Craft therapy

Craft therapy | Clean.

Craft therapy | Clean.

Craft therapy | Clean.

Craft therapy | Clean.

Goodness.

Let's lighten things up a little, shall we?

Thanks for your kind comments and messages over the past couple of days. You are lovely.

And yes, I'm feeling so much better.

Thank you for asking.

That's the medicine of time, perspective, and a three-day craft binge.

Okay. And a bowl of popcorn, a glass (or two) of red wine, and copious amounts of sleep.

The crafting I cranked out this weekend was over the top.

I completed some rockin' pants and a sweet sweater for my girl; curtains I started this summer for my craft room; and a skirt for myself.

Unprecedented.

Craft therapy | Clean.

The curtains are made of an old pillowcase and some scraps from my stash.

The solid pink is from Lupine's first twirly skirt.

The upper creamy striped fabric is from curtains I made for the first house we owned, where Sage was born.

And the vintage lace from a friend's garage sale.

Sweet, easy, messy, and girly.

My kind of curtains.

Craft therapy | Clean.

And then I got to work on my skirt.

The pockets are from a scrap of fabric a dear friend wrapped a gift in for me in years ago. I loved it so and knew it needed to become something really special. Done.

The pattern (McCalls 5430) boldy proclaims this to be a "1 HOUR SKIRT".

2 1/2 years after I started sewing it, it's ready to wear.

Welcome to my life.

Craft therapy | Clean.

And then, these sassy pants. 

The pants (which I'm referring to as trousers on account of that vintage corduroy) were from a pattern I found in this book.

They were my first attempt at these crazy European-style patterns, and overall I think they turned out sweet. The knees were tricky, but after a few attempts I found success.

Me and my seam ripper? We're tight after this weekend.

Are these trousers perfect?

Of course not. (You know me well enough to have guessed that by now.)

Are they adorable? So. Very.

Lupine agrees.

And without the cost of the pattern book (which I had already) they cost me all of 50 cents. Whoot!

(The main color was once a pair of XL men's cords from a thrift store's clearance bin. I bought up all the corduroy they had for future kid pants, six pairs for $3. Score.)

Homemade and free?

Best crafting yet.

Craft therapy | Clean.

Oh, yes. And finally that sweater.

It's been Lupine's vest since spring when I bound off the sleeves instead of knitting them long.

This weekend I pulled out the cast off and knitted on long sleeves for winter.

You can find the free pattern link and details on my variation here.

The main yarn was a gift from a friend, from her Icelandic sheep.

Her flock is made up of the offspring of the flock we just adopted, so the yarn is almost like family.

 

Sentimental yarn, worn by my girl. Double perfect.

 

Overall, crafting made for good therapy this weekend.

A bit of focused work, a bit of creativity, and lots of hard work.

Now that's my kind of healing.

 

I'd love to know: what's in your workbasket these days?

 

Love,

Rachel

 

Oh, wait. And one more thing:

I thought you needed this picture.

Just because.

Craft therapy | Clean.

Because more than my craftiness I think you love me for my dirty floors.

(And walls. And door. And… well, you get the idea.)

 

 

30 thoughts on “Craft therapy

  1. Carrie @ November Morning says:

    L’s whole outfit is just fantastic! Doesn’t it just make your heart swell when they love what you make?♥
    I knit every single day. There’s a mindfulness about it that I need to preserve some sense of calm and keep my mind from snowballing. So glad you’re feeling better!

  2. KC says:

    Aren’t farm houses supposed to have really dirty floors?! 🙂 Those pants are super cute! Lupine is all legs I take it.

    So glad to know you are feeling better!

  3. Knitting Mole says:

    Oh and I do love your dirty floors! (farm floors make my suburban dirt look clean!!) Love all the crafting too…I’m working on a pair of socks FOR MYSELF!!! Woohoo!

  4. Pamela R says:

    Okay, those are the cutest pants (skirt and curtains too), but seriously, those pants! What a great outlet! LOVE YOU! (p.s. Seriously, dibs on the pants.) 🙂

  5. Brienne Moody says:

    Wowee! What happy results. I am a binge crafter myself. I find that it takes me a couple of projects before I hit my stride. I love that you added sleeves to a previously sleeveless garment. I also dig the grey sweater with some bright stripes. I am always scheming ways to sneak my comfortable neutrals into kid-friendly handmades. Finally, Iit sounds like you enjoy thrifting for craft supplies – me too. My happiest project to date are “galaxy” tops made from up cycled tees and sweats and “painted” by me. Check them out here if you’re interest is piqued:http://briennemoody.typepad.com/by_brienne/. Thanks as always for your thoughtful posts.

