Make It Mondays! Scrappy Scarf Tutorial

From this......

...to this........

in a few simple hours!

Use your small (even teensy) recycled lambswool, angora, alpaca, mohair and cashmere soft scraps to make this yummi-liscious infinity scarf. Great for yourself or for a beautiful Valentine's Day gift. Outta the landfill and into someone's heart. :)

Materials Needed:

Recycled natural fiber scraps
Yarn
Large eyed needle

Steps:

1. Thread your large eye needle with a complimentary colored thin yarn (or embroidery floss.)

2. Overlap your scraps and start sewing them together with a running stitch on your threaded yarn. I also call this the "inchworm" stitch...just up and down.

3. As you sew, pull your yarn a bit tight so that the fiber scraps scrunch up. This will add a lot of texture to your scarf.

4. I encourage you to leave the pointy edges off to the side of the scarf as you sew. In other words, don't make a perfect line. This is also a way to use odd shaped scraps...scraps aren't too narrow to use unless you can't stitch through it!

5. Don't be afraid to use all different colors. One of the neat things about recycled wool/other natural fibers is that all colors seem to go together well! When you wear this scarf with different outfits, it will highlight the different colors in your scarf!

6. Continue sewing until your length is long enough to loop around your neck three to four times.

When you're happy with the length, stitch the beginning to the end, making an "infinity loop."

7. Out of a larger scrap or two, freehand cut a flower, sew a button through the middle of the flower, and secure it to one part of your scarf. This step is optional but adds a lot of pizzazz to your scarf. :)

Like this tutorial? Then please "like" our Facebook page Everything But The Oink and subscribe to this blog. Bloggers like to feel the love! ;)

EnJOY!

p.s. Thanks to Reyna for taking our class yesterday and agreeing to model her completed creation!

New Fiber Arts 4H Project: Scrappy Scarves (tm)

We had to reschedule our Fiber Arts 4H meeting for two consecutive weekends due to crazy weather (snow, tidal surge flooding.) But, it was worth the wait as we met today and all nine of the members made my version of the ever so popular "infinity" scarves. True to Everything But The Oink's name, we used all of those long, narrow scraps which most people would toss into the trash.

The 4Hers used thin yarns and a running stitch (working on those needlework skills!) to artfully sew together the scraps. The running stitch allowed the kids to "scrunch" up the scraps, thereby incorporating a lot of texture into their creations.

It is always challenging to find project which are simple enough for our 3rd grade 4Hers,
yet appealing enough to our high school members. All of the kids were excited about wearing their scarves tomorrow, so Scrappy Scarves were a success!

What's In My Sewing Basket Wednesday: Cashmere Baby Blanket

Our snow and sub-freezing temperatures continue here in the Pacific Northwest. I've been "cabin bound" since Saturday morning, so yesterday I decided to start on a larger scale project. I'm handstitching, with hand dyed thin silk yarn (almost like thread) recycled cashmere sweater pieces into a heirloom baby blanket. I decided to go with brighter, gender neutral colors, so this blankie can be used for many siblings in a family.

Here is a photo of the work "in progress"....

It's the perfect project for sitting by the fire with a cuppa tea and watching it snow, snow, snow.

EnJOY!

What's In My Sewing Basket Today?

I acquired a large men's cardigan sweater in cashmere! However, it had quite a few small holes in it, so I decided to work with smaller pieces and make my first Ugly Baby doll. It was so much fun! I loved incorporating the cardigan pocket into the doll, making a "pocket pouch" for a teensy Ugly Baby rattle.

Interested in buying this little guy or one of our other Ugly Buddies? (Custom orders also welcome.)

http://www.etsy.com/listing/90616733/cashmere-ugly-buddy-doll-with-pouch-baby

What's in YOUR sewing basket today?

EnJOY!

Make It Mondays! Tutorial: How to Felt Natural Fiber Sweaters..aka Washing Machine Felting 411

You've come across awesome felted wool sweater projects on the Internet, but aren't quite sure how to felt the sweaters? No more fears...this Make It Mondays tutorial will have you working with your very own felted "material" in just a few hours. :)

Items Needed:
A sweater of at least 60 to 65% natural fibers (wool, lambswool, angora, cashmere, alpaca)
An old pillowcase
A large rubberband
Liquid laundry soap

1. I like to felt several sweaters at once to save water, energy, and time. It works best if you load the washing machine with sweaters of similar fiber content. For example, today I am felting all cashmere/cashmere blend sweaters.

