Side Project

I'm currently working on some Super Mario projects and other fun custom assignments, but in the mean time I thought I'd post a couple pictures of a simple ladies kitchen apron I made.  I did this as a favor for a friend for Christmas.  It's very simple and functional in design, I just love the fabric.  I used to make tons of this sort of thing but haven't done one in a long time.  It got me thinking about making more "mommy and me" adult and child apron sets this year.

So, I'm having a baby, and it's a BOY!!!

 I crocheted my still-in-utero son these baby booties the night I found out that my baby bump contained a beautiful boy.  I used a pattern I found online at coatsandclark.com.  I used this same pattern before but I did a better job this time!  I haven't added cute little bows to them yet or anything, but might do that after Christmas.  For now they are wrapped snugly in a little box as a first-ever Christmas present for my son.  I bought this yarn especially for the project because I loved the subtlety to the variation and the almost denim-color of it, besides how very very soft it is.  I am very excited to have a little boy to add to my little girl and can't wait to discover some fun boy sewing projects after doing so many with ruffles!

The Green Plumber is officially here!

This one is pretty much identical to The Plumber except that I had to use a slightly different blue since I couldn't find the same blue I used before.  I actually like this one better because the color is richer.   I took a photo with the apron sort of pulled out off my manneguin to show that there is no flair to it since it is a chef-style design.  It was brought to my attention that by putting these on my hippy female mannequin it kind of looks like it's designed to be fitted for a female, but I promise that is not the case!  But I took a picture of it fitted to the mannequin too because it looks dumpy on my small model when it's pulled out like that.  I love this apron and I'm glad that the plumber gets to have his brother wandering around somewhere in Pennsylvania.  The Plumber currently resides in California.  :-)

Pretty as a Daisy--A seriously cute princess apron

Yesterday I began work on what is going down as one of my favorite aprons EVER.  I think I say that a lot, but Pretty as a Daisy just turned out soooo cute.  She's my personal favorite.  I dressed as Princess Peach one Halloween, but only because me and my daughter had matching dresses and she is obsessed with pink.  If it were up to me, I would have been Daisy.  I literally couldn't stop working on this project and stayed up until 1:00 AM this morning to complete it, which is silly when you're 5 months pregnant as I am right now, but my OCD was in full gear. 

Say Hello to the Evil Plumber!

This week has been a super busy week for me!  I have had a blast making some fun aprons for all the cool kids out there!  I started this week making an Evil Plumber apron.  If you aren't familiar with him, he is the nemesis of The Plumber and the Green Plumber.  This apron is made with twill and all the top-stitching is purple to add a subtle pop of color on the pockets and belt.  Because he is evil, my sewing machine threw some fits while I worked on him, but we powered through :-) 

Fleece Viking Helmet? Sure! Why not?

The idea for these hats came from a high school friend whose son enjoyed the movie "How to Train your Dragon."  (If you haven't seen it, you might have guessed, there are vikings in it!)  I loved the idea of this hat because in my head it seemed like such a fun project!  I made a couple hats and did some experimenting to try to figure out exactly how to make this work.  I still think there is a better way to do it, but I'll save that for another day.  These hats are made entirely of fleece (and stuffing).  They consist of a basic fleece hat with an embellished center seam and band.  The center seam and hat band have "rivets" on them that are fleece circles I stuffed to give the hat a sort of 3-D look.  The horns were attached by hand-sewing the base of them to a circle of fleece, then attaching this circle to the hat.  These were a bit of a pain to figure out!  I originally was going to make ear flaps so that these would be really warm and winter-ready but the first one I made was long enough to cover my daughter's ears by itself, so I left the ear flaps off.  The second one was a bit smaller and would be better suited for a younger child.  The inside of these hats is "unfinished," meaning that they are not lined, but they are still really warm.

