Bundles and Bundles of Thanks

Well. I'm a bit stunned, my dears. The wool felt giveaway garnered 303 comments. I wish I had new cars for all of you, Oprah style. ;-) What I do have are two little packets of woolly goodness ready to go to two lovely readers, chosen at random:

Amy, who said, "What a fun starter package, I love that turquoise color. I only recently discovered your blog and I hope to delve into your archives and check out the tutorials in the near future."

and corvustristis who said, "I've been wanting to give wool felt a try for ages. Thanks so much for the chance!"
Will the two of you please send your mailing addresses to my email address (on the side bar)? And for those of you who asked questions about where to find your own wool felt, I think this post will tell you all you need to know!

Me? I'm sewing up a sea of Christmas ornaments for Picnic, while the rain pours down outside. I'm uncharacteristically chipper, given the weather, buoyed as I feel by all your kindness and enthusiasm, so I think that despite gray skies, I'm going to sail right through this work today.

p.s. A few people suggested that I make more of these popular little bundles for my shop. Is that something in which any of you would be interested? (And don't you just love my nerdy refusal to end sentences with prepositions?! Grammar rocks!)

Felt Like a Giveaway!

I know, I know--that might be my worst pun ever. Seems like a serious fiber artist (ahem) should stay away from those "felt" puns, but it's awfully hard for one such as me. ;-)
There's been so much lovely interest in wool-felt applique since my tutorials appeared online, and so many people have questions about where to get wool felt. I've been positively glowing, reading comments from folks who say I'm inspiring them to try new things, so here's a little more encouragement.
Comment on this post before midnight on Friday, August 28, and you'll have a chance to win one of these little bundles, each just right to inspire a wool-felt applique design of your own--14 6X6 squares of wool- or wool-blend felt, a 5" wooden hoop, a piece of lovely linen, and a bit of floss. Add scissors, needle, and your best idea, and you're ready to go! I'll announce the winners (2) here on Saturday. Just a teensy gesture of thanks for all the hopping good fun that's been going on around here lately!

WIP/Neighbors

I'm not saying whip your neighbors. In fact, you know what? Don't whip your neighbors.
I'm just saying that after a day of 35-style revelry, I'm back in the studio, and "Neighbors" is my work in progress. WIP. Come on folks--what kind of person do you take me for? Sheesh.

Hello, 35--

breakfast in bed (fresh fruit salad and sourdough toast): 18 holes of putt-putt (I won!):
sushi for lunch (sweet potato maki, inari, tempura): shopping for art supplies: Mark's day off:
dinner at flatbread, by the sea: vegan chocolate cupcakes filled with fudge and topped with raspberries: a new tea pot: madmen with my honey till the lights go out--

35, I think things between us are going to work out just fine.

True Blue

A couple very special to me celebrates their 28th wedding Anniversary today, after a period of great difficulty in their lives. Here's hoping this Melissa Crowe/Robert Browning collaboration predicts the truth for them: a period of smooth sailing during which they may enjoy each other's company.

Because who doesn't love gravy? (a.k.a. "Thrifty Gems")

My best friend, Jen, popped down from the County this week, and we spent Wednesday morning doing some fairly-sweltering thrifting (before heading to the beach with our girls, where a wind-mad sun-brella nearly took my head off and Jen had a bit of a heat-stroke incident--still, a good time was had).
This is, clearly, the loot. The little Black-Foresty cottage is a coin bank! What? Too much awesome, right?
Remember these Tupperware tumblers? If your childhood was anything at all like mine, you can smell the Kool-Aid just looking at this picture.
Tea and toast, anyone?
And this little green guy will make a great sugar bowl--or a secret pot for a wee stash of just-me candy? Yup. Gravy and candy. That's what it's all about folks.

A Welcome, a Little Wolf, and a Word on Wool Felt

A big hello and how-do-you-do to all of you who have popped in here in the last few days via Sew, Mama, Sew and Whip Up. I've been giddy on all the lovely things you've said and am just so pleased by the prospect of getting to know you. I am always, by the way, open to questions--about the tutorials, about applique, or anything, really--and I answer them in the comments, but if you need to contact me directly, my email is over on the side of this here blog-space.

