Flower Pens

Dee's flower pen

Dee brought me a couple of spruced up pens to use when we play cards.

these will make their home in the Pond Shop at the hatchery

I picked up some flowers and a bag of pens at Walmart, used wire cutters and broke off the flowers from the bunch, then taped them onto the pens with floral tape.  Super simple.  Super quick.

Julie Sleeves

One of our volunteer peeps at DC Booth Fish Hatchery in Spearfish, had on a fun t-shirt one day that she had done herself!  It takes maybe 10 minutes and adds a fun look to a t-shirt you may be getting tired of.  I don't know why you couldn't do it with some other fabrics as well.

First, cut the sleeve hems off and cut them in half.

Next, at the top of the sleeve, cut 2 inches each way from the shoulder seam.  Gather the top and tie with one half of the hem piece.  Gather the bottom and tie with the other half of the hem.  Wah La!!

Julie also added about a 2 inch fringe to the bottom of her tee.  She's skinny so that looked cute.

The above is my hankie shirt and I also did the Julie Sleeves on it.

Ahh-Choo Shirt

When we attended the Belle Plaine, KS tulip festival earlier this year, Brooke and I spotted this wonderful "hankie" shirt that a crafter had for sale.  We both loved it, but it's price was in the $50's.  Sooooo, I decided to try one myself.  

I used a t-shirt that I already had for my first one.  Found some vintage hankies at a thrift store in Spearfish.  I placed mine a little differently than the inspiration piece.

And I did the "Julie Sleeves" as an added touch.  (see other blogpost)

This project kinda refreshed my memory on how tricky it can be to sew on t-shirt material.

But I like the way it turned out. Great gift idea.  And now I'm addicted to vintage hankies!!  I've already found a couple of other projects for them.  Even the ones that are kinda raggedy.

When Justin, Brooke, and family came to Spearfish in July to visit us, Brooke and I went to all the thrift stores in town and looked for hankies and cotton or linen shirts (easier to sew on).  I believe some folks will get some as gift in the next year or 2.

Brooke finished hers in September.  It'll be mighty hard to beat this one!  Sooooo pretty!!

Winter 2017:  I did Pam's while David and I were workamping at Boyce Thompson Arboretum in AZ.

Hankies are so thin and delicate to sew on.  When I make a mistake it's difficult to remove it.  So on the top of the hankie above, I added a tiny bow that was in my mother-in-law's sewing notions.  I was very lucky to get to have those when she died.

doesn't Pam look cute in her ah-choo shirt?

Even AZ gets a little cool in the winter, so she added a t-shirt under it  

Summer 2018:  Jeanette Malchow mailed me a ton of her mom's hankies.  How sweet is that?!  So I found a white shirt and added some of them to it for her.

I surprised her with it when they visited us in Wichita

She takes her modeling seriously!  lol

She and Uwe visited the DDE museum the next day and I think she looks adorable in it

Jeanette said Mimi seemed to approve!

Man Mitts

ok, this is just the camera angle, they aren't this different in size -- honest!

April 2016:  I love this pattern for guys! Off of Ravelry, of course. I found some tweed yarn in different colors and I think that'll be great for some of the guys in my life.

Christmas 2016

I guess since Mann is wearing these, we should call them "Mann Mitts"

Trumped Towers

April 2016:  Can't stand Donald Trump, but in this historic election year, I thought these mitts might be appropriate.  I can see them as a gift to someone who might vote for him.  Or a good laugh to someone who feels like I do.

For a pattern that seems pretty easy, I sure had to start over a LOT!  I guess that's kinda significant as well since the Donald starts over a lot with his stances.  lol!

I did learn a new stitch or 2 with this pattern, which makes it fun.

If you google a pic of the Trump Towers, you can see the similar pattern on the mitts.

November 2016:  My BFF and Trump supporter, Lisa, got them.

Moss Stitch Mitts

I used some yarn from The New Twist in Wichita and tried the Fingerless Moss Stitch Mitts from ravelry.com.  They seemed huge, so I knocked off a few stitches on the cast on.  That made a perfect size for a little girl I know.

Maurine

I found some wonderful yarn at The New Twist in Wichita's Delano District and thought it'd be great for some fingerless mitts. And I love this pattern -- Maurine -- that I found on Ravelry. Tho, I love the yarn colors,the busy look doesn't show the pattern as much as I'd like.

But I'll def use the yarn again and I'll for sure use the pattern -- maybe with a solid yarn.