kit and caboodle

Needle-felting Party

Whilst the weather was hot and sunny in Seattle, blogging was low down my list of things to do but since we've had rain and clouds for a few days now, I thought it might be time to share some of the pictures I took back in June!  We had a needle-felting morning with six willing young crafters, a pile of roving, needles and blocks of foam.  Most of the kids hadn't tried this particular craft before, and were skeptical about how it would all work - how the pile of colored fluff would hold together and take shape.  They soon got the idea though and they quickly learnt how to model their work into the shape they were aiming for WITHOUT stabbing their fingers in the meantime.  I was delighted with the results - and so were they!

SUPERWORM!!

Sewing for Sleepovers

I spent a few hours each week in April and May preparing for and teaching a 'sewing for sleepovers' class for second through fifth graders.  It was fun!  The group sewed and stuffed pillow liners and then made knotted covers from fleece or wool melton. They   added little pockets to the front of their pillows to carry stuffies which they also designed and made. 

A few examples of their creative work!

   

The group especially enjoyed digging through my scrap box of fabrics, felt, sequins, buttons, beads and cut shapes and I was very impressed with the variety of ideas they came up with.

We made small bags to hold toiletries - here's my (rather wrinkly) class sample:

We finished it all up by decorating canvas tote bags with fabric paint, felt shapes and buttons and packed them full of our handmade goodies.

Fabric and Yarn Scraps: Horace the Hedgehog

Inspired by Molly Chicken's tutorial we fired up the sewing machine again and made Horace out of scraps from the box, then we adapted him slightly and turned him into a neck-purse.  At the moment he has a small fabric heart tucked in his pocket, but may go to school with #4 carrying an encouraging piece of candy or the like. I'm making one for myself too, which will also have an emergency bonbon within reach, or perhaps my coffee card which has finally earned me a free cup of coffee. You never know when it will come in handy.

And the skies are blue in Seattle.  Happy weekend.

Scrap ideas : Felt Critters

Spring Break is here! And it's pouring again! Aaargh!  Actually yesterday the temperature dropped to 35 degrees and it tried to snow, which looked a little incongruous falling on the Spring blossom.  This has to have been the longest winter ever in Seattle, which sounds melodramatic I know, but the view of grey skies every day makes my lips curl downwards. Spring is trying so hard to get going with flashes of daffodils and crocuses, and signs of perennials coming back to life. Winter just needs to let go and return to the North Pole so the rest of us can enjoy blue skies and a touch of warmth.  

The girls have wanted to sew and create, so I let them delve into the scrap box. #2 had made a pattern for an owl a while back which was the starting point for these:

#4 has a small collection of Uglydolls clipped to her backpack along with an enormous one who lives in her bed. She wanted to design her own, and so did T who was visiting. Back to the scraps:

Codenames Ugga and Oxalina.

Scrap ideas : Felt Beads

What to do with all those itty-bitty scraps of felt, fabric and yarn? I can never bring myself to throw them away, but I now have a mini mountain of fiber which needs to be put to good use. 

Good thing there's a ton of inspiration for teeny objects which only use up a wisp of material. We especially like these books and have made quite a few felty critters.  I thought I'd post a few more ideas as I work my way through my scrap box.  Here's idea #1 - making felt beads:

1. Begin by cutting out felt rectangles from your scraps - most of these are about 2.5cm x 6cm. Wrap the felt around a bamboo skewer, or something of a similar width.

 

2.  Wrap some embroidery thread or yarn around the wrapped felt to hold it secure. This wrapping also serves as decoration, so be creative!  We used feathery eyelash yarns and sparkly threads.  When you've finished this stage, don't remove the felt bead from the skewer because it's easy to lose the hole. Wait until you're ready to string the beads before removing. 

 

3.  You can now go wild and add on beads or embellish with embroidery.  We found that using a beading needle worked best for this because it's thin and a bit flexible, allowing for tight turns and teeny stitches.

Voila - here's a finished bracelet.

 

Seeing circles

Today was spent putting together bookmark kits; in this case lots of boxes of circle bookmarks in various funky colors:

The bookmark kits are great first sewing projects - lots of wool felt to fiddle with and arrange artistically.  Available here.

