Harriet finds a new home

I gifted Harriet to one of my coworkers today.  

My coworker is very crafty and wears lots of funky clothing...plus she mentioned a couple of weeks ago that she really likes owls.  

So, I made a little name tag for Harriet that said

"Hello, my name is Harriet".

And wrapped her note in ribbon...

And then I took Harriet to work with me and placed her near my coworker's computer.  

A little while later my coworker came by my desk, with Harriet in her hand, and asked if she was a gift from me.  She was quite surprised and very pleased...and said that it made her day!   A win-win situation really, it made my day that I made her day. 

I'm sure that Harriet will be loved and well taken care of.  

Meet Harriet

Let me introduce you to Harriet.

I made Harriet after work today. Harriet is my first experiment with:

A) making a softie from repurposed fabric...well not 100% repurposed.  Her body was once a sparkly tweed skirt but her felt eyes and beak and the blue polka dot fabric are all new. 

B)  Harriet is also my first try at making up my own pattern...did you notice my lovely sketches at her feet? (you got me, she doesn't have feet...).  I even traced out all of the 'pattern pieces' so that I can repeat/tweak her pattern.  Yeah me!  

  

I'm not totally pleased with all her seams...

And some of the tweedy bits were fraying when I turned her right side out (which I tried to patch the best that I could)...

But all in all, I am quite pleased with how she turned out.

Isn't she a sweet little owl?

Crafty Inspiration

Lucky me!  My sis gave me two new crafty books...yeah!  

I love, love, love these books...and have started combing the thrift stores for fabrics to repurpose.  I've only managed to find 2 cashmere sweaters so far...and I seem to have the best luck with felting 100% merino sweaters...good finds!


I've decided to start with the Woodland Draft Buster...uber cute!

The log bits are done, and the leaves, fungi and snail are next...I can get back to making this now that I've finished my baby blankie/cowl!

"Read pattern twice, knit once"

OK, I’ve gotta get into this blogging thing. I’ve been crafting lots, and making lots of notes in my little black crafting book…but time to get some of it up on here.


The last two weeks have been very busy. I have been knitting up a storm trying to finish off a blankie for my new niece…who is now 10 days overdue. I’ve had many near-sleepless nights and finally finished the blankie off…only to discover that it wouldn’t block out. Grrrr. The darn thing had a huge wart/bubble in the center. After careful diagnosis, I realized that I missed about 7 yarn overs every other row, so the stitches weren’t increasing at a fast enough rate. And since I was knitting it up on circular needles, and you don’t block out before adding the border, I didn’t realize until it was much too late. Sigh.

...the blankie wart/bubble!

the blankie that won't block...

What to do? It is not worth my time to rip the darn thing apart. I have decided to convert it into a lovely cowl for me. 

My new cowl with flower pin!

New Cowl from the back!

It did block out beautifully. As a cowl, it looks handmade. But as a blankie, it looks homemade. Get the difference?


We’ll have a good laugh about it, when I visit my very pregnant sis this weekend, wearing my fancy-schmanzy new cowl.

I need a new mantra…”Read twice, knit once”.

2010 – The Year of Craft

I declared to my sisters this morning that 2010 will be 'The Year of Craft’ for me.  To acknowledge this auspicious occasion/day/year, I have decided to create a crafting blog.  As a geeky engineer by day and a crafter by night, this blog will celebrate my crafting alter-ego and be a place for me to explore my craftier side.  Yeah 2010!


The name…Elsie’s Orange Button.  Elsie is my maternal grandmother.  Elsie had an orange button.  My mum was intrigued by this cute little orange button when she was a wee girl, and would always hunt through my grandma’s sewing basket looking for it.  The Orange Button would sometimes disappear, but would then magically reappear.  My mum still has the button - it is lovingly stitched to her pincushion.  


Grandma Elsie was one of the most amazing women I have had the pleasure of knowing and she played a key role in planting the crafting seed in my life. So, the name of my blog is a little tribute to her.