This project design is definitely a work in progress, but I thought I'd share the little wolf. ("Bon hiver" means "good winter" in french.) Essentially, I want to make some critter-type Christmas ornaments in the vein of my hanging houses. The outer shape is really the tough part. I don't think I want the plush itself to be square--I'd rather it mimic the shape of the critter, but alas that's proving harder than it seems. (Any ideas?)
Finally, I've had a lot of questions recently about where to get the wool felt I use in my projects. I've ordered from several places and made a pretty systematic survey of what's available. The best quality 100% wool felt, by far, comes from Magic Cabin. It's also the most expensive, but its rich, lustrous look and feel make it worth the money for special projects, and it comes in scads of gorgeous colors. A less-expensive alternative for sewing softies/plush--anything that's going to be stuffed or will have to hold up to wear and tear (like purses or pouches, etc.) comes from Wool Felt Central. This is a wool-and-acrylic blend, and it's truly wooly--a sturdy, thick felt that's not rough or scratchy. Finally, for applique, the wool-blend felt I use (usually in combination with 100% wool felt) is a thinner, silker felt from Feltorama. Good stuff.

Now you have no excuse, folks--go on. Make some feltstuffs.

Ready to Sachet? The Tutorial!

Materials:

Start with a piece of linen stretched on an embroidery hoop (note that I use plastic when I'm not planning to frame the piece in the hoop). This hoop is 7 inches, and the fabric, obviously, needs to overhang a bit. You'll also need some felt-scrap circles in different sizes, from a bit smaller than a dime to a bit larger than a quarter. I keep a big heap of these around, but for one sachet, you need 3-5 of the larger circles and the same number of smaller circles. Cut three or four green leaf shapes, too. (The template from the Sew, Mama, Sew tut includes these shapes, or you can freehand them.) You'll also need a bit of coordinating cotton for the back of the sachet, along with a couple of straight pins.

Applique:

I like to begin by creating my arrangement--experimenting with colors and the placement of felt pieces until I get the look I want. (Sometimes I make three flowers, sometimes as many as five.)

Next, use a small, neat running stitch to attach the "petals" circles to the linen.

Then, using a small, neat whip stitch, attach the "centers" circles, yup, you guessed it, in the center of the "petals" circles.

Attach the leaves using a running stitch that goes from one leaf point to the other.

Construction:

Once you've completed the applique, it's time to build your sachet. I use a mat and rotary cutter to cut the linen down to a 6"X6" square. Scissors and a ruler will work, too. As you cut, you can position the applique anywhere you like inside the square. (I've made this one a little off center--on purpose, folks!) At this point, you will also want to cut your printed cotton to a 6"X6" square.
Pin the pieces right sides together.
Using a fairly tight stitch (to avoid lavender leakage), sew from approximately 1/3 from the edge of one side, all the way around the square, ending approximately 1/3 from the other edge of the starting side. This will leave an opening of about 2 inches in one side of your sachet. In terms of seam allowance, I'm just using the edge of the presser foot as a guide--clearly I'm not a sewing machine genius. ;-)
Trim excess fabric and miter the corners before turning your square right side out. (I use a chopstick to facilitate turning.)
Now it's time to create the decorative edge. I'm using this "H" setting on my Janome--it's sort of a scallop, and I have the settings at 5 for width and 1 and 1/2 for length. If you don't have a similar stitch, even a simple zigzag would work just fine.
Use the scallop or zigzag to edge stitch around the sachet, leaving the 2" opening you created when straight stitching.
Filling:

It's time to make this puppy smell good. I am filling my sachets with french lavender buds, which I have purchased from Glass House Supplies. If you search etsy supplies for "lavender," you'll find multiple sources, and I'm sure there are brick and mortar shops in some towns that sell this stuff, too. (Whole Foods has it here in Portland, but it's organic and costs a small fortune.) Clearly, you can use whatever material you like--other scented buds or herbs, balsam tips, etc.

I use a small spoon to fill the sachet through the little hole, making sure it gets down into the corners. I fill the sachet almost to the top, but you don't want a super-tight stuff. You need to be able to sew the hole closed, which is difficult if you can't close the fabric easily.
When the sachet is filled, fold in the "loose lips" of fabric at the hole and pull it taut; use the same decorative machine stitch to close the opening, and VOILA!
As you saw in my earlier post, I like to bundle two of these babies together with some ribbon--a great little gift!

