Craft swap etc.

I finished a 'Ballet T-Shirt' from Teva Durham's Loop-d-Loop over Spring break, but I've been to busy to take a picture yet. It's very pretty...red (which I hardly ever wear), and made from recycled yarn.

In other news, I went to New York City's fabric district over spring break. I have found my sewing mecca! The prices were outrageous on some things, and just looking at the yards and yards of beaded and ornate fabrics made me wish I wasn't still a broke college student. Well, sooner or later, I'll have a big occasion to get really dressed up ;)...and I know exactly where I'm going to get the materials. I <3 NY! I made it out of there with one 3 yard piece of oriental print fabric, for about $10. Not too shabby...

I've been posting a bit recently about the 'I Heart My Craft Swap' over on Craftster.org. Now that my partner Rachel has recieved her gifts, I can post some pics! (Courtesy of her, because I forgot to take pictures before I sent it out. D'oh!)

Here's a knitting bag that incorporates one of Craftster's logos that she likes. The outside is denim, the inside is red and white teeny striped cotton, and the applique is white felt. The inside has long, skinny pockets for knitting needles. It was a relatively easy project, until the very end...when my machine decided that it would not sew through a gazillion layers of fabric and I had to do it all by hand. Fun fun!

This was my brilliant idea for this swap: Rachel makes sock monkeys, so I decided to try to make one, as a portrait of her. Sort of like...a crafting mascot!

Here's a picture of them together, for comparison. I think I did a pretty ok job, seeing as how I was working off of, like, two photos. And it was my first sock monkey ever! Mucho fun. The monkey's shirt, btw, says 'Rachel's sweatshop'...a reference to her craft room! :)

I also included a citrus tea towel for her to use in a knitting needle roll, some wine charms, and one of my trademark bottlecap necklaces. She was very pleased with her package, and I'm so relieved! I always suffer from a bit of craft-worthiness stress during swaps, so I'm glad she liked everything.

Now I need to focus on the craft show coming up in early April. Bottlecaps, bottlecaps, and more bottlecaps...!