stephaniehf

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 03:22:56 GMT

I had a really great time at the first Craftacular! show last Sunday. I found new homes for 15 monsters! Wowza! Because it went so well I am definitely going to do it again, and I'm looking forward to participating on December 13th (Sunday) at Little Mountain Gallery. To prepare I have to make a whole new pile of monsters, some of them are pictured below. I made them yesterday, the last two are not stuffed yet because I ran out of fill. I reeeeeally like the ones with suspenders.

I created a profile page on Facebook for my monsters, search stephaniehfmakesmonsters to become a fan <3

xo

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:34:50 GMT

I'm going to be there with monsters and buttons - including new designs - so you should come check it out if you are free!

xo

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:23:17 GMT

My new yarn from purlsoho.com came in the mail and it is sooo pretty! The perfect shades of turquoise-y green. I still have to finish BFBF's octopus sweater but it is not a pleasant knit so I'm kind of putting it off and I started a new deep v-neck sweater for myself. The yarn for the octopus sweater is so thick and the needles so thick and the sweater is so big that it is actually physically hard to knit! I am also allergic to the yarn so I get really stuffed up when I work on it. It's nearing completion though, I have finished a sleeve and am 1/4 way through the second one then I just have the finish the body and sew in the zipper. I aim to have it done this month though because I want him to wear it for the winter!

I recently bought Custom Knits by Wendy Bernard to give me some pointers on how to construct custom raglan sweaters. I never would have picked it up if I had just seen the cover (The sweater on the cover is hideous) BUT through ravelry I was able to see the 26 patterns inside and they are pretty cute! If you have a ravelry account the link is here: Custom Knit Patterns, and if you don't have an account sign up for one! It's a great source of free patterns. In addition to the cute patterns in the book, Wendy shows you how to customize each one to your own taste and explains how to make your own raglan (top-down) sweaters from scratch. It's really helpful.

I also recently picked up Harmony Guides for Lace and Eyelets and Cables and Arans and they have tons of really nice stitch patterns in them.

That's all!

xo

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:33:28 GMT

I'm slowly finishing up my WIPs, here are some pics!

I also started my first pair of socks at work this week. The sweater is way too big to knit in the office anymore, so a pair of socks is much easier to manage. I'm using this pattern: Monkey, using this yarn: Jazzberry Cream.

I'm waiting for some yarn I ordered from purlsoho.com to arrive in the mail. It's SHIBUI KNITS
merino worsted in Peacock. Me ---> excited.

xo

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:52:58 GMT

I know I just said I would never again sew anything furry, but my sister wants me to make a costume for a Christmas themed holiday party she is attending... the Bumble (a.k.a. the Abominable Snow Monster of the North) from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Christmas TV Special. How could I resist??

xo

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:23:08 GMT

I got my ruffler in the mail, and just in time to use it on the lining I was putting into my dress.

It's pretty amazing! Here is a sneak peek at my dress. It's all black so it's hard to photograph.

The Where the Wild Things Are costumes turned out really well. They both ended up being exactly the same fabric (which was a funny coincidence), a fairly lightweight grey fun fur with a short curly texture. They each had a zipper opening, wired pointy ears, pipe cleaner whiskers, faux buttons on the front and the floppy hood. Sooo cute. A bit challenging as I made them up completely as I went along, but I was happy with the result.

My favorite part was the whiskers, they made the whole costume for me. I added them last, using a leather punch to put holes into to small squares of furry fabric, threading 3 black pipe cleaners through then securing them on the back with hot glue and a patch of acetate lining. Then I glued the square to the hood and hand sewed the edges down so the squares wouldn't be super obvious.

leightsy looked super cute :)

xo

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:19:54 GMT

My clock is nearing the finish! I knitted a band to go around the edge and a multi-coloured striped roof, and am now working on the leaves to make it look like a traditional cuckoo clock (Here are some great ones: one, two, three, four)

I got the pattern for the leaves here, it's really cute. I think I'm also going to add acorns. Yes.

I am stitching the last bits of the two Where the Wild Things Are costumes today, then they are being picked up tonight and I will not have to stress about them anymore! Also I am never sewing with fun fur again, I broke so many needles, haha.

xo

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:28:07 GMT

Fright Night photos!

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:42:52 GMT

So I frogged the start of my clock because I thought it was too wide and the colour changes were sloppy so it was misshapen. Recently my motto has become "Make it nice or make it twice", haha, and so I started the clock over to make it better. I made the face piece from start to finish yesterday at work.

I have a ways to go (and BFBF is hounding me to finish his sweater!) but it's going to be darn cute.

xo

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 01:44:54 GMT

I am working away on BFBF's octopus sweater, and I am this far already!

