That's Random: Keeping the Dog Dry, and Other Domestic Pursuits

My daughter, who turns 11 today, spent much of yesterday morning fashioning a raincoat for our corgi, Bonnie. She insisted -- and since it's her birthday, I reluctantly agreed -- that I show it to all of you. She wants everyone to admire her handiwork, but she declined to provide step-by-step instructions for this project (as she has for others in the past), because she doesn't want anyone copying her design. (Hint: It basically involves a rectangular piece of oilcloth lined with cotton and held in place with Velcroed straps at the neck and belly. Shhhh -- you didn't hear it from me.) So here you go: Dog raincoat by Laurel.

Then, at her own insistence, she spent the afternoon baking her birthday cake from scratch. (Lemon with curd and berries -- yum. An overly complicated recipe from my arch nemesis Martha, of course.) While she was doing this, I believe I was taking a nap. Hey, she's been baking cakes with little assistance from me since kindergarten ...

It's a good thing this girl was born at home, because otherwise I'd worry that she'd been switched at the hospital. Still, she did not get this domestic gene from me. (Just curious: Does anyone else's fifth grader beg for a copy of the humongous Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts for her birthday? That's kind of weird, right?)

Anyway, happy birthday, my love! And by the way: That 10-pound package with the big bow on it? I think you'll be pleased by the contents. Me, well, that's a different story.

Cool Stuff: Ink & Spindle Fabric Packs

I'm stockpiling fabric at a ridiculous rate, but despite my endless good intentions, no cushion covers have been sewn. Still, I'm mighty tempted to snap up a couple of these yummy mixed-fabric packs from Melbourne, Australia's Ink & Spindle (aka the studio of textile designers Bianca van Meeuwen, Lara Cameron, and Tegan Rose).

Each of the packs comes with three cotton-linen, eco-screenprinted pieces measuring about 17.5-by-17.5 inches -- perfect for a trio of mix-and-match cushion fronts, don't you think? Above: Hollabee #2

Hollabee #5

Hollabee #8

Hollabee #10

Hollabee #12

Hollabee #14

Hollabee #15

The mix packs are $34 Australian (about $24 U.S.) each right here.

(If you have bigger sewing projects in mind, Ink & Spindle also sells an array of absolutely gorgeous handprinted fabrics by the meter. Check 'em out here. And if sewing isn't your thing, the studio sells cushions made with its fabrics here.)

Cool Stuff: Monaluna Fabrics for Robert Kaufman

Score one for the home team! A big congrats to Oakland designer Jennifer Moore, who recently come out with a fun new line of cotton fabrics called Monaluna for textile company Robert Kaufman.

These pretty, colorful patterns are making me itch to get going on some simple spring sewing projects: Whipping up a few cheerful cushion covers and stitching fabric cosies to hide the sewing machine and the TV when they're not in use. I might even attempt to add some contrasting bands of fabric to the bottom of a plain set of curtains.

One thing that's especially nice about the new Monaluna site is that Moore has put together trios of fabrics that work well together, so mixing and matching isn't such a guessing game. She's also provided step-by-step instructions for a few of the sewing projects pictured on the site, such as the quilted pillow above.

Some of my favorite combos:

Mingle

Metro Market

About Town

Check out the entire Monaluna collection right here -- and see a list of online merchants who stock the fabrics here.

Etsy Find of the Day: Jezze Blockprinted Tape

I showed off Jezze's sweet screenprinted ceramic mugs yesterday, but I just couldn't resist highlighting her collection of blockprinted cotton tapes today. So clever and cheerful!

I'd love to get my hands on some of these for little projects around the house -- they'd add a flash of color and a bit of playful pattern when used to trim up some throw pillows, edge a pair of curtains, add a finishing touch to a set of towels ... the possibilities seem endless. And for some applications, you might not even need to sew. I could definitely have some fun with a few rolls and a hot-glue gun, for instance.

What would you use these for?

Top: Red Flowers Tape

Blue Flowers Tape

Red and Black Flowers Tape

Orange Flowers Tape

Red Geraniums Ribbon

Green Sprigs Tape

The tapes are $5.50 to $7 per meter (39 inches) right here.

Cool Stuff: Lotta Jansdotter Fabric Remnants

Grab yours quick: It-Girl textile designer Lotta Jandotter has just put up a selection of fabric remnants on her website.

Each remnant bag consists of four pieces of Jansdotter's distinctive screenprinted linen fabric, two measuring 18 by 18 inches and one each measuring 72 by 13 inches and 12 by 18 inches. Use the fabric to whip up a table runner, some throw pillows, kitchen towels, placemats, handbags ...

