Scrappy Headbands, Summer Camps and More!

"Scrappy" Upcycled Headbands (Adult and Infant)

Upcycled Upholstery Trim with Button and Sequin Embellishment-Hair Clip

We've been having way too much fun at Crafters Co-op!  It is so rewarding to create beautiful accessories from what would normally be a "throw-away" item(s).

So, we are announcing our first monthly "Make Somethin' Out of Nothin'" night for next Saturday (June 2nd) from 7-9 p.m.  Here are the details:

Location:  910 Pioneer, Oak Harbor, at Crafters Co-op
Cost: $10 and a snack to share (BYOB optional)
Details:  No supply cost, as we will be creating hair accessories, pins/brooches (and anything else you choose) from our "scrap" baskets of fabrics and trims.  You can create as many as you choose in the two hour period and may add one embellishment (i.e. button, feather or bling) to each item.  At the end of the evening, all in attendance will vote, and the winner of the cutest/most creative will not have to pay the $10 for the evening.  :)

Register in the shop or 632--4200 or www.facebook.com/whidbeycrafts.

Also, our June class schedule will be out on Tuesday.  We'll have our normal offering of fiber arts, sewing and papercraft classes, but will also have a beginning quilting class meeting one evening a week for the entire month of June.  This will fill up quickly, so sign up soon!

Don't forget to sign up for our SUMMER CRAFT CAMPS for youth!  Grades 1-5 in the mornings (9-11:30) and Grades 6 and up from 1-3:30 pm.  $125 for all week and includes all supplies for fun, yet practical projects completed each day!  All instructors background checked.

Crafters Co-op, where EVERY day is Earth Day!  Open 11-8 Mon-Sat and sometimes on Sunday
Craft store, studio, boutique, supplies and classes.
910 Pioneer, Oak Harbor, Whidbey Island, WA  98277
royalalpacas@aol.com
360 632 4200

Our FB page at www.facebook.com/whidbeycrafts provides the most up to date list of classes and events.

Daily Class Schedule for April

The daily class schedule for each day of April, 2012 will be in the shop on Monday. A variety of fiber art, sewing, scrapbooking, knitting and crochet classