Homemade Mahana

I made some yummy new jammies for Simon for Christmas. i used "new look" brand pattern 6446. it has a cutie pettern for a little girl set that i will make for cousin Maggie so Simon and Maggie can run around like twins.

Simon was very aware that i was making something, and i kept telling him it was for him. when i had him try on the top i told him it was a "jacket for simon" and he just kept saying that over and over. "jacket for simon. jacket for simon" and he wouldnt take it off. when i finished the pants this morning i had him wear the whole ensamble for the pictures, and about another hour after that. i'll put them away until the big night. but its great to know that he likes them and sort of appreciates that i make him stuff. what a sweet boy.

i remember new jammies when i was a kid. special stuff.

This is my first official wardrobe refashion. I have seen dozens of terrific t-shirt surgeries online, and some great tutorials and how-tos. ANd i have had this red sox T from 2004 when they broke the curse and won the series. I broke out the T, this baseball season and have been wearing it like this :

Which is rather ghastly, now that i look at it. It was huge and comfy, but looked terrible- and i wondered if i could make it fitted and girly and better.

So i followed some random tutorial that i googled- added a bit of nice red ribbed knit- and I couldn't be more pleased with the results.

It makes me stand up tall, just to have it on.

There are some techniques i still need to master-
like putting ribbed knit on without it getting all stretched out and weird, but even then, i can't believe the difference- and i'm gonna go through my closet and see what other t-shirts i've been hiding under.

Go SOX!

I have been madly working on making some cowls for Christmas gifts for some of our lovely family.

I found this site (I forget where now) where this gal made some nice easy peasy knitted cowls, and i thought they would knit up much quicker than a long scarf- but be just as stylin'. then i got this idear to make them into a mobius strip. it would kind of twist in the front and hang nicely. I could not figure out though, how to knit in a mobius strip- but crochetting is not that tough to figure out.

anyway- here are a few of the first attempts.

Pink one is VERy soft and small
for a child.

and this green one is a bit bigger. it is going to have an accompanying hat. I'll show that off at a later date.

they are very fun and work up so quickly that i dont get bored. i am also staring to work on some new stitches. I really am not a practiced crochetter, so im finding this to be the perfect time to make some stitch samples.

Also, I had been itching like crazy to try to fuse plastic grocery bags together since i saw this tutorial. I finally did it. It worked fabulously. then i decided to make a messenger bag out of the stuff. First i practiced on this sweet little bag for sweet little Maya's birthday coming up next month.

Its just a straightforward bag construction. Front , Back, Flap, Strap. I put some little belt-like loops around the sides and bottom to keep the strap in place. the only thing now is that i wish i had come up with a nice closure. It definately wants a clasp of some sort.

One of my favorite parts is this little Maya photo that Anathea took. I just printed it on peper and sewed it on- I did try to fuse plastic over it to make a little window for it- but that didnt work. so it will likely come off in a good rainstorm- but while it lasts, its the cutest picture of that little girl that i can recall.

I've got some more Christmas ideas that are still floating in my head at the moment- but they will soon make it to here. and if you commonly receive a Christmas gift from me, don't be surprized if you see it here frist.

I also have a pair of new underwear that im sewing up. But that has been put on hold, as i have run out of thread and can't find my stash among all our boxes that haven't been moved in yet. CRISIS!!!!!

anyone who has ever been shopping with me knows that i hate, absolutely HATE, when the person bagging my groceries thinks they are doing me a favor by placing only one or two items per bag, so i go home with 30 thousand bags i have to contend with, not to even mention the waste, and all the plastic in landfills, and so on. i would typically get paper instead, but i hate to chop down trees for the small effort of me taking my groceries home. plus, to add insult to injury, i have had baggers actually put a paper bag INSIDE a PLASTIC bag, when i have asked for paper. Reusable bags are the answer my friends!! and i am almost finished making just such a reusable bag.

this was inspired by Lucia, who is a friend of mine from Wakefield. She is a yarn artist extraordinaire , and she came to a knitting group with the grooviest plastic crocheted bag. She gave me some pointers on how to make my own, and i went directly home and began cutting up plastic bags to make my plastic "yarn".

Joe laughed that i was making a plastic bag out of plastic bags- but in the end i think it is a fabulous use for those millions of bags i still find stashed throughout the house. and dang it, it's pretty. how many plastic grocery bags have lovely scalloped edges? so here are photos of it in progress- Just ready to put some kind of handles on.

Part of me is thinking the next one should be quicker and more utilitarian; not so many scalloped edges. But then there is part of me that would like to put some kind of pretty colored lining inside to make it even fancier. guess i should mostly just worry about finishing this one.

OK here's the story-

a couple of weeks ago i was surfing around and came upon this most incredible site Wardrobe Refashion. It totally kicked my ass and got me nice and excited about the possibility of someday getting myself out there in the creative web community. then after checking the site 3 times a day for new entries, and reading all the archived projects i finally decided the time is now and i need to jump in and commit. it also inspired me to dust off my Mahanaworld website and turn it into a proper blog for now. and here we go.

you know, i think this is really going to be great. not only will it serve as inspiration to help keep the creative energy sparking, but blogging itself is a terrific form of journalling that i am tickled to be doing as a creative outlet all its own. i used to journal as a kid, and found it to be quite satisfying. Joe recently introduced me to Future Me, and i am impressed with the simplicity and utter creepiness of the concept there. i write the future me a letter every once in a while. but blogging seems like something i am long overdue in trying.

blah blah blah.

thanks for checking out the site, and heres hoping you enjoy my writing and my crafting.