Bag of the Week 8

Felted Wool Purses

A few years ago I was really into felting hand knit items.  My husband’s aunt raised sheep, and I had a lovely supply of Icelandic wool yarn which was not only beautiful but had sentimental meaning as well.  It was a dream to knit and felted beautifully.  The other thing I love about felting is that it makes my sometimes-not-too-perfect knitting less apparent.  Felting hides a multitude of sins. 

The first thing that I knit for felting was a hat (which is the subject for another post in the future – the before and after pictures are hilarious).  I then switched to purses and made quite a few.  I primarily used two patterns by Fiber Trends and was able to create unique looks by varying the type of novelty yarn I incorporated into the wool as I knit.

These two bags were created using the pattern called Party Purses.

I used naturally colored Icelandic wool for the body of the bags and added Lion Brand Fun Fur in at the top (the dark purse used three colors of Fun Fur all knit together).  The knit bags start out much larger than the finished ones – as the wool felts and shrinks it compresses the eyelash yarn, making a nice, dense trim.  The bags were felted in a lingerie bag using my top-loading washing machine and Wool Wash soap by Eucalan.  

The handles of the purses were both created with additional yarn twisted into a thick cord using a tool called the Spinster.

All of the cold weather we’ve been having has me thinking about knitting wool again.  Good thing I’ve still got some of that wonderful Icelandic in my stash.

Clothespin Chic

Why is it that items larger or smaller than expected have so much appeal?  When I saw the oversized clothespins in the Oriental Trading Company catalog I knew I had to have them. 

I covered them with tissue paper and turned them into stylish little display easels.  They can be used in the kitchen to hold a recipe card or elsewhere to display pictures or other works of art.  The technique for the transformation is super simple and I've written a tutorial with more pictures.  Have fun creating your own.

The Criss-Cross Top

When I describe myself as a sewist, I typically say that I am primarily a garment maker.  This is a bit ironic given I haven’t made a garment (for myself) in almost a year.  For one thing, I have been carrying around some extra pounds left over from my last pregnancy and I have not been anxious to sew clothes that might not fit at a later time.  I’ve now reached my goal weight and am anxious to sew a few new items for my wardrobe.  I have a fun dress all designed in my head which I am hoping to finish before the weather becomes too warm to wear it (though that would be a nice problem, wouldn’t it?)  The other day I put on a knit top that I made last year when I was nursing and was reminded how much I like the pattern.  I decided that I would “test drive” the fabric I’ve planned to use for the dress by making another version of this top.

The pattern I used is The Criss-Cross Top (#2787) by Jalie Patterns.  This Canadian-based company, specializing in patterns for stretch knits, is known for easy-to-sew garments with a fashion-forward look.  Most Jalie patterns are sized for stretch knits and come in multi-size format, typically more than 20 sizes per pattern, 2T through Women’s 22.  The instructions are brief but the illustrations are very clear and you can print an extra set from Jalie’s website.  Most of the patterns include multiple sleeve variations (I found you could mix and match sleeves between patterns) and many include an optional modesty panel.  Seam allowance is ¼”, and the tops are easily constructed on the serger.

Both fabrics that I used for this top are cotton/lycra blends with 4-way stretch.  I decided to bind each unfinished edge instead of hemming.  My reasoning was two-fold:  first, I like the way the contrast fabric highlights the gentle curves of the criss-cross panels.  Second, I found when making an earlier version of this top that the neckline turned out too low when the edges were turned under and stitched.  I did not trim off the seam or hem allowances before applying the binding which gave a bit more coverage.  I did shorten the top overall.  

This pattern goes together quickly and nicely, and is very comfortable to wear. 

Stay tuned for the dress.

Bag of the Week 7

Chubby Little Snowman Pail

Chubby Little Snowman had a carrot nose,

Along came Mr. Bunny and what do you suppose?

Hungry little bunny, looking for his lunch

Ate the snowman's carrot nose, nibble, nibble, CRUNCH!

 (as sung by my three-year-old)

Those of us here on the East Coast have had more than our share of snow this year.  And here comes another bucketful of snowy goodness guaranteed to warm your heart even when there are icicles all around.  Farmyard Creations has designed a fabric pail adorned with a snowman, complete with snaps for eyes, an appliquéd carrot nose and buttons down his front.  You begin by layering the outer pail fabric with batting and then fusing on the various pieces of the snowman.  Each piece is machine appliqued with a blanket stitch.  The mouth is hand embroidered, snaps form the eyes and the cheeks are blushed with powder blusher.  This outer layer is then stitched into the pail form and lined.  The quilted handle is secured to the pail with more buttons.

These pails make a wonderful container for homemade goodies at the holidays or for packaging other gifts.  They also make a nice container for holding holiday cards.  There are other designs in this same line by Farmyard Creations including a Santa, angel, bunny and bear.  The patterns appear to be out of print but they are frequently available on Ebay.  From what I can tell, the designer behind Farmyard Creations, Karla Eisenach, has now formed a new company with her daughters called Sweetwater which designs and markets quilting fabric, patterns and scrapbooking supplies.  They have a really wonderful blog which showcases many of their beautiful creations.