Summer Fling

A lot of times you can find really great fabric at the thrift store in the form of an outdated frumpy dress. That was definitely the case for this little summer fling. The dress had buttons up the front, so they even matched the top. The great thing about dresses from the 80’s and early 90’s is the excess of pleating and buttons and zippers. Great for making multiple items. Who knows, maybe I’ll make a little skirt to match. Heck, why not a little going out bag as well.

About the pattern, it’s made in a formula, so you plug in your measurements and draw your own pattern pieces. Read the whole pattern so you have a feel for how it goes together, that way you can make any alterations before you cut the pieces. You can allow for more ease, put a zipper in the side instead of buttons, or even put a draw string in the below the bust band.
The sky is the limit as far as alterations go. Have fun with it.



Now something has changed a bit. Instead of clicking on the image in order to print it out, you can download it in pdf format here. It's hosted on lulu.com, and it's still free. If you have problems with it, just let me know and I will post the images of the pattern here on the blog like before. I had a really difficult time deciding whether or not to charge for the pdf format or not, looking at the "price" box honestly caused a dilemma. The argument was running though my head "I could just continue to offer them the way I do now and make the pdf available for a $1, that wouldn't be too bad, and it would be nice to help raise the money for the application fee for renegade..." well, no. I think it's really important to offer my patterns for free. Period. No matter if they are printed, jpg, pdf, etc. So what I decided was that there is a suggested donation of $1. So if you appreciate the pdf, click on the donate button in the sidebar here and donate a $1 towards the Craft Leftover project. Every bit helps.

Now there is something else I need to talk to you about. That's right you. Everyone out there who reads this blog and maybe, just maybe take a swing at making them. I need your help. I need your feedback, I'm on my knees here. It has come to my attention that I really need help proofing my patterns. Making, writing, and testing them all myself, well, just makes it inevitable that there will be errors. Big errors. And I really don't want to confuse you, I want it to be crystal clear as to how the pattern is supposed to be executed. So two parts. One if you notice an error, think you notice an error, or fix an error, let me know by leaving a comment or emailing me at kristinmroach@gmail.com. The second part: I'm going to try to start working about a month ahead and would like to get a team of pattern testers out there. I would send you what you need as far as materials go, pretty much like a kit, and you would make it and let me know if it's a-ok for being put out there or if it needs revisions. This most likely wouldn't get started for another month or two, but if you are interested, send me an email with "pattern tester" in the comment field to krisitnmroach@gmail.com.

Okay so recap:
+++PDF format is now available, donate a $1 by way of the donate button in the sidebar if you feel so inclined
+++If you have problems with the download, please let me know, it's my first time trying this out
+++If you find an error in a pattern email me at kristinmroach@gmail.com and I will fix it asap
+++If you would like to be a pattern tester email me at kristinmroach@gmail.com with "pattern tester" in the comments field
+++Enjoy your weekend and keep it crafty!

Crocheted H2O Slinger

Edited in: Okay, I re posted the pattern with the corrections. I had added in an imaginary round in the base! Sorry about that. There were some other smaller errors that I fixed too (spelling and such). I also added in my gauge and the yarn that pattern was written with (Peaches N' Creme). Oh and that all of the sts are worked though both front and back loops. Thank you so much to that anonymous commenter who pointed out that it was huge! I really appreciate it. I really want these patterns to be A+ quality! Thank you!


Ever since I started up Craft Leftovers I have been getting requests for the Knitted Water Bottle Sling. It takes about 4 hours to make, which is a little bit more time than I have to spare for everyone and their mother and vice versa. It's sad and maybe selfish, but there it is.


Anyway, so crochet. I love crochet. So fast. So strong. Less stretchy. (I'm sure you can all tell I have been taken with crochet because, yes, I realize this is the third pattern in a row, sorry guys, next week there will be some sewing and the week after that some knitting, what can I say, I'm in love). I'm digressing. Point is that crochet is perfect for a water bottle sling and is, unlike the knitted version, really fast to make, about an hour and a half. Just half double crochet (my fav stitch) and single crochet. Now I'm not saying this version is better, it's just different, and as the newest different thing I'm singing it's praises. Another good thing too, this one is made out of cotton. I'm thinking about redoing the other in cotton as well. I mean, wool, in the summer, on your tank topped shoulder? What was I thinking. I've learned a whole lot in the past year. In fact it will be a year coming up this June I think. I'll have to double check date. We can have some kind of delurking/prize give away contest. Maybe I will bake a birthday cake, j/k. I'm rambling on like this is the "after the pattern" part of the post! Here you go:


It's kind of funny how talkative I have been since moving the pattern day to Sat morning. I think it's because I'm sitting here, jumping full of my morning coffee instead of running on empty at 1 am. I think I might actually be a morning person... I should go back and tell that to my 17 year old self that would stay up until 9am and sleep until 2pm, just in time to go to work. No wonder I felt like garbage all the time. "But all of my friends are doing it, so it must be okay/healthy". Haha, oh the things we do for the sake of friends.

