Capuchio Designs

This holiday, I tried to make lots of fun gifts for giving.  Here are some of my creations … enjoy!

This denim and flannel rag quilt was made by re-using my family’s old worn denim jeans.  (Go green)!  It took 262 squares of fabric, and a million (or more) 1/4 inch snips to create.  It is earth and doggy friendly, and is oversized to cloak my son and his family while snuggling up on the couch.

I’ve been wanting to make these coffee cozies for a long time, so I designed and made my son and his girlfriend 4 different ones to protect their hands from the steamy coffee and hot tea they so enjoy at the local coffee shops.

coffee cozies

Since my dad is always freezing, I knit him a pair of fingerless gloves in a washable wool, so that he can still have warm hands while doing the mountains of paperwork he always seems to have.

hand knit fingerless mitts

My daughter has carried the little wallet I gave her years ago, and unfortunately is getting a little tattered.  She was disappointed to  learn that the company no longer makes this little compact size anymore.  This of course became one of my challenges, so I made her several different ones that very closely mimic her old original one.  They are small enough to fit into your pocket, and hold your keys, money license and credit cards.  Very efficient indeed!  After several trial and error attempts on this one, I think I finally made the perfect product.

efficient little wallet

If  it’s made of fabric … I can design, or duplicate most things.  It’s taken me a lifetime to reach this level of creativity.  Hmmm so what am I waiting for?

Happy New Year!

Since Christmas is just right around the corner, I’m unable to reveal some of the things I’ve made for gifts.  You’ll need to check back later for that.

A week ago, I went to a homemade, local craft/art fair downtown.   As always, I went home not only inspired, but with oodles of cool crafting ideas to do myself.

At one booth, there was this lovely young woman selling very unique items using gorgeous textiles (fabrics … you know).  The one item that caught my eye was the slouchy hand-knit hat she was wearing, not selling.  Since she was not a knitter, she paid a friend to make it for her.  I thought that hat looked familiar … it was a pattern that I had, and was put in my queue  to knit sometime later after the holidays.  SCORE!

After the craft fair, I drove directly to the yarn store (cuz that’s how I roll) to get some yarn to make me the slouchy hat.  This is what it looks like.  The twisted cables are super interesting, and look much more difficult than they were to knit.  In two short nights, I had a new hat!

convergence of cables

See what I mean about taking crafty diversions to make a few things for me?  Sometimes I think that I’m an ADD crafter/ knitter/ seamstress.  Oh well, I get lots of sh*t done!

Yummy!

P.S.  Once again, lame-o on the ridiculous date stamp!  I think I’ve solved that little problem for future photos.

P.P.S.  Because this hat sits back a bit on the head, my bangs are left untouched.  This is a good thing, because I don’t want to have squashed down bangs like Moe of the “Three Stooges” (been there, done that)!

I’ve been crafting, knitting and sewing like a maniac these days, in preparation for Christmas gift giving.   There were a few things  I was able to sneak in just for me.

Two such items (ahem) were these basket liners in decorator weight, linen toile print fabric.  Now that’s a mouthful to say!   This project allowed me to join two things I heart … organization and fabric.  It was a complete transformation.  Woo hoo!

From drab:

plain jane

To Fab! :  (uptown Julie Brown)

I bought one of these plain, ordinary baskets for a kiss and a promise.  The other one was not so cheap.  It didn’t take all that long to take measurements and construct custom-made, beautiful fabric liners.

You may think that I made these in green and red for the holidays, but you’re wrong.  This sage-like green and cranberry red are two of the warm and cool colors that can be found on the main level of my house. I love that these pretty baskets can organize and even make unsightly items look better. There are many other baskets I’m going to line, and they are just one more thing added onto my “after Christmas to-do list” (which is longer than Santa’s scrolled list).

How do you keep your  junk things organized?

Peace

P.S.  Lame-o on the date stamp on the red basket.  Ooops!

Ever since I was in kindergarten, I’ve loved the smell of a box of new, fresh, Crayola crayons.  I could hardly wait to open a new box and create free- form designs that I could color creatively.  Of course there were also color books that I enjoyed.

For a long time, I’ve wanted to make crayon rolls.  When I accepted an opportunity to be a vendor at a craft show, I quickly went to work making a handful of these beauties with a more sophisticated, but fun, pallet of fabrics.

My thought is that parents could use these as stocking stuffers for their children.  Having a personal set of crayons in a pretty little holder is by far better for children who use crayons to color at restaurants, appointments etc.  There aren’t those pesty communal germs (crayons in other kids’ mouths, nose …) to worry about as a parent, and your child can enjoy their very own artist gems.

for the budding artists

When not in use, the crayons are simply rolled up and tied.  Easy peasy!

They look so pretty displayed in a muslin lined basket.  Since I have some extras on my hand right now, and if you’re interested … just let me know.

crayons and other goodies

Well we got our first dusting of snow for the year.  It made the mountains and evergreens look so frosted and fresh.  In these parts, it’s essential to have snuggly, warm, wool hats to help stave off the bitter cold that settles in.

My fist attempt at this Thorpe hat was much too big for my daughter, who is an avid snow rider (boarder).  She really appreciates the hand knit woolens I’ve been sending her way lately.  I guess she’s finally grown up to appreciate how amazing hand-knits can be.

Making a hat for someone who isn’t around to continually try it on is sometimes like Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  You just keep knitting, and ripping it out, until the next time she can come home to try on her hat to assure the fit is perfect.

Unfortunately, I knit this hat up entirely the first time, only to be unraveled and knit again two more times.  Yes, I know that this process is labor intensive, but although the measurements said the size would be exact, it turned out to be much, much, too big, … think Papa Bear size.

Papa Bear size hat ... much too big!

The second time I knit this, I only got several inches into the hat before I realized that the size was going to be just a bit too big too,  due to the stretchy yarn … think Mama Bear size, so I had to rip this out.

Mama Bear size hat ... a little bit too big!

The third time is always a charm, (so they say)!  This attempt was the  Baby Bear size ( you get the idea) with a perfect fit … although my daughter is not a baby anymore.

Baby Bear size hat ... a perfect fit!

She shreds up the snowy mountains on her snowboard, because gurlz rule!

So this hat is for D-Spin, my fierce snow rider, who always needs to sport a cool hat after a long day on the slopes.

Stay toasty warm honey!

P.S.  Be safe!