crafts – Page 3 – Rae Nudson

superhero sweatshirt

It’s no secret that comic books are my new favorite thing. But I fell in love with some comic-book-inspired Philip Lim sweaters last year, before I read my first one. They are cheeky and cool–and just fun, right?

Unfortunately the real deal was over my budget. Philip Lim did come out with a Target collaboration recently, but it was sold out at my Target.

So I made my own.

I started with a beautiful gray crew neck from the boys section at Target.

Then I designed my own version of ka-pow on InDesign. I printed my stencil and used it to cut out felt, which I then arranged and sewed onto my sweatshirt. I like using felt for a lot of projects because it’s sturdy and pretty–but most of all because the edges are finished and that saves a few steps for me.

I used top stitching to secure the letters. I could have hand sewn it and made it a lot more perfect, but I wanted the speed that came with my sewing machine. I’m considering my imperfect lettering as part of the comic book charm.

This whole project took me one afternoon–I felt like a crafty superhero.

project life: wedding

Since I can’t stop talking about the wedding even a week later, I was stoked to work on some project life pages over the weekend.

I used mostly pictures from the actual day of the wedding. It was easy to create a color scheme that way since there was a lot of white and black.

My favorite part of these pages is my instagram picture grid! The bride and groom had an instagram tag for their wedding, and it was a blast to check everyone’s pictures. So I printed some out and put them into a 20-coin protector page. I love it. I have a few little hearts I might put in the blank squares, but I also like it as it is.

I also caught up on August and September project life pages, which I’ll share later. You can see my other project life updates here:

wedding present: embroidered hand towels

I spent a while looking for some cute hand towels for a wedding present for my friend Jewels who loves to cook. And then I remembered that I like embroidering things.

So I got some white hand towels and got to embroidering. I made three in different colors, so they can mix and match with their kitchen. Hopefully the new Mr. and Mrs. Panian can use these when they are eating dinner together! Congratulations, you two. I hope you share many wonderful meals.

project life: july

This summer has gone so fast that I’ve just now caught up on Project life. I added an insert for my birthday and two pages for July.

For my birthday, I added a half page with pictures and a page protector with my post of things I’ve learned this past year printed out.

I added some pictures of flowers I got and some cards and tissue paper from gifts. I like how simple the inserts were to make and how pretty and colorful it is.

For July, I didn’t have many pictures of me and my friends, so I used the other pictures I had on hand. The large picture on the right is from getting drinks on the roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

I also added #fatcat of course and some books I read that month. I’m really crushed I didn’t take more pictures from the Fourth of July and all the other fun times this month, but I’ll just have to do better in the future. I think the pages still look nice and I wrote some notes on my date card so I would remember the events.

My favorite was this enlarged picture and the up on the roof embellishment. I think it’s just cute. August is almost over so soon I’ll be doing pages for this month, too!

You can see my other project life updates here:

embroidery display update

I have finally added my latest embroideries to my embroidery display!

I am slowly but steadily filling the space above my bed. I love having them in my home–I love any handmade item in my home. I think it adds originality and personality, and I’m of course also proud that I made them myself.

I’m getting quite a collection, and I’d love to keep going. I think they look lovely as a group. The whole is just as good as the parts.

I am working on a project to sew some of my favorite quotes and images from books. You can see the other quotes in my embroidery project here:

baby blanket progress (4 inches)

A while ago I started on the baby blanket I’m making for my niece. I am happy to say that I have made some progress. About four inches of progress!

I have finished the very first stripe of what will be many stripes of several colors. I still have a long way to go, but each row is getting easier and quicker already. I won’t kid you guys, my favorite part of any project is when it is finished and you can look at this cool thing you made.

But my next-favorite part is when you start to first see what it will become. I started with a bunch of yarn and some needles, but after several rows, I started a contrast color stripe and the Vs of the chevron started to appear. And it started to look like I was making a chevron striped baby blanket. I get this feeling when I sew or embroider, too. If you put enough pieces together or stitch enough stitches, there’s a moment you can start to see what the final image will look like. And it’s very exciting.

When I use a pattern like this, it helps me to print it out and mark off as I go. (I’m following the chevron baby blanket pattern from the Purl Bee.) Each time I finish a row, I mark a dot. And I use different color dots for different color yarn. You can also count, of course, but marking them down helps me stay on track easily. If I ever need to stop in the middle of a row, I mark down somewhere what I just finished. For example, I’ll write k10, if I just finished knitting 10 and am ready to go onto the next stitch after that. As long as I’m consistent in how I mark things off, I am able to stop and start without getting confused.

I’m thrilled with how this is looking, and I can’t wait to knit more. I was a little worried about learning two new stitches to make this blanket, but thanks to YouTube lessons and some practice it’s been going really well. More updates soon!

lying cat (embroidery no. 14)

If you’ve read Saga (like you should!) you must love Lying Cat. She is sidekick to The Will and can tell when someone is lying. We all need some Lying Cat in our lives–but since I can’t get a hold of the original, I embroidered this. Here’s a closer look.

Continue reading “lying cat (embroidery no. 14)”

baby blanket

A few months ago we learned of the exciting announcement that my brother and his wife are expecting. And now I’ve promised my little baby niece a baby blanket. I am following the pattern for the chevron baby blanket from the Purl Bee, one of my favorite knitting/sewing blogs.

Continue reading “baby blanket”

rocket, my screen-printed bike

“Seems to me,” the Lady said, “a boy’s bicycle needs to see where it’s goin’. Needs to see whether there’s a clear road or trouble ahead. Seems to me a boy’s bicycle needs some horse in it, and some deer, and maybe even a touch of reptile. For cleverness, don’t you know?”

In Boy’s Life by Robert McCammon, our hero Cory gets a brand new bike.

This isn’t just any bike. This bike is from The Lady. It’s brand new and made just for him. It’s red and had a headlight, and in the headlight it has an eye that looks out for Cory. It steers him away from danger and helps him get to adventure–fast.

“At this instant I felt at one with Rocket, as if we were of the same skin and grease, and when I grinned, a bug flew into my teeth. I didn’t care; I swallowed it because I was invincible.”

So in tribute to a book I loved, and in tribute to Rocket, a bike I wish I had, I made my own. Sort of. Mine’s a bit more two dimensional.

I started with a stencil. I traced and drew and doodled until I had a bike I liked. Then I traced it onto a transparency and used a craft knife/box cutter thing to cut out my stencil.

Continue reading “rocket, my screen-printed bike”

project life: beach vacation

More project life! This time from our wonderful family vacation. #fatcat definitely likes the pages.

We had so much fun on vacation and there was no way I could include all the pictures. I chose some that I thought kept it beachy and relaxing–just like our trip.

Continue reading “project life: beach vacation”

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