Eleanor's Crocheted Butterfly Beanie

 I actually made this hat a couple weeks ago and my daughter really loves it.  This was a simple concept that began as a plain old yellow beanie.  For instructions on how to make a simple crocheted beanie, I found this link to be pretty good:  How to Crochet a Beanie

It was too boring so I added a couple rows of seed stitching to the bottom in hot pink.  I use a lot of seed stitching in my projects to add decorative texture to things.  The seed stitch is a very simple stitch since it is just basic stitches being alternated. You simply single crochet, then double crochet, then single crochet, etc...  When you reach the end of the row you turn it around and double crochet on the single crochets and single crochet on the double crochets from the previous row.  You could also do triple/treble crochets instead of double crochets for even more texture.

Here is a great page I've bookmarked on how to do a variety of fun stitches: Crochet Stitches and How to Make Them  (Although seed stitch isn't on this list, which is why I explained that one!)


Even with the pink border I thought this hat was too boring for my little girl, which is when I had this vision of it covered in colorful butterflies.  So I went on the hunt for a simple butterfly pattern and found this one: Crocheted Sass-Butterfly Pattern

These butterflies were quick and easy to make so I made several and just tied them on the hat with yarn.  I can see myself making lots of other butterflies in the future for various projects to use as embellishments.

Turning gloves into Chipmunks...or Squirrels.

This is what you need: Thread, A Glove, Scissors, A Fabric Pen, a Needle, and Stuffing.  You will also need this tutorial:

How to make a Chipmunk Softie out of a Recycled Glove

I love this project so I had to try it out for myself.  I was sent this idea by a friend.  I simply followed the instructions provided by the link above and ta-da!  A chipmunk...that looks kind of like a squirrel.  My daughter called it a skunk.  I didn't make him exactly right, but I'm going to try again with the other glove since it now doesn't have a mate!

The Plumber--Because the Peachy Princess shouldn't be all alone!

 Today I finished the the Plumber apron that is to accompany yesterday's Peachy Princess apron.  This was a lot of fun to make because I haven't made as many aprons for men.  It was a nice change of pace!  Designing this one took some creativity because I wanted it to look like overalls, but still have the red shirt feel even if the wearer wasn't wearing a red shirt.  This is why it is lined in red underneath the overalls bib.  I like the way it ended up looking, and although different from the original character.  I had some oversized yellow buttons that worked well to complete the top and keep it looking somewhat cartoonish!

This apron is on my female mannequin, which is a very petite young lady, so it is a bit large for her, but it should fit a strapping gentlemen quite well.  I'm in love with this apron!

The Peachy Princess can be found here.
Pretty as a Daisy can be found here.
The Green Plumber can be found here.

My newest character--The Peachy Princess!!

This princess is an apron I've wanted to make for a long time, so when I got a request for it I jumped all over it.  One of the hardest parts was just picking out the right shade of gold and blue for the medallion applique on the bib.

The skirt wasn't too hard, but positioning the pockets was more challenging than normal because they needed to be on top of the overskirt for functionality, so I couldn't put them where I usually do so far as dimensions from the top and bottom.  They are set wider apart and a little higher.

 The picture to the left was taken on my web cam because I thought it might be nice to see the apron pulled out.  I really enjoy this apron.  It's really girly and looks cute.

Coming up next:  The Plumber!  This apron will be a men's style chef apron.  I've already started this and should be done really soon!

Recently added to the collection: Pretty as a Daisy!

Eleanor's Ridiculously Pointed Winter Hat!

 I decided to make my daughter a completely ridiculous looking hat.  I didn't use a pattern for this or write down what I was doing, but if you can crochet in the round you can make this!  I just started at the top and kept slowly increasing each row until it fit my daughter's head.  I did add a few rows of seed-stitching for a textured element and then added ear flaps to make it more functional.  I topped it off with tassels on the top point.  Very elf-like I guess!  My daughter really loves it.  It is mostly done in single crochet and was made with a size J hook (my favorite size).  It actually fits my head pretty well too but I wasn't about to post of picture of me in this hat because my husband almost fell off the couch laughing at me when I put it on!!!