Please let me know, if you try this, what you think--and if you need clarification or have any questions, send them my way!

Tut Sweet

Just popping in to point you to my Little Pink House Tutorial on Sew, Mama, Sew--it's up today! If you try it, I'd love to know what you think.

Foxy

Just back from the library, where I checked out Chang and Eng, a novelization of the lives of the world's most famous conjoined twins--I am itching to read it straight through right now, which really ought to tell you something about me. Annabelle checked out a book about a roving band of insect spies--you know, a fruit fly spy, a cockroach spy. Equally revealing. Home again, I am working on this little guy:And Annabelle made this little guy (to whom we are referring as "Annablob"):
We are both quite pleased with ourselves.

And in "pleased with oneself" news--Justin Ellis of the Portland Press Herald interviewed me about this blog, and you can check out the feature right here. I'm mainly pleased with myself because he compared me to Amy Adams. I don't want to tell you how pleased my husband would be if she came around to, you know, research her role. Ahem.

The Scoop on Three Hoops

It's really too dim in here for photos, but I miss you.
These are three of the hoops I've made for Picnic--I can't believe two of them are Christmas themed. No more cursing the department stores for hauling out the Santa gear before trick or treat, I guess!
The good news is that I still have skin on my fingers--maybe I've toughened sufficiently after all these months of needlework. I feel like Pinocchio somehow, like I'm a real boy (insert "handsewer" for boy there, please)! I also stab myself far less than I used to, which is, you know, awesome.
Oh--and I will indeed create a tutorial for those sachets, my dears. That's my next big project for sure. So glad you're interested.
No, really--so glad.

As Promised--

This is new for-Picnic product #1--little pockets of lavendery goodness. A two pack.
Tied with a pretty ribbon. Embellished with wool-felt flowers. Sewn from squares of natural-colored linen and polka-dot green cotton.
Good for drawers and bathrooms and closets and anywhere you'd like a good, sweet smell and a dose of pretty.

(I'd be glad to make a tutorial for these--though I think you're all smart enough to figure them out--if anyone is interested.)

Refashioned

Remember this "girl-y" wool felt panel? It appeared on this blog months ago and was the very first thing I ever made from wool felt. Yesterday I decided it needed to become something new, and it ended up a little pillow (made from fresh vintage yardage in a medium weight, candy-striped cotton--score!). I'm planning to take it with me to Picnic, my first craft show (should I get in--it's a teensy bit juried). I'm pretty much in mad-prep mode right now, which explains the sad trickle of items into my shop, but whatever comes home with me at the end of the day on September 12 will certainly make its way to Little Pink House, cyber-style.

In the coming days, I plan to share with you some of the pieces I've been making for the show, which include the familiar and the fully experimental. You--my trusted craft-possie--can help me decide how it's going.

Happy Anniversary, Baby

Today, I've been married to Mr. Crowe for 14 years--yup, our marriage is off to high school (only hopefully not wearing acid washed jeans and L.A. Gears like I did on my first day--shout out, 1988!). This is a photo of him taken around the time I fell in love with him--can you blame me? The word dreamy comes to mind, and, well, he still is. Apart from his good looks, in the past year, this man has worked two jobs, seven days a week for some stretches, often 12 hour days, so I can be at home with Annabelle, so I can write, make stuff. To be loved by this man has been altering in so many ways, and the transformation of my life in recent months has been one more example of his power to make me truly happy. And at the end of the day, always there are those last few minutes waiting--when (whatever struggles we have faced since waking) we will be able to shed our other selves and lie in our bed together, breathing easy, our fingers laced. I can't imagine anything better. Lucky, lucky me.

Sophie on the Free Sopha

Have I mentioned that I reeeeeally like free stuff? I don't mean any old thing--not shampoo packets in the mail. I don't load my handbag with melon samples at the grocery store. But I get much glee from that feeling of having outsmarted...who? The man? That feeling that comes from avoiding the store and getting a bit ahead by keeping your purse closed and your eyes open.
I have a new sofa--it was free. The cushions are slightly worn here and there, and I had to do a bit of a patch job at the back, but that was part of the fun. It's far more comfy than what I had before, and though I wouldn't ever pay for red gingham, I find free red gingham goes very nicely, in a Swedish Cottage sort of way, with my robin's egg blue walls. And Sophie's cool with it. So there you go.