Crochet Trend: Crossbody Bum Bag

Crochet trends spread fast in social media groups. The latest one is this crossbody bag made with 4 granny squares. There are a few versions floating around but my favorite was the Juniper Festival Crossbody Bum Bag by Casey Crochet. It's a paid pattern and is available on Etsy and Ravelry. I liked this one the best because it uses the sunburst granny square which I've used in other projects before and LOVE. Also, I really liked the look of the strap she designed. These bags are meant to be like fanny packs but worn as crossbody bags.

Obviously, I'm not writing this blog post to give out the pattern, you'll have to purchase that yourself. I do want to show what my finished one looks like and try to explain how I added the lining. This blog post has been updated with more photos and more detailed instructions.

I will be offering a limited number of these bags for sale in my Etsy shop

This design is pretty simple and honestly, I considered just throwing my own version together instead of buying the pattern but I'm happy to spend $6 and save myself the headache! I mean, have you ever written your own pattern? There's a reason people charge money for them, they take a LOT of time. Not only do you have to trial and error the project until you get it perfect, but then you have to type it up for yourself or other people to understand! It always takes longer than you think and inevitably you wonder "what was I thinking?"

DIY Faux Leather Tags

 Easy faux leather tags for crochet and knit items!

I've been looking at getting leather tags for my hats forever! There are SOOOO many options on Etsy and online groups are always offering great recommendations. I've just been having such a hard time deciding on a design. It's hard to pull the trigger without really knowing how it'll come out. This morning I said I'm just going to finally pick one and try it. The people who make these are pros and I can't imagine it wouldn't look good, no matter what I decide.

Shortly thereafter, I fell down a Google rabbit hole and got the great idea to try and DIY some tags for fun. I've actually done labels before using an iron-on transfer. Sometimes these crazy ideas work out!

Mending Jeans Sashiko Style

 A great pair of jeans is hard to find! When my perfect jeans break, I try anything I can to save them. Usually, the part I want to fix isn't front and center so this pair presented a unique challenge. 

So, I purchased these jeans already distressed. They looked cool but it wasn't long before the threads all broke and the opening at the knees started to rip when I sat down. I do think these distressed jeans look fine on other people but I just can't feel comfortable with giant gaping holes in my pants! Since the holes were so large and right in the front, I wanted to patch them, but do it in a cool way that looked intentionally fashionable. Hopefully, I achieved that and I'm not just fooling myself, LOL! 

Custom Thank You Cards For Etsy

Make your own thank you cards for your Etsy shop
with a custom QR code

I've been including a little printed thank you card with all my Etsy packages, kinda generic...thank you for your purchase, contact me with any questions, follow me on social media, blah, blah, blah. I've been wanting to redo these cards for a while. I did them in a hurry and they didn't really reflect my brand. Also, it was impossible to include all the ways for people to find me online and let's be honest, these probably ended up in the trash without serving any purpose:-( I may never get repeat customers if they can't find me again or don't know I'm working on new products!

Mountain Frost Hat- Free Pattern

I ran into Joann's looking for something totally unrelated to yarn and then walked out with more yarn! I've been trying to destash my yarn collection not add to it. There were a few balls of this Thick & Thin yarn on clearance, how could I just leave it there? If you follow me on Instagram, you know I've been focused on creating hats and scarves for Operation Gratitude for most of this year. You can read more about that here. Once in a while, I come across a project or a yarn that inspires me to drop what I'm doing and start something else.