

 

Let me tell you, it's tough to get a dog to hold still for a fitting. Fortunately she only weighs six pounds, so I could pick her up with one hand and wrangle the sweater on with the other. The photo shoot was a little easier, since I could hold up treats to get her attention. 

Now even Sakura will be included in my diy-christmas-present plan! Just don't tell my sister-in-law, it's a surprise :)

Laptop Cover

She's at it again (crafting, that is). I had been wanting a laptop sleeve for a while so when I take my computer places, it will be protected from sharp objects, leaky water bottles, or other hazards that may be lurking in my tote bag.

Sooo, inspired by Lan's iPad case, I crafted this lil beauty:

It took me a few tries to get all the seams sewed the right way. At one point I thought I had everything all set, then I tried to right-side out it and I couldn't even locate the outside of the bag because somehow I had sewed it shut inside-out... but it all worked out. My wonderfully crafty mother even showed me how to make buttonholes for the buttons.

The lining matches my seat cushion from a couple of weeks ago, you may have noticed :)

I gave it a couple of pockets inside for the power cord, etc.

I went to my favorite local thrift shop today, which has a special sale on Tuesdays - if you bring a cleaning supply, you get half off your whole purchase! Unbelievable! So I went overboard buying craft supplies, fabric and junky clothes to remake into other things. In other words, expect to see more craftiness in the next couple of weeks!

over and out, pirates.

Mobile for Nina's adorable nephews

aye aye maties!

You may or may not know that I recently became an auntie, to these two awesome little guys (yep, twins!):

They're here visiting with their mom, my sister-in-law, so I got my craft on and made them this mobile: 

Cute, huh? Just makes you want to drift happily off to sleep... or at least that's the idea. I used a wooden embroidery hoop for the top, and some felt and fabric scraps for the clouds, etc. The only part I haven't figured out yet is how to attach it to the crib - gotta scour the hardware store and come up with something.

Also, in case you don't waste enough time finding craft ideas on pinterest, check out craftgawker - kindof more of the same, but still fun. 

Finally four months later...

Finally I have finished my shoulder bag! I started this project when I was taking a sewing class over the summer and then took some very long breaks but over the weekend with help from my mentor, Melissa, I put the finishing touches on it. This is my most advanced sewing project ever and the one  I am most proud of - it even has a zipper pocket!

Inside: four different pockets!

nina's sweatshirt to skirt

my dear pirates!

The 95-year old woman I work for had cleaned out her closet, and I took her outcasts, which included the periwinkle cotton sweatshirt below. After discovering this great pencil skirt tutorial, I decided to make a fitted skirt out of the sweatshirt. Like one of those sexy, stretchy skirts you pay $50 for at American Apparel. I love the style of those skirts, but the price does not jibe with my thrifty tendencies.

Fortunately, as it turns out those skirts are incredibly easy to make! Even for someone who doesn't really sew much, like me. I just cut the sides of the sweatshirt, marked my measurements on the material, pinned it, tried it on and adjusted it a bit, then sewed it! 

Et voilà! I used the bottom ribbing of the sweatshirt as the skirt waistband, which I like the look of. (also, I apologize for the terrible, I'm-taking-my-photo-in-a-mirror photos)

It turned out my skirt was a bit tighter than I expected, so I had to add a zipper in order to get it on and off.

Also, the raglan seams from the sweatshirt sleeves came together into these neat little triangles at the side bottoms of the skirt. Unfortunately I wasn't really paying that much attention as I was making the skirt, so they ended up asymmetrical, but when I make more of these skirts (which I definitely will, since it was so easy and so cool-looking), I'll try to make those more symmetrical. 

Pretty sexy, huh? ;)

 Now I'm hooked, I can't wait to make more clothes!

more craftiness

been getting my craft on lately. here's what I've made:

seat cushion for uncomfortable chair, made with thrift store fabric. don't know why I didn't think of this ages ago, my bum would have appreciated it long ago!

and this fun frame-thingymabob, including this little inspirational quotation, which I think came from one of my fellow craft pirates...

Sock update! And next projects.

Dearest fellow craft pirates,

I'm happy to report that the second sock is now finished, achieving my goal of finishing the pair for Christmas (I even got some time to spare)! Unfortunately, it appears that while knitting the second sock, my stitches were significantly looser, because upon looking at the finished product, one sock is HUGE and BUTT UGLY compared to the other one. Oh well, so goes the life of a craft pirate. I'm pretty sure my brother will like them anyway.

In other crafty news, I've decided to craft all of my Christmas presents this year. This is something that I tell myself I'll do every year, and which I always fall through on (example: failed sock frenzy of last fall). BUT! This year, I'm starting early, I'm trying to plan my gifts now, and plus I already have one finished (the socks). My plans so far include a crocheted circle scarf à la this, and a shelf for my brother like these.

yay crafting!

When Nina grossly overestimates how fast she can knit

I've been a knitter for a few years now, but I have yet to actually finish a project. Remember that sweater I posted on here a few months back? I started it about five years ago and it's still sitting on a shelf waiting for the sleeves to be sewn together. Needless to say, I have a little trouble committing to projects, so last fall I decided to start knitting smaller projects: socks! Seems perfect, right? I figured compared to my 5-year sweater endeavor, a sock would come together in no time. 

Around October I started working on a pair of socks as a Christmas gift for my brother. I went on a little yarn shopping spree at Webb's, thinking I would knit socks for practically everyone in my family for Christmas. Ha! That was a funny thought, Nina. By the time December snuck up on me I was rushing around buying gifts, since I was clearly not going to be giving anyone socks this year. I carried Toby's half-finished sock to our holiday celebration and told Toby he would get a pair of socks for next Christmas. 

It looks like that more realistic goal will actually happen. I just finished the first sock and I'm getting started on the second one! Seeing as I'm currently unemployed, I have a lot of time for knitting.

The finished sock! Note: I'm modeling the sock on my own foot, but it fits much better on Toby's foot, for which it is intended.

With the beginnings of sock #2

tiny treasure tin

hello pirates,
big news crew! i was in my first craft fair and though i was not there in person (i had to work and rach graciously attended in my place) rach met some lovely people and as a result i am now famous: tbrwd.blogspot.com/2012/05/one-crafty-bandit.html  thank you brandon! check out his awesome buttons on his website! here's a tiny treasure tin by me:

altered book

here is an altered book i am beginning about things that are small wonders. i am going to send it on to lan who will send it on to someone else to someone else, each doing a few pages, until is is packed full. thank you to marcia for the ideas and inspiration! lan, i hope you don't mind being first to receive it? tell me true.

iPad Case from an Upcycled Sweater by Lan

I live in San Francisco, and let me tell you: we are as techie as everyone says we are.  It appears that everyone, no matter what their financial status, has bought, won, or obtained an iPad. When I received mine as a bonus from my last job, I felt the familiar twinge of excitement and resentment. I joined the hoard of upwardly mobile yuppies with a big fancy piece of technology that essentially did the same thing as my iPhone. Yeah, I have one of those too. The iPad, however, is pointless with out a transport case.  As mine is the iPad 1, I don't have the option to dress it up with a fancy Smart Cover. So in true craft pirate style I crafted my own awesome bunny cover!

 From an old sweater with a print that I love, I sewed a basic zippered pouch with dimensions that fit my iPad. 

I used some basic cotton for the lining, to keep my iPad nice and safe and scratch-free.

 

Now I can take my iPad everywhere so I can read/Google/download apps/look pretentious on the go. Smooth sailing Pirates :)