10.30.2014

Hello bunny my old friend


This is Garfunkel.

He is my new buddy. 


I was feeling very stressed and overwhelmed the other day, and in my mind, making a bunny was the only way I was going to relieve that stress. So I blew up the pattern I usually use for bunnies, got the proportions all wrong, and made Garfunkel in about four hours. 


He is made of fake fur that is amazingly soft and fluffy that I got this summer in Normandie. The ears are made with scraps of fabric that I had, and the scarf is made from some of my many yarn scraps. He is a very organic and adorable companion. I call him my stress-relief bunny. 


As for his name, whenever I need to think of a name for a stuffed animal, I think "Simon". I don't know why, but it has resulted in my having a lot of bunnies named Simon. So I thought, what goes with Simon? The obvious answer is Garfunkel. So there you go.

Have a great end of the week and end of October!






10.26.2014

I can't believe it worked

Hello!

I'm going to start off by saying that I really should either be studying for a history quiz or writing a biology lab report right now. Instead I'm going to write this post because I'm really excited about it.


I made a skirt yesterday. 
I wanted to test drive my machine, and I've been wanting to make a skirt for a while now, so this was the ideal project. Also, I've been trying to keep my Saturdays sacred and homework free for as long as I can, so I was able to block off the whole day to do this. 


I went into town yesterday morning with the intention of just getting fabric and to use a pattern I had found online, but as I walked into the shop I found a pattern that was exactly what I was looking for. So I got it, as well as some adorable fabric with carousel horses on it. I did wonder for a little bit if I would be able to pull off a skirt with horses on it, and I decided that yes, yes I would be able to. 


So I spent a solid five hours working on this yesterday, occasionally yelling at my machine because the thread wouldn't stay in the needle (I'll have to figure out why at some point). Overall, the process went smoothly, but I did have issues with the waistband, which wasn't quite as long as the skirt waist. I gathered it a little bit at the back and it worked out well. I also had issues with the zipper, which is weird because I'm usually pretty good with zippers. But it wouldn't be a Blue Cat project if something didn't go wrong. I also burned my hand on the iron as I was ironing. Don't do that kids, it hurts.


There you have it, one of my most successful projects to date, I would say. The size is right, the pattern is very cute and the skirt is what I wanted. I'm not sure what to wear it with though, but I'm going thrifting next weekend so I'll try and find something.


You also get photo proof that sometimes I do go outside. Especially today, because the fall weather is absolutely gorgeous.

Have a great week!

P.S. To anyone who wants to make this skirt, I used the Sewaholic pattern 1206, view C (the shortest one). 





10.14.2014

Lil' newbie


Please say hello to the newest member of the Blue Cat Creations family.

Isn't she pretty? This is my new sewing machine that I got for my birthday and I am in love.


She is a Viking from Husquvarna, and although I've only had time to try her out a tiny little bit, I love her. She's much nicer to me than my mom's machine is. The stitches run smooth and neat and she makes a wonderful sewing machine sound. It took me a while to figure out the bobbin, but that's because the newbie in this situation is me, not the machine. The machine is already very good at sewing while I'm still figuring things out. 

I'm so excited, I already have a few projects in mind that I'm just itching to try. 


Sorry for the dark pictures, it's getting darker earlier now (the sun sets at 6:30 now and I'm just about ready to enter full hibernation mode). You should probably get very excited about the numerous anecdotes that are sure to come along with this new machine sewing adventure I've just set myself on.


10.05.2014

Too much listing not enough doing

Hello there!

So, I'll just be straight with you. The only thing I have made in the last two weeks is a bunny and his scarf isn't finished so I don't have a picture for you. I was going to sew a bunny this afternoon, but instead I cleaned my room, which turned out to be a much better idea. I did work on my Book of Inspiration and Happy Thoughts a little bit, I added pictures and several lists, which brings me nicely to my next topic.

Lists.

If you've been keeping up with me for a while (in which case hello, thank you for your loyalty and continued interest) you will know that I love lists. I love making them, and I love reading lists that other people have made. I have lists of everything: lists of things to do that day, to do in the future, of books to read and books I've read, of music, of movies, of countries I want to visit.

However, it has come to my attention that making lists is definitely my most pronounced form of procrastination. Sure, I have several methods of procrastinating things, I'll go on YouTube or Tumblr for a while (several hours), I'll eat, I'll clean my room, I'll cuddle my cat... The list goes on. However, what I do when I most want to fight off actually doing things is that I will make a list of things that I should be doing. It motivates me to a certain extent because I have a moment of realization where I tell myself "This list is getting too long to justify writing it". So I get up and do things. Other times, and this happens a lot, I write the same list many times. Sometimes in a different order, sometimes copied basically word for word. It's a huge problem and I'm working on doing rather than listing.

I'm telling you all this because I started this post thinking "I'll just write a list of upcoming projects" and then I realized that I never abide by my lists anyway, so I wrote a whole spiel based on that thought instead.

I did have a creative funnel this week though, because I planned my birthday party. I made invitations a few weeks ago to send by mail. I love getting and sending mail, so I thought, why not? Then I planned the menu (and made part of it) and some of the minimal decoration. Let me tell you, stringing up twinkle lights on our back porch is one of the best decisions I've ever made. They look beautiful. I'm hoping my parents will forget to take them down. The only decoration thing I got a picture of were the candles in the Mason jars which were largely inspired by Tumblr but looked really adorable.


On that note, I hope you have a great week and that I will have a more interesting post next time!