It's Tutorial Tuesday! Make a recycled wool bow in under 5 minutes!

This is such a versatile and easy project. These take me under 5 minutes to make, but look so nice! Ready to learn how to make these yourself? First you cut your pieces of felted wool. You can tweak this to get different sizes, but for this tutorial I used 7" x 2 1/2" for the main piece, and 1 1/2" x 1/2" for the small piece.




Once you have your pieces cut, take the main piece and fold it in half. Sew the 2 ends together. It doesn't matter what the stitching looks like, because you won't be able to see it when your bow is complete.

Leave the needle/thread attached, and move the sewn seam to the center.




 Now fold the width of the bow in half, so the seam is facing you, and the ends are facing away.



 Now, while keeping the center pinched, fold the sides back toward the seam. The middle should resemble a W.



Now, while keeping that "W" pinched in the middle, wrap the small strip tightly around the center and sew into place.

 Now flip it over and voila! You have a bow!



 From here there are endless things you can do with your bow. Sew a hair rubberband to the back for a hair bow...



 

 Sew a loop of elastic to the back and slide it onto your dog's collar. I apologize for the bad pictures... Spots was not being a cooperative model ;) ...

 

 and of course you can use this as a classy bow tie too! Just sew a small strip of wool, or fabric, to the back, to go around the neck, with a little velcro at each end. My child model declined this photo op, so this picture will have to do, but it's much cuter on an actual boy ;)...

 

You can use these bows to embelish purses, presents, barrettes... you name it! Watch out though. Once you start making them, you cant stop!

 I never mind anyone blogging, tweeting, Facebooking, Pinning, etc. any of my tutorials, but please always link back to my blog, instead of cutting/pasting the tutorial to somewhere else. Thanks, and enjoy! :)

Resweater craft show right here!

I am not doing craft shows anymore, for a variety of reasons, but I still have inventory to sell, so I am having a craft show right here on my blog! My prices all include shipping (free shipping on everything to the continental US!), and are lower than my craft show prices, so get 'em while they last! Take an additional $1 off each item after the first (example: buy 5 items, and get an additional $4 off)! Please excuse any wrinkles or wonkiness... these items have been in storage totes since my last craft show, but will come back to life with use! :)

If you wish to purchase something(s), please email me ( resweatercontacts [at] gmail [dot] com ) with the item #(s), brief description, and an email address to send the Paypal invoice to. Please understand that I cannot hold these items. If you want them, please pay right away. Thanks!


recycled wool and cashmere ornaments, handmade by me.  $5 for the first one, ($4 per additional, when you take off the $1 per item). Please specify whether you'd like Christmas colors, girly colors, earthy colors, colorful, or "surprise me"...
 Item #1

recycled wool dryer balls. These are handmade by me from recycled wool. These naturally help your laundry dry faster, reduce static, and soften your laundry. These eliminate the need for chemical laden dryer sheets and laundry softener. These pay for themselves in the energy they save, and the products they replace, plus they make a unique gift for those hard to shop for people on your list! I will do my best to fill color requests, but I am limited to what I have on hand. $10 each or $18/pair (pair counts as 1 item for $1 off discount). Using these in pairs is recommended.
Item # 2

Throw pillows (approximately 11"-13" square). All covers (removeable) handmade by me, made from recycled wool or recycled cashmere. The pillow inserts inside are new, prices below pictures....

#3 lavender cashmere with travel trailer (like Scamp) wool applique, $25
#4 gray wool with sheep applique, $18 [sold]
#5 brown wool with sock monkey applique, $18 [sold]
#6 purple owl with feet, $18 [sold]  This one is sold, but I do have a similar owl pillow in taupe/browns. You can see a picture of it here.
#7 aqua cashmere with travel trailer applique, $25 [sold]
#8 red winged black bird [was a bad camera angle- is not crooked], $15


#9  green and plum lambswool fair isle, $10
#10 neutrals patterned merino wool, $10 [sold]
#11 green with stripes lambswool, $10 [sold]
#12 blue/gray plaid merino wool, $10
#13 red/green patterned wool, $10 [sold]
#14 green paisley wool, $10 [sold]


#15 red fair isle lambswool
#16 red/green patterned wool, $10

Recycled wool and cashmere "funky hats". These are stretchy, so they fit a variety of head sizes. Some of the headbands are looser and best for adults only, but I think you can tell in the pictures which ones are. If in doubt, just email me and ask. Wool are $10, cashmere are $13...

