Project Friday: It’s actually Thursday

Hi, guys!

So, I have to start off by apologizing for the lack of updates the past two weeks.  Wynn and I were in St. Augustine for a bit and while we were there, School started as well. Despite me only having one class, I procrastinate like crazy, so instead of doing a Project Friday when I got back, I had to catch up on school work.

But, now that I’m all caught up, I can update you on my bag and how that’s going!

It’s finished! Sort of.

Take a look below at how it turned out.

As you can see, it looks pretty good! The original design had the stripes all facing one way, but due to the fact that I didn’t use the Chevron pattern the project pattern recommended, it looked more like a clutch than an actual bag. Following advice on what to do from Wynn, I decided to turn the pattern to the side, despite the fact that the sides were uneven and would possibly look wonky.

Once the flap was done, I decided that the edges of the flat didn’t look quite right. Instead, I decided to make a border, to make them appear more even and overall, just give it a nicer look. Here’s a close up of the body of the bag itself.

 

It’s not perfect, but it’s my first big project with crochet and I’m rather happy with it.

The only two important things I need to do are:

1. Fix the Strap.

I overestimated how much weight the bag could take on my first day of vacation and ended up putting a heavy book in there. It didn’t break the strap, but it stretched it to the point where it puts the body of the bag nearly to the bottom of my knees. This is a simple fix: I just have to make another strap. Which is a pain, but it’s an easy fix.

2. Velcro the Flap closed

This is simply for my own personal preference. I like things that closed securely, be it a strap or a button or even Velcro. I think that Velcroing the flap closed will keep it a bit more secure. I’m not quite sure if I want to put Velcro along the entire edge of the flap and keep it all closed, or do just the middle, but I have time to figure it out.

So yes, two weeks or so worth of work and this is the result of it! My very first bag. I’m actually quite proud that I stuck with it and I didn’t give up, despite some problems with it. I learned a bit with this project, especially on adapting a pattern to your own needs and wants and to work about obstacles.

I’m not too sure what I’m going to start on next, but the moment I know, I’ll keep you guys updated.

Happy Thursday!

-Alexa

Not ours, but I figured Id’d share!

One that kind of scares me with some of my ideas for Projects, is that they’re always above my level [hence subpar results, but pride in completion]. There is one crochet technique I have yet to try, but would kind of like to although I have no idea what I would do with the knowledge; Color Changing in the middle of a row

I found this on Pinterest and thought I’d share it with you guys, just in case you need it or are like me, and just kind of want to learn. 😀

-Wynn

Click here!

Second Completed Project! [Also, New video up!]

 

Finally finished my first ever crochet project, and let me tell you, it was a pain. I almost wish I had taken Lexi’s lead and done it with straight lines as opposed to chevron. Chevron is so irritating. But, I didn’t, as a result my hands are cramped. But I’m so happy to be done. So happy. That, I’m like, I don’t ever want to crochet again. But I want to crochet a Slouch hat. Ah well. I’m just fussy. But, proud. So, so proud.

  To see more…

-Wynn

 

PS; There’s a new tutorial up. It covers a lot of the basics and such. If you have any suggestions or comments, please be kind. I’ve never made many videos and I’m still learning. But, if you have praise….Anyway, I hope it helps someone. 😀 [It goes into Slip knot, Chain, Single Crochet, Double,, Half Double, triple, joining and starting in the round, and crocheting in the round around a chain].

First completed Project!

 

I worked about 20 hours on a sewing project that I was certain “wouldn’t take too long”, after all, “I know the basics.” No. No I don’t. And it took forever. But this is the end result, and I’m pleased. At first I thought that the skirt was a little….dull at first. But the lace on the bottom gave it a little bit of body. So, That’s cool. And the sleeves DROVE ME CRAZY until I fixed those this morning. I shoddily sewed the bottom edge and trimmed the outside of the new stitch. Not going to lie, I got lazy. By the time I was done, I was READY to be done so I cut a couple of corners [for instance, the inside of the waistband on my skirt isn’t closed in one place]. But ah well. I’ll live.

