Petal Skirty & Ruffled Legwarmers

A friend of mine asked me to knit her daughter a petal skirty, which I promptly decided was the cutest thing ever. Unfortunately, I started it right before the Christmas/birthday crafting rush, so it took me for-freaking-ever to finish. I actually gave it to her a month ago, but am just getting to blogging about it now. It was perfect for her little one's first birthday last weekend, when we were having unseasonably gorgeous spring weather!

My friend supplied the yarn, O-Wool, which she Kool-Aid dyed herself.   I thought the soaker underneath seemed a bit wide as written, so I subbed the Snapdragon Soaker instead, which I knew was a good fit.

It used nearly every last inch of the green, but there was quite a bit of the petal colors left, so I made some ruffled legwarmers also.

These are a bit wild, especially in combination with the skirty, but I think that's what I love about them.

Raffle Apron

E's school recently held a fundraising Winter Carnival.  Her class's raffle basket theme was cooking, so I sewed up an apron from a pre-printed panel I'd picked up a while back at Hobby Lobby.  The only thing I added was to top stitch both the neck and waist ties.  That's pretty essential, in my opinion.

This is my "I feel like a big dork taking a self-portrait" face.

It's my favorite color combo, so I kinda wanted to keep it.  I hope it went to a good home!

Iron-on Vinyl Update

Before I made O's backpack this fall, I spent some time searching to see if the iron-on vinyl would be durable enough, but couldn't find much of anything in the way of reviews. Maybe everyone else knew something I didn't, because it hasn't worked out well.  About two weeks after school began, it started pulling away near the zipper.  By November, it looked like this:

I've been giving it regular trims ever since.  Bummer.  Now it has started to peel away all over.  Before the last trim, it looked like this: 

I'm more than a little disappointed. 

Other than that major problem, I've been happy with how the bag has held up.  I did at one point need to pick out the shoulder straps and go back and serge them (should've realized that rip-stop nylon is not fray-stop!), but it's doing well otherwise, even though it looks shabby due to its shedding.  Poor thing.

Anyone have a good source of laminated cottons in boy/gender neutral prints for next year's backpack?  That market seems to be dominated by extreme girliness.

Star Wars Swim Bag

O's class recently started swimming lessons at the local YWCA, and it seemed he needed a special wet bag to put his things in.  A regular plastic bag did not seem to offer enough incentive to not just throw his damp towel and swim trunks right in his regular backpack...  

I suggested a drawstring backpack, and he requested that it be Star Wars, specifically with a light saber on it.  The original plan was to applique one on, but when E. and I made a quick trip to Joann's a few weeks back, I spotted this comic print and knew he'd love it.  He'd just gotten this old Return of the Jedi graphic novel at Goodwill and thought it was pretty cool.

I used this lined drawstring backpack tutorial, but enlarged it a bit.  The outer fabric pieces were 14x18", and for the PUL lining, I just cut one 14x35" piece, eliminating the bottom seam.

I also changed the pocket to use an inset zipper, like this.  My zipper was 9" long, so I added 2" to the PUL I used to line the pocket.

The one change I would make next time would be to cut the outer a bit longer and the lining shorter, so that the casing was just the outer fabric folded to the inside.  The PUL is a bit bulky to close, especially with the fabric from the seam allowance taking up room as well. It's still functional, though, and O. likes it a lot. So far he has come home every week with the wet stuff IN it.  Yay!