NewfandHound

Junecraft - Long Dog Love!

(digital prints on Etsy, all pictures via Junecraft)

Now here is a designer that likes her dachshunds as much as I do and has the prints and patterns to prove it! I came across Kayanna Nelson of Junecraft on the blog Print & Pattern while I was ummm...."working" the other day and immediately stopped when I saw her long dog fabric prints from her new Spoonflower line. After checking out her Etsy store I jumped on over to her blog, June Craft the blog to read more about her abundant amount of creativity and energy! What is she on because I need some of that!

Her new line of prints from Spoonflower are perfect for the new dachshund bed I'm designing and I love the pop of the colors, the blanket will really stand out against the wood grain. I have to admit that I'm in awe of someone who not only is a wife, and mom, but holds a full time job while designing, drawing, and sewing in her spare time. Amazing!

Baby Blanket for #2

I need to make a phone call very soon to see if baby #2 has arrived yet in D.C. It's due any time now!  So in celebration I wanted to make a fun, non-gender (because at this point who knows), baby blanket for #1 and #2 to share.

The fabric is from a thicker cotton from Moda fabrics, the style is Wonderland Tea Time Jam #32100 , but the pattern I bought has an off-white background.  The back is a brown flannel and I used a packaged orange trim for the binding to save some time.  I tried out a bamboo batting this time and it said you could prewash it to minimize shrinking but I found out it separates very easily and I wasn't able to use half of it after I washed it.  But it is warm and cozy!

I saw a pattern for the Kidlet bag over at  JC handmade and decided to make Kelly one to match her quilt.  I think with little kids around and only two hands it might come in handy just to throw a few items in around the house or what you need to remember to take out the door with you in the morning.  I think a few of these are going to be made for the dogs too.  It's nice to have a bag you can throw things into to take to the dog park, or the small essentials that always seem to be lost in the car. 

Cute Mini Sausage Dogs

These Mini Sausage Dogs are from the Aliceapple shop on Etsy and are the best retro-looking dachshunds I've seen so far!  She's from Devon and has a wide range of designs available as well as larger versions. Too cute!

Crochet Hook Case

I finally found a project where I could use the Robot Council fabric that I found at Stonemountain and Daughter in Berkeley last week.  (I've also found it at Super Buzzy)  The crochet hook pattern is from the book Sew Darn Cute by Jenny Ryan and it is a pretty easy pattern to follow with fun results.  Now all my hooks are in one place rather than thrown all over the floor after being pulled out of a bag by Hazel.

 

Plastic Bag Holder

I finally got tired of seeing those plastic bags hanging from our kitchen cabinets so I made a quick cotton holder so it won't be so unsightly any more.  I found the Stuff Sacks pattern from The Green Pepper and modified it a bit so I could include a few different fabrics. Very easy to follow and really only takes about 30 minutes to make including cutting out the fabric.

You can use these bags for quite a few things and there's 5 different sizes for convenience. There's a draw string at the top to close it up tightly and I added a little tab so I could hook mine to one of the knobs in our kitchen. Much nicer to take to the store to recycle the bags or to take to the shows to use for picking up after your dogs. I'll make a few more today to give to a few friends who can hang them on their crates!  It seems like you never have a plastic bag when you really need them!

Sock and Glove- Sheep

I wanted to see how easy it was to make the charming little animals out of the book Sock and Glove by Miyako Kanamori this weekend so I decided to try out the Sheep design to go along with a baby shower gift that I have yet to start.  The example on the left is what was shown in the book and the picture on the right shows my version!  Not quite the same because his body is incredibly long but he's still cute and for my first attempt not too bad.  Here are the instructions, but all credit goes to Miyako! Download Sheep Instructions



The fun part is picking out the sock that you want to use!  I found quite a few fun socks with great textures at Target this weekend, not to mention they are having a sale on all their winter socks so if you want to stock up on Christmas themed sets and make a few for next year now is the time!

First, cut out your pieces according to the pattern.



Then sew the legs, arms and head together and then fill with stuffing.  Now is the time to judge how long you want  your body to be and where you'd like the arms to go!  My body was a bit too long, should have cut it down a bit more.

Sew on the arms next.  I found it looks cleaner if you turn in the edge of the arm about a 1/4" first and then sew them on.  Continue with the head and the ears and you are almost done.  I found with the head that if you sew close to the seam first and then use nicer stitches a bit further out and go around the head one more time that it looks better and feels more secure.

