Crafts & Things

This is for all the things I make. Sewing, knitting, building, rehabilitating and more. If you want only some of the things I make, plus other content, check out sussybuckets.tumblr.com. If you just want to see pictures I took of vanity license plates, check out vanitylicenseplates.tumblr.com. Or, don't. Whatever. Up to you.

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[sussycrafts]

Hey crafty people! Please consider sending master craftslady Aunt Esther a birthday card. It would mean a lot to her and to us, her family. She is great. 

sussybuckets:

My great aunt Esther is turning 90 on September 17th. Esther is a super awesome lady, the kind who will not only let you crash on her couch when you’re passing through town, but who will also have an array of delicious, home-made snacks waiting for you when you get in at midnight. She is a crafting MACHINE who is always willing to teach you how to do something, or make you something if you ask. For as long as I’ve known her, she has been crocheting blankets for the homeless/orphans/any charity that needs blankets. She will also send you her wedding dress when you call her up out of the blue to ask to wear it in your own wedding (see above). If you were at our wedding, you probably met her … she was the older lady in the snazzy red jacket, gamely rolling with all our comedy-weirdo wedding touches. 

Anyway, for her 90th birthday, we would like to find 90 people who are willing to send her a birthday card. If you would like to send a card, please email me at firstnamelastname at gmail.com and I will send you her address and further instructions. That’s Susannah followed by Becket. And then the gmail part. You know how email addresses work! 

Thanks in advance, friends! Esther is one of the nicest, most giving people I’ve ever known and I know she would enjoy getting some postcards and notes from other nice people around the country. 

[sussycrafts]

Craft Project #19 - Desk Rehab

I found this desk at my favorite thrift store in L.A. and I couldn't resist its run-down charms. This, despite the fact that I already HAVE a desk with almost the exact same lines, and the fact that a (sane) person really doesn't need more than one desk in her home. I was originally going to paint the drawer fronts, but after stripping and sanding the whole thing, I discovered that the wood was actually still in amaaaazing shape. And once I applied Danish Oil finish and saw the result, I was sold on leaving it au natural. I hit a little bit of a snag when I discovered that not all of the wood on the lower part of the desk was the same type as the drawer-fronts and those parts came out a different color when I oiled them up. When you added in the faux-wood laminate top, it just looked a little too hodge-podgy with all the different woods going on, so I solved the problem by painting the contrasting parts white and I LOVE how it turned out. I found some new hardware to replace the broken and missing drawer pulls and voila! It came out looking so sweet that I rearranged our apartment and found room for it. Welcome home, new friend!

[sussycrafts]

Craft Project #18 - More Baby Stuff!

I have a backlog of craft projects I need to post, but I'll lead off with my most recent undertaking, a gift bag full of baby stuff for young Eleanor. I did some market research to find out what the trendiest and hottest babies are buying and using in their cribs. Apparently, "taggies" -- super tactile blankets with lots of little tags good for chewing and rubbing -- are all the rage with Hollywood's pre-verbal elite. Lucky for me, they're really easy to make and there are tutorials all over the Internet. I appliqued a big E (because it's never to early to start learning how to spell your name!) and four big stars (because Eleanor is really into astronomy!) on one side of the blanket, which was the most time-consuming part. The back is a fabric type called "Minky" which I've never used before, but with which I would like to make an adult-sized swaddling blanket for myself. It's really soft and cuddly, guys! The tags are just assorted ribbons from Joanne's typically sparse selection, cut into ~ 3-inch strips.

I used the leftover blanket fabric for the little shoes. I got the pattern here and they were so quick and came out soooo cute that I'm tempted to make ten more pairs for all the futurebabies yet to be born to my friends, but I feel like having a plastic bag full of baby shoes is a little serial-killer-ish, so I'm gonna hold off for now.

The hat was an afterthought, and came out of my desire to clear out a little bit of my yarn stash. It knitted up super quick from a free Ravelry pattern (registration required) called "Trendy Newborn Hat." I don't think it's that trendy, but I'm only an amateur baby coolhunter, so what do I know?

I put all three items into a fabric giftbag and tied it up with some leftover ribbon for a pleasing presentation, then shipped it off! Hooray for new humans!

