Upcycling Silk Neckties

Who can resist the luxurious color and pattern of silk neckties? Not me. A while back I started making some scarves out of them and now they have worked their way into my hats. The silk can be very slippery to cut and sew accurately so I had to come up with some tricks to tame it. Light weight iron on interfacing is a big help when you need to maintain a crisp shape. Many projects use the neckties intact but if you take them apart you'll have lots more to work with. Think of them as a fabric source. Because they are cut on the bias, neckties make great bias tape for edging things. The down side is that the grain is usually distorted from the weight of the wider ends. It's sneaky - you can draw a circle on the fabric and it will be a circle. As soon as it's cut out it turns into an oval. The worst offenders are the narrower sections in the center of the tie. The ends are much less apt to distort. Oh, and save the long silk thread that was hand sewn up the back - it usually pulls out in one piece and is great for hand sewing. I normally don't bother with polyester ties, especially the printed designs. They melt when ironed, snag easily leaving a white line through the pattern and are a general bother to sew. But if you find a woven polyester or acetate tie in a great pattern, it can be worth trying. Just be very cautious when ironing. That crazy green zig zag tie was worth the extra trouble and it worked into a cool hat. I also finally bit the bullet and am lining all my new hats so anyone can wear them. It makes for a better product and I just wasn't getting around to trying anything with non wool sweaters. Still, there are so many pretty ramie/cotton sweaters in the thrift shops that I may end up using them, just not for hats. The cut edges would need to be well finished.

Greetings From The Laptop

Happy New Year! 2011 ended with the demise of my old mac so now I'm using a pc laptop. What a pain trying to figure out how to edit photos on this thing! I still can't figure out how to do the simplest thing - crop the image. Anyhow, this is my new winter hat and mitts, and a funky glengarry cap from a vintage pattern. Two ends of the spectrum here - I just winged the hat. It started when I was playing around piecing together the white scraps from cutting out a bunch of mushroom stems. I let the rest evolve from other bits and a piece of zipper that was lying around. It doesn't really have a front or back, I wear it both ways. I made the matching mitts because I needed them. I can't stand gloves and mittens are just too clumsy, especially if they're made from sweater felt. They're more like oven mitts. The glengarry cap is straight from the pattern. I'm loving these two fabrics together. The teal plaid was a scarf and the green striped trim was a fabric remnant. There's still fabric left so I'll use them together again.

Oh Christmas Tree, part 1

When I was a kid we lived in a rural Connecticut town on the edge of the Cockaponset State Forrest. Driving home from work one evening my dad found a small owl lying stunned in the road, so rather than leave it so vulnerable, he scooped it up and brought it home. He had a friend who was licensed to rehabilitate wild birds so he called him up and we took the owl to his place. It was an awesome visit! We got to see the hawks who were recuperating from injuries up close. There was a barred owl they had named George sitting on a stump in the kitchen recovering from an injured wing. The family cats were prowling around just outside the reach of George's tether, eyeing his unfinished dinner. They had learned the hard way that even if he looks like he's sleeping, it's a bad idea to mess with a barred owl's dinner! But we weren't a threat to George's dinner so we were allowed to pet his head. Our fingers sank into the softest feathers imaginable. Adding to the magic of the visit, it was about this time of year and they had an enormous Christmas tree in their cathedral ceiling living room.
It turned out that my dad had found a saw whet owl. My sister and I had been calling it Victoria, but Victor would have been more appropriate. After an examination, Victor was pronounced to be fine, he'd just need to rest overnight and then could be released. My dad's friend casually walked over and placed Victor in the Christmas tree.
That was the inspiration for my just for fun project after my last craft show. I'm calling my owl Seraphina. She's made out of the same felted wool sweater material that I use to make my hats. We just need a Christmas tree for her to sit in.

Progress on the Folk Boots

Here's a quick shot of the project so far. Not the best shot but you get the idea. I need to set it aside for now to finish a custom order and put a lining into a hood for a customer who can't wear wool. I also hope to get out to pick autumn olives for jam. It would do me some good to be out in nature but first I need to plant some mushrooms on a wreath,
I have a new incentive to deal with our messy house. I have a client who is dead set on a studio visit to pick up a hat for his wife. This might just do it!

Ya Gotta Keep Yer Feet Warm

I need new slippers since the ones I made for myself three years ago have been patched and resewn about as much as they can take. My inspiration for the new ones is this pair of man's socks from Georgia. They are in that wonderful book I got at the Westport library sale, Folk Art in the Soviet Union. They are more like boots than socks, but made for indoor wear. There is so much going on in them,but the design doesn't fall apart. I splurged and bought a pair of black suede soles. My homemade ones have always turned out to be too big. If I had drawn the pattern the size of the store bought soles I know I wouldn't have believed it was big enough and I'm tired of sloppy-floppy slipper boots. The original socks were thickly knit and then embellished with beading,applique and buttons. I'm making mine from a nice piece of fulled woven red wool lined with red brocade at the top. The embellishment will be added to that base, with pieces of sweater felt and crewel embroidery taking the place of the knit patterns. Last comes a bit of beading and the pearl buttons.