  6. Rae says:

    Glad you’re feeling more like yourself today. I’ve been doing the NaNoWriMo project (see here: http://www.nanowrimo.org/ ) and pulling my hair out from stress most days of the week from not hitting my “word count” for the day. Luckily I have someone in my life to tell me that there’s something more important than the linear graph on the page – it’s progress, and a story in the making that previously wasn’t there.

    I absolutely LOVE what you’ve done with those pants, and what a great idea to add on to previously worn clothing. You are my inspiration for projects like this! 😀

    Also, I definitely don’t judge you or your floors. Not all of us have the pleasure to own and deal with animals, kids, and a farm. <3

  7. Andréann says:

    I’m working on solstice gifts- I actually have quite a long list, brace yourself:
    quilt for my son (1/3 done) sweater for both sons, pygs pants for the 3 kids, helping my daughter make a tractor plush for her brother, a lunch tote for my men, knee high socks (first time socks!) for my daughter, then socks for my MIL…and if I have time, one pair for my mother too cause she’s always jaleous of what I make for my MIL! And I’m sure I’m forgetting things…..

    I love your skikrt! I can’t follow patterns.. kind of a pattern-dyslexia!

  8. Miriam says:

    so glad to *see you feeling better. :)art/crafting IS great therapy! lol, you are going to laugh at me (maybe)..your last picture of the floors..I thought it was my laptop’s screen..i started to wipe at it and realized OH it’s not my screen (this time)-LOL. Usually it is.love you!!
    (I just started learning how to crochet on YouTube 2 days ago, don’t know how to knit, but I have been feeling stressed out lately and wanted to also relieve my stress.. 😉
    I need to just chill out and take things “easy”..lol

  9. Sagetribe says:

    I love the idea of buying mens pants and turning them into kid pants- genius! I’m just starting to sew things (more than a square pillow) and don’t want to spend a whole lot on really nice new fabric until I know what I’m doing (and really even then I won’t).

    And dirty floors…yay to them…means things like crafting and being with family are being had.

  10. Rachel Wolf says:

    Because fabric is so expensive (and I buy almost nothing new) I’ve taken to buying men’s pants, shirts, bed sheets, skirts… all of it provides plenty of fabric to rework into something fresh and new.

  11. Holly says:

    OMG! I’ve found my inspiration. I recently scored a pair of XXL men’s cords.. in that exact color. I swear! haha! They’re sitting right here. So.. were they hard to sew with a regular machine needle? That’s what has made me hesitate.

    messy house.. check,(i have a corner just like yours. maybe two.)
    piles of projects i’m going to finish…check

    I’m happy to hear things are better. = )

  12. Rachel Wolf says:

    The only tricky part was the knees, because they are sewn on a swoop sort of curve. So youre matching up an inside curve to an outside curve, if that makes sense. But you could easily make them without the fancy knees and theyd be easy-peasy! But the knees. I just love the knees! x

  13. Mama Moon says:

    Would you recommend the sewing book for a novice sewer? Does the book actually have patterns? Or just the shapes and you have to make the patterns yourself? Looks gorgeous….

  14. Rachel Wolf says:

    This book had patterns you need to draft (trace) from pattern sheets, because they all overlap. Personally I learned to sew with the Sew Easy patterns from the fabric store. They often run specials where patterns of one brand or another are $1 each, and you can ask for help finding patterns suitable for beginners. I recommended a book here that you might love (yes, even as an adult!): http://lusaorganics.typepad.com/clean/2013/08/book-giveaway-kids-guide-to-sewing.html

    Oh, and this might help, too ~ http://lusaorganics.typepad.com/clean/2013/08/ten-tips-for-sewing-with-kids.html

    Rachel Wolf
    Owner and Founder, LuSa Organics
    http://www.lusaorganics.com
    rachel@lusaorganics.com

    blogging at http://www.lusaorganics.typepad.com
     
    We donate 10% of profits to organizations generating positive global change

  15. tamara says:

    Oh I love this post and the clothing and curtains you made are so fun I just want to break out my sewing machine right now!

    I admit, I can’t recall the last time we cleaned the floors although the boys love to do it and ask all of the time! Once all is vacuumed (rare) the next plan is washing but somehow there are always more interesting things to do!

    🙂

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