Hand Felted, Needle Felted and Ready to Go!: My Mini Bag Unveiled

Ta Da! It's kinda cute, if I do say so myself. With a smart white vintage button and a  bit of needle felting on the flap, my hand felted plum mini bag is finished.

Want one of your own? The free pattern is here. The hand felting process is here.

Visit other fiber adventures this Fiber Arts Friday at Wonder Why Gal's!

Happy Fiber Arting.

Check Out This Knitted Word Search

I had to share this post from Prick Your Finger.

Photo from Prick Your Finger's Blog

It's a winter themed knitted word search complete with clues. Send an e-mail and you can get a printable version to complete. Wow!

Happy word searching!

Felting: The Little Coco Bag

The famous Little Coco Bag has to be one of my favorite felted bags of all time! 

It is designed by Diane Sutliff who offers the patten free at her blog  Felted Handbag Workshop.

My bag is knit with two strands of Patons Classic Merino Wool. The finished product is a stiff bag with form. It's exactly what I was looking for in a felted bag.

The straps are pulled though grommets in the sides of the bag which is a nice detail.

Once you've tried this pattern, you'll want to make more than one!

You can see all of the wonderful interpretations of this bag on Ravelry. You'll need to log in.

Happy Felting!

Fiber Arts Friday: My New Winter Neck Warmer

I can no longer deny that winter will come. So, my newest creation is this neck warmer which I was experimenting with on my knitting needles this week. Using 12mm needles and double strands of a chunky yarn, it is knit in an uneven rib pattern. The result is big on thickness and texture.

I crocheted a placket for the buttonholes. Wooden buttons add interest and warmth to the piece complimenting the rusty orange yarn.

I wonder if the other fiberistas are thinking about winter this Fiber Arts Friday? Go see at Alpaca Farm Girl.

Happy winter knitting!

Sunday Summary: What else...More Fiber Art Jewelry

I was busy creating more fiber art jewelry this week. I procrastinated, but I finally finished this ring by completing the simple task of sewing the blue vintage heart button on.

I'm excited by this new bracelet design using crochet cording in organic cotton.

What am I up to this week? My local yarn shop is having a sale. As you know, one can never have too much yarn! Oh, and I signed up for belly dance classes to start this week....crocheting my veil as I type...not really!

Happy creating!

Purple Passion: My Felted Clutch with Needle Felted Spirals

Another felting project is completed! This small clutch was fun to knit and felt in Paton's Classic Merino wool. I love simple projects that turn out great. This clutch was inspired by a pattern you can find here at Lion Brand Yarn. Mine turned out  more "rustic" than the one designed at Lion Brand. My blanket stitch needs some practice!

I needle felted the spirals onto the felted clutch using the same lime green wool I used to seam the sides. Lion Brand embroidered their spirals onto the clutch using the chain stitch. After seeing my blanket stitching, you know why I chose to needle felt the spirals! I use a snap to close the clutch. The clutch measures about 8 inches by 5 inches. I use it to store some of my crochet hooks.

Check out other fiber tales this Fiber Arts Friday at Alpaca Farm Girl.

Happy fiber arting!

Sunday Summary: Rings and Things

My inaugural Sunday summary of my week of fiber art adventures and stuff. This post only happened with the permission of my cat once she vacated my desk (fuzzy picture owing to her attempts to nuzzle the camera)!

I finally finished knitting a purse for future felting. I'll felt it when I have acouple of other things to throw in the washer to felt with it. I'm looking forward to seeing how this lilac color looks felted. It's an Irish wool I've never used before called Galway Highland and Heather.

All I have left to do with this crochet ring is to sew on the blue vintage button shaped like a heart. These rings are simple and fun to make and wear. I sold one in my Etsy shop.

I became just a little obsessed this week (and last) with my upcycled needle felted brooches which I have been adding to my Etsy shop. I love cutting them out and punching pretty colors of roving into their centers with my felting needles. I also enjoyed choosing vintage buttons for the felted brooches I made with button centers.

This upcoming week...who knows what I will be doing! Happy Fiber Art Adventures and stuff!

Fiber Arts Friday: My Continuing Fiber Adventure with Felted Brooches

Last Fiber Arts Friday, I posted about my brooches made from cutting funky flower designs from a felted lambswool sweater. I used some of my vintage buttons to create the center of the flowers which you can see here.

Well, this week I had the idea to needle felt the centers of some flowers with wool roving. I really like the result!

Needle felting gives the flowers dimension as the petals come forward when you needle felt around the base of the center.

I really enjoy needle felting. I'll have to try to use it more often in my work. Have a look at what others are doing this Fiber Arts Friday at  Alpaca Farm Girl. Happy Fiber Arting!

Fiber Arts Friday: Felted Brooches from an Upcycled Sweater

I love recycling, upcycling, repurposing, reclaiming or whatever you want to call reusing something in a project! I felted a lambswool sweater quite a while ago with just this in mind.

