Finished Gifts

First we have Vera's Sweater. I started this quite some time ago, shortly after she was born. I knew myself well enough to begin the size for a 9 month old. Hopefully it still will fit her. I have many pictures of it, as I am quite proud of my work and hope it fits her!


Here is the complete sweater. I chose raglan so I could customize the fit better. I didn't use a pattern, but went of the measurements of a "typical" sizes from the internet.


Here is a close-up of the self-patterning yarn, Bernat Baby Jacquards, color Berries & Cream.


A close-up of the buttons. We went to Jo-Ann's to find buttons, I walked one side of the button aisle with the sweater, looking for matching buttons. The boy walked the other side and just found these perfect buttons without having to match anything. He's proving himself more and more worthy when craft shopping.


I chose to do the sleeves pink, the self-patterning is so long and I didn't want to try to fiddle with it. A little ribbing ends the sleeves and the bottom of the sweater.


My craft focus yesterday was crochet. This worked out wonderfully because I decided to crochet the button bands for the sweater. One side is a row of single crochet and then a row of triple crochet for button loops. As you can see, the buttons can technically be placed in any of the holes.


The other side is three rows of single crochet, with the buttons secured on with pink embroidery floss.



Yarn: Bernat Baby Jacquards
Color: Berries & Cream
Content: 90% acrylic and 10% nylon
Care: Machine wash and dry
Needles: US 3 / 3.25circular - - - - 2.25 crochet hook
Gauge: 26.75sts = 4"

There were a few times that I doubted this would work out as I have never made a baby garment like this, much less without a pattern. It seems to have worked out well though. I hope that I get a few wonderful pictures of Vera in it!

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The next finished item is my mom's purse. Originally this was a knitted purse for my sister Echo, but I ended up wanting to sew her one. My mom liked it, so I finished it for her.

I crocheted black handles to match the black in the purse. I though it'd be too much to do them in teal or purple. My ability to attach the handles to the bag is less than desired though and hopefully my mother does not use it for anything heavy, or she knows a better way to secure the handles.


The inside is a hand stitch lining of dark blue fabric. It is made to the size of the bag, so the knitting with not get stretched out or misshapen.





Overall, a very time consuming project. I enjoy how everything but the attachment of the handles worked out. Due to the length of the project and that I am not, myself, a big purse person, I will probably stick to sewing purses. :)

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Last items for today are John, my soon to be brother-in-law's handkerchiefs. He wanted them solid colors, so I made the sewing a bit more decorative, but not too much as to make them girly.

I made five, so he'd have some more color variety. They are approximately 22" x 21".


Dark blue & Orange = running stitch with the occasional back stitch
Medium Blue, Purple, & Green = Herringbone stitch





Overall, I really enjoyed doing the embroidery type stitch of the herringbone and think my next sewing project will involve embroidery. I hope he enjoys them and wears them.