grow benzie sewing studio fundraising veggies

Next sewing bee at the sewing studio at Grow Benzie is Friday, May 13 at 7pm. Come join us for some wool veggie production to help raise $$ for new sewing machines! Veggies are available for $5 each at Mecca in Benzonia.

Hope to see you there!

recycled wool sweater coat and kids star tote bag

 

Last fall, when Fyn was outgrowing his little fox sweater coat, I set about making him a new one. The fair isle sweater was the starting point and from there, I added the ice skating sweater on the back. With the hood and sleeves layed out, I placed the other sweater pieces in place and stitched them together. Using a fleece vest as a lining, all the pieces were attached and here it is! Fyn loves it and we get plenty of attention when he wears it. 

"You didn't get that here! You must have gotten that in New York!" is my favorite comment to far.

And the pointy elfin hood pulls up to cover his head, while the sleeves roll down to cover his hands when we need a little extra warmth. That means we don't have to keep track of hats or mittens all the time.


Yes, I was able to figure out a way to circumvent the technical issues so I could blog! There's so much to tell you about with christmas and all! I'll try to get you caught up in the next few weeks. And I'm hoping to post a few more tutorials and some new things on my etsy shop.

what I wore sunday - recycled wool sweater hoodie

It started with one cable knit crew neck sweater and one boiled wool zippered cardigan and became a sweet hoodie with a pointy elf hood. Neither one is felted. I took the body of the sweater to make the hat, using the bottom band for the hood opening. It folds back nicely, so I'm thinking of putting together a tutorial for you. It's on my ever-growing to-do list.

The skirt is new, a wrap skirt from Yana Dee, that I picked up at the Holiday Art Market this weekend. Underneath is another wrap skirt in a soft hand-dyed cotton to keep me warm! And the hat is one that I made from a tutorial in CRAFT magazine. Here's an earlier post with all the details.

Fyn's sporting a little recycled wool elf hat too, made from a felted wool sweater. He need his sunglasses, it was so sunny today!

christmas comes at the same time every year...

And this year, I'm determined to be somewhat prepared. It really should not be a surprise a week before the big day. Seriously. Last year I made some stockings, but they were not like this. These are a sweet patchwork personalized with the names of your family members and pets (if you are so inclined). What should I get for our new puppy and two kitties? You can get your own from handmade pretties

You'll find all kinds of other recycled goods there too, skirts, ponchos, balls, etc...

Snazztastic! How could I resist a name like that? These snazztastic pants used to be a sweater. I love the striped waistband which looks like it's made from a ribbed cotton sweater. Brilliant idea!

This is for that tiny part of me that wishes to be pregnant again (incidently, the rest of me is not so sure that another baby is going to help me get more creative time!) It's a skirt, no wait, it's a poncho. Multi-purpose clothing is genius. And it would go with everything because it's patchwork! From what I gather, custom options for sizing and colors are also available. It would be great in jersey (t-shirt fabric) too!

Very pretty, indeed.

introducing katwise, a crafty recycling gypsy!

While browsing on etsy one day, I discovered some gypsy jackets that are amazing! They are made from recycled sweaters and the serged edges are part of her design. If you are going to a festival, it's an important thing to bring along, to keep warm and create your persona. Katwise has a website too, with more photos and other stuff to check out. She is quite a gypsy herself, it seems.

My first gypsy jackets were made from recycled fabric scraps, so they are heavy, warm and almost royal looking, fit for a sorcerer or wizard. The next round were made from recycled beach towels, one of which is still in my etsy shop.

what does it take to be a used clothing alchemist?

I absolutely love this combination of words, and it's even better as a title! Let me introduce you to the one, the only Crispina Ffrench! She has found a way to make gold from wool sweaters. Well, not gold in the sense of bars and karats, but in a much more practical sense. It's the perfect description of this amazing transformation.

 This little guy is called a ragamuffin. I discovered them on Crispina's shop after falling in love with the rugs. The original ragamuffin was born in 1987 while Ffrench was in college. You can find it in her book. There are many imitators, as is usually the case when something is really, really good. After I wrote this post, I noticed one on another blog, took it off, checked back with Crispina and am now back to give her the credit she deserves for this great idea! Here's "peanut butter cup the potbelly ragamuffin" who is looking for a good home, preferrably moth-free! So cute and I love this photo. My gram used to use the word ragamuffin, and it usually had something to do with a comb and our hair.