Here's where my imagination took me:

I made funky fun brooches embellished with my vintage buttons which I blogged about in July.

I deliberately cut the shape of each brooch a little off kilter to add to their whimsical appeal.

Check out what other Fiberistas are up to on Fiber Arts Friday at Alpaca Farm Girl. Happy reusing!

Inspired by the Past: Vintage Patterns

I love vintage crochet and knitting patterns. Perusing a stack of vintage pattern books while drinking copious cups of tea is a great way to pass the time. I love flipping through the pages looking for unique designs and techniques that cannot be found in newer pattern books.

My latest creation for my Etsy shop is inspired by this crocheted green Jewelled Collar Necklace. It is a pattern from 1954 Coats & Clark's pattern book of knitting and crochet projects. It is worked in crochet thread and embellished with sequins and beads.

I like the idea of these collars. They are great for dressing up white t-shirts, cardigans or collarless dresses. Of course, they are also quite pretty worn on bare shoulders. They are so versatile.


My Jewelled Collar Necklace is crocheted in soft organic cotton yarn. You can see how I was inspired by the shape and embellishment of the 1954 version.

I modified the pattern to take into consideration the gauge of my yarn which was larger than the crochet thread of the original version. I kept the pattern the same for the first two rows, so I would have spaces between the double crochets to weave my white satin ribbon. The remainder of the pattern I modified to suit my yarn and myself. My thicker cotton yarn could not achieve the same detailing like the delicate picots on the 1954 collar which were easily made with finer crochet thread.

As for the embellishments, I thought sequins would be too over the top for my pastel blue yarn and feminine ribbon. But faux pearl vintage beads from the 1960s complimented the feminine feel. I'm very happy with the outcome of this project.

Vintage patterns can be a great source of inspiration for your crochet or knit designs. So, give those old pattern books a second look. You never know what will inspire you.

Happy vintage pattern hunting!

Crochet and Knitting: Do you have a favorite?

I love both crochet and knitting. I can't choose one over the other! Making your own fiber fabric with mere needles and hooks fascinates me.

Knitting has been a life long passion, since my attempt at age twelve at a single mitten. Many years later and no more mittens, my closet is over-flowing with my knitted sweaters from Icelandic Lopi to multi-cabled designs.

I love the drape of knitted fabric as it falls below your needles and turns into a woven fabric.

Right now, I have a sweater that is still on my needles begging to be finished. It was started last fall, but it took a back seat to a busy life and felting!

I discovered felting about a year ago. My washing machine has never been the same since. I get excited by the magic of felting knitted pieces. Transforming their size, shape, texture and colour through the unthinkable harsh treatment of the wool tossed around in the hottest water. Of course, it's just another excuse to knit.

I have a collection of knit felted bags of various sizes and shapes. I use one for my needle felting supplies. Another one protects my cherished digital camera. Yet another totes around wool and needles. Shamefully, one hangs at my back door empty and unused. I made so many I started giving them away!

I started crocheting around the same time I took up knitting and thus discovered another passion. Granny squares were an early specialty. Amigurumi is not new to me. I was making crocheted frogs, mice, kangaroos and the whole animal kingdom in the 1970s!

I like the structural dimension to crochet as your hook can create pieces with form and dimension. It is such a versatile art.

My crochet fiber jewelry is fun to design and wear. Necklaces, bracelets and rings use the best of crochet's ability to give pieces structure.

My crocheting has not escaped my felting craze. I love felted crochet flowers. I pin them on bags, me and others!

My mother's 1950's crochet pattern books are a gold mine of ideas and inspiration. Crocheting purses from these vintage patterns gives me an opportunity to explore fashions of the past as I learn old techniques of design.

Don't ask me to choose a favorite, because I can't. Can you?

Express your passion for your favorite fiber art in a comment to this post.

Happy fiber arting!

Fiber Jewelry: How To Make Crochet Rings

Designing and wearing your fiber jewelry is a creative way to express your individuality. You choose the technique, texture, colors and embellishments for each piece.

I like using crochet to create my fiber jewelry. Crochet is a fiber art that both beginners and experts can easily use to create beautiful wearable fiber art.

This fiber ring is crocheted from organic white cotton yarn. You can use any fiber as long as it is not too bulky for your finger.

I used a 4.5 mm / U.S 7 crochet hook to work with this medium yarn.

Your best friend for creating crochet rings is the trusty single crochet. This basic stitch is easy to use to give your work structure and a closed stitch.

Start your crochet ring by creating a foundation chain that is long enough to fit around your finger. I made 10 chains with my cotton yarn using a 4.5mm/ 7 U.S. hook. My ring fits an average adult female finger. Remember, your ring will have some stretch room since it is crocheted.

