The First NCW

I have made a couple of wallets in my relatively short time of sewing. Quite a few small change purses as well. A fair few purses and three diaper bags to round it out. So to be quite honest, I don't know near enough about sewing to give a scholarly review. I am, after all, self taught. But this....

The Necessary Clutch Wallet is a gorgeous pattern by Emmaline Bags. You do need to purchase this pattern, and by no means is this a tutorial of this pattern. This, as is with all of my posts, a review of sorts. A critique and how I changed things for my own bag, if you will. You can find the pattern for this bag and many more at their website and following this link.

If you are worried about printing out a pattern, never fear! Not only is there a physical copy you can buy, but you can also purchase acrylic templates. But even if you don't go with the physical pattern or templates, this pattern only calls for a small amount of pages to be printed, the rest can be read at your leisure from a tablet, phone or other device.

The NCW pattern is insanely versatile and extremely customizable! Clearly there is a reason for all of the hype for this pattern, and I am late to the party! There are tons of blogs, videos, web pages and forum posts for this pattern alone! The pattern comes with an optional trim piece pattern of which I made for my NCW. 

I love the feeling and size of this wallet! I prefer my paper money to be unfolded, so long wallets are my favorite type. I used a magnetic clasp rather than a turn clasp because this is what I had at the time and I wanted to make this wallet with out spending a bunch of money. I had to buy more stabilizer to make it though.... lol 

For those that are curious about the stabilizers I used, SF101 is fused on to almost every piece and the main wallet as well as the flap have two layers of DecorBond 809. I highly recommend watching Lauren Mormino on Youtube if you have problems with deciding which stabilizer to use. She helped me to decide for my wallet. You can check out one of her tutorials here.

The fabric that I chose here is Link from the Legend of Zelda series of games. The trim and backing of the wallet is my favorite accent fabric. I have a purse that I used the polka dots on for trim, a diaper bag for my youngest son uses it as the main fabric, a hair bow and a scrunchie to name a few things that I have made with it. (Do you believe it is my favorite fabric now? lol)

Opening the wallet we find my card pockets. As a reminder to myself, BE WARY OF YOUR SEAM ALLOWENCE! I cut it a little too close on one side of the card pocket, so now I can't get cards to fit properly on that side. Clearly I need to make another one of these wallets so that I can do card slots better. WINK WINK. Lol Upon careful study of my wallet I realized where I went wrong with the card pockets. I should have left the sides open, rather than make a seam and turn it right side out. Doing this is what made my pockets JUST too short in some places. Be sure to NOT do this! Feel free to baste the sides together, as this is what I will be doing next time I make it.

I chose for my fabric the music notes because Ocarina of Time is my favorite Zelda game and one of the prominent features of the game (In fact you can't beat the game without it!) is music. You need to play the ocarina for several different reasons in this game in particular.

For my zipper pocket, I chose to go with the directions of the pattern. I could have gone with two zippers, though after I thought about it, I realized I personally might not use that extra zipper that is all the rage. It turned out to be probably my best zipper pocket to date! Inserting the pocket was a little more of a chore.

Many people use rivets to hold the zipper pocket. I opted to use my sewing machine, as at the moment my husband and I can not find the rivets. Make do with what you have I suppose. I should warn you though, the rivets would have been preferred. I had to rip the seams for at least two of the four connections for not having the pocket inserted deeply enough. I would also like to stress that sewing the flaps down over the card pockets first does make for a cleaner finish.

The fabric of the zipper pocket is the same as the inside of the wallet, Legend of Zelda Wind Waker. Though I am not that found of the art style for the game itself, this fabric makes it look more like stained glass, and that I can get behind! Inside the zipper pocket you will find another fabric, this time a different set of musical notes. I didn't have enough of the other, sadly.

Over all I would most certainly recommend sewing this wallet for yourself. The price point for the pattern is certainly affordable and again the small amount of pages to print makes me a happy lady to say the least! I do plan on making another one at some point, perhaps this time with some Harry Potter fabric! Or it could be interesting as a scrap piece. I just might have to make it for this blog!

Remember to leave your comments below and I will answer them to the best of my ability. If you are seeking a wallet for your own made by me, feel free to message me on Facebook and we will talk shop! Much love to my readers and those that support me in other ways! Also, let me know if there is a specific pattern you would like me to try out for this blog. I am always open to your thoughts! 

The Autumn Log Cabin Throw

This little gem comes to us via Red Heart/Yarnspirations. You can find the free pattern from their website right here: The Autumn Log Cabin Throw. I have made this pattern three times. And I would highly suggest you give it a shot if you have a good grasp on more advanced stitches. I would not recommend this as your first pattern. I used Red Heart Super Saver Yarns as much as possible for all three of these afghans. As the pattern was first released in 2009 (at least as best as I could find) I was working on this first attempt when the pattern was fairly new.

My first foray into this pattern was using as many of the colors that they asked for as I could. I did have to compromise on a few colors. By the time I was constructing this afghan some of the colors had been discontinued. I do believe it was fleck (I think it was called Fiesta) that was discontinued and perhaps the red maybe the orange. I was able to find colors that were close enough at the time.