This is just the first in a long line of sewing projects, however, I think I’ll simply learn from patterns. This was quite the challenge without fixed directions, and I’m not eager to repeat the trial and error so soon. Luckily I have some patterns to play with. :33

 

-Wynn

 

See more of stuff like this on Wynn of All Trades 😀

Project Friday: First Edition!

Hi, guys!

Welcome to Project Friday! This is gonna be my weekly post where I just update you guys on my projects progress, give advice on anything I’m working on that you may question, or post projects that you may find interesting. It may change, who knows?

This time around, I’m working on a shoulder bag, just like Ashley is. Originally, it was supposed to be this bag. But when I tried to do the stitch that they wrote about in there, Mine turned out a bit weird. Check it out.

As you can see, the pattern didn’t quite match up. The rows were off and it generally look asymmetrical and weird altogether. The curling didn’t bother me, but the pattern not matching up did. Very much so.  Considering that what I’m working on is for Intermediate crocheters and I’m still in the beginner category, I decided to take it down a notch.

Instead of doing the pattern they describe (It could be a chevron pattern, if I’m not mistaken.), I instead went with just doing rows of Single Crochet (Abbreviated SC).

That was when I started it the previous day (August 8th.) I can’t show the whole thing, only because I have my S III and the camera isn’t quite big enough to get the whole thing without showing off the rest of my messy desk. It turned out great and I even managed to do the color changing without too many problems. It is a bit of a pain, though. Two rows of each, then we have to switch colors.

Here’s how it looks as of tonight:

 

Tada! It looks quite well, if I may say.

The thing I’m having a real issue with at the moment are keeping the sides even. For those of you that aren’t aware of what I’m talking about, Those are the ends where you fasten off each row and chain up to the next one, regardless of what stitch you’re doing. Check it out.

I do apologize for the blurry picture, but you see what I mean? They’re a bit uneven at that left side (We’re looking at the right side of my work.) The other side isn’t too bad off, however, so I’m not too worried about keeping the sides even. It’s just a matter of paying attention and really getting used to it.

I bet you’re probably wondering “Why did you choose those colors?” I could give you a reason and say that I like the earthy tones, that it would go really well with my style. But to simply put it, I had the green yarn that I really loved, but I didn’t want to use a dark color (like black) because the stitches are hard to see and I’m still a beginner. I also didn’t want to use a light color (like white) because that’s not really my style. I like dark colors. So earthy tones it is!

I know the brown appears really weird, but it’s just my desk light, I swear. Once I get it done, you’ll see just how well the two colors go together in the sunlight.

I believe that’s it for now. I promise to do some actual blog posts in the near future, such as explaining gauging (which took me FOREVER to figure out!) and even explaining color changing and such.

Happy Friday, guys!

-Alexa

 

Youtube Videos are a go!

   Alright,    

     Yesterday I did the first tutorial [of my life] on youtube. It explains [awkwardly] how to single crochet decrease across three, and I tagged it [a lot] to make it easy to find for people like me who type it in straight off the pattern. 

   If anyone has problems with weird patterns post a comment on the video [any video of ours!] and we’ll try to get one up for you post haste. 😀

   Just figured I’d put up some sort of update regarding the link over to the right, which contains our videos for ease of use. 

  Happy Crafting
      -Wynn

Welcome!

Welcome to the blog!

Please excuse our site. It’s under construction at the moment as Ashley and myself fix it up.

We will be the main two blogging on this site. At the moment, I’m not sure if you’ll be able to tell, but if you can’t automatically tell at the bottom or top of the post, I’ll make sure that we announce at the beginning or end of the post who the post was written by.

Once we get the site up and running, not only will we be posting our projects and their progress, but we will also be posting how to’s and tips and tricks for those getting into any sort of craft. If you have a request or if you want to learn how to do something, shoot us a comment or click on the ‘Contact Us’ button at the side of the page to email us!

I believe that’s it for the moment. We appreciate your patience and once again, welcome to Candy Company Crafts!

-Alexa