I have had a little bit of time this week to work on something other than, gasp, sewing. Yes, I CAN do other things.  I decided to make a little “mini-scarf” or neck warmer. I used cotton crochet yarn because I don’t like wool up against my neck. This little scarf if just right to wear when you don’t need a big jacket:

my new mini scarf

It goes nicely with my favorite sweater

it's all single and double crochet, easy to do

Braid the ends, and make a tassle and you're done.

It was a fun little project to do while I was sitting waiting for other things to happen, and I got a nice little wardrobe accessory to boot!

To make this:

Chain stitches to be the lengtht you want (measure around your neck). # of stitches must be divisible by 5+3 stiches. I used 73 stitches.

Rows 1-3 Single crochet three rows. 4th row, *Double crochet three, chain two, skip next two stiches*,  continue to end of row, ending with double crochet three. 5th thru 7th rows, single crochet.

Cut 18 strands of yarn, 18 inches long each. Attach 9 strands on each end of the crocheted piece. To do this fold each strand in half, and pull the loop through with crochet hook. Once you have all the strands attached, you’ll have 18 ends on each side. (2X9).  Using two strands for each part of the braid, braid the strands into three braids. Then braid the three braids together. Wrap a piece of yarn tightly around the ends, about3.5 inches from the unbraided end, and tie tightly. Unbraid to the wrapped piece of yarn, then trim tassle to 3 inches. You’re done.

Amelia's Baby Quilt

Last year before Amelia was born, I made her an adorable baby quilt. While I was making it, I took lots of pictures so that I could make a tutorial on how to do it. I have finally gotten the whole project finished and saved in a PDF file, so that I can now offer the pattern for this cute baby quilt for sale!

Amelia's Quilt Pattern

This quilt uses half of a precut triangle pack, 1 yard of medium fabric, 1 yard of dark fabric, and 2 yards of a light fabric to make a 52″ X 43.5″ finished quilt. It is very easy to make, and the pattern is explained with lots of pictures so that even someone who is a beginning quilter will find it easy to follow.

I pieced the back to make it more interesting.

I have this pattern for sale in my store, FabGrandma’s Crafty Stuff, and for the month of July, I will be giving  my readers a 20% discount on the purchase of it. It normally sells for $5.00, but with the 20% discount, you can get it for $4.00. Just use the coupon code  LoveAmelia to get your discount!  To get to the pattern in the store, click here!

Amelia with her quilt

I finally got a chance to sit down at my sewing machine today, and make a tote bag for myself. I have been wanting a new one ever since I got my NOOK Color, so that I would have a bag big enough to take it with me everywhere I go. I wanted to have pockets inside to hold all my stuff, like my Droid, my glucose meter, my shopping list, the charger for the NOOK and the charger for the Droid. So, here it is:

My new tote bag has lots of pockets

I made the handles longer than the pattern called for because it was more like a purse, and I wanted more like a tote bag.

Lots of pockets inside this totebag

I can take everything, even a change of clothes if I want to!

The inside is just as colorful as the outside

This bag measures 17″ wide X 9″ tall X 4.5″ deep. Lots of room without being too big, and lots of pockets to  hold everything I need. If you want one like it, let me know, and I can make one for you for $45 plus shipping. I have a lot of different fabrics on hand, or you can send me a link to your favorite fabric store online.

Way back on February 12, I said I was going to show you how to recover those cornice boards that are in RV’s everywhere.  I really did think I was going to do that project the next day, but…..one thing happened and then another, and I didn’t have the right screwdriver to get mine down off the wall with, so it took a very long time for tomorrow to get here.

The old cornice boards just don't "go" with the new look.

Today I finally decided it was time to get that thing off the wall and finish my RV bedroom makeover. To start, I had to get the cornice board off the wall. It was held in place with two long phillips head screws. The shade was also attached to the cornice board, so I had to figure out how to get it off of the cornice without tearing it up. The shades also have the string mechanism attached to the wall down near the mattress.

This is the cornice off the wall, showing one of the screws holding the shade onto the cornice

I decided to take the cornice down by taking out the two screws. I then detached the two smaller screws that held the shade to the cornice. I left the shade laying on the bed in just the same position it was in when I removed it from the cornice, and left the strings attached to the wall. That way, I would know how it went back together.

recovering a cornice board on the tailgate of the truck

Once the cornice was off the wall, and the shade was off the cornice, I took the cornice outside to the tailgate of the truck. I knew it was going to be a messy job getting all the old fabric off, plus it was a very nice day outside.  The first thing I needed to do was figure out how to get the two pieces apart. I found out they were held together with staples, so I got a long flathead screwdriver and pushed in between the two pieces, slowly, so I could wiggle the staples out. Once the two pieces were apart, I had to take off the decorative “button” on the outside piece in the same way:

remove any decorative pieces carefully so they don't break

After I had the pieces apart, I removed all the old fabric, and used it as a guide for how to cut the new fabric pieces. Once the new fabric was were cut, I stapled them onto the wood pieces. I don’t have a staple gun, so I used an ordinary office type stapler opened all the way out. It worked for the purpose, but I would suggest buying or borrowing a staple gun if you are going to do this project–it will certainly save your knuckles.

I used duct tape on part of this project

The first piece I covered was made of balsa wood, so the staples went in fairly easily. However, the second piece was laminated, and that made it very hard to staple with just that office stapler. So, I used duct tape on the inside to hold the fabric in place. It isn’t going to show, and did the job very well.

When you have both pieces covered with the new fabric, you’ll need to fasten them back together. I just put the outside piece on top of the inner piece, and felt with my fingers to find the large staples that held them together. I placed a scrap piece of fabric over the area where the staple was, and hammered it down with a hammer. The last thing was to re-attach the decorative piece to the center of the cornice board. I also covered this wooden piece with some scrap fabric when I hammered it into place to prevent making any marks on it with the hammer.

I think this finishes off the room quite well!

It took me about two hours to complete this project. The hardest part was getting all the screws back in and getting the cornice back on the wall, mostly because my arms aren’t long enough. The shade went back on very easily, though.

Don’t you think this just completes my bedroom? It looks sooo much nicer to me.

Re doing an RV bedroom is quite easy!