Make It Nifty

I'm Vanessa from Brisbane. The things that make me sing inside are crafting, good food, great flicks, engrossing books and the company of friends. Here is where I store my inspiration! I blog at MakeItNifty.com

[makeitnifty]

I wonder... Do you pause for pins?

On the Make It Nifty Blog | I wonder... do you pause for pins?

I was sewing the hem on a circular skirt the other day. I had carefully pressed and pinned the very curved hem so it wouldn’t get all skewed as I machine stitched it in place. As I was sewing my hem I paused to remove each pin; there were a lot of pins so I was stopping and starting a lot. Those pesky (but very useful) pins were slowing me down! I thought to myself “I wonder if other people have…

View On WordPress

[makeitnifty]

I wonder... How do you edit your photos?

On the blog - I wonder... How do you edit your photos?

I was editing my images the other a day and I thought to myself, “I wonder how other bloggers edit their photos? What software do they use? How long does it take them?”

The way I process my photos has developed over a few years. My photos generally go through a couple of stages before they reach my blog. The photos get edited first and then I add extra bits and turn them into a PNG image before I…

View On WordPress

[makeitnifty]

Pippy Slippers For Me

Pippy Slippers For Me

This has been sitting in my drafts folder for about a month. I finally got around to finishing it off and posting it :)

This is going to a be a relatively short but sweet post. Life has been a bit heckers at the moment, but I have been making things. Here’s a quick post about my latest frolic in yarn footwear after making these and these.

After my first (and favourite) slippersfinally bit…

View On WordPress

[makeitnifty]

A long pause...

A long pause…

It’s been over a month since I posted. That was totally unintentional.

The truth is that I just haven’t been “feeling it” when it comes to blogging and the longer I haven’t posted the harder it feels to get back into it. So, I stopped by to write a little note to get rid of some “blank page” fear – that daunting feeling you get when staring at a blank page.

Strangely I feel guilty or maybe dread;…

View On WordPress

[makeitnifty]

#Sewingdare Done!

When Gillian put the call out for sewists to put their hat in the ring for sewing dares I mulled it over for a few days then signed up. I wanted a dare that I could sew using stuff from my stash already. I didn’t make a move on my dare until she posted about sewing dares progress others were making.

The #sewingdare was a great kick in the behind for me to make the bag from The BurdaStyle Sewing…

View On WordPress

[makeitnifty]

My Secret MMMay15 Challenge

My Secret MMMay15 Challenge

It’s been great to see what people have been up to during Me-Made-May15 (MMM). I didn’t officially pledge for it, but I did my own challenge. I didn’t want to announce it because I wasn’t sure if I’d stick it out to the end, but I did, so I will share it now :) (commitment-phobe? me? never!)

So, what was the challenge? During May I wanted to: 1. Take a picture of and/or record what I wore each day

View On WordPress

[makeitnifty]

Elvish Granny Square Slippers

Elvish Granny Square Slippers

So it seems that I’m on a bit of a knitting/crochet roll.

Inspiration

After I made my Improve socks I was in the mood for making more warming feet accessories.

So I perused my Ravelry queue and came across a pattern for crocheted granny square slippers. I’d had these in my queue since December 2012! So I set to and started crocheting. I had these puppies done in 5 days!

I’ve called these ‘Elvish’…

View On WordPress

[makeitnifty]

Improv Socks

If you follow me on instagram you would have seen these socks pop up earlier this month.

Inspiration

I’ve been meaning to knit a pair of sock ever since I bought both of Melissa Morgan-Oakes 2-at-a-time sock books. I wanted to make a pair of house socks but didn’t want to have to buy new yarn or needles. So after knitting the sample socks from both the books I decided that I would just wing it…

View On WordPress

[makeitnifty]

I wonder... do you cut or trace?

I wonder… do you cut or trace?

I’ve wondered this a long time. Do you cut or trace your sewing patterns?

For me it depends on where the pattern is from.