 

#17 blue/pink fair isle/green, #18 cream/green fair isle/green, #19 purple/coral/pink
#20 gold/multi/moss [sold], #21 navy/orange/navy [Bears colors!], #22 tan/fair isle/magenta [sold]

 
  [these are all wool, $10]
#23 black/blue snowflakes/gray [sold], #24 tan/orange stripe/green, #25 green/purple/orange stripe
#26 pink/striped/pink, #27 lavender/striped/purple [sold], #28 blue/red & pink/purple


[these are all wool, $10]
#29 purple/striped/coral striped, #30 brown/multi/gold, #31navy/orange/navy [Bear's colors!]
#32 cream/fair isle/tan, #33 tan/fair isle/magenta, #34 lavender/stripes/tan


[these are all wool, $10]
#35 tan/brown stripe/brown, #36 cream/green fair isle/gray, #37 maroon/patterned/maroon
#38 maroon/patterned/navy, #39 blue/striped/gray, #40 rust/brown fair isle/brown


[these are all cashmere, $13]
#41 brown/pink argyle/pink, #42 light orange/orange/tan, #43 magenta/pink/raspberry [sold]
#44 raspberry/stripe/dk. pink, #45 plum/pink/pink argyle, #46 tan/coral/brown

Recycled wool and cashmere mittens. These are one size, and tend to run big, so not great for tiny hands, but great for average to large sized hands. Each pair comes with a pair of "mitten doublers", which are removable inside liners (wool for the wool mittens, and cashmere for the cashmere mittens), or take off $3 if you do not want the doublers. $15/pair for wool or $18/pair for cashmere ($12 and $15 without the doublers). I only have 2 pairs of cashmere doublers, so when those are sold out you can either use wool doublers in the cashmere mittens or buy them without the doublers.

 [wools: shorter style on top row, longer style on bottom row]
#47 coral/tan/green, #48 multi/pink/blue [sold], #49 blue fair isle/green/blue
#50 maroon orange stripe/blue/orange, #51 navy pink stripe/navy/pink, #52 pink fair isle/lt green/green


  [wools: shorter style on top row, longer style on bottom row]
 #53 blue stripe/navy/maroon, #54 purple/pink/blue, #55 aqua/green/purple
 #56 green/maroon/tan, #57 multi stripe/tan/tan, #58 stripe/brown/burgundy



[wools: shorter style on top row, longer style on bottom row. Example of mitten doublers on right]
#59 green/coral/pink, #60 multi stripe/plum/gray
#61 blue stripe/gray/green [sold], #62 gray/green/pink

















[cashmere: shorter style on top row & bottom left, longer style on bottom row right]
#63 maroon/magenta/maroon, #64 green/moss/coral, #65 moss/yellow/moss,
 #66 yellow/moss/yellow, #67 blue/blue/gray, #68 maroon/plum/gray,
#69 yellow/tan/tan

Recycled merino wool runner's mittens. These thin, soft, breathable, moisture wicking mittens are perfect for runners. These versatile mittens are also great for errand running, and can also be used as an inside lining for other mittens. $10/pair

#70 tan, #71 tan, #72 gray, #73 black, #74 charcoal

Recycled wool draft stoppers (place on threshhold to keep drafts from coming in), filled with recycled wool scraps for natural insulation, all 40-45" long. $12.

[***pictures of draft stoppers to come soon***]

#75 scrappy gray/burgundy/fair isle, #76 brown/ends look like cut logs, #77 scrappy brown/gray/patterned, #78 scrappy rust/brown/striped

#79 scrappy with gray bug face, #80 scrappy with blue bug face


Please don't hesitate to email me with any questions... ( resweatercontacts [at] gmail [dot] com ) !

It's Tutorial Tuesday! Make a recycled wool bike seat cover!

I went for a bike ride the other day, and though the rest of me felt great, my bum was too warm! I of course thought of breathable, moisture wicking wool, and got to work!



First, take a piece of paper & make a template for the seat top, making sure to add on about 1/4" all around for seam allowance.