Shaman's Hats

Friday was going to be spent with a friend but she had to cancel. It must have been meant to be because I was ready to put the inspiration I'd been soaking up from Folk Arts in the Soviet Union to good use. These are my two favorite hats. Since getting the book last Sat. afternoon I've looked through it every night before going to sleep. This gives my mind time to absorb and mull over the pictures so by the time I sit down to work I've got them sorted out. If you've never tried this, you should. Another trick is to look through a book like this upside down. You'll see the shapes differently, not so much as what the subject actually is.

Bridal Mushrooms

Is there anything more rich looking than white and cream when shape and texture tell the story? As much as I love color, every so often I need to go with this color way. I really recommend it to refresh the eye. It can be so satisfying to play the variations in color and surface, one of the few times I can wholeheartedly agree that less is more.
This rainy thundery Monday has started out well for me. I finished these two pieces and opened my mail to find I'd sold a hat on Etsy. On Saturday Dan and I went to the Westport Library Book Sale and I think I got the bargain of the day. Folk Arts of the Soviet Union, a beautiful Abrams book loaded with inspirational pictures was only $5. I'm in design heaven!

Crocheted Socks that Don't Suck part 2

Here's the new and improved heel. I'm glad that I set it aside long enough to convince myself that it was worth it to rip it out and do it over. My biggest help in making knit or crocheted socks has been Priscilla Gibson-Roberts' Ethnic Socks & Stockings. There are any number of ways to construct a sock and this book did a great job of explaining them.

Crochet Socks That Don't Suck

A while back I bought a book of crochet sock patterns and made myself a pair. I really wanted to make myself some socks but was intimidated by knitting on double points and since I learned to crochet as a kid, I'm faster and more at ease with it. The pattern was easy to follow and the socks looked great. I wore them once. The soles were bumpy and by the end of the day I had stretched big holes in the toes. I swear to you that I worked to gauge and followed the pattern faithfully. It just didn't work. Standard sock yarn is just too thick for crochet socks. It takes something more like cotton crochet thread in thickness worked with an 8 or 9 steel hook. I find working with cotton hard on my wrists and hands and I wanted wool socks anyway. I'm working on two different pairs now. Both start with a double row of African flowers at the top and the leg is worked in shell stitch. I started the white one first and made a heel flap with short row shaping. It's kinda sloppy since I was making it up as I went along and I wish I'd done the heel flap in reverse single crochet on the back side so it wouldn't have the ugly ridge effect. I was going to just live with it but it's starting to really bug me so I'm going to frog it out. Then I realized that if I did an inserted heel I could work it in the round. So on the blue sock I crocheted the spot for the heel opening with contrasting yarn, continued a few more rows and then went back to work the heel. The contrast yarn was going to get frogged out to make the opening but I picked up the stitches on the bottom of the waste yarn first because I wasn't sure what would happen. It worked just great! I'm probably not explaining this very well so if you have questions, ask me..

A present for Me

Meet Cheshire, made by Furritales. (http://www.etsy.com/shop/Furritales) He's the coolest needle felted guy I've ever seen and now he's mine. You can find some amazing needle felted work on Etsy. I've seen some wonderfully lifelike animals and ,of course, there are a lot of Waldorf inspired gnomes and fairies. After eight years of being a Waldorf Mom I was looking for something different. I'm also an anime fan so you can see why I love Furritales' style. She's only 17 and she's just gotten into RISD. Proceeds from her shop are going toward her education. How cool is that?
I'm trying to decide what to work on today. I'm having a hard time settling on something. I could go to the art supply store, paint or draft a pattern. I want to make myself some square necked mexican style peasant tops to wear this summer. Guess I'll just get moving and see where I end up.

My Hats Are In Belle Armoire!

Back in August I sent some Wandering Lydia Hats to Belle Armoire for the Salon section and then tried to put it out of my mind. But, periodically, I'd wonder about them. Saturday was one of those times. Once again I put it out of my mind - until I opened the mailbox to find my comp issue of the May/July 2010 issue! Wool hats in May? What the heck, it's going to be winter in the southern hemisphere, right? Thanks Belle Armoire!
This is probably good timing for my creative focus. I've been having success with the mushroom gardens and I intend to keep on with them. I was starting to miss making hats and maybe this was a reminder to switch back for a while. Changing up what I'm doing keeps me moving forward. I need to cut a large panel for my next mason jar painting too.

Blue Skies

We're having one of those gray dreary spring days here. It does help that the trees are starting to leaf out but it feels like a good day to curl up with a book and a cup of something warm. Unfortunately, that won't get the groceries home so I put on my new necklace from Crafty Wings and went on my way. Honestly, I think it helped get me moving! You can check out her etsy shop here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/CraftyWings She paints beautiful cloudscapes on wooden plaques and when I first saw them I thought they were pendants. So I asked her if she would make a summer sky pendant for me and she did!

Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble

We've all seen the jokes about modern witches who ride electric vacuum cleaners instead of the traditional broomstick. I wonder if a crock pot would be the modern version of a cauldron? I decided that my old crock pot would be great for simmering dye baths, just set it and forget it. I don't use it enough to miss having it for cooking and they show up in thrift stores all the time if I want another. These yarn samples are dyed with shelf mushrooms and hickory hulls, no mordant. It's a nice brown but I'm really hoping to find the mushrooms that will give exciting colors, blue, purple, red and orange. Unfortunately, it's too early for them.
My latest mushroom garden is in a thrifted sugar bowl that I found years ago. It's making me think of St. Patrick's Day. The ivy design reminds me of shamrocks and the color is so spring/March looking. I'm painting today. Kathryn sold my 8x10" "Blue Star" this weekend. I need to finish the one I've been working on and then I'll start a bigger painting of another close up on the mason jar embossing.

Carnation Hair

Here's another way to use a carnation made from a sweater ribbing. She has one carnation on top. The sides and back came from the cuffs which were only partially rolled up.

Sweater Rib Carnation Instructions

Happy St. Patrick's Day!
You know me, gotta use every scrap! Here is an easy way to use the waist ribbing from a felted sweater to make a pretty carnation. This works best with a typical K2, P2 ribbing. Carefully cut the ribbing from the sweater and cut apart the halves. Trim the ends along the edge of a raised rib. Fold and pin the strip in half lengthwise matching the ribs. Thread a large needle with strong thread. Give it plenty of length because you'll use be using it to baste and sew the flower. I use the old fashioned way of measuring a yard. I make sure the threaded needle is long enough to reach from my nose to the end of my outstretched hand. Baste the strip without shifting or puckering the ribs. Now cut between each raised rib to just under the line of stitches. Gather the cut strip to compress the petals and tie a knot but don't cut the thread. Start rolling and sewing the petals into a flower. Once you get past the first bit you don't need to sew all the way through, just into the previous row. It will naturally want to get a bit domed as you go and this is fine. This will give the blossom depth. Tie off the end securely and you're done.

Fairy Ring Mushroom Crown

When I do craft shows I like to wear one of my hats but if it's a warm day or indoors, I get too hot. So I came up with the idea of a fairy ring crown. There's a lot of work going into this project but I get to keep it so that's OK. Most of the dark green base will be covered with felt moss and I'll have green vine-like dreads looping down from the sides. This isn't something I'd have for sale in the booth but I would take custom orders. It would be so much fun to make one for a wedding! Now I'm taking a break from sewing to work on painting. I also have a call for submissions from a greeting card company to work on. But what I'd really love is a nap. Stupid time change!

Finding My Balance

I used to beat myself up over having so many interests. It was the old why can't you concentrate on one thing and really get somewhere with it argument. And I had picked up the idea that if I wanted to have success with my painting (serious Art), I should keep my other projects (*gasp* crafts) out of sight. I just don't believe that anymore. The internet has opened so many new opportunities for us creative types. More to the point, I need to work on all my different projects to find the right happy balance for myself. It seems to be my nature that when I'm painting I start pining for my wool projects and when I'm constructing hats I start to wish I was painting. The key here is having enough self discipline to keep all the work moving forward. As long as I do that I can bounce back and forth between mediums, keeping my level of interest up in all of them. I've learned that if I go too long between paintings I end up having to warm up those skills again and the work drags. It's a bit like when I learned to drive standard after years of an automatic. I made sure to drive everyday because I needed the practice. I didn't do gallery painting for years when I got into sculpture, so it's a similar situation. So today's picture is a batch of new mushrooms to be made into tabletop gardens. I've also been working on another mason jar painting which is coming along nicely. At the moment, I have achieved balance.

Alien Chili Pepper

Today has a bit of a "Groundhog Day" feeling to it. It's still raining and I'm going to spend the day painting. The alien chili pepper is an end of day evening project made from the extra material I trimmed off the monster purse ears. I had two curving v-shaped pieces so I sewed them into a pod shape, trimmed the pod with a crocheted ruffle and mindlessly embroidered french knots while zoned out in front of the tv. The varrigated yarn is some that I dyed myself.

Hot Colors Beret

Today's new hat is a hot color beret. Next up I need to get back to painting. Dan and I are working on one together and I have reference for more in the mason jar series I'm doing. Unfortunately, I lost track of time yesterday and stayed up way too late. I took forever to fall asleep, had a string of weird dreams and woke up discombobulated. I've felt wrong footed all day but if I can get some painting done I know that will help.

Zipper Hat

I've been seeing some wonderful things being made with creatively used zippers. (Check out Wooly Fabulous on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/woolly_fabulous/) so I went through my stash and found enough zippers to use them in place of my usual crocheted trim on a spiral hat. I'm very pleased with the finish on this hat. The spiral is lightly stuffed with fiberfil so it will hold its shape. The zippers did add a little weight though not enough that you'd notice it when wearing the hat. It's lined with very soft lambs wool. Feels like I crossed every t and dotted all the i's. Most of the materials were thrifted, the exceptions being a bit of interfacing and the green tapestry wool I used to finish the edge. I love tapestry wool! It comes in so many colors and can be felted too. It's always a happy day when I find a bag of it at a thrift store or tag sale. Sometimes I get in the mood to crochet and felt little patches with a single strand and a small hook. The possibility for color blending are awesome!