If you like to crochet and would like a huge collection of free crochet patterns, check out this directory at Crochet Pattern Central.  I adore this website and use it all the time.  Sometimes just seeing the images gives me ideas for my own creations, like ridiculously pointed snow hats.

Bethany's Fingerless Mittens--My First Crochet Pattern

 In my recent drive to crochet I decided it was time to actually pay attention to what I was doing and write it down so that I might post my first ever Bethany Sew-&-Sew created crochet pattern!  This is for fingerless mittens or "arm-warmers" if you prefer.  I got this idea from a different pattern but it was too detailed for simple ol' me and I pretty much only work with Red Heart Super Saver yarn (worsted Medium 4--ya know, the stuff you can get cheap just about anywhere).  In this case I chose a dark pink.  I used a size J crochet hook.  This pattern is an easy pattern using only a few basic stitches and is designed to fit an average woman's hand/arm.




So here's my pattern: Bethany's Fingerless Mittens

Feel free to use it as you like but please give credit to www.bethanysewandsew.com if you link it or mention it elsewhere on the Internet!  Thanks!

Stitches used and their abbreviations:
Chain - Ch
Slip Stitch - Sl St
Single Crochet - Sc
Double Crochet - Dc  (If you crochet really tight, or are using a smaller hook, Dc's can be changed to Treble Crochets)
Double Crochet Decrease - Dc Dec 


Foundation Chain: Ch 30 (or however many you need to fit your arm snugly), join with Sl St to form a ring being careful not to twist the chain.
Rows 1-9: Ch 3, Dc around ring, join with Sl St at end of each row.
Row 10: Ch 3, Dc about halfway around ring, do 3 sets of Dc Dec (To see how to do this, click here for a video tutorial), finish with Dc around ring, join with Sl St.
Rows 11-13: Follow instructions for Rows 1-9
Row 14: Follow instructions for Row 10
Rows 15-16: Follow instructions for Rows 1-9
Row 17: Ch 3, Dc about halfway around ring, Dc twice in one stitch, then again in the next (2 Dc Increases), finish with Dc around the ring, join with Sl St.  (this is to widen it for the base of your hand after narrowing it to fit your wrist with the Dc Dec above)
Row 18: Ch 3 *, 2 Dc in next 2 stitches, Ch 5, skip the next 5 Dc (this is to make the thumb-hole) Then Dc the rest of the way around the ring.   * When making the mitten for the opposite hand, Ch 3, then TURN your project so that the thumb hole will be on the opposite side before following the rest of the Row 18 instructions.
Rows 19-21: Follow instructions for Rows 1-9

The Thumb-hole
Attach yarn to base of thumb-hole opening.  Do 1 row of Sc all the way around it, join with Sl St, Ch 1, then Sc around it again, joining with a Sl St (2 rows of Sc).  Then Ch 3, do 1 row of Dc around it, join with Sl St, Ch 3, then Dc around it again, joining with a Sl St (2 rows of Dc). 


Feel free to leave a comment or email me if you have any questions or see any problems in this pattern.  It is my first one ever to post on the Internet!

More Crocheting--Baby Booties and my Finished Baby Blanket

I made my first ever pair of baby booties this week.  The pattern I used can be found here.  These things worked up super quick.  I don't know if I would call this a "beginner's" project but it is certainly an easy one if you're familiar with crochet terms and not afraid of reading patterns.  Now I have to make a blue pair since I don't know the gender of my baby yet!  I still want to weave a ribbon around the ankle so I can tie a bow.  My three-year-old daughter wants a pair so I'll probably have to do the math to grow this pattern out for a child's size!


 I officially completed my in-utero baby's baby blanket.  I posted the link for the pattern in my last post.  I just added a ruffle border around the edge to make it look more finished.