Finish off with embroidery thread for the face and then you have a cute little sheep to take with you!  The instructions are really easy to follow, just pick a crazy sock and have a go!

Hello Chickadee Blanket

There's nothing like a nap on a weekend afternoon as you can see from Hazel and Nooner, but the best part is taking a nap on a new spring blanket!  Easy and quick to make and less than $10 so you can make several especially if you hit JoAnne's at just the right sale.

I found a sweet little blue chick flannel print and thought it would be fitting for a new spring-is-coming blanket for the dogs.  The pattern is incredibly easy and I first found it at Martha Stewart under Springtime Covers and to make it even easier I just have them cut a yard of each fabric, trim off the edges until they are even and then sew them together.  It's easy to make 3 or 4 in a day or at one time.  Not too precious so if the dogs ruin it or tear a hole in it, but most of the time they just want to snuggle up close!

Crafty Reading List

 

I have a big stack of reading material that I've been going through over vacation that have spawned many more projects for the upcoming year.  Not to mention there are a few more baby showers to go to now that I've heard some great news as of yesterday (Congratulations Kelly!) so I've been tagging some new gift ideas along the way.  But here are some great books to check out (some new and some old)

 

1. D.I.Y. Design it Yourself  Excellent source of inspiration if you stuck in a rut and it looks like they have two more books out called D.I.Y. Design Deck: Cards that list projects and D.I.Y. Kids.
2.  Printing By Hand  Amazing book that shows you several ways to print by hand on different types of materials. Easy instructions and projects, can't wait to try out the block printing.

 

1. Knitting Little Luxuries  Absolutely gorgeous knitting patterns, too bad I don't knit yet but after seeing this book I promised myself I would learn.
2. Canine Couture  Fun book with projects such as jackets, collars, beds, toys, etc. to make for your dog. I love that she uses very "English" materials such as tweeds and wool that you don't typically think to use.   

1. The Complete Book of Crochet Border Designs  Hands down the best selection of border patterns with 342 different designs.  I've modified one to make a short scarf out of by just repeating the pattern in several rows. I highly recommend this book if you crochet.
2. Doodle Stitching  Fun little book for beginners like me with imaginative and cute patterns to follow along.  Easy to transform your own sketches into a design too. I can see a baby gift coming out of this book! 

1. Sock and Glove  Great way to use those individual socks that don't seem to have a match after being washed.
2.  Happy Gloves  Same for that one glove that shows up without a match right before the big storm event when you really need it.

1. Sew Hip  A British sewing magazine that I found at Borders the other day. Great articles on textile and hip fashion designers along with easy patterns for home decor, bags, and kids clothing.
2. Stitch magazine (picture not shown)  Fabulous new magazine for sewing with unique and modern patterns and ideas. Can't wait for the next edition to come out.

As for dog magazines my favorites are:

1. Dog Fancy:  Very informative articles on health, training, and conformation and they're starting to get into more homeopathic and natural articles.
2. Modern Dog:  A fun splurge about what's new and hip in the dog world.
3. Bark:  Wide range of articles that promote responsible dog ownership. Based in the Bay area.

And here's my favorite book of the moment. The Newfoundland puppy: Early Care, Early Training.  I've never seen a breed book that is this informative on the raising and care of a puppy and the realistic expectations of what your puppy will become as an adult.  This is my "someday" dog!  Luckily I was able to find a copy, and the cheapest one, on Amazon a few days ago so now I can give this one back to a friend who generously loaned it out to me since it's now out of print.

Produce Bags

    

   

I've come across a site a couple of times now and one item caught my eye that i thought would make great little gifts this year. The Reusablebags site has some great options for....well...reusable bags for your shopping excursions or lunch time rendevous.  I saw the Organic Cotton Mesh Produce Bags and decided to make my own version to give out this year.  We can all get rid of that pile of plastic bags sitting at the end of the counter or under the sink and reuse produce bags now!  The final version is about the same size as the plastic bags in the grocery store (about 12"x 20") so it will hold the same amount. If they get dirty then just throw them in the wash!

  

Stone Mountain and Daughter in Berkeley has some fun, fruity fabric by Robert Kaufman's Fruit and Vegetable line.  I wasn't able to find organic cotton but I did find some nice unbleached cotton that was a bit heavier so it should stand up to some heavier items.     

 

Here's the bag that they all fit in made from a few of the scraps, I still need to add a velcro strap so you can hook it to the front of the grocery cart while you are shopping.