I've Been on a Crochet Binge

So, my last few videos have been about Felted Crochet projects, I seem to be on a crochet binge. I find myself crocheting a lot in the winter time because, I love to cuddle up on the couch with a blanket and stitch away. I have a few more Felted Crochet Videos on the way, and then I promise I will branch out again. Here are my latest videos all Crochet and Felting.
Day 48



Day 50



And Day 51

What kind of video would you like to see? I always do my best to come up with a video for all viewer requests!

How to Crochet and Felt a Headband With a Flower Day 48

Make these cute headbands, super easy and cute!

Felting Your Crochet or Knit Projects

In my Day 48 video, "How to Make a Crochet and Felted Headband" I teach you how to crochet this cute headdband.

This image is after felting. Here are the instructions for felting your headband:
1. Place your finished pieces in a lightweight pillowcase and tie a loose knot at the top of the pillowcase.
2. Start your washing machine with hot water, and wait until the washing machine has filled with hot water.
3. When the machine starts to agitate, place the pillow case into machine.
4. After 5 minutes of agitating, take out pillowcase, open it up and check your pieces. Wring them gently with your hands to see progress.
5. If not completely felted, place back in pillowcase and into the machine. Set your machine to beginning of cycle so it will keep agitating. Check every five minutes until your pieces are completely felted. This should take approximately 16 to 25 minutes.
6. When your pieces are done take out and gently wring with your hands and lay between a folded towel to remove excess water, form the pieces to correct shape if neccessary.
7. Let dry completely.

More Felty Goodness

My latest video is a spin from day 36, how to make a wool felt garland.  In this video I show you how to make a cute no sew pillow using a felted wool sweater, it reminds me of pepermint candy!  imagine the color combinations you can use for this pillow...

Click Here to view video tutorial!

Felting Wool Sweaters for Crafting Day 36

In the day 36 video, I show you how to make a very cute felted wool garland, that is so easy to make.  The garland in this tutorial is red and green, but the color combination possibilities are limitless. 


You say "But I've never felted wool sweaters before", no worries it is really easy!  First off, go to the thrift store and find some 100% wool sweaters and then follow these instructions.  I have used felted wool for countless craft projects, here is the garland I made for this video:

My camera case is made from a felted sweater.

I also made this necklace out of felted cashmere and some beads for a Craftster.org swap

And a few more, some baby girl shoes and a wrist pincushion

Crafting with felted wool is rewarding and easy. The edges do not need to be treated, because once the felting process is complete the wool will not fray!


Thank you for watching my videos, and if you have any suggestions and/or comments please feel free to leave them here, on my facebook fan page or on my Youtube channel.  Happy Crafting!

Making Christmas Gifts

Every year I say, "this year I am going to make all of my Christmas Gifts" and it usually doesn't happen. This year however, is different, I am making a "majority" of the gifts I will be giving. What makes this year different you ask? Well, I am not working 60 hours a week at the restaurant this year, so I have a little time on my hands.

My dilemma is always, what do I make for the men I give gifts to? I think I've figured a few things out. For my son a purple scarf, he's 24 and loves purple (I will buy him something as well) For one of my brothers I came up with this camera case. The grey and orange one is something i made for myself when I purchased my new camera, and I love it. So I made a male version complete with a loop on the back to wear on a belt.


I made these cases out of old wool sweaters that I found at a thrift store, and felted in my washing machine at home.

To felt:
I placed the sweaters in the washing machine, set the temperature to HOT on the longest cycle, and add a little detergent and a pair of jeans or something else that will help in the agitation (It is a good idea to place the sweaters in a zippered pillowcase, your washing machine will thank you) . I have found the most effective detergent to be one with baking soda. The heat will swell up these fibers and the agitation will force the individual wool fibers together. Rinse the items in cold water to encourage shrinking. Dry them in a hot dryer to pull the fibers together even more. Depending on the sweater, you may need to do this process more than once to get nicely felted wool pieces. They were reduced in size by about 50% and should not unravel when cut.

Next I cut three pieces one 4" x 5", one 4" x 10" and one 1 1/2" x 3 1/2.