When you have your chain completed, you must join the end of the chain to the beginning to form a ring with a slip stitch. Be careful not to twist your ring, as you are now going to crochet in the round. There will be no seam to sew! See my previous blog post for a photo showing this.

Do not turn as you will be crocheting around the ring.

1st row: Chain (ch) 1 and single crochet (sc) in each ch of the foundation chain. Slip stitch (sl st) to join the end of the round to the beginning of the round.

2nd row: Ch 1. Sc in each sc around. Sl st to join the end of the round with the beginning. Fasten off and weave in your ends. It should look like a ring!

Now, here is the fun part. Embellish your ring. For the fiber ring pictured above, I used a vintage button that has sparkle. You could sew on beads, sequins or use embroidery floss to stitch a design. Happy Crocheting.

Simple Crocheted Flower: How To Tutorial

This crocheted flower is a simple design great for beginners. I learned this pattern years ago. Many flowers later, I now know it off by heart.

Crocheted flowers can be made by the dozens and sewn or slip stitched together during crocheting at the tips of the petals to make scarves, shawls or throws. Your imagination is your only limitation on what you can create.

My pretty blue flower was crocheted in a soft merino wool using a size 4.5 mm or 7 crochet hook.

You can use whatever fiber you like. This flower is also nice crocheted in soft cotton yarn or a fuzzy mohair. Use whatever you have in your yarn stash to practice. For this single flower, gauge is not important. Yeh!

To start: Chain (ch) 4 and join with a slip stitch (st st) to form a ring.

Round One: Ch 4. Then make *1 half double crochet (hdc) into the ring and ch 3*. Repeat from * to * 5 times. Join to the beginning (beg) of the round with a sl st into the 2nd ch of the ch 4 that you started the round with. You should have 6 loops. Your work should now look like this:

Round 2: You are now going to add petals to your blooming flower. In each of your 6 loops, make 1 single crochet (sc), 1 hdc, 1 double crochet (dc), 1 hdc, 1sc. Join to the beg of the round with a sl st in the 2nd ch of the ch 4 you started the round with. I hope your flower now looks like this:

Round 3: In this round, you will be making chains behind each petal. As in the photo below, ch 4.

Then, taking the chain behind the petal, insert your hook into the front of and between the 2 sc of that petal and the next petal.

Now, make a sl st between the 2 petals.

Repeat this around the flower creating a ch 4 behind each petal. When you reach the end of the round, join with a sl st in first sc at the beg of the round. The back of your flower should look like this:

Round 4: The last one! You now have 6 loops created by your series of ch 4s. Into each of these loops make the following group of stitches: 1 sc, 1 hdc, 3 dc, 1 hdc, 1 sc. Once again, at the end of the round, join to the beg with a sl st into the first sc at the beg of the round.

Ta dah! Now cut that yarn, lock that chain and neatly sew in your ends.

If you are looking for a good online instructions for how to crochet, you might want to visit Crochet Guild of America. Happy crocheting.

My Mother's Vintage Buttons

My vintage buttons are special. From the 1960s into the early 70's, my mom sat at her Kenmore sewing machine often making clothes or doing alterations for others. But, she also found the time to make me clothes. My vintage buttons are those buttons she never used or had leftover from her many sewing projects.

Rummaging through her old cardboard button box often gives me the feeling of deja vu, as if I've met certain buttons before. I'm certain many of the buttons were used by my mom on dresses and coats she tailored for me when I was a child. Much to my frustration, I can never bring to my mind the full memory of what childhood clothes the most familiar of the buttons were lovingly sewn on.

One old card of Lady Fashion buttons bought for 39 cents, with two of the once four buttons missing, gave me the strongest feeling of deja vu. Where had I met these brushed gold tone shank buttons before? Staring at these buttons, navy blue was all I could think of while foolishly willing them to speak to me of their past.

Then I remembered, my navy blue jacket that my mom had sewn for me in the 1970s! My navy blue Nehru style jacket that I could remember wearing to school. Didn't I have a photograph of myself in that jacket? Sure enough, after flipping through my old photo albums, I found the black and white photo of me posing in the mall photo booth wearing my navy blue Nehru jacket with the brushed gold tone shank buttons. My buttons on the Lady Fashion card were still just as shiny as those buttons in the photo.

My jacket with all of its buttons is now long gone. The ability of that old card of buttons to draw out such an old memory from the very back of my mind is amazing.

None of the other old familiar buttons have been able to bring back any such memories of the clothes my mother made for me. I pass them on to others sewn onto my fiber art creations. Old buttons have stories to tell and mine continue on to gather the stories of other lives.

I said that there were two buttons left on that Lady Fashion button card. There is only one in the photo above. The other brushed gold tone button I used as the closure for a small felted pouch which I designed and made for myself. Now, I can literally carry that memory with me.

As for the other button left on the card, it will not be put back into the button box. It sits on my desk waiting to be sewn onto a special project just for me.