Jellyfish Lamp

I have been looking all over (and by this I mean mostly online) for a cute lamp for baby's room.  Our basic theme is ocean. Everything I found was either absurdly expensive for something I'd use only a few years, or really ugly. You'd think there would be a market for inexpensive but cute nursery lamps... 

I had to go to Ikea for some other items and I was hoping they would have something cute. For kids they mostly have toys and beds. The section seems smaller than it used to be. I didn't find anything. I figured I would at least take a look at the lamp section on the Marketplace floor. This is a long chairless walk, but I found one bench right in front of this lamp. It is not a very pretty lamp, but the lampshade is made of fabric. I thought it looked vaguely like the top of a jellyfish. Since I had a bench I spent a while thinking about how I could make it into a jellyfish. I decided it was possible. 

Being divers, it was important that the jellyfish lamp be as accurate as possible. I did some research online about various species of jellyfish. The closest match was a Box Jellyfish. These are the kind in Australia that will kill you if they touch your skin. 

My first attempt at this lamp is not shown, but has resulted in my never wanting to use that type of fabric again. My second attempt I like better anyway. The fabric is leftover from my Dickens Fair costume, but worked surprisingly well.

Not a hat...

My latest project is not a hat, but it is a way to enable me to make more hats. One of my knitting needles sets is HiyaHiya. I like the needles a lot, and they are the ones I always use for hats. The case they come is is pretty, but useless. 

Here are two pictures of it from the internet. I was too lazy to take my own. But these even have the same print. 

 

I originally liked the case, because it was pretty and not bulky. After using it for awhile I have noticed it isn't very good at the one thing a case should be good at: holding my knitting needles. The little flap goes over the needles, then the top section comes down, then the needles fall out the side. One time I lost one in a book for about a month. I have managed to not permanently lose any, but still not good. 

I wanted a case that looked like this case but had an all around zipper. As well as two pockets for the stuff that goes in the two pockets of the original case. I decided to make one. After searching the internet for patterns I found one I could modify in a book I already owned. Mostly I needed directions on how to do the all around zipper part. 

If I am being a perfectionist there are things to complain about. But, I'm still new to sewing and my case works for what it needs to and manages to look like the original as much as I think it could. 

I started by making the needle pockets. This was mostly a figure it out as I went. I made one big pocket and sewed lines to make smaller pockets. I got them the right size by drawing lines with fabric chalk and then sewing on them. It seemed to work out ok.

The top I tried to mimic the design of the HiyaHiya case. My embroidery machine wouldn't let me easily squish my font, but I think it was close enough. I pieced together the front mostly by sewing scraps of fabric at the angle I thought matched and then trimming to size. 

The outside came together pretty easily despite by having almost no pattern. When I tried to sew it all together and add the all around zipper, things stopped being quite so easy. I think that is something that will get easier once I've been sewing longer.

Here are the pictures of the finished project.

And here is a picture of the huge mess I made. Luckily my cat didn't eat it. I think...

Bags not hats

It seems that my sewing equivalent of hats is bags. I have been focusing more on getting through some projects I had been meaning to sew but never seemed to get around to. With the help of a wonderful friend who has been helping me figure the patterns out, I have finally started getting things finished. 

The first project was inspired by a shopping trip before christmas. I had purchased a learn to embroider kit. The patterns were very cute. It took me a while to get started because the beginning involved an iron, which was on a different floor than my project. Once I got started I really enjoyed making it. I thought it would be a lot harder that it was. I had a book of sewing projects that had a bag with a hand embroidered bird. That bird was a different one, and on a hexagon shape. but I don't didn't think that was a crucial detail. I found some cloud fabric to go with my bird and made this little bag. It is a perfect size for a small knitting project. 

Project number two was from the same book. It is a pencil case with pieced pencils. It would be more useful if I still actually used pencils on a regular basis. This one took a long time to get started because it requires lots of little scraps of fabric. I get the impression that most serious sewers get this after a while. I am still new to the sewing, and I am not inclined to keep tiny bits of things I may never use. I managed most of the colors, but my wonderful sewing friend gave me some colored scraps that worked perfectly. The way this is pieced is very forgiving; you just end up with different shaped pencils. The zipper on this pouch was not as cooperative as I would have liked. Overall I am happy with how it turned out. 

The next bag I am not happy with. This was a sewing club project. I braved dealing with the new teacher there, it was a mistake. I was really excited about this bag. I thought it was cute, and a good shape and size. The construction is also very interesting. I could have done without the zipper tab on the side, but a minor issue. The major flaw with this bag is that despite it having a lining fabric all the inside seams are visible. I remember my first sewing club class we made a bag and the teacher thought it was awful to have a bag with no lining so she told us how to modify the pattern to add one. That teacher, Michelle, would never have left this bag as is. The biggest issue I have with the current teacher is her inability to alter the pattern. I made the bag as is, but I don't like it. I doubt I will ever use it. 

The last project is very similar to the first. This time it is a tea cup with tea themed fabric. This bag I managed to remember how to do make it without any help. This time I didn't have a string, so I made one out of some left over cashmere yarn. Fanciest string ever. I have one more bag of this type on my to make list, but I haven't made the embroidery yet.