Now, using that template, cut out a piece of felted wool. You will also need a strip of wool long enough to go all the way around your seat piece. You probably won't have a long enough piece to do that, so just sew 2 pieces together, like I did, then join the ends, so it makes a complete circle. You will want this to be about 1" deeper than the bike seat's side.


Now you will want to sew the circular piece to the seat piece, wrong sides out.


It should look something like this when you are done doing that...


Now you will need some elastic. Please note: I like to use what I have on hand, so I used a thick piece of elastic, but a thinner piece of elastic would have worked much better than what I used. Stretch the elastic while you zig zag stitch it to the [not stretched] wool edge. You will be sewing it to the outside edge (the "wrong" side of the wool).


When you are done going all the way around, you can flip it right side out, and it should look like this...


Now it's time to put you cover on your bike seat! If you used the right elastic & stretched it enough while sewing, you should be done. If your cover ended up not tight enough, like below (because I used too thick elastic), there is an easy solution.


Take the cover back off, flip it inside out and sew closed the skinny part, like this...


When you flip it right side out again, it should resemble a goofy looking slipper.


Now when you slip it back on the bike seat, it should look perfect!


I tested it out with a long bike ride, and it works great! No more plastic seat sweat (yuck!)! It also looks cute with my water bottle cozie :).

It's What I've Been Working on Wednesday- insulated thermos cover... with a tail!

You know something like this has to have a story, right? Well, it does :). My brother in law likes go out on his front porch in the evening. Lately there's been a skunk hanging around the front of the house at night, so he's been worried about being sprayed while he's out there. My niece (his daughter), who is such a fun & funny person, couldn't resist pulling a prank on him with her boyfriend. They took a realistic stuffed animal skunk, attached fishing line to it, and strung it through a tree. When they moved it around, my b-i-l panicked and tried to get in the front door. They locked it. And video taped it. LOL!

Anyhoo, they had asked me a while back to make a cover for his thermos, since his coffee was going cold too quickly. Because of the handle and strap, I used a cardigan, so it could be buttoned around the handle.



I couldn't resist adding the tail ;).

It's Tutorial Tuesday! Make a no-sew recycled wool tea bag organizer!

I have recently been diagnosed with gerd (reflux), so my diet has gone through some major changes. One of the biggest was switching from coffee to tea. Since I have not been a tea drinker in the past, I have been trying lots & lots of different teas to see what I like best, but now I have tea everywhere! I Googled around looking for a diy tea organizer, but didn't really find any, so I created my own! This is so quick & easy, and there is no sewing required! Ready for the tutorial?

Remember when you felted a sweater so stiffly that you couldn't use it for anything? Go get that sweater! You will need some heavily felted (the stiffer, the better!) wool, and a container. I used a small organic lettuce container. It seemed like the perfect size, I like that it was clear, and I liked that I was reusing something. Now, cut a piece of the wool to the length & height of your container. If the bottom corners of your container are rounded, make the bottom corners of your wool pieces rounded.


Now cut a slit halfway through the height, in thirds. Just measure your length, divide by three, and cut. For example, if your piece is 6", you will want to make a slit every 2".


Now cut 2 pieces to the width & height of your container, then cut your slit halfway, in the center of each.


Now you just slide these 2 pieces over the longer piece, marrying the slits together (slits will be facing up on the longer piece, and down on the smaller pieces. Place this inside the container.


You are done! It will look a little wonky like that until you put the tea bags in, when it will look like this...


You don't need to, but if you don't like it looking wonky while empty, you can simply reinforce it with a few hand stitches, and it will look like this...


The clear container allows you to see what is in there from every angle.


The beauty of using recycled wool, instead of something hard, for the dividers, is that they can form to space you need for each section... a little more than full, or a little less than full. I really love this, and I will make another, so I have one for the caffeinated, and one for the herbal decafs.

I hope you find this as useful as I do! As an added bonus, wool is moisture wicking, and will help keep your tea fresh!


And now, a shameless plug for a referral code :) ! I buy most of my tea, along with natural hair products, and health foods from Vitacost. They seem to always have the lowest price on what i'm looking for, they often have free shipping deals (shipping on orders over $50 is always free), and with referral credits, are cheapest by far! If you order through my referral code, both you & I each get a $10 credit with no minimum to purchase! For your $10 credit, simply click here!