Today is a busy day putting together a new stockpile of kits; with the travels of the past couple of months, I'm a little behind with replenishing the shop after Christmas. Orders have been placed for new paints, threads, roving and other goodies. 

 

My bars of pure olive oil soaps for the felted soap kits have been sliced, wrapped and boxed. I use the left-over slivers of soap for my own felting - I add boiling water to them and stir until they form a 'gloop' (no other word for it). When diluted, this is a great soapy medium for rubbing on layered roving to make flat felt, or for making felt beads or rope. It's not as harsh on the hands as dishwashing liquid.

The roving I use is just right for the job - some varieties don't felt particularly well, but this is a nubby fleece with flecks of different colors which look great and felt in a snap. When felted around the soap, it makes a mildly abrasive washcloth. You can feel the exfoliation happening....

 

And Clover will start stocking my kits in a couple of weeks! It's a fantastic toy shop with an inspiring range of toys, clothes and books so I'm thrilled that Kit and Caboodle Kits will have a place on the shelves!

on a cold, snowy day

We're enjoying some remarkably snowy weather in Seattle at the moment - it's been an almost continuous white-out for 24 hours now with no sign of let-up. The only thing to do is curl up with a book, knitting, mince pies, hot drinks etc and then dash outside at periodic intervals and make snow angels/careen down the hill next to our house/lie in wait for husband or unsuspecting offspring and stuff snow down their sweaters. All good fun. 

#1 son, husband and I snuck out of the house at 11.30pm last night and walked to Green Lake park with Woody Dog. I love the pristine snow and the heavy silence - so unusual in the city. We let Woody run like a mad thing, and sadly he went so wild that he raced at high speed into the lake which was frozen over, and promptly fell through the ice into the sub-zero waters below. We were all watching in stunned amazement as this happened but luckily #1 moved fast and piled over to the shore, laid on his belly and hauled the dog out of the water. Woody was none the worse for wear after this little adventure, in fact he seemed to rather enjoy being tucked up in my coat and dried off in front of the fire. I just wish I'd had my camera to take a picture of the dog-shaped hole in the ice...

A few things I've made for the Christmas tree:

Cutting out circles to make a felty garland - it turned out well but could do with being three feet longer - I'll save the extension for next year. I made the wooden heart three or four years ago when I had a scroll saw - it's plywood oiled with linseed, which deepened the color and brought out the grain. The scroll saw is a great tool for the crafty-minded; a few simple lines on a piece of wood and a pile of sandpaper and oil - and presto, some handmade wooden toys! 

And some needle-felted acorns (made from the enormous acorn caps we found back in September) which the dog has taken a liking to. The blue one at the back is a victim of his attentions!

Holiday Traditions Swap

I participated in Meg's Holiday Traditions Swap and was lucky enough to be partnered with Vanessa in Minnesota.  We each made up a package with a handmade holiday decoration, a description of a family tradition, a recipe and more besides... Vanessa made a garland for us which now hangs over the fireplace - here are some close-ups of the garlandy bits.  The stitching is incredibly neat and even!  

  

Then there was the fabric gift wrap, which is the perfect solution for all of us who worry about paper waste at this time of year. These are a great size - big enough for a good-sized box or several books or a warm pair of flannel pajamas! I'm inspired to start making my own and build up a year-round collection for all those events which gobble up wrapping paper.  This would be a great first sewing project since all the lines are straight!

Vanessa included a recipe for Zitronenherzen, or lemon heart cookies and added some vanilla sugar and lemon extract to the parcel (thanks - I had neither in my storecupboard!). The cookie-fiend girls have been champing at the bit to make them so they had a go this afternoon:

We used almond meal instead of ground almonds so they look grainier than they should, but a few sneaky nibbles on my part confirmed that they were very yummy indeed.  Here they are before the lemon icing went on and the kids all piled in!

We're enjoying The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, also included in the parcel, and the German chocolate too (which I can't photograph for obvious reasons!).

I loved participating in the swap and thank you Vanessa, again, for being such a warm and generous partner. Happy Holidays!

New Work

I've finally uploaded pictures of my work from artfiberfest - scissor maiden, felt jewelry and brooches, fabric necklace and a needle felted beret! Here they are: