Wednesday, February 2, 2011

It's What I've Been Working on Wednesday! Pillows, pillows, pillows!


Making those pillows last week were so much fun, that I made more! What do you think? I think i'll be selling these throw pillows at my craft shows this year. Any advice or suggestions on these is welcome! What other animals would you like to see?

My owls...



my sheep....


This is a red winged blackbird that did not turn out well. My husband refers to it as "the black bird in flames", lol. I think if I do a red winged blackbird again I will be making the wings more subtle & off to the sides, like the owls' wings.


I had a sweater that I know is alpaca, but didn't have a tag on it, so into my personal stash it went. My feet were extra cold yesterday, so I made myself another pair of slippers (I think I have enough now, lol). They are SO soft & warm!


I also starting making a batch of dryer balls, and here they are in their various unfinished stages...


Boy am I productive during blizzards! What have you been working on this week? Feel free, as always, to show off your finished recycled wool projects on my Facebook page!

27 comments:

Mallory said...

I LOVE the sheep pillows! So adorable!

Resweater said...

Thanks! I'm partial to the sheep myself :)

Carpenters said...

These are so cute. You are so creative with your uses of old sweaters. Thanks so much for the inspiration. I've been meaning to ask you. Do your dryer balls help with static?

Resweater said...

Thanks! Yes, my dryer balls cut down on static, as much as dryer sheets do.

teekaroo said...

Blackbird in flames...hehe. I love the sheep too.

Susan said...

I like the round sheep pillow the best. I think you could make a cow pillow like your round sheep pillow, but with nice big black splotches, and maybe even a little bell on its neck. A pig would work well too with that round shape. And put a little curly tail on the back side.

Resweater said...

Great ideas, Susan! I was already thinking about a cow, but didn't think of a bell... brilliant! I like the round sheep best too :)

Jilly Lovett said...

What about a cat's face or a cat curled up in a rounded shape. People are mad for cats! Non-cat-lovers would be surprised just what big sellers cat-themed things are...

Anne Magee said...

Love the owls and the redwing blackbird! And the sheep... and the balls... love them all! (I am partial to the owls, as you know!) Thanks for the inspiration! I may have to finally cut up some of my felted sweaters!

Unknown said...

i love them all! so cute.

Resweater said...

Thanks!

Jilly, I was thinking of a kitty face pillow, but I like the idea of a cat curled up one better. I'll have to come up with a design. You're right about cat themed things being popular.

LBB said...

So cute! The sheep are my favorite. But it seems like everyones into owls right now. Every time I make an owl tote for my shop it seems to sell right away.

Anonymous said...

Do you have an etsy page?

Resweater said...

Anonymous, I don't have an Etsy shop. I have an Artfire shop for my sweaters...

resweater.artfire.com

...and a shop, where I am only selling dryer balls at the moments...

resweateretc.artfire.com

...but my products are sold at local craft shows. If you are interested in anything you see on one of my "What I've Been Working on Wednesday" posts, you can email me at krisnstevep(at)netzero(dot)com.

Anjou Krelovich said...

Oooh, your pillows are so cute. And love the dryer balls.... are those sweater scraps? Does that work? I've got a huge scrap box I don't know what to do with!

Jean Marie said...

Hi Kris, You asked what we've been working on. I am stuck and need your expertise in felting!! I found a huge handknitted 100% wool sweater from Ecuador (tag inside stated so, with instructions to Dry Clean Only) for $1.50 at a thrift store half-price sale! Its gorgeous with lots of colors in stripes and shapes. (I don't know how to download photos from my camera to the computer or I would show you it--very tech behind! :( Anyhow, I decided to felt it and make it into a tote bag, but I have washed it 8 times and it has only felted a little!!!!!!! I put in a pair of old canvas shoes to try to get it to agitate more, but it still is floppy and I can mostly see the knit stitches. Should I give up, or keep trying? Thank you for all your great ideas on your blog, and for your help! :)

Unknown said...

love everything you do.. never thought using wool scraps for the dryer balls..how many times do you wash them to felt

Resweater said...

Anjou, yes, I make my dryer balls with scraps. I explain how I make them in this post:

http://resweater.blogspot.com/2009/12/christmas-gifts-i-made-dryer-balls.html

Jean Marie, Sometimes you can still see the knit stitches when it is felted. Try taking a snip with scissors at a seam you were planning to cut anyway, and pull at it a little with your fingers to see if it unravels. It may already be felted. If not... sometimes that just happens. It's not common, but every now and then a sweater just doesn't want to felt :(

Funkyluke, usually I only wash them once before cutting them into strips, but when the dryer balls are completed I like to run them through at least one more hot wash to felt them up a little more & test their durability.

J. Anthony Stubblefield said...

I felted some thrift store sweaters and cut up and felted some wool blazers. Now just to get busy and make something out of them! (I was making small wreaths out of the felted sweaters and have been making pin cushions out of the felted blazers)

Tony

Anudja said...

I love the owls! The little feet are ever so cute! I think you could do a dog too. Big floppy ears along with the face.

Resweater said...

Tony, I keep wanting to make some pincushions... I saw some that were on the lid of a jar that I want to try.

Anudja, yes, a dog pillow would be cute... i'll have to try that!

Unknown said...

Hey, I love your blog. Do you have any instructions on how to make those awesome slippers. I love them. I want to make myself some.

Unknown said...

Hey girl I love your blog. I love those slippers. Do you have instructions for your readers. I would really like to try my hand making those. Never done it before but looks like fun.

Resweater said...

stariedawn, Thanks! The slippers are pretty easy. I posted a Tutorial Tuesday with them a while back:

http://resweater.blogspot.com/2010/02/tutorial-tuesday-super-easy-slippers.html

Unknown said...

Hey friend. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the owl pillows..did I say i LOVE them! I would LOVE to buy some from you if you have some :) email me
dust

Dinah said...

I would love to buy a sheep pillow -- please email me

Resweater said...

Hi Dinah, You didn't leave your email :). At this time, I don't have any of the sheep pillows left, and won't be making any for a while. I just got a new sewing machine & need to learn it, and have a few projects piled up. When I start sewing stuff to sell again, I will post it on my blog.
Thanks for the interest!
Kris :)