Sunday, December 15, 2013

The last craft show!






My last craft show went well. I didn't sell nearly as much as I was hoping for, but I did well, considering the low turnout. It was snowing during the whole show, and I think people were just not willing to venture out. Oh, well! I still had a lot of fun :). My craft show neighbors were all so fun to talk to, and a friend brought me lunch and hung out with me for a while (thanks, Brooke!)

 One of my craft show neighbors, Cara (the one on the right), of 23 Bins, makes and sells these wonderful recycled wool tunics, and tops. She is so fun and cool!

She doesn't sell them online, but if you are local, and want to contact her about her next show/shows, you can email her. I don't want to post her email here, so she doesn't get spam, but contact me if you want her email.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

My son's cowl

 I finally am willing to admit that winter is here, and dug out the rest of our winter accessories. I pulled out the neck cowl I made for my son when he was 4 (now 8), and he exclaimed "I love that thing! Thank you so much for making that for me, Mama!", and immediately put it on. It doesn't get much better than that! :)

He won't model for me anymore, so these pics of it will have to do ;)! The outside is pieced together from lambswool scraps, and the inside is lined with cashmere.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

It's Tutorial Tuesday! Make a recycled wool dog bed!

 

This project takes under an hour to make, from start to finish, and your pet will thank you! Why wool for a pet bed? Wool is insulated, so it keeps your pet warm n' cozy when it's cold, and cooler when it's warm. Wool is naturally hypoallergenic and has antibacterial properties, so unlike other materials that absorb dirt and odors, wool resists them! These will not fall apart when you wash them, like the cheap ones in the pet stores, and because they don't hold odors, you won't need to wash them nearly as often. Another great reason... pets love wool! If you lay a wool blanket and a cotton blanket side by side, my dog will always choose the wool! Convinced, and ready for the tutorial?

I had a couple of sweaters that just wouldn't felt (shrink up), even though they said "dry clean only" and are 100% wool. It happens. Sometimes I come across "superwash" and "washable wool" sweaters too. These won't felt. Since I can't use them for felt projects, I decided to come up with a way to use them in their whole form... pet beds!

First, take 2 non-felting wool sweaters (you can use sweaters that may felt, but you will have to take care when washing your pet bed, so it doesn't shrink up on you! I have learned that if I use my "wool cycle" on my washing machine, my projects will not felt any further). Fold them into a rectangle shape, with the arms on the inside, smoothing them out as best as you can, so your bed is flat.

 


Now that you have your 2 sweaters arranged in a bed-ish shape, baste stitch (big stitches sewn by hand) all around, so that the sleeves don't move around and make the bed lumpy. I know... it's not pretty ;). Don't worry, you'll be making the cover next!




 Now you will want to make a cover for bed. Cut a pattern out of paper that is a rectangle, slightly bigger than your bed insert, about 1/2" bigger all around.



For the cover, I used part of a felted wool blanket. If your pet bed is small enough, and your sweater is big enough, you might be able to use the front and back panels of a felted sweater instead. Now cut out your cover, using your pattern piece. If you are using a blanket, like I did, you can just cut it twice the width, and fold over the one side, so you have one less seam to make. Once your pieces (or piece) is cut out, sew all sides, except for one.

 

Now place your bed inside the cover. Once it is inside you can sew a quick baste stitch from the bed to the cover,  in each corner, to prevent the bed from moving around inside the cover.




 Now just sew up the last side! I hand sewed it, so I could tuck the edges in and make a seam. My machine wouldn't have been able to handle that many layers.

I promise it's not as wonky as it looks in this picture ;). I have no idea why it doesn't look rectangular, but it is! Maybe because the pattern wasn't symmetrical once the blanket was felted.

 

Now it was time to test it out on Spots! She inspected it thoroughly...



... and she approved (that blur at the top of the picture is a happy tail!)!

 

If you don't have any non felting wool, and want to make this project, I will send 2 non-felting sweaters for free to anyone that buys a wool blanket from my shop! Just let me know in checkout that you want the sweaters.


Monday, December 2, 2013

Sweater Monday is postponed this week :(

Due to technical difficulties (my clumsy, tired self spilling coffee on my laptop this morning), Sweater Monday will be postponed this week :(.  I have a second laptop, but it has no photo program, so I don't have my sweater pictures to upload at the moment. One way or another, i'll be up & running again in the next day or 2, and will send out the Sweater Monday reminder email to those on the list when I post this weeks sweaters. Thank you for patience & understanding in my time of stupidity and carelessness :).