If it’s a pattern out of a sewing book I’m definitely a tracer. Sometimes I have to because the pattern pieces overlap or the pattern sheets are double-sided; but even if they are just nested pattern pieces I prefer to trace.

If I only have a paper copy of a pattern I trace. I…

View On WordPress

[makeitnifty]

Green Marlene Shorts: Behind the Seams-Construction

So to finish off my Behind the Seams (pattern adjustments here) posts about the Green Marlene Shorts.

I wanted to make sure that I could adjust the fit of these shorts if I needed to, so I tried to construct them so the side seams were sewn towards the end.

Sew back waist darts; press flat and press to centre.

Stay stitched top and bottom of waistband & waistband facings; top of trousers & pocket…

View On WordPress

[makeitnifty]

Green Marlene Shorts: Behind the Seams-Pattern Adjustments

Green Marlene Shorts: Behind the Seams-Pattern Adjustments

I thought I better record the changes I made to the Green Marlene Shorts I made. After all, I did mention I was going to do a behind the seams in the original post.

Pattern Adjustments

Design changes I made were to shorten the length. Change the waistband from an overlapping two piece waistband to a single piece cut on the fold. I changed the pocket openings from an outward curve to an inward…

View On WordPress

[makeitnifty]

I wonder...

I wonder…

I was sewing the other day when I made the observation that I keep all my different types of pins separate from each other.

Then I wondered if anyone else does the same.

I’ll be in the middle of sewing; reading blogs or chores and a random ‘I wonder’ will pop into my head. Usually it’s trivial – “I wonder if other people have a particular order they like to wash their dishes in”– or a bit more…

View On WordPress

[makeitnifty]

There's no place like home...

There’s no place like home…

Hey,

I got back from my trip away a couple of weeks ago.It was a very last minute trip as I went to help my parents with their tour business as they were told they would be having an unexpected busy period but it turns out that the information they got was wrong. Oh well. It meant I was able to hang out with my parents. It was really nice to get away, get out of the usual routine of life and…

View On WordPress

[makeitnifty]

Sewing, Blogging & Regular Life Hiatus

Sewing, Blogging & Regular Life Hiatus

Hey all,

I thought it would be a good time to give you a little update about what’s new with me.

I haven’t been sewing or blogging lately and I haven’t been doing normal daily life activities lately either.

I’m currently abroad so I don’t have access to my sewing room and sewing machine. I’m hanging out with my parents who live abroad and am making the most of the it.

I’m hoping to get back home…

View On WordPress

[makeitnifty]

Pattern Test: SBCC Cabernet Cardigan

*OnTheBlog*Pattern Test: SBCC Cabernet Cardigan

I haven’t sewn anything recently but I wanted to post about a pattern I tested in February, the one I mentioned here.

I just want to say from the outset, this is not a review of the pattern. It’s unfair to review a pattern that is still in the testing phase. This is just to share a garment I’ve made. There has been so much debate on the interwebs about pattern testing and both sides have good…

View On WordPress

[makeitnifty]

Green Marlene Shorts: 2-challenges-in-1

*On the blog* 2-challenges-for-1 BurdaStyle Marlene Trousers 03/2013 #140A

I’ve wanted to make a proper pair of trousers or shorts for a very long time. I’ve avoided making them because I was discouraged by all the talk about how hard it is to fit them properly. Which is silly really because I prefer to wear trousers or shorts for everyday wear; but it is really hard to find ready to wear (RTW) trousers/shorts/pants that fit well; being a pear/cello shape I always end…

View On WordPress

[makeitnifty]

Tired Vanessa does not a good blogger make... Wait... What?!

*On the blog-aside* Tired Vanessa does not a good blogger make... Wait... What?!

Oh my goodness!

Let this be a warning to you peops! Do not blog when you’re tired.

I was happily typing away at my next post and making notes along the way when through bleary eyes I searched for the ‘Save’ button. Of course I couldn’t find it. You know why right.

Because I had somehow published it without evening realising! Aaargh!

There should a bumper sticker out there in the world to let…

View On WordPress