handmade by stefanie

I've dabbled here and there with cross stitch in recent years, but it's quickly becoming one of my favorite crafts for stress relief during the pandemic. It doesn't take a ton of brain power (at least, not the projects I've been making!), and it's immensely satisfying to transform all those little x's into a pretty picture. Before the pandemic hit, I'd already been working on a project from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery called With Love , which was a fundraiser for the Australian Bush Fires. It became one of my first shelter-in-place finishes, and after finishing it up, I was hungry for more cross stitch! While spring cleaning, I came across a small project kit I'd forgotten about and decided to use some of my own floss, sparkly aida cloth, and a nicer frame (so, basically, just the pattern....kinda defeats the purpose of a project kit I guess!!) to stitch it up: Then, on Star Wars Day (aka May the 4th), I couldn't resist impulse buying this ...

Let me preface this post by saying that my sewing skills are just so-so (sew-sew?)....in fact, at the beginning of March a friend had sent me a link about sewing face masks and all I could think as I read it was, "never in a million years could I do that!" But now, two months into our SIP, I have a new obsession: sewing face masks for virtually everyone I know. It started with my sister, who lives in Portland, OR, asking if I would mind trying to sew her something she could wear on site visits (she's an architect) - she'd been wearing a bandanna because they live in a hot spot and face masks are in short supply. Since I own a sewing machine, I figured it was worth a shot, even if it was a huge disaster. So I dug out my meager fabric stash, found some elastic tucked away with my other notions, and watched some the video tutorial which accompanies this free sewing pattern . Then I dusted off my sewing machine to make her a mask....and while I was at it, I figured, why...