Okay so, the "better" pictures of the last pattern I posted, well, I'm going to come clean. I haven't quite finished it yet. I'm mean, it's close, it was close then. I thought I would have plenty of time to put the last two rows on, no problem. But even crochet cannot speed up this process, the barrel twine, is well, great for a shoe scraping mat, but not so great on my hands so it's slow going. I'll post finished pictures when it is finished, hopefully by next week's pattern.

And more rambling. I've given up trying to stop it at this point, just so you know. Maybe this is a pre-anniversary talk, I'm not quite sure. But it's something I want to share with you. So here it is:

Sometimes I become delusional about how my patterns are not "complicated" enough and how I'm a fraud and what am I thinking that I should write a book with all these simple patterns that people could figure out just by looking at it. And then something great happens. Two people, my mom and a co-worker, who haven't crocheted in years (to my knowledge) tell me "I saw your little coasters and I thought to myself 'I can do that', so I picked up some yarn and am going to make some for my kitchen, porch, etc." Which makes me think about the people who have emailed and left comments saying "I have been wanting to try sewing/crochet/knitting for so long and your project inspired me to give it a whirl" Okay so i'm paraphrasing a bit, but the point is the same. Let me tell you, it makes me really happy. If just one person picks up a hook or needles or thread and fabric because of this project, well, (excuse the language) that just kicks ass. So that's my goal. Inspiration. A mix of simple and intermediate and maybe every once and awhile I will get a bug up my sleeve and make something more complicated (like next week's pattern). You ladies/gentlemen really do make my day and I mean that it the dearest sense of the phrase (not like Clint's "make my day!").

Okay, so that is that. But, if you have gotten this far, i'm going to assume you are in for the long hall so you get to know the extra special thing going on. Well, maybe crisis, but I don't see it that way. I'm just not sure what to do and some outside advise would be great.

Here is the deal: My stash is diminishing, rapidly now because of all the kit making that is going on. And while I don't so much have an issue with having to buy more for the kits (I honestly knew I couldn't keep it up and factored in cost of buying new materials from the get go, good thing too because I don't have to raise the prices now) I do have issues with making the projects with items bought for said projects. So what do I do? How do I retain the main point of "Craft Leftovers" when my leftovers from crafts are gone? Will they ever really be gone or will they just plateau at a reduced level? I don't know, it most likely won't even be an issue until 2008 if ever. It just the other thing that I've been thinking about. So give me some thoughts if you care to.

The main thing that brought on this whole question was preparing the Sampler for the Sampler. I made and packed up 30 items and 20 kits. It was really fun and I'm hoping to do a repeat for the shop as well as the Renegade Craft Fair. And now my stash is down to 2 boxes of fabric, a bag of felted sweaters (i'm going to make a slew of pillows or something), and one small rubbermaid of yarn. Considering where I started out it's kind of amazing. I feel like I'm gaining square footage in my apartment, it's pretty cool. So anyway, this is way too long, even for me and I need to get my butt to class. Have a good week!

ps - there are now variety packs of reusable tea bags in the shop, go have a looky.

++Welcome All ++ Crocheted Welcome Mat++

Nothing quite welcomes summer (or winter for that matter) guests like a handmade welcome mat. I've had a ratty looking carpet sample since I moved in and with all this crocheting going on I couldn't help but whip up a new welcome mat with some craft leftovers that I had from about a year ago. I can't even remember now why I bought it, but somehow a spool of barrel twine seemed like a good idea. I guess it was because now I have a great mat in front of my door.



I want to also thank everyone who commented and sent emails and what not, I always really appreciate it. It honestly does make my day.

If you want the details of the weekend eventfulness/craziness, you can check it out on my blog.

I do have some pretty exciting news. I'm putting together a box of samples for the Sampler. 50 for Craft Leftovers and 30 for Green Prairie Fibers. In all of the making of stuff, I'm also making items for the store. So I'll be adding a few things this week and then a whole lot more next week.

I'm also going to start gearing up for the Renegade Craft Fair. I will be selling kits, handing out patterns, and selling the items from the patterns, it should be a pretty good time. It would be so amazing to be able to do Craft Leftovers all the time and publish multiple patterns every weekend instead of just 1 and put many new items into the store each week instead of just a few.... ah to be self employed doing something I love. Someday.

ps- i'm going to do a reshoot of the mat, so I will see you all then!

Springy Crocheted Head Wrap

I have been oogling head bands and other things like that to show off my new bangs. It’s the first time in years. There is a problem though, art supplies or hair accessories... hmm... of course the art supplies win out. So what to do about showing off these new bangs? A little crocheted head wrap! The perfect thing.






Also, there are now kits for The Perfect Dishcloth, Pencil Clutches, and Travel Tissue Holders. I will be adding more of each of those tomorrow along with kits for the Springy Head Wrap. It should all be up by 2pm central time.

Have a good week!