Mel Gross Designs – the Creative Log

Creative Projects of April & June

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These have been a pretty crafty couple of months! Here’s a round-up of all the projects I’ve worked on recently:

1. Portable Loose-Thread Catcher

I saw this project on social media and followed its blog post to put it together. The instructions are very clear and I love the results. Shoutout to ‘Thread Therapy’. I like that it is portable and practical; I bring it along when embroidering or doing other craft projects out and about. For next time, I would make sure to sew the cardboard ring really tight in there to prevent it from moving.

2. Pins & Needles Pillow

To match my thread catcher, I created this little (or not so little) pillow for my pins and needles. I made quite a few mistakes along the way – including sewing my Sashiko design inside out! Thankfully, it’s beautiful on both sides lol. It is also a bit too big, but that’s not necessarily bad. It still came out cute and functional. I’m thinking of working on an improved version of these couple of items to gift my mom soon.

3. Cat’s bed

I’ve crocheted a cat bed for my 3 cats a while ago, and they love it so much that I thought I should crochet a few more. It’s nice and easy, as well as pretty mindless. However, I did try to improve on my first design a bit: instead of crocheting 2 circles and one doughnut shape and sewing these together, I shaped the bag as I was crocheting it this time. Growing the walls up from the edges of the base circle, then cornering out and back down, building the top of the wall, and finally connecting back to the bottom edge of the circle. I stuffed the wall up with soft filling material as I crocheted this last step. I think this design is better because there’s no sowing, but the bottom/pillow of the bed is not as soft or structured as the first design. Also, I made this bed too small. My cats have tried it out a couple of times, and honestly, they fit fine, but it is a bit of a tight fit. I have more of this yarn, which I’ll use to build another one, bigger and more structured.

4. Scarf

Another easy crochet project: a very long pink scarf! Oh, this thread was so beautiful at the store. I could not help myself. First ,I thought of making a vest out of it, but I wasn’t too sure on the design, and I’ve been wanting a pink scarf. I super love the results, and I have been wearing it quite a bit already! I think it’s the perfect length (even though it felt way too long when crocheting it!).

One problem I have with it is that ir curls up. I’m not sure if it has to do with my technique (like perhaps my tension) or if it’s just a matter of blocking the piece out. Either way, I’m probably not going to do anything about it.

5. Clothes fix up

Since I got my sewing machine, I’ve been slowly fixing up a bunch of my clothes. I’ve recently split this dress into a two-piece, took out a patch from a sweater, made some pants shorter, fitted a skirt, and a dress! Here are some of the results

6. ‘Indian-Thread’ Scarf

I was gifted this beautiful, soft, and shiny thread by my mother-in-law from her recent trip to India. As a way to show my gratitude I crocheted her this scarf with some of the thread. It turned out a bit shorter than I was hoping for, but I think she will like it. It is way softer than I expected.

7. Figure drawing meetups

I recently started going back to my local figure-drawing meetings. Read more about these past two events here:

Long-poses day

2.5hr pose

8. Woodblock printing progress

I’ve been consistently working on my Pool project and documenting it all in my “Xilo Diaries” series. You can read more about it through these links:

Check all woodblock posts

See my latest studio visit