I sent BFBF back to Baaad Anna's and we bought out the rest of the stock of the brown wool... I was afraid of running out and having the sleeves be too short. This way if there is extra I can make matching slippers or something. I saw a cute pattern for some very simple slippers on Craftzine.com. Doesn't get any easier than squares!

I also saw a picture of a super adorable knitted clock online, and was inspired to start my own. Mine is going to have a stag head on it, above the 'face'. I really liked the colours I picked, (all shades of brown, tan, white and black with some turquoise) just leftovers in my stash. Below are some pictures of knitted clocks!

Another project on the horizon is to refinish and reupholster an old teak danish modern reclining chair we claimed from my cabin over the thanksgiving weekend (this one!). BFBF will do the wood refinishing, and me the reupholstering. So I get to pick fabric!! I have been looking at Kokka Echino fabrics from Japan, they have a nice selection at PurlSoho.

I frequently visit sites like apartment therapy and design*sponge and have saved a catalog of pictures of rooms or design ideas that I like. I'm gonna start sharing some! Below are some awesome craft spaces to drool over.

That's it!

xo

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:21:43 GMT

I bought some new presser feet for my sewing machine (Husqvarna Viking Platinum 950E) that I am pretty excited about.

10mm Hemmer, hems fabric edges automatically.

Invisible Zipper, for sewing extra close to the teeth of invisible zippers.

Pintuck foot, for making pintucks with a double needle.

Elastic foot, for uniform stitching when attaching elastic.

A Ruffler, to make ruffles in fabric automatically! No measuring and pinning and having them go all awry.

I can't wait to get them in the mail!

xo

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:13:52 GMT

I finished my blue sweater 10 days after starting it. It is really warm and cozy and I looove it! Wasting no time I started a sweater for BFBF using super thick brown yarn from Baaad Anna's and some of the stash I won (in white) as a contrasting colour for the sweet octopus I am putting on the back. It will be fabulous.

xo

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:48:59 GMT

Happy Thanksgiving!

Inspired by some of the moss terrariums I've been seeing lately, I made some of my own while at the cabin. I used moss and other found objects (crab shells, rocks, shells, plants, bones, beach glass, arbutus bark, etc).

xo

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:34:44 GMT

I got started on my friend Sean's Where the Wild Things Are Halloween costume this morning... it is going to be sooo cute. We managed to find the perfect fake fur at Dressew for only $4.99/m! With the zipper, buttons, thread, fabric and lining it came to $49.00. Not bad!

I have also made another contribution to the Sampler for November. If you don't know what the sampler is you need to check it out! I sold some poop buttons this week which made me pretty happy.

xo

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:41:23 GMT

7 Days after beginning my first ever sweater I am almost done, I Just need to do the sleeves. I picked up an extra ball of yarn yesterday just in case I run out. In total that brings the no. of skeins needed to 5.

I altered the pattern a bit and ran the stockinette stitch right to the edges, which made them really really curly. To combat the curl I took some black satiny elastic I had in my stash and stitched it to the underside of the button flap to keep it flat. It will also make it easy to reinforce the buttons when I stitch them on.

I also added on the anchor to the bottom. I tried to figure it out as I went and afterwards learned I did it a little bit wrong (I should have spread out the stitches on the needles to prevent puckering where the threads stretch across the back, and I also should have twisted the threads together to prevent holes between the colour changes). Oh well, next time I'll do a better job. Once I put the buttons on (white) it will be very nautical. <3

xo

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:11:44 GMT

It's been a while since I have made a crafty post! Recently my crafting has been mostly knitting. I looove knitting and it is way easier to do than I thought. I got a couple books (I love books) and taught myself, a couple good ones being Harmony Guides Knit & Purl and Teach Yourself Visually - Knitting (I also have Harmony Guides and Teach Yourself Visually for crochet).

There is a new yarn store in Vancouver on Hastings near Nanaimo, Baaad Annas and I stopped in to get some yarn for a sweater this week. I'm using the Buttony Sweater pattern after a co-worker showed me the Buttony Sweater she was working on and explained how simple it was.

Did I mention that I won the Vancouver Yarn logo contest? Oh man, $150 worth of hand-dyed chunky, hand-spun 100% merino yarn from Janna Maria was my prize. Amazing.

The first thing I did was start a pair of hand warmers:

I ran out of purple before I got to the end of the second one, but I think I can alter them so there is enough yarn for 2 matching hand cozies.

xo

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 22:41:40 GMT

I totally redid my website. It is much much much better now! And it's crazy to have all my stuff in one place finally, rounding it all up is fun. There is so much!

stephaniehf.com

I have started a 365 day portrait project (stole the idea from leightsy ) - portrait a day for a year! Let's watch the changes... it's here! Everyone should do this <3

xo

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:48:42 GMT

My plushie monsters were published in the Summer issue of Stuffed: A Gathering of Softies! Woot woot!