Jansdotter is also offering bags composed of at least five smaller remnants, good for quilting, fabric collage, patchwork designs, and so on.

The remnant bags are $24 right here and here.

How To: Make a Knitted Cushion Cover

I feel like a little kid rushing home from school with my first, imperfect art-class project: Look what I made! Now, I know all you hardcore crafters are probably laughing at just how rudimentary this little project is, but I am so not crafty that to actually make something from scratch and not have it be a total disaster is a huge accomplishment for me. So don't be too harsh, OK?

Anyway, as I mentioned awhile back, I've learned to knit. My needle skills are pretty basic at this point, but I can at least cast on, cast off, knit, and purl. With those astonishing skills, one can make ... scarves. Lots and lots of scarves. And since every member of my extended family now has a hand-knitted scarf of his or her very own (and since it's not exactly scarf weather anymore), I needed to figure out what else I could do -- without having to kick it up a level by learning how to increase, decrease, knit in the round, cable stitch, or any of those other fancy maneuvers that sound complicated enough to make brain hurt.

I've long been a fan of Lauren Saunders' absolutely gorgeous knitted pillows, and for the first time in years we actually own a working sewing machine, so I decided that I'd try my hand at a knitted cushion cover (albeit a much simpler version than Saunders'). Plus, my mom's birthday was coming up, so that was the kick in the pants I needed.

The project was easy enough and it turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. (Just don't look too closely at the seamwork, Mom! And if you do, let me remind you that this is pretty much the first thing I've sewed since high school Home Ec class.)

Here's how I did it:

* Choose two contrasting shades of the yarn of your choice. (I used a skein of Misti Alpaca Chunky in Copper Melange, plus a half-skein of Misti Alpaca Chunky in Natural Cream, because that's the color scheme in my mother's living room. Misti's baby alpaca is absolutely my favorite yarn on the planet -- because, you know, I am such a yarn connoisseur. So soft! I knitted on 14-inch, size 13 needles, but in retrospect I think I should have used size 11 so the stitches would be a little tighter.)

* Cast on enough stitches to make your piece about 20 inches wide.

* Alternate knitting and purling, switching off after each row -- umm, I think this is called the stockinette stitch -- until the skein is finished or until you've knitted a rectangle that's roughly 20 inches wide by 13 or 14 inches long.

* Switch to your contrasting yarn, and continue knitting and purling until you have a 20-inch square that's about two-thirds one color and one-third the other, and then cast off.

* Cut two 20-inch squares from a half-yard of the fabric of your choice. (I used an ivory linen that matched the lighter shade of yarn.)

* Pin the knitted square, with the "good" side up, onto one of the fabric squares. Sew them together around all four edges, using a relatively tight stitch on your sewing machine. You now have a fabric backing for the knitted portion of the pillow cover.

* Place the knit-and-fabric square on the other fabric square, with the knitted side down and the "right" side of the fabric-only square facing up. Pin them together about an inch in from the edges, and sew them together on three sides and about half of the fourth.

* Trim off the excess knitting and fabric around the edges on the three sewn sides, and turn the pillow cover right-side-out.

* Roll up a 16-inch-square pillow form (I got one for a few bucks at my local fabric store) and carefully slide it in through the opening on the fourth side. Then open the rolled-up pillow and adjust it in the cover as needed.

* Fold the excess fabric and knitting on each side of the opening in toward the center, and pin it closed.

* As for the final step, I'm sure there's a "correct" way to do this (I told you I'm not a crafter!). But I simply shoved the edge of the pillow into the sewing machine and sewed it closed, trying to keep the stitches as close to the edge as I could.

Finis!

P.S. If there are any knitting or sewing wizards out there with tips for improving upon my totally improvised instructions, please feel free to add them! And if anyone has suggestions for fun variations on this pillow project, I'd love to hear 'em. (For my next trick, I'm actually attempting a three-color cushion cover -- woo hoo!)

P.P.S. Have a DIY project of your own you'd like to show off? I'd love to share it here. Just e-mail me a snap or two, plus simple, step-by-step instructions.

Etsy Find of the Day: Ikea Chair Pattern

Reinvent that tired IKEA Skruvsta chair with some fresh new fabric.

It's a simple weekend project thanks to this chair cover pattern from Etsy seller Yvestown (who's also the author of the delightful Dutch blog of the same name).

The $25 paper pattern includes sewing instructions and worldwide shipping.