2. Place each sweater in it's own pillowcase. If you ever find the zippered ones, those are awesome. Otherwise, after placing each sweater in it's own pillowcase, fasten the pillowcase securely (two or three wraps) with a large rubber band. Your washing machine, your family members and everyone else except the washing machine repair person will thank you for using the pillowcase tip. Otherwise you may plug up your machine with fiber lint and lint from different sweaters will stick to other sweaters! This is a special concern with those lovely, but fuzzy angora/angora blend sweaters.

3. Pour your normal amount of liquid laundry detergent into the bottom of the washing machine and then load your pillowcases of sweaters. Set your machine on max water level and on HOT, HOT (or hot, and then the warmest rinse setting you have available.) LEAVE THE LID OF THE WASHING MACHINE OPEN.

4.Start your machine for the longest agitation cycle available. The reason you have left the lid open is that so your machine will stop after the agitation cycle. It is human nature to get busy "doing something else" and forget to reset the agitation.

5. After your machine stops, check how well your sweaters are felting. My general rule of thumb, from years of experience, is as follows: Coarse/rough wools will only require one agitation cycle while finer/more delicate fibers and blends will take two to three total agitation cycles. If your sweaters are felted nicely, then close the lid and let your washing machine finish it's entire cycle. If they are NOT felted yet, simply restart the beginning of the agitation cycle again, leaving the lid open until you're sure everything is felted nicely.
(Don't fret over this too much when you are just beginning to learn how to machine wet felt. If it is under felted, you can repeat the entire process.)

6. After the machine cycle is totally completed (spin and all), remove your sweaters from their pillowcases and determine if they need further felting. If they're felted well, then hang over your shower rod to dry. If you hold it up to a light and can still see lots of light through the knit, then consider placing the sweaters back into their pillowcases and into the dryer, checking frequently so that you don't over felt. (If you do over felt, these pieces will work well for rugs, oven mitts, etc.)

If you choose not to use the pillowcases in the dryer (for example, if you are just drying one sweater by itself), then be sure and empty the lint filter frequently. You don't want a lint fire! Don't throw away the lint....this is all from the sweater fibers and makes the best stuffing for stuffed animals, pin cushions, and other such projects.

Many people believe/state that you can ONLY felt 100% wool sweaters. Simply. Not. True. While it may take longer to felt blends of >60%, they usually felt up very nicely. :)

Now, the fun begins. After your sweaters are dry, you can begin to deconstruct the sweaters. Don't laugh, but I usually don't plan a project for a particular sweater until this point...the sweater will usually "talk to me" and a project idea will form. You can cut up the sweaters as if they are fabric, because they are! No unraveling, just delicious, recycled natural fiber fabrics.

EnJOY and have fun!

p.s. Please consider supporting my fiber art public art project at: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/526090211/everything-but-the-oink-ecofriendly-public-art-pro

**Sweaters may be substituted with other natural fiber garments. When using woven suit blazers, skirts, and other such items, I find it is best to cut out the lining first and then wash/felt the article of clothing. Sometimes I will even deconstruct these items, cut the woven wool into pieces and THEN wash/felt them. I have found that these woven clothing pieces felt much tighter/smaller, but they work well for stuffed animals, pillows and other pieced projects.

Feel free to repost this tutorial as long as you give credit back to Everything But The Oink with a link to this blog.

Make It Mondays! Cashmere HandWarmer Tutorial

Everything But The Oink means we use everything.....I mean everything of our recycled sweaters and other natural fiber items. It's eco friendly, frugal, responsible and fun to find ways to use every last piece. We even cut up the teensy scraps and use them to "stuff" our Mini Mice, Alien and Monster Buddies and our Bird Ornaments.

When we have a precious cashmere sweater find, we don't want to waste any teensy weensy piece of this luxurious upcycled fabric. So, we created Cashmere HandWarmers, filled with organic lavender and (uncooked) rice for a special treat to keep your hands warm during these cold winter months.

