DIY Crochet Cactus

I love having little plants to care for and look at, but my desk at work is not close to a window with direct sunlight. I'm not very good at keeping plants alive, so without good light, I didn't want to take a risk and bring in a nice plant that would potentially not survive! So I decided to crochet my own, inspired by this project.

Using little scraps of yarn, I made a green cactus body, reddish orange flower, yellow flower, and brown dirt. I sewed them all together to make the plant.

I didn't have a little flowerpot to fit it all, so I cut the front and back of a magazine into strips, which I glued together and wound into a spiral. I pushed out the spiral to shape my bowl, and then used clear nail polish to secure the whole thing in place.

The crochet cactus fits perfectly into the bowl, but I decided not to glue them together in case I ever wanted to switch out the bowl. This little creation fits perfectly with my theme of little happy things around my desk, such as my putitto series pug dog from my sister, baby cow, mini origami cranes, a lotus, and a kusudama. I also have my name banner hanging up in the corner of my cube.

<3 Mandy

DIY Mini Backpack

I've always wanted a mini backpack for day trips and festivals -- something not too bulky like a school backpack, but also something bigger than a purse to fit essentials such as a water bottle and sweater. Inspired by the adorable Fjallraven Kanken backpacks, and building off of instructions from withWendy's blog and video (which I probably rewatched a hundred times), I decided to make my own!


This was my first project using a (my new!!) sewing machine. Here's how I made it, in captions:

some materials

measuring fabric to cut

components of the outside of the green backpack

sewing the front zipper onto a small pocket

removing prongs from zipper to resize

creating a flap to hide the zipper

hidden zipper

back side of the front pocket

folding triangles to pop out the front pocket

front pocket flipped inside-out

detail of sewn triangles to pop out the front pocket

pinning down the pocket onto the front piece

sewn upper handle

sewn straps of handle

handle sewn in half

completed handle

inside lining and front piece

sewn together, inside-out

completed front piece of backpack

added matching lining to front pocket

lined front pocket

 

sewing the front pocket onto the front piece

using old pajama pants to create thick padding for back

padding cut to size and sewn onto back piece and inside lining

attached front handle to front piece, with zipper pocket

inside view of front piece

outside view of front piece

adding handle with long straps to back piece

secured straps

crossed back of handle

inside view of secured handle

adding backpack strap adjusters to bottom strap pieces

straps sewn in place

pinning the double zipper in place

top and sides panel of backpack

front of zipper sewn in place

adding the long side piece to other side of zipper

pinning side piece in place

zipper lined up

completely sewn parts to zipper

zipper lined up and fitted in place

pinning down flap to hide side zipper

sewing in place

bottom/inside view

adding the bottom piece of backpack

sewn in place with matching lining, careful to sew over straps

completed backpack

backpack held by handles

inside view of open backpack

clean inside lining

added snap buttons to hold backpack flat (but not strong enough)

added velcro to straps to hold closed

And that's my completed backpack project! It took about a week to make, with long hours put in. It's the perfect mini backpack for day trips or festivals, and actually fits a lot inside (including my water bottle)! The only problems I have with it are that the double-zipper actually doesn't work that smartly because there is a pull on either end of the zipper, so you can only open it from the left or right, rather than both pulls being together, to be able to open the backpack from anywhere along the sides or top. Also, if the bag is too full, it looks really big instead of being held flat, which is helped by the addition of the velcro strap, but at the same time I am afraid to overstuff it and break it. Overall, I'm proud of my work on my first sewing machine project, and had fun following withwendy's cute instructional video.

<3 Mandy