Been working on several knits…..
Love the shape of this one. It’s got a lot of beading but it’s hard to see so here’s a close up:
Then something similar in pattern but without the “fins” shaping:
And one with no beads:
Shawls and Scarves
Gray and Pink Reverse Psychology Scarf
This is the second Reverse Psychology (by Mindy Ross) scarf I’ve made. I think I’m going to keep this one for myself. I love gray and pink. Used pink triangle beads in the scarf.
Kumihimo Bracelets
My sister was here for the holidays and she brought a kumihimo cording kit. I’ve wanted to make one but didn’t want to get into buying the supplies for another hobby so I’ve been putting it off. Here’s a few that she made. I added the end caps and clasps. These cords make up quickly so she made several in just a few days.
The one on the right is the fibers that came with her kit. The one on the left is from stuff I had already. I had some fringe-like yarn that made the little wisps of fiber stick out all over. I want to make a beaded cord someday.
Yo-Yo Flower Pins
I cut the fabric for these and made one up. I’m not crazy about these. But since I cut the fabric and got everything prepared, I went ahead and finished them up. Maybe someone will like them.
They are made out of hand dyed rayon velvet and cotton batik fabric. I backed them with wool felt flowers.
Two More Pins
These are kind of on the pink/red/purple side. It seems when I dye something red/pink, I can’t get different shades or add different colors. Not sure why that is.
I think I’m getting better at using my mom’s sewing machine. Still need practice but I’m having fun using all the different stitches.
Three More Leaf Pins
Due to the hot weather and not being able to make beads in the garage, I spent the weekend making leaf pins. Here’s three that I finished:
I did do another one but messed it up right at the end. I hate when that happens. I’m still learning how to work the sewing machine so it takes me a while to do all the sewing. I am picking up some speed but I’m still really slow. I suppose failures will happen when I’m learning. Don’t have to like it though.
Blue Flower Pin
Here’s another flower pin I just finished. It’s got vintage velvet ribbon on the bottom and Japanese silk fabric on the top.
Kind of plain but looks great on prints. There is also a little loop so the flower can be strung on cording or whatever.
Fiber Flowers
I’m still waiting for my newly dyed felt to dry. It takes a long time and today turned out to be not so hot so it’s taking it’s time. In the meantime, I tried a few flowers:
This is my first attempt. It’s about 2 inches across. I had some diecut felt flowers that I used for the back. I added a little tab so the flower can be threaded onto a hairband or ribbon.
Then, my friend gave me one of those slap bracelets so I made this:
Two views of the same bracelet. The flower is about 1 1/2 inch across. I made a fabric sleeve and sewed the flower onto the sleeve, then inserted the slap bracelet and sewed up the end.
Kool-Aid Dyed Felt
I got around to dyeing more wool felt last night. This is the first time I tried using Kool-Aid. It’s kind of “kool” as the colors are already mixed up and there is citric acid already in it so it’s supposed to work without having to add vinegar. The acid opens up the fibers to the dye. I still soaked my felt in lukewarm water and vinegar prior to dyeing to open up the fibers and saturate the felt. Using the Kool-Aid crystals made it really easy and probably a little less messy. After sprinkling the Kool-Aid on my felt, I sprayed it with some water to wet the crystals and disperse the color. Then I steamed my pieces. I have a big steamer that I bought eons ago when I was doing machine knitting. It works great for setting the dye. I steamed the pieces for less than 30 seconds, then took them over to the sink to wash out the Kool-Aid residue, along with any dye. I was totally surprised when no color came out. None at all. While washing, I felted my pieces at the same time by rolling the felt into a ball and rubbing the ball between my hands. Then I laid them out to dry. Here’s the results.
I’m still trying to figure out how to get purple. My attempts haven’t even come close. I did get some purple on the bottom pink piece at the top but I don’t know what I did. This is the piece I was trying to use up the Kool-Aid packets I already opened. Guess it’s back to more experiments…..
Two More Felt And Velvet Pins
I’m getting all excited about trying out new things with my mom’s sewing machine. While these things aren’t complex, I’m finding it fascinating that I can even sew.
I found my mom’s stash of variegated thread!! And all the solid shiny ones too!! Just that little bit of shine makes the colors pop. I’m getting better using the zigzag feature, though I still can’t make a round dot. One thing that makes sewing on the felt difficult is I can’t find anything that is erasable that marks felt. I had to do the spirals on the left piece by sight. Makes it way more stressful. I suppose I could baste the lines on but that would be too time consuming. Hope something pops into my head.
Mewkittie Creations 