Then there are the warm cozy blankets. I love how this one shows the texture of the sweaters and the circle design. Robin's egg blue is one of my favorite colors in our house. Imagine the dreams you would have under a blanket like this!

As we are in the progress of deciding how to refinish our floor which is on a concrete slab, it seems like rugs are going to be essential. I wish I could have a rug to cover my entire living room made like one of these. The color combinations are sublime! Imagine a loom that would make a rug to fit a 16x20 room, the team of people it would take to make it, and the number of sweaters that would need to be felted. It would be huge! Guess I better sign up for one of her workshops so I can get started. Ha. But really, she teaches people how in addition to selling them in her etsy shop.

Here's a great post and photo of the rug in action, featured by on a set by Sundance!!! I love it when cool things like this happen. Congratulations, Crispina!

earth day giveaway over at resweater!

check it out, Kris is a recyclist helping others to recycle with supplies (wool sweaters) and ideas! She has helped me out many times with some great woolens! Here's the scoop.

photo tutorial - rebirth of hotpink clogs

boy's headband recycled from t-shirts

This is strip of an old t-shirt, about 3" wide and maybe 18-20" long. If your subject is right there, you could try wrapping it around their head first. The ends are cut diagonally so there's enough to tie, but not too much hanging down. I cut out a tree from felted wool sweaters and stitched it on, not quite in the middle, but off to the side a couple of inches. Tie it on, karate kid style. Am I dating myself by saying that?

Anyway, it's a great solution for keeping growing hair out of kid's eyes! Little f like to wear his when I wear a headband. Mine is just a bit wider and longer, but not much, b/c my head is pea-sized (a family trait).

It's great for keeping hair out of my little guy's eyes!

a recycled wool baby sweater

Here's a sweet little sweater that I made for my friend's baby girl. The trim is some of the same yarn we used at the blessingway, couched on with a zig zag stitch. The style is inspired by my friend Rose. The buttons are from a cardigan, cut out in squares. There's another button inside too. A tutorial is on my mind, anyone interested?

revamping a little pink dress

This sweet little organic dress was covered with embroidered cutesies. They had to go, so I found a pink sweater that matched, and cut out the pieces to replace the yoke and make a pocket. Somehow, the cutesy is much better inside the pocket!
The whole dress is so much better!

recycled wool goodies for little elves

Sounds like it's going to snow here one last time this weekend, so I'm featuring some nice woolly goodies! Selena makes all kinds of sweet things for little elves, and few for the pixies too.
I love her sense of imagination.

This is brilliant! No more pants falling down. It reminds me a lot of some pants my friend Jen wanted to make. Somehow, it's much simpler when made out of a felted wool sweater.

Again, for my friends with girlies, I checked out the sweet offerings in pink. The tunic is featured, but the ideas for the outfit are so fun I wanted to show you both! This one is a small size for little girls, but wouldn't it be great in cashmere in adult size?

recycled wool newsboy cap from simpleup

Such a great hat pattern and tutorial from Trish over at simple up. I found her blog one day while searching for recycled wool sweater projects. It was even featured on Craft (which used to be a magazine, one of my absolute favorites!)

Someday, my work will be featured there.

There were a couple of additions here - a recycled t-shirt lining and a cashmere band on the inside. The warmer the hat the better, so I used the same hat pattern pieces and cut them out of cotton jersey (nice way to say old t-shirt) and sewed them together. For the hatband, a recycled cashmere sweater cut out in the same size as the band and stitched to the outside band at the bottom. Then it was like the bread in a sandwich, with the hat and lining for the sandwich filling. I left the top edges raw. Oh, the brim also has a little stabilizer, cut a bit smaller than the sewing lines, so I didn't have to stitch through it when sewing it to the hat. Which I did with my machine, as well as the trim, since handsewing takes a little more patience that I have for sewing these days. I need immediate results that can be obtained within a nap's worth of time.

For some reason, the pattern only calls for five hat pieces. Mine could have benefitted from a sixth piece, even though I have a very small pea sized head. I used about 3/8 seam allowance, so a little more than recommended, only because it's tricky to sew anything with a 1/4 seam allowance. And that is coming from someone with years and years of machine time!


