Trying My Hand at Felt Toys

Well, I gave in and tried making a felt toy. I loved it! It was so fun! On Tuesday night I went over to hang out with Lori of thebirchperch.etsy.com. We cut out some felt birds to give to a friend's little girl for her birthday.

This little guy came from my hard work. Such a fun little peacock puppet. Can't wait to hear what she names him! :)

6 Purse Project Warmup

These two purses were created strictly for my own use. They're pretty simple, but that's the way I like it. :) The grey fabric was a 2 dollar per yard piece I bought on a whim. I don't think I'll be using that fabric to send to anyone but myself. It frays horribly.

The bag on the left is a massive bag (27 inches wide), created to carry swag that I got from the HOW Design Conference this last week. The conference was fantastic! I'm creatively recharged and raring to finish my 6 bag project. :)

The bag on the right was created as a daily walking around bag. It's about 15 inches wide & perfect to carry around books and my daily items. :)

Project! & Bonus unfinished studio pic!

Well, those patterns that I'm drafting have turned into an all out project. From now on, I'll refer to them as the 6 purse project. I've got some lovely beta testers who I'll be shipping the bags off to once they're complete. The lovely fabric in the picture above is what I'll be using for the bags.

The way I'll be doing the beta testing is: Once I get the bags finished I'll send them off to each of my testers. I'll ask them to wear the bag for a week or two if they don't find it completely repulsive from the start. Once they're done wearing it, I'll ask them to send me the answers to a questionnaire that I'm putting together. It'll have questions like, "How did the bag hold up?", "Was the size of the bag practical for it's use?" and so on and so forth.

I'm pretty excited about this project. I go shopping for final notions and start cutting out pieces this weekend.



Also! I have a picture of my messy, unfinished studio. Here you can see my paint colors. I'll be getting curtains some time & hanging up a ton of useful shelving on the blue wall. My most exciting plan is that I'll eventually paint my lime and aqua logo right smack dab in the middle of the green wall. :)

Drafting Patterns

Just to let you guys know, I'm in the process of drafting a few patterns for me to eventually start my etsy shop. I'm loving my new studio so much. There's just so much room to craft! I've got to put together some curtains & shelving, but it's well on its way. :)

Last night I put together a cute little tote to send off to my four year old beta tester for durability testing. :) It's in the general shape of the bags I'll be making & it has the same stitch setting that I'll use. I just want to make sure it holds up to some heavy duty play time. :) I didn't include the fancy pockets or detailing that I will when I make these for actual profit. It's strictly for testing. I'll post pics of it this evening some time.

*edit* I got so excited about giving the bag to my little beta tester that I completely forgot about the pics. Sorry!!

Sqwerl!

Today I received a little bit of inspiration from a friend. She sent me an email with a link to a squirrel purse. She said that she had to have one when she got up the courage to buy it. :) Well, I knew I could make a pretty fabulous squirrel bag and started out to create. This is my take on the squirrel bag. It's a simple canvas/cotton print/felt bag. :) I don't have any flashy tail faux fur, but I hope she likes it. (Yes, I meant for the canvas to fray)


Also, in the mail today I received some fabulously died 100% Merino Superwash Roving. The colors are vibrant jewel tones. I couldn't help myself so I've started to spin an aqua/burgundy bit, and it's turning out beautifully.

Here's some of the dark red in the bunch. It's very striking and I can't wait to see it in yarn. :)

Tie Coffee Cozy Tutorial

I don't know about you guys, but I love finding new tutorials on the web. Especially if they're for something quite useful and unique. The more useful the better.

After starting at my naked coffee cup, I decided that it needed to be dressed up. :) The tie coffee cozy tutorial was born.


To make this simple (environmentally conscious) coffee cozy follow these directions:

Materials Needed:
Sewing Machine
Scissors
a mens dress tie of your choice
a large button (or velcro)
corresponding thread
a sheet of felt

1. Locate a large tie you especially like. You can find ties at most thrift stores by the bin full for very very cheap. They come in different sizes, but I like to use the largest width I can. I decided on a vintage striped orange and brown number.

2. Measure thirteen inches in from the very tip of the the fat end of the tie. Make a mark at 13 inches and cut across the tie to remove the end of it. We won't be using the neck area of the tie. Feel free to use it in other craft projects. I especially like the thought of turning it into a nice wrist cuff. (Which can be made in a similar fashion as this tutorial. Just imagine your wrist instead of the coffee cup, and measure using your actual wrist.)

3. Cut out a piece of felt for the backing on the tie. It should be the same size or a tad bit smaller in dimension than the tie bottom. This will stabilize it and keep it from slipping around on the cup. Also, it will add an extra layer of insulation for keeping the drink warmer and keeping your hand cooler.

4. Place the tie and the felt right sides together and sew along the top flat edge of the tie.

5. Flip the tie over to where the wrong sides are facing each other. Sew all the way around the edge of the tie and the felt.

6. Attach either a button or Velcro. The sewn flat edge will lay underneath the pointy end when you fasten it around the cup. This should fit a standard coffee cup. However, if you're unsure about fit, the Velcro would be a better way to go as it's more adjustable.

My hand at sewing

Tonight I decided to work on just a couple of projects. My crafting time consists of the time after work, between supper and Project Runway. I did get a couple of bags created though.

Numero Uno:
Imagine my surprise when I visit Joanne's after work and stumble upon some Alexander Henry fabric. I quickly snatched it up and decided to whip up this simple little tote.

Aaand B:

This bag is really a place mat. :) I visited the Crate and Barrel Outlet in San Marcos and stumbled upon this little jewel. It was hanging out in a bin of orphaned place mats. I just adore it. It's a quite simple bag and I can definitely post a tutorial for it later.

Right now though, it's sleepy time.

Have a great night!