After you have them all cut use some wool yarn and a large needle and blanket stitch the pieces together. First stitch the belt loop to the back of the larger piece (see diagram View A) Then turn large piece over and stitch the last piece to the large piece, lining up the bottom edges (see diagram View B) Blanket stitch the pieces together and continue the stitch around the top of the case.

After you are all stitched up sew on the button( I like to use vintage buttons) , and cut a corresponding button hole (stitch around the button hole as shown).

Diagram:

Supplies:

For my camera case I crocheted a strip of orange wool yarn and I felted it as well. Felting hand knit items is a slightly different process. You can find a lot of instruction on felting on the net.
I hope you can understand this tutorial. I usually like to do my tutes on video. Please comment with any questions and I will answer them for you-Have fun!!

My First Craft Show

Hi, it has been a while since I posted, so I thought I would give you a recap on my first craft show. I participated in the Indie Sacramento, the amazingly organizied Craft Fair, and it was a huge success. I was a little nervous, and everything went without a hitch!!! My big sellers were my Crocheted Hand Warmers, the Cool Corseted Coffee Cuffs, and the Pretty Pin Cushions. The Scoodies were very much an attraction, but I only sold One. It seemed like the lower priced items sold most. I had a great time, met some really nice people, bought some cool stuff, and sold quite a bit of my work, I really couldn't ask for more. And guess what? What? you say. If you missed this show, Indie Sac has decided to do monthly shows and I will be participating in the January show. Keep posted for the date, time and location. Thank you all for your support-Julie

Craft Swaps

A Few Pieces I Have Made For Craft Swaps

I have to say that I have my creativity has been rekindled by doing craft swaps. What are craft swaps?, you might ask, well they are simply an organized partnering of crafters and artisans that swap their work usually in a themed swap. I learned about swaps on this awesome forum website http://www.craftster.org/ where artists,crafters, designers or anyone who creates can network.
I stumbled across this site one night when I was surfing the web, and was hooked. I started out as a voyeur, looking at all of the beautiful, interesting, and sometimes bizarre creations that people posted. This sparked my creative spirit, and I began making pieces and posting them for my fellow crafters to give feedback. If you ever need a self esteem boost this works great, as everyone there is so supportive.
I started reading other crafters talking about making an items for swaps, and became curious. I went on the swap board, checked out the swaps, signed up for my first swap and have been hooked ever since. I have received some really cool stuff from these swaps, and the excitement of getting a surprise package in the mail is almost too much.
So if you are thinking of doing a swap just remember, they are addicting, so swap at your own risk.

The Pretty Pink "Kira Clutch"

Since the first time I saw a felted handbag, I have been intrigued. I am a very novice knitter and not real saavy on following knitting patterns. I really need to take some lessons (I am in the process of finding a good instructor) and in the meantime I decided to just make something up. I have to say that this project was really easy and super rewarding.

First off what I did know is that when knitting a piece to be felted you use large needles and that your stitches need not be perfect. With that in mind, I went out and bought some really beautiful 100% wool yarn, some beautiful fabric that I thought would compliment the yarn, and size 15 knitting needles.
Next,I cast on enough stitches to equal 15" or so and knit a rectangle, 15"x23". I then found felting instructions (the easiest I could find) and felted my rectangle. When I figured it was done (when you couldn't see the stitches anymore) I rinsed the piece and rolled it up in a dry towel to get out the excess water. I then blocked the rectangle, on a dry towel using straight pins tokeep it in place while drying.
After the piece was completly dry, I laid the piece on the beautiful fabric and marked the shape of the rectangle plus 1". I then ironed the raw edge of the fabric unber in the shape of the rectangle. Note: the rectangle will not be perfect, that is what gives your clutch charm. I used a magnetic closure and applied it as per the package instructions. Next step is to hand blind stitch the fabric onto the felted piece, this will become your lining. After you finish fold your clutch and stitch the sides with the yarn used to knit the felted piece. You can also add a button or some other cool embellishment to the top of the closure.

I hope this wasn't too hard to follow, I will add illustrations at a later date.