Here's all you need for this simple, easy-peasy project:
A small rectangle of cashmere felted "fabric"
Coordinating length of natural fiber yarn, threaded onto a large eye needle (chenille works well)
uncooked rice and organic lavender buds (optional)

STEPS:
1. Fold your rectangle of cashmere in half so that is square shaped.
2. Sew up all but one side of the square with a whip stitch.
3. Fill the cashmere "pocket" with uncooked rice and lavender buds.
4. Finish sewing up the last side of the square.
5. Heat in microwave for 30 to 60 seconds and then put it in your glove, your coat or pant pocket to keep your fingers warm and your body relaxed from the yummy lavender. :)

This can be reheated and re-used, over and over, and over again...for many years. These would make wonderful Valentine's Day gifts and your children can even sew these up for their teachers and favorite aunts.

Of course, you can make these out of other natural fiber scraps, but the cashmere handwarmer is...well.....just extra special.

EnJOY!

Make It Mondays! Mug Mat/Hot Pad Tutorial

I LOVE blog tutorials! They not only teach me; they inspire me. So....I'm starting "Make It Mondays" with a tutorial (as often as possible) on Mondays.

Today's tutorial is for a simple mug mat or hot pad project. It is a stormy, high tide surge day here at the beach cabin, so ocean-y colors came to mind...and a cut of hot chocolate. (At the end of the tutorial, look for my "Heavenly Hot Chocolate" recipe...a 4H group favorite!

Okay, on to the tutorial....
Supplies needed: Recycled felted wool scrap, thinner craft felt scrap (or can use a thinner wool scrap piece), leftover yarn, large eyed needle, straight pin.

Steps:
1. Cut out your wool and felt pieces. I wanted a larger hot pad for this project, so I used a cereal bowl for my circle template.

2. If you want to embellish/embroider your wool felt, do it now. (I just did a simple ocean wave embellishment.)

3. Using a straight pin, pin your two pieces together.

4. Blanket stitch the pieces together with leftover yarn. TIP: If you use a bulky yarn and/or a thick scrap, use a sail, leather or upholstery needle. It will make your job much easier. Use caution with children using these "mega" needles however. I do not recommend using thread or superfine yarn. You will lose your embellishment in the thick felted wool.

5. Do not knot your yarn at the end. Simply weave your yarn end back and forth in your stitches and cut close.

6. For a more polished finished project, use an iron and steam your mug mat/hot pad flat.

Voila! These are a great family project and you can get an early start on Valentine's Day presents!

The final photo is of some of the yarns I dyed yesterday on our 4H dye day. These will be used for future button bag and other recycled wool projects.

Now to the promised Heavenly Hot Chocolate recipe! Disclaimer: Not healthy or low fat, but a delicious special treat!
In a mug, empty one packet of powdered hot chocolate mix.
Add a splash of milk or 1/2 and 1/2 and a spoonful of Nutella.
Fill with hot water and stir well.
Top with a heaping spoonful of marshmallow creme and microwave for 30 seconds (to melt the marshmallow creme.)
EnJOY!

A Glimpse at Projects in Progress....and Completed!

I truly feel like a little bit of me is knit or stitched into each project. Adrianna and I spend a minimum of 15 hours on EACH item, and most items have 20 to 30 hours of handwork. Since these hours are invested over multiple days, it's almost like having a baby born each time a project is completed. (LOL...without the pain of childbirth, but the pride and love of a new creation.) Fellow fiber arts enthusiasts will know what I'm trying to say. :)

Sometimes we transition from one project to another, then back again. I treasure the time spent with Adrianna, choosing the "just right" yarn and buttons, and our chats as we stitch by the fire in the evenings.

We made our first fingerless gloves this past week and have just listed them on our Etsy shop. We also finished up two cashmere scarves. Oh...My...Goodness! The incredible softness and luxury of these scarves. Adrianna said she would just "pet" it all day.

Now on to leg warmers. I'm starting this afternoon on a yummy blue lambswool pair. I believe I'll start with some handstitching embellishment with handspun, hand dyed yarn....