On Monday I went and got a new little baby rat, her name is Scout.

Got some photos of the crazy storm the other night.

I have entered some logos into a logo contest for Vancouver Yarn. Fingers crossed that I win the amazing $150 yarn pile prize... just in time to start knitting warm winter goods. I wish it wasn't so hot so I could be knitting warm winter woolies right now!! I hate the heat!

xo

Reading: In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts, Close Encounters with Addiction by Gabor Mate M.D.

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 22:16:27 GMT

I wanted to get a desk/hutch similar to one I found on Apartment Therapy (top) to use as my sewing area, and then lo-and-behold, I found one on CL (bottom). Stoked.

Cute!

xo

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:37:22 GMT

I made a bunch of new monsters, they are by far my favorite to date. They have mohawks!

Monster with Many Claws made it onto a plush monster blogroll! Here. There are some very cute monsters featured there.

Yesterday I went book shopping and picked up Invasion of the Plush Monsters and Softies. They are both pretty cute, but I love love love Softies. The website is cute too. I got the first book, and now I totally want the second one too! The books both include patterns and sewing instructions which is nice. Did I mention that BFBF got me Stray Sock Sewing for xmas? It is also a really great book, there are hand sewing techniques as well as patterns for some really cute sock monsters.

Speaking of cute softies, I also just stumbled across Softies Central and it has some great posts.

I got my gocco yesterday! I am already printing valentines. I will post them when they are done. I love gocco!

xo

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:58:18 GMT

Finally, ages after my old laptop's screen went kablooie I have reinstalled my Husqvarna 3D Embroidery and Digitizing software onto a new computer and started to use it again. According to their website they have moved onto a new line of embroidery software, "4D", but the 3D still does everything I need it to... thank goodness because the new software is like $1000. Yikes.

A couple friend of ours had their baby on Christmas Eve day (Aww!) so I made them a baby gift. I wrote out the baby's name on a piece of paper, scanned it and loaded it into the program. Then I traced over it with 'stitches' creating an embroidery file, which I then loaded onto the D-card and put into the machine. Then the machine did all the work, haha. It's a pretty simple process (once you get over all the hurdles of installation, Husqvarna doesn't offer much in the way of tech support so you are mostly on your own) and the result was really great.

I am also digitizing some new faces for my monsters, my favorite thing about the machine is that is does appliques, which you can see I used to do the different fabric around the eyes. Pretty cute!

xo

Sat, 27 Dec 2008 02:09:55 GMT

I hope everyone had a good holiday! My family really liked the gifts I made, which was pretty great.

I was given some xmas money to spend on anything my little heart desired and so I finally splurged on a Gocco!! I am very excited, I want it to arrive today! What's Gocco, you ask? Check it out in this great youtube video for Etsy Labs:

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 18:26:13 GMT

The last of my holiday gifts:

Tell me these are not the cutest things ever! I have wanted to make Pilot a sweater since we got her, and I am totally inspired by these super cute doggy sweaters!! She is growing so fast though I don't think she would fit into it a few weeks down the road. She has been enjoying causing mischief around my new sewing area, last night she stole my pincushion and then fell asleep in an open bag of stuffing.

I was stuffing this guy at the time:

He is a lumpy poo monster.

We are off to xmas day/dinner/gift exchange in the epic amounts of snow. I seriously haven't seen Vancouver like this in ages (if ever!), and when it snows everyone freaks out. Wish us luck!

Happy holidays!

xo

Edit: It looked for a while there like xmas was off on account of the weather so I made some new monster buttons! Now I am on my way to see the family.

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 21:33:43 GMT

With the exception of one scarf I haven't finished yet I am done all my xmas gifts! Just in time... I didn't think I would pull it off. Last night I finished this super cute hat for my sister, I like it so much I want to keep it for me! I based it on this pattern but found I had to alter it a bit because it turned out too small at first. I added one of my poop buttons and it's ready to go.

Yesterday we reorganized our entire bedroom to accommodate a new work/sewing desk I wanted desperately (And bought, and assembled, and tried to set up but it wouldn't fit haha). So now the space works soo much better and I am really pleased! Pictures to follow once we do the cleanup.

Is everyone else ready for the holidays?

xo

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 21:31:17 GMT

Since buying Amigurumi World I haven't been able to put it down. It's full of really cute stuff! I made a tiny pink bear, and then tackled the Monkey. I can't wait to make more.

They are both wearing scarves because it is uncharacteristically freezing here in Vancouver right now. Brrr.

xo