[sussycrafts]

Craft Project #17

Baby Essentials

My good friend Joree is having a baby in a few weeks, and since I still owed her a craft from that Facebook meme thing, I decided to send her a package of things for the tiny person. So she will be receiving 1 large square swaddling blanket, 2 burp cloths, and 3 baby bibs. You can see the swaddling blanket and the bibs modeled above by Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Bear. The burp cloths look exactly like the swaddling blanket except smaller. The patterns/instructions for all these items can be found over at Chickpea Studios. I am especially pleased with how the contrasting edge stitching came out on the blanket and burp cloths. I love the red with the mint green, and I also love that I actually got to use one of the other 40 fancypants stitches on my new(ish) sewing machine.

[sussycrafts]

Craft Project #16b

Along the same lines as the Chuck slippers I made for my grandma, these are knitted/felted spats that I made for my grandfather. I didn't get a pic of him wearing them, but I imagine he looks very fancy in them.

[sussycrafts]

Craft Project #16

Knit Slippers

I made these Chucks for my grandmother for Christmas. They are felted, which (for non-knitters in the crowd) means they are knit large with wool yarn and then shrunk down in the washing machine to the correct size. I used some rubberized paint on the soles so she wouldn't break a hip in them. They came out CUTESVILLE, as you can see from the pic of her wearing them with her Christmas PJs. I think I'm going to make a pair for myself someday, maybe with real laces for extra authenticity.

[sussycrafts]

Guestcraft!

My friend Natasha was contractually obligated to make me something in return for her Rick Springfield portrait, so she made me these. They combine three of my favorite things: 1) coasters, 2) Dolly Parton and 3) 60s-era styling. I respect wood, I love Dolly more than I can properly express, and I live mostly in the past, so I LOVE these. LOVE! They are decoupaged on some kind of lightweight plywood and are wonderfully finished with gold metallic something-or-other around the edges.

[sussycrafts]

Craft Project #15

You know when you are having one of those days when you have a million things to work on, but all you want to do is make a pair of "Jersey Shore" finger puppets? For no apparent reason? Yeah, that was my morning in a nutshell! I made a Snooki and a Situation. I was going to make everybody, but then they were taking too long. I'm selling these two on Etsy, so depending on whether/how quickly they sell, I may make more, including a Sammi/Ronnie set and a JWOWW/Pauly D set. I will not make a Vinny.

[sussycrafts]

Posting on this here craftyblog will be a little light the next couple weeks because I've taken the above "Handmade Christmas" pledge one step further and am attempting (for the ... third? fourth? Christmas in a row) to handmake most of the gifts I give this month. I might post some teaser pics of what I'm making, but full posts will have to wait until after the 25th. There are some people I just can't make stuff for (Dad) because they don't like anything besides DVDs, books, and CDs, but I try to give handmade items to everyone else. I would encourage you to think about making something for one of your gift-ees. And if you aren't crafty and can't make anything, think about buying something handmade and supporting artists, craftspeople, and small businesses.

[sussycrafts]

Bookshelves: Revisited

When we moved to L.A., I built some bookshelves. I entered them in the design*sponge DIY contest and they were a finalist! But I lost to a suitcase with a pillow in it. Or dog bed, whatever. Not bitter at all! The original shelves and instructions for how to build them can be found here. Last week I decided we needed more shelving, especially for all the DVD screeners we were about to get! So I spent a day building a third shelf and rearranging the existing shelves into one long megawall of books and DVDs. It definitely makes an impact! I love, love, love having a home that's full of books. I think it makes the room a lot warmer, both literally and figuratively. But I've tried to cut down on the visual clutter of the books somewhat by arranging them by color, which is a very popular and controversial trend. It's a lot easier for me to find books this way, too, since I tend to remember colors better than authors and titles. Stupid names and words!

[sussycrafts]

Craft Project #14

Bookshelf Rehab

CKula needed a little bookshelf for his new office and we found this dusty one at the thrift store for $8. Inspired by one of my vintage glasses, I used black and gold metallic spray paint, a saw and a new set of legs to transform it into something a little cuter, but still masculine enough to go with all his black office furniture.

He will not be taking the Liberace photo with him to work.

[sussycrafts]

Craft Project #13

Linen Summer Dress

I know it’s September, but summer in California lasts 5/6 of the year, so this dress will hold me until mid-December, at least. This is my first time making something from the Hillary Duff line of sewing patterns. I’m sure Hillz sits at home making these dresses every night when she’s not weaving macrame plant-hangers or pruning her Bonsai. The fabric is from the sale rack at Joann but they forgot to ring it up, so it was free. Or stolen, if you prefer. Joann steals a little piece of my humanity every time I go in there, so I consider us even. It’s mint green with vertical stripes of metallic gold thread running through it. Super cute. The dress is fully lined. Hillary’s pattern did not call for a belt, but it felt a little like maternity attire without it, so I made one with leftover fabric and metallic gold seam tape. I can now wear the dress two ways, and can gain up to 75 pounds of pure belly-weight and still fit into it.

