Hello…Remember Me?!

Hi folks! I took a little break from blogging during the holidays. Christmas season has been tough for me lately, so I just wanted to sit in my little corner and craft. I’m sure y’all know how it goes.

But I’m back now and want to share with you what I’ve been up to! (A lot!) Fair warning that this’ll be a picture heavy post. I intended to write some long and drawn out stories about my crafting adventures, but in the interest of time (it’s already almost March..eek!) I’ll just give you the highlights.

November/December 2023: 

I was deep into crocheting. Lucky Pia got a whole crochet ensemble. It was my first time crocheting stripes on the pants. Although they are a bit jaggedy, I’m loving the look! Obviously she’s into it too. The hat is just adorable. 

Pia also lucked out again and got a new sewn outfit. This was inspired by a field trip the American Girl store. Lots of flashy outfits there so instead of her usual frou-frou dresses, I made her a WILD look. Two pieces! The heart is an applique created with Steam-a-Seam. Both are Simplicity patterns and as usual, they turned out a little big since those patterns are drafted for the actual American Girl doll brand. I haven’t done an official review on PatternReview.com, and I am not sure if I will. The majority of reviews there are garments and accessories, so I don’t really know if adding my doll reviews are that helpful. I might just review my garment makes there.

Christmas 2023 Gifts Received: 

My Father-in-Law made Pia a beautiful closet for all her clothes! It’s not to doll scale but is about the height of a side table. He does woodwork for fun. Made out of oak and 100% self designed and handcrafted by him. I was incredibly touched and surprised by the gift. Pretty amazing huh??!

The Viking bought me an actual American Girl brand doll. But he’s a BOY! How cute is he? This is Brian, Pia’s new best friend.

Of course I had to make him a new outfit…he can’t be wearing the clothes he came in! Navy blue shirt (Simplicity pattern) and jeans, pattern from Liberty Jane. I omitted the pockets since they seemed a bit too large for the backside. I will likely make these jeans again. I don’t like how bunchy the waistband is and I want to rework the pockets. I also want his shirt to be bigger and less clingy. I will need to revise the torso pattern to be more boxy. Yes, all this for a doll, haha!

January 2024:

American Sewing Guild 

I went on a sewing retreat with the American Sewing Guild. Oh my, so much fun! Two full days of sewing! I made a lot of new friends and learned some new sewing tricks and tips. Everyone is so knowledgable! I worked on Brian’s outfits at retreat. He was a good sport.

On-going Project: We’ve also been making items for the Days for Girls organization. We had a sew-in last fall and created drawstring bags, pads, etc. factory style. It was so awesome and feels so good to help others using our sewing skills. (I totally thought I had a finished drawstring bag photo but I don’t so you can settle for this label photo instead.)

February 2024:

Yesterday I had more fun with the American Sewing Guild. We made duct tape slopers. Somehow mine ended up looking like a running vest. Totally unintentional, lol. You can thank my duct tape color choices! So much silliness in my body cast, haha! I’m really enjoying talking sewing with people IN PERSON. Maybe that’s why I’ve been offline so much…even still, I enjoy blogging my thoughts here and sharing my projects.

As of last Thursday I am officially a Knitter. My friend is a knitter and asked me if I wanted to take a hat class with her. Only problem is that I don’t know how to knit. I crochet! Well you know me…I’m all about this boot camp style learning (Sink or swim right?) so I learned to knit using YouTube in advance.

The class is a 2-parter. I really enjoyed my first knitting class experience. Knitting is a lot more fun while chatting with others! The hat will be finished this weekend when we start using double pointed needles. I just read up on surface crochet so I might add some decorative stitching onto the brim when it’s complete. How cool to combine the two- knitting + crocheting in one piece!

Unfinished Projects so close to being done. Blogging about them will force me to finish them. 😉 

Crochet Wrap

Brian’s new hoodie

Looking Ahead:

I’m totally obsessed with knitting now and have plans on making this sweater I saw in the yarn shop. This is a Loopy Mango pattern and yarn. Just received my supplies in the mail last night! I’m totally digging the highlighter pink. Supposedly it works up fast, like you’re supposed to finish it in 2-3 days or something. Well, challenge accepted. Haha! I’ll be starting today.

So yeah, that was a lot that happened, lol. I wish I could write more about each of them but as time passes I want to just look ahead. So Happy New Year 2024 everyone! Let’s get back on track!