It's What I've Been Working on Wednesday!

I have been working on the camper every spare minute. Jack has nature camp for a couple of hours in the morning this week, so I have been able to get a lot of sewing in. I have completed the curtains, and have made covers for the bunk beds. I had enough of the curtain fabric to make a pillowcase for Jack's pillow. These pictures do not do the colors justice! They look so much better in real life. The orange isn't as dark in real life, and the colors of the curtain fabric are brighter, and not as washed out looking.



The curtains are not uneven... I put a panel from the other window up by accident. All the panels are on the correct windows now, but i'm too lazy to retake pictures ;).


Here's a closer look at the fabric:




Now to get all the other cushions made!

It's What I've Been Working On Wednesday!

While I was on my hiatus, I bought a little Scamp travel trailer (virtual tour here). I have a feeling that the next few What I've Been Working on Wednesday posts will be all about the things I will be making for it, like a recycled wool throw pillow...



It turned out a little wonky, but it'll be fine for the camper.

I was lucky to find this great fabric at a local garage sale.



It was perfect for making a fitted tablecloth for the camper table!



I bought a lot of it, so I made a fitted tablecloth for our kitchen table too.



The material for the camper curtains is on it's way, and I can't wait to make them!

Resweater is on hiatus!

I love blogging, and doing all things Resweater, but I feel like I need a break from schedules (even self imposed ones) for a short time. I will be taking a little break for about 2 weeks, where I will not be posting at all, not even Sweater Sunday. For a week, I may even put my shop on vacation mode for a short time. Please feel free to email me (krisnstevep *at* netzero *dot* com) if you have any questions or anything. I'm still available. I just need a couple of schedule free weeks.

It's Tutorial Tuesday! Recycled wool tanagram magnets

Here's a great project for kids! Kids can make these themselves, or they can be made for kids. Tanagrams are educational & fun! To start you will need some felted wool scraps. You can use all the same color, or use different colors. You will also need some magnets. I used magnets from junk mail.



You'll want to peel as much of the paper labels off as possible, so the magnet is less weighed down, and so the glue will stick better. You don't have to get all of it off... just what you can.



Now you'll need everything in the picture below (tanagram pattern, scissors to cut the magnets & the wool, Elmer's glue, and a Q tip), then you are ready to get started!



Click on the picture below to enlarge the tanagram pattern, and you can print it, or you can go here to find a really large one, if you prefer.



Cut your tanagram pieces out, and use them as patterns to cut out the shapes from your magnets.



Now take your Q tip and thickly spread some Elmer's glue over the entire shape, and press it into the scrap.



You will need to make 2 of the parallelogams, but one of everything else is fine. With wooden tanagram sets, you are able to turn the parallelograms over to use the other side. Since these are magnets, you won't have that option, so you want 2 of them to represent both sides. Did that make sense?



Once the glue is dry, you can cut out your shapes.



Now you can head on over to the fridge or steel baking sheet to play! I made 2 sets, one in different colors, and one with just one color. I prefer the one color, but the choice is yours! Sorry for the terrible pictures, but the lighting in our kitchen is awful.





Here are some tanagram problems, and solutions that you can click on to go to & print. I suggest giving the solutions page to smaller children, and the problems page to older children.



To learn more about tanagrams, why they are so great, to get more patterns, etc, go here!

Not sure if the kiddos will be interested, think you're kiddos will ruin them, or just want to make this super easy? Just cut them out of cardboard instead. If they destroy them, you can always throw them in the recycling & make another set!

It's What I've Been Working on Wednesday!

Since my fitted table cloth from last week went over so well in our house, I made another one! I bought this cute cowboy print (Alexander Henry "Buckaroos", in case you wanted to know) at a garage sale a few years back, intending to make something fun for Jack's room, but he never went through a cowboy phase, and I never could think of something cute to make with it. It is perfect as a kitchy kitchen accessory though! It has been a fun conversation piece at meal times, with my son reading, and laughing at, the names of the cowboys.



I had some of the fabric left over, so I made napkins to go with! This is my first time making napkins, so i'm rather proud of the fact they are the same shape I intended them to be ;). For some reason, it really delighted my son to have napkins that matched that tablecloth, so I was happy to oblige.



So sorry there was no wool in my post this week. I'll work on something wool this week... I promise!

ps. I see some recycled wool projects incorporating crocheting in my future! My son has been asking for knitting lessons for a while now, and I haven't been able to find any, but some classes became available at my local Joann Fabrics. I was going to sign us up for knitting, but the woman suggested crocheting, because it is easier to learn. I signed us up & bought the supplies! I have never knit or crocheted... is it really easier to crochet?

So, what have you been working on?

It's Tutorial Tuesday! t shirt boxer briefs or wool soaker boxers

Today's tutorial is originally for making boxer briefs for boys out of t-shirts, but you can also use the pattern to make boxer-style wool soakers! Today's tutorial comes to us from Nancy's Couture blog (thanks, Nancy!), an awesome blog for anyone that sews! For the tutorial & pattern for the t-shirt boxer briefs, head on over here. Thanks, Nancy!!

Now if you are using this pattern to make wool soakers, I recommend going a size up from what they would wear in the underwear in all the measurements except the leg width. I also made the waistbands from sweater ribbing, instead of elastic. What's nice about these is you can make 2 of crotch & rear end pieces to make a doubled up soaker area. I did 2 layers, and after I sewed each crotch seam, I faced them in, so there was no uncomfortable crotch seam on the inside of the soaker (did that make sense?). I did make a mistake though, and forgot to use the hem of the sweater for the bottoms of the legs on the first pair, but since it is felted, it doesn't look bad. I think they came out really cute, and look a lot less "diaper cover" than regular soakers for your bigger kiddos that just need a night time solution.

Off Topic Thursday - gardening, running, decluttering & more

I'm not going to post Off Topic Thursday here anymore. I'm going to try to keep this blog strictly recycled wool/sewing related. I have another blog, On A Side Note, that I use to blog about other things i'm doing/interested in, so that will help me keep things separate. On that blog I talk about my garden (i'm always looking for advice on that!), running (again, i'm always looking for advice!), garage sale finds, and my current "hobby", decluttering, you name it! I'll have an accountability post each Wednesday for the decluttering, and one on Thursday for my running. I'll even post when there's a pig in my strawberry patch!