Upon looking up the pattern, it seems that they have updated the pattern as recent as 2019. Though I can not confirm when it was that they updated the colorway, it is always possible that there was errors in the pattern itself. While the website may be out of stock on a few of the colors, you should be able to find them elsewhere.  They are fairly standard colors found at your local Walmart or craft store such as Joann Fabrics or Michaels.

I can not remember unfortunately what colors I used as this has been over ten years ago. I do however remember the size hook I used. It was an L 8 mm from Susan Bates, the bamboo handled kind. I don't really think the hook company is that important to note, but for those that are curious... I have you covered my friend!

I did have a little trouble with this particular one, if memory serves. However, I will say this was probably the first afghan I made with so many colors, so that may have colored my opinion at the time. No pun intended. (of course I intended it!! Most puns come about because of intent in my experience.) 

I constructed this afghan one square at a time and it felt like it took me FOREVER to finish. Again, this was likely the first afghan with so many colors that I ever made, so bias. (Lol, sewing pun).  

This one has garnered a TON of attention. I posted it on a couple of crochet pages on Face Book and the reactions exploded!! I am not even entirely sure why... Maybe the colors I chose?

Once again I don't remember the EXACT colors I used here, but I do believe some of these colors are discontinued as well unfortunately. I am reasonably certain you can still find the variegated blue that I used and obviously black... But I want to say Dove and Periwinkle are discontinued. (Incase you are unaware, Dove is the variegated grey.)

Once again I used my trusty L 8mm by Susan Bates. Not sponsored, but I am willing to shill for the company as I ADORE these hooks!

This afghan was constructed one COLOR at a time. I finished it much faster this way! I highly suggest you do the same. It helps to work this way as it also helps you remember the pattern for each "L" section of the cabin. It is also quite fun to watch the pile grow "L" by "L".   

I made this one for my dad and step-mom. Their favorite colors are green and purple. Strangely, long before I had anything to do with my step-mom, purple and green were my favorite colors and continue to be as of at least this post. Most likely still afterward.

Mulberry was the center if I remember correctly, and I believe I used lilac as well. Spring green, grass green and forest green I believe are the greens. Buff was used to connect it all. I do hope to be able to find out what colors I used in the future for this blog and future projects. Not just for my own sake but posterity, you know?

My trusty rusty L 8mm was used for this afghan as well. And indeed, though it has been 10 years or more since I first worked on the first of theses afghans, if you hold the three up together they are the same size. I pride myself on my tension.

Once again the construction method was one color at a time. Perhaps it is because I had made it twice before, but I feel as though this one came together the fastest. Streamlining the process as much as possible really does help and can not be said enough. The other perk is that you can buy a couple colors at a time if you are on a budget like myself. I am a firm believer in not braking the bank. 

All in all I can not recommend this pattern enough if you are ready to start a new challenge. It really is a showstopper and looks completely different in the three colorways I went with. Please, do leave me your thoughts on this pattern and also on my blogging capability. I hope to be an easy and fun (hopefully funny and entertaining as well...) blog to read. If they ever allow craft shows again in my neck of the woods, I hope to make this a fourth time with new colors and different stitches to enter in the State Fair or some other competition. Let me know if you have gotten anything out of my ramblings and enjoy your stay here at Crafts By Adrie!

WELCOME!!

 I have decided to start this blog to better show off (and give my proper thoughts on) the projects I am working on.

If you have come here from Facebook, hello! I felt I was not able to properly say what I wanted to say on that platform. I felt as though I didn't have any one reading what I had to say (and goodness knows.... I was certainly not making any sales....) I also felt I had to type in such a fashion that was not typical for me. 

You see.... I like to elaborate on what I have to say, and I felt Facebook was not allowing me to do that. Not that I couldn't, just that what was the point? Nobody was reading my posts... so the shorter the better right?

Anyway... I am getting off topic. 

If you have come here from another platform or search engine... Hello!! This is a place where I can get out my feelings on a pattern I am working on. I WILL NOT give out any patterns that I have not created myself. Instead, if I have any inkling of how I found the pattern, I will leave a link to the tutorial or pattern. Likewise for any paid patterns I may discuss. I WILL however mention (most likely go into great detail, let's call a spade a spade here....) how I have altered the pattern in anyway and why. That is, after all, one of the reasons I have started this.

I suppose I should back up a bit. My name is Adrienne Pritchett and I have been needle crafting since the mid-nineties. I wanted to learn how to crochet and no one in my family knew how, so a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. 

My grandmother took me to Ames and bought me a skein of yarn, a book and a hook. I had to teach myself. At the age of nine. Around that same time I learned to work with plastic canvas. I made a good few boxes. Thus sparked a life long love of yarn and crafting.

I have since ventured into other fiber crafts. Look forward to posts about: Crochet, Knitting, Plastic Canvas, Embroidery/Cross Stitch, Shuttle Tatting, Diamond Painting, Sewing and any other craft that catches my fancy!

Thanks for coming, and enjoy your stay! Maybe I can inspire you to do your own crafting, or maybe you are interested in purchasing something I have made here. Either way, leave a comment! I want to hear from you too!