Picot Baby Leg Warmers Review

Baby Leg Warmers

Grade: A

Difficulty: Advanced-Beginner

Pattern: Picot Baby Leg Warmers

I made these last week for the little at my house to wear. She loves her skirts, but it's getting to where it's too cold to let her little legs just chill out. And let's face it, sometimes with diapering, tights are just a big pain. So these were my compromise. Miss E likes them. She calls them socks, which the kind of are, and kind of aren't. I made these ones a little long, so that right now they actually go up just over her knee and sit there. I figure that will give her more time to wear them as her legs get longer.

The pattern was fairly simple, and very straight-forward. For me, it was strange to do the cuff at the top, working sideways to the rest of the work. But it turned out okay. One of mine is admittedly a little bigger at the top than the other. But oh well! I loved that the author explains it so that you can easily make this for any size of person, and you can really use any yarn you want as long as you have an appropriate size hook for it. 

I called the pattern advanced-beginner mostly because you need to understand the abbreviations (she does have a little glossary on the page) and know how to do more than just a single-crochet stitch, but it's really not difficult. I took a couple of days to finish mine, while I was working on other things. Overall though, if you are a fast crocheter and you have a model who will hold still for you to get the first one to fit right, it probably doesn't take more than a couple of hours to whip these babies out. And then you can make more in other colors!

I realize that the picture is kind of terrible. I will try to get a better one, as well as one with some little legs in the warmers, but for now this one will have to do! Let me know what you think, as always!

**Update: I did at least get a much better picture of these! Still working on one with legs in them!

Pick-A-Pocket bag review

Pick-A-Pocket Purse 

Grade: B

Difficulty: Beginner

Pattern:  Pick-A-Pocket Purse (click for link)

 

Because pink is always her first choice!

So, don't let the grade on this one deter you. It really is a nice little bag, and very easy to make! So much, that this is actually the third time I've used this pattern!

I made this one in particular, because there is a little girl at my house who has just started to figure out bags, and is having a blast filling them with random treasures, and waving  "bye-bye" to Mom. And I wanted to do one that was both cute, and her size.

This pattern is very simple. Click the link above to get to the page for this on the AllPeopleQuilt website. If you want to download the PDF and print it, you will need to make an account, which is totally free, and if you have one on any of the Meredith family websites  (BHG, Parents, etc), it will link them for you so that you have the same username and password.
Overall, I think this pattern took me a total of three hours to cut, sew, and finish. I gave it an overall B as the grade because of the handles. If you like to carry bags on your shoulder, trust me you will have to lengthen the handles (see tip below). I would describe myself as a small woman, including my arms, and these handles are just too tight for me to carry this bag comfortably on my shoulder. Other than that, this one requires very little, is sewn using totally straight lines, and turns out adorable! Once finished there is the main compartment, plus 6 outside pockets, so really, it holds almost everything.

So some tips from me on using this pattern:
* If you want to carry the bag on your shoulder, lengthen the handles by 2" to 6" per handle, depending on where you like your bag to hit you at. If nothing else, cut it long. Then on step 3 of Assemble the Bag, pin the handles on, and try it out! If they are too long, simply shorten them until you are happy (Hopefully this suggestion makes sense).
* If you want to use fat quarters instead of the listed yardage, they totally work! You will need two fat quarters for the lining, two for the pockets, and one for the handles. You will have to cut several strips for the handles and piece them to get the desired length.
*This one would be very easy to add a magnetic closure to, if you wanted.
*I'm lazy-sauce. So I did not slip stitch the opening on the bottom closed. I turned the bag right side out, folded in the seam allowance, then just top-stitched that baby across most of the bottom. It does create a slight ridge (you can sort of see it in the top left of the below photo), but it's quick and easy, and I figure no one will see it. Until I publish it on the internet for everyone to read.

 A close up of the fabric I used for the lining. Because it's too cute not to share!

I would love to see links to pictures of your own versions of this bag and/or hear your experiences using this pattern!