"Hermione's Tea Cup" Mini Pin Cushion

I used verybigjen's flickr tutorial to make this mini pin cushion for my partner in a recent HP swap on Craftster. I named it "Hermione's Tea Cup", just for cute.


"Hermione's Tea Cup" mini pin cushion:



The "coffee" (or "tea") inside the cup is the mini pin cushion from the tutorial, and then I made a felt "tea cup" to go around it! The cup is a double thickness of felt. The fold at the top of the cup forms a slightly rounded lip.


Embroidered all around, pins in Gryffindor colors up top:






It is very small:



Of course, because its base is a tiny bottle cap! The pins won't go through the bottom of it, and it's a way to reuse.


And here it is again, with some other Gryff goodies:




Craft Info:

Made for: rosesanplacebos
Swap: "I Miss Harry Potter Swap"
Date made: Early June, 2008
Pattern: Bottlecap pincushions HOW-TO by verybigjen for the bottle cap pin cushion (the "coffee" or "tea"); for the tea cup and embroidery, I just winged it.
Materials: Bottle cap, felt (brown and cream), fiberfill stuffing, embroidery thread (brown, cream, red, and gold), straight pins (red and gold) for presentation

Small Gryffindor Items

My dear daughter and I made some little Gryffindor items for a recent HP swap on Craftster.

Mug cozy, crochet flower brooches, tea cup mini pin cushion:




Two crochet flower brooches in Gryffindor colors:



My dear daughter used cotton yarn to make these lovely brooches for me to send to my "Gryffindor" partner. I also used them as an embellishment for the Gryffindor scarf presentation.


Backs of flower brooches:




Both the brooches have lovely vintage buttons:





The buttons are sewn on with the cotton yarn in the contrast color.

I ordered the cotton yarn from Patternworks at the same time that I ordered the acrylic for the scarf. (Summer is not the greatest time to be looking in local shops for autumn colors, so I ordered online and hoped the colors would be "right".) I didn't know when I ordered the cotton what we would make with it, but I'm really pleased with the summery brooches that the DD made with it.


Gryffindor Mug Cozy:



I knit up this mug cozy as an "extra". It took maybe 20 minutes, tops. I used the same red acrylic as I used for the Gryffindor scarf. It also has a vintage button.


The mug cozy, open:



It's knit in a k1-p1 rib, with a crochet border and crocheted tapered ends. The tapered ends help it fit through the mug handle.


The mug cozy, on a mug:




The tea cup mini pin cushion will have it's own post, coming soon!


Craft Info:

Made for: rosesanplacebos
Swap: "I Miss Harry Potter Swap"
Date made: Early July, 2008

Mug Cozy

Needles: size 8 bamboo
Hook: G
Yarn: Utopia worsted-weight acrylic
Color: Pomegranate
Other materials: Vintage button (yellow-gold color)

Brooches

Made by: beauootifulsooooup (DD)
Hook: F
Yarn: Reynolds Saucy cabled worsted-weight cotton
Colors: Cranberry and Butter
Other materials: Vintage buttons (maroon and yellow), brooch pins, thread to sew on brooch pins

Making the Gryffindor Scarf: The S.P.E.W. Tote

I have had a lot of fun participating in the two Craftster HP swaps I've done so far. I have also received some cool stuff! While crafting for the most recent swap, I loved having a HP project tote to use for my HP swap project: the wonderful S.P.E.W. tote that ShardaeDobby made for me in my first swap was my project bag for the Gryffindor scarf I made for rosesanplacebos in the next swap!

S.P.E.W. Tote with Gryffindor Scarf WIP:








Because I love this bag so much, I carry it everywhere. So I've made it my own by adding pin-back buttons!

Craftster Buttons on the front of the S.P.E.W. tote:

Crafty Like Ice Is Cold:


Well, yes. ;-)


Craftster Pirate Pin:


Knit fast, die warm! Arrrgh!


Political buttons on the back of the S.P.E.W. tote:




"Obama '08" and "Women for Obama":


I agree with Norman Solomon on this issue: "The best way to avoid becoming disillusioned is to not have illusions in the first place."


"Freedom Is Participation In Power" and "Ignore Your Rights & They'll Go Away":


I added these to the bag very recently. I've had them for years, but they've been just collecting dust for a while. I decided that if I'm going to keep using the Obama buttons -- and I am -- these need to come back out and play as well. (FISA, anyone?)


American Flag Peace Symbol:


This is the button that is most visible when the bag is on my shoulder: it is positioned so it sits to the front when the bag is worn. This is also one of my earliest political buttons. I bought it way back in 2001 when -- suddenly, tragically -- the peace symbol was obscure and old-fashioned no longer. I chose the one with the flag because peace is patriotic, of course.

Gryffindor Scarf: POA (Trapped Bar) Style

I knit a Gryffindor scarf for my lovely partner, rosesanplacebos, in the recent "I Miss Harry Potter Swap".

The scarf, tied with a ribbon for presentation:




I used the atypically.knit pattern to make this scarf, with some modifications, such as making the fringe a bit longer than the pattern calls for. I also used larger needles and cast on fewer stitches to get the width.

The scarf with fringe, and small Gryffindor items:



The little Gryffindor items were "extras" for the swap: crochet flower brooches made by my DD and a knit mug cozy made with the scarf's MC yarn.

I made the scarf's fringe about six inches, the same as the length of the large MC stripe. The atypically.knit pattern calls for a fringe of about four inches, but I think the longer length is a bit more feminine. Rosesanplacebos encouraged me to use creative license on this scarf (and believe me, before making an item of this scale, I ask a ton of questions!), so this is what I did with the fringe. If I were making this scarf for a guy, I would probably use the fringe length from the pattern.

