I got five more bracelets done. They are really easy and fun to wear.
The slap bracelets are covered with fabric, then I add a yoyo flower that is made out of fabric and/or ribbon. The reason all of them are on the purple side is because I bought a silk fabric pack as I wasn’t planning on making more than one for myself. It turned out so cute that I thought I’d make a few to sell.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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…..
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.
I was able to get started on making more pins. I’m still trying to learn how to operate my mom’s sewing machine. I swear it’s harder to learn than a new computer. These are hand dyed felt and hand dyed velvet with machine stitching and some hand embroidery.
I’m still using up the felt I previously dyed. I have two more to stitch up, then I’ll get to dye more felt in different colors. Yeah!!
The last of them for a while. I need to start working on other things. These are the three I just finished.
I’ll probably make more later but I need to get hopping on making things for this fall’s craft shows so I’ll have nothing to sell. I’m planning on doing a little sewing so I’ll be making a little detour from glass and metals.
Another set of cab charms. I used some cabs that had different designs on them this time. I’m trying to get a good selection of them made so I have a variety of them.
It’s hard getting a good picture of these. They look much better in person. These are tiny, less than 1/2 inch across. I think they make good dangles and several can be worn on a chain or used as a component in another piece.
Mewkittie Creations 