In closing, let me just share with you this amazing blog by Anna Maria Horner. I want to be her.
Selling my signed book and designing gorgeous lines of fabrics, doing crafts with other artists.


Well, her and about thirty other people, but I digress... here's the hat in action, right in front of my newly folded fabric stacks!

recycled wool mittens for toddlers!

Ooh, I'm so excited! For about a week, I collected all the tiny mittens I could find around the house, in hopes of designing a pattern to make more. Then I found this, and headed right into my studio to make some. Thank you so much, Amanda from kitschy coo for the pattern and instruction! I printed them out in a few sizes. Instead of fleece, I used felted wool sweaters, adding a tree on one and a cardinal on the other. And then I made two more pairs, one of them lined with thermal fabric from a shirt! They are pretty snug, so in the future, I think I'll just put elastic on the inside.

new on etsy - wool longies tutorial

After making several pairs of these for my little guy, I decided to share my version with those of you who are beginning to sew for your babies. You can find the tutorial here.

I added the squirrel and acorns to cover the moth holes in this cashmere sweater.

here's what they look like without embellishment...

You might already know about my favorite sweater source...

devilmademedoit recycled wool and cashmere clothes!

Wow. I want it all. Dresses, sweaters, cowls, skirts all in recycled wool and cashmere. Super stylish. I could look great, be warm and comfortable. You'll want it all too. Tamara does an amazing job of putting it all together.

foundry design recycled wool belts

I love these belts made with small pieces of recycled wool sweaters! It's so innovative, with the various hardware options. Of course there are plenty of other great recycled wool sweaters and even a miniskirt! I want everything here...

christmas decorating - recycled wool stockings

creative christmas adventures, chapter 2


The gifts were starting to pile up, and there were no stockings yet! So, the week before Christmas, I had one nap time left for crafting. I dashed into my studio and pulled out the pattern which I had seen at a friend's house when she was making her fabulous recycled wool stockings - she was kind enough to share.

It was hard to decide what to put in Fyn's stocking, but it seemed to come together at the last minute as Tommy (aka Santa) showed up a bit earlier than usual with some great recycled and handmade toys, procured locally, of course. The felted fruits, veggies and eggs were inspired by my friends, and a day of needlefelting earlier in the month. The fabric gifts bags were a big hit. I loved them because they are made of gorgeous recycled fabrics, and no tissue paper is needed. T loved how it was fast to wrap with them. Instead of gift tags, I wrote names on a second piece of grosgrain ribbon, that part was easy too. Our families loved them, and kept them for future reuse. I'm making more for next year!


While I thought the brown tree stocking was going to be mine, T loved it so much he wanted it. It reminds him of his favorite tree at the river. So, I'm the star here!

katesy makes the cutest little pincushions!

While browsing on etsy one day, I found these sweet recycled pin cushions. Turns out they are made by a creative mama, who has some creative kids as well. You'll want to check out all their shops!
Katesy also has some great bags for play - you can spread them out and let kids play on them and when it's time to clean up, you draw the bag closed! Brilliant!

revamped cashmere and wool sweater

Finally, there was time in the day to make something for myself, something warm, creative, practical and luxurious. The sleeves weren't long enough, so I did some experimentation. The designs worked out well, but I think next time I would open up the sleeve and overlap the pieces, stitching with a straight stretch stitch so they would lie flatter.

Inspired by my friend, Rose, I took out my scissors and made it happen! For the ribbing, I just used pieces from the neck and bottom of other sweaters, folded it in half and serged it right on! When I make the next one, I'll make the pieces a little wider up by the shoulders, so I can wear a shirt underneath without it showing.

The front pieces overlap so there is nursing access!


For the waist, I used the bottom of a brown wool sweater, turned upside down!


A rough little square of olive green finishes it off. Now I'm off to playgroup, baby yoga, or wherever the day may take me. It's so warm and cozy!

Need some wool sweaters? Most of these came from my favorite sweater source, Kris at resweater. She has a shop on Artfire and a fun blog featuring all kinds of creative wool artists. Check it out, there's a sale going on for the holidays! My box just arrived and my sweater stash is restocked for holiday gift making!