Look for it in action tomorrow night at the Parker-Appel’s housewarming party!

[sussycrafts]

General Hospi-tale

Craft Project #12

OR

Facebook Craft #1

This is the story of a crazy project and what happened to it after I finished it. It’s kind of a long story, but I promise it’s worth it.

Okay, so, I posted a note on Facebook a while back and I tagged a bunch of people. Anyone who replied would get something made by me, especially for them, in the year 2009. One of the first people who replied was the previously-mentioned Natasha. Now, something you might not know about Natasha is that she’s CRAZY about Rick Springfield. Like, BANANAS. I knew this because I’m a good friend and I pay attention. So I started thinking about ways to work Rick into Natasha’s craft. I thought about getting some custom-printed RS fabric at Spoonflower and making her a tote. But she already HAS a really cute tote that she totes around! Then, I thought about doing a simple silkscreening process that I saw on Martha, but it involved a lot of supplies that they don’t carry at Michael’s.

Finally, I had an insane thought: “I will make her a portrait of Rick. I will make this portrait out of felt and embroidery.” I don’t know where this idea really came from, but I’m always up for teaching myself new crafts and embroidery floss and felt are very economical, so I went with it. I based my portrait on this picture of Rick. I will not bore you with the process, but it was very intense. I art-ified the portrait by making Rick daydream about rescuing cats with Natasha (Natasha is a rescuer of cats). Then I put the whole thing in a shadowbox and gave it to Natasha. I was worried that, even though she is a very dedicated fan of RS, she would find the portrait weird or tacky.

I shouldn’t have worried! She loved it and did not think it was weird at all! This is why we are friends. So, Natasha loved it, but what would Rick think about it? That is not a question I expected to ever know the answer to. But now I do!!!

Read what happened when Rick met his felt twin here. And here is a close-up of the portrait!

To other Facebook people awaiting my crafts: I’m sorry, but your item will not be as amazing as this. It will not unite you with your idol. Please adjust your expectations downward.

[sussycrafts]

Craft Project #11

Wrap skirts! This was originally supposed to be one reversible wrap skirt. I followed an online tutorial and they did not mention that if you make this in an adult size, it will weigh 20 pounds and be the most bulky, awkward garment in the world. So I separated them and now they are two skirts that can lead independent lives. I sent them both to my sister for her birthday. Making these made me wish I had a serger. Someday!

[sussycrafts]

Craft Project #10

Curious George Gift Set! My friend Natasha’s daughter turned 3 today, so I took to my sewing machine to whip up a gift to take to her birthday party. She’s going through a Curious George phase (young Harper, not Natasha), so I found some Licensed Character Fabric (tm) at my old friend Joann’s fabric store and made this dress.

Then, even though I’d made the second-smallest size, I got worried the dress would be too big because I’d never met Harper and I have no understanding of children’s sizing. So, based on a vague belief that most little girls love purses and bags, I freestyled a little purse from some leftover fabric. I was making it up as I went along and I’d had a glass of wine, so it’s a little wonky, but she’s three, so, you know … I’m not too worried about it.

THEN, because we had no wrapping paper in the house and it was after midnight, I speed-sewed a little fabric gift bag to put everything in.

It turns out she does love purses and bags and the dress does not seem too ridiculously big for her, and the bag is reusable, so this gift was a winner!

[sussycrafts]

Craft Project #9

Mothers Day Sweater! For Christmas, I knit sweaters for my sister and mother and unfortunately, my mother’s sweater came out horribly! After frogging it twice, I realized that pattern and those yarns were a lost cause. So, attempting to put right what once went wrong, I started over a third time with a nice silk-wool blend yarn and a more popular pattern. And it came out great and just in time for Mothers Day! Here, my mother models the dual-holiday sweater next to my adorable and diminutive grandparents.

[sussycrafts]

Craft Project #8

My chair was lonely so I made a little domestic partner for it. This project was inspired by a mid-century modern footstool I found at a thrift shop. It goes perfectly with another armchair I have and I wanted one just like it to go with THIS chair, so I copied the design and built a new one using wood, foam, batting, fabric, buttons, felt to line the inside, and lots o’ staples. The legs came from Amazon. This is the first upholstery project I’ve done with a welt (the white part around the top). New craft skill: learned! I’m not sure what to store inside it … my PCP stash or my Glock?