The scarf, laid out:



It's about 8.5 feet long and about 8 inches wide.

Because it is knit in the round, the scarf is a long tube. Here are some shots of the edge of the scarf (the scarf is folded in half, then rolled up).

The scarf, rolled up:






Rosesanplacebos posted a lovely action shot here in the swap gallery!

Craft Info:

Made for: rosesanplacebos
Swap: "I Miss Harry Potter Swap"
Date: Mid June - Early July, 2008
Pattern: atypically.knit pattern, with modifications: larger needles (size 10), co 72 stitches, made fringe about 6" long (same as length of large MC stripe)
Needles: size 10 bamboo 16" circular
Yarn: Utopia worsted-weight acrylic, Pomegranate (MC) and Maize (CC)
Dimensions: About 8.5 feet long, 8 inches wide


Other posts about this scarf:

My post at Craftster:

• Gryffindor Scarf! POA (trapped bar) style

Rosesanplacebos's posts at Craftster:

• post with action shot of the scarf
• gallery post of the whole package

HP Craft Swap at Craftster: Summary Post

June and the beginning of July was Harry Potter crafting! The "I Miss Harry Potter Swap" at Craftster was lots of fun. My lovely partner, rosesanplacebos, had lots of green items on her wists, so I made her a fun HP shopping tote set:



And some other stuff!

The whole swap package:




More posts to come detailing all the crafts, and other info from the swap!

Swap Info:

Swap: "I Miss Harry Potter Swap" at Craftster
Swap Gallery: "I Miss Harry Potter Swap Gallery"
Crafting Dates: June 2 - July 10, 2008
Date Sent: July 10, 2008


Posted at Craftster: (this section will be updated with links as posts are made on Craftster)

rosesanplacebos's posts (the crafts I made, that she received):

• post with action shot of the scarf
• gallery post of the whole package

My posts:

• Gryffindor Scarf! POA (trapped bar) style

Patchwork Lunch Bag

DD has been in an art program at a local college for these past two weeks. The weekend before the program started, I made her a lunch bag.

The lunch bag:




With front flap open:



We used scraps we have accumulated from our own sewing and from a grab bag of scraps I bought from cascadelemonade's etsy. DD looked through all the scraps and picked the ones she wanted in her lunch bag. I then made them into strips, cutting them down if needed or placing shorter bits together into longer strips.

To make the pieced fabric for the front and back/flap panels, I laid all the pieces out on a lightweight woven cotton and zig-zag stitched over the edges of the strips of the novelty fabrics. The backing fabric makes it easier to sew the edges of the pieces and also adds stability.

I am particularly pleased with the placement of the pieces in the back/flap panel!

Back of bag:




Back of bag with flap open:




The strap is a piece of webbing that Sommersbreezeantique used as a ribbon to wrap a vintage dress I bought from her etsy.

I made loops of turquoise grosgrain ribbon to run the strap through, lapped the ends of the webbing and zig-zagged over the edges.

Detail of the strap attachment and stitching at the strap ends:



The strap is a long loop that runs through the two ribbon loops. When it is worn long, the "bottom" of the loop is under the flap, and the bag hangs from the flap. When the strap is worn short (doubled up), the bag hangs from the grosgrain loops. (This is how DD mostly likes to use it.)

The strap, long or doubled up:



The vintage button also comes from Sommersbreezeantique's etsy. She bought a big lot of vintage buttons from an older lady who did not want her buttons any more, but who did want money to go traveling with her friend. And we bought three big scoops of buttons from Sommersbreezeantique, which included two of these wonderful turquoise buttons. (So we still have one to play with.)

It was a lot of fun making this bag, especially working out the how to place the pieces. I am particularly pleased with the placement of the two pirate pieces, on the front of the bag and on the flap, so they are close when the flap is closed. DD is particularly pleased with the little bit of cowgirl and chicken at the base of the bag.

Close ups of the patchwork detail and vintage button:







I made DD a purse for summer camp last year. Because she has been increasingly focused on her own environmental responsibility and on inspiring our family to live more lightly on the earth, I wanted to make something this year to support her in her environmentalist efforts. A reusable lunch bag is obviously better than a disposable one, but what is less obvious is that using reusable containers in the lunch bag takes up more room than disposable food packaging. Disposable food packets tend to be more closely fitted to the item they contain than we can achieve at home putting food into reusable containers: we end up with more air space throughout the lunch. So I made the bag nice and roomy to fit an eco-friendly lunch!


Craft Info:

Made for: DD
Occasion: Save the world
Date made: June 15, 2008

Fabrics: Front and back/flap: Scraps of woven cotton novelty fabrics (from our stash and from cascadelemonade's etsy); lightweight woven cotton for backing. Sides and lining: lightweight black denim.
Other materials: Strap: green webbing reconned from package wrapping. Loops for strap and button: turquoise grosgrain ribbon. Button: vintage turquoise button from Sommersbreezeantique's etsy. Thread: green, pink and turquoise. Elastic to cinch in the sides.
Dimensions: Front panel: 10" x 10". Back/flap panel: 10" x 16". Sides: 5" x 10". Bottom: 10" x 5". Strap: approx 1 yard.
Construction notes: The bag is fully lined with the black denim (five pieces in the same dimensions as the outside pieces). Dimensions are cut dimensions, before sewing; 1/4" seams throughout. The top stitching on the denim is turquoise and green. There is turquoise, green, and pink top stitching on the pieced panels. There is a casing for the elastic at the top of each side panel made by stitching the outside and lining pieces together.