The Stingy Stitcher: Hello!

Welcome, all, to the home of the Stingy Stitcher! My name is Annie, known as chineseathena on Craftster, and I decided to start this blog to chronicle the hobbies that have recently caught my interest. I love crocheting, I'm trying to start sewing, and I (would) like to dabble a little in things like fashion and jewelry making. I am in my last year of college and am currently applying to medical schools. I love biology and math (though I haven't taken math for three years now) and reading youth fantasy books and manga. ;) Another part of my purpose of making this blog was to challenge myself not to retreat into my usual hole under a rock. Blogging is a form of socialization right? Right???

Me! (from over a year ago, cuz I have no photos of myself!)

On The Stingy Stitcher, you can expect to see posts about my own projects, and also links to some of the things that inspire me and various tutorials I have found (y'all have no idea exactly how many bookmarks I have for "how-tos" and inspirations...it's quite sick, actually). I really wanted to become a part of the crafting community, so here goes!

I'd like to start out my blog with a little project I am particularly proud of. One of my best friends, KD, has a thing for Japan. She has absolutely no Asian blood, but she has been formally studying Japanese for the past three years. So for her birthday, I decided to give her something very Japanese.

My inspiration began with this, a lovely sakura (translation: cherry blossom) drawstring pouch by papilionette. I also ended up using the pattern she gave for the flowers. However, I wanted to make an actual purse. After perusing my aforementioned stockpile of patterns and tutorials, I found this gem at Bend Beanies. It's so cute!

Let's begin!

Step 1: Choose the yarn. Caron Simply Soft has always been my go-to yarn. It's both cheap and soft; what's not to love? For this I went with Berry Blue, Pink, and Black. I used an H hook for the whole project.

Step 2: Crochet the bag. This was a super-easy pattern. I finished it within days, and didn't even use a whole 7 oz skein. FYI, for those of you who are interested in the bag pattern, I just used a single strand of yarn and H hook. I didn't go for the bigger bag as our pattern provider suggested.

Step 2.5: Sew in the lining. My hand-sewing skills are mediocre at best, but, hey, who's going to be scrutinizing how straight my stitches are, right?

Continue with Step 2: My only real departure from the pattern was that I used bpsc for the bands, not sc. I liked the idea of having strong horizontal lines contrast with the more flowy vertical lines of the bag, and the more organic feel of the embellishments I had planned.

Step 3: Crochet the embellishments. I crocheted four flowers in Pink, leaving long tails. Then, I made a chain in black, then went back and joined in the middle. From there, I made another chain, to create a fork in what was to become a branch.

Step 4: Attach the embellishments. I sewed on the branch with a simple running stitch, being careful to avoid sewing through the lining. Then, I tied on the flowers by their tails and cut off the excess.

Et voila!

The finished product!

Cute, yes? I love it! Here's a close-up of the whole contrasting bands thing I was talking about:

Mmm, contrast...

And another close-up, because I love it, and to replace the glaringly obvious absence of an action shot. I was stupid and forgot my camera when I gave it to KD (she loved it, BTW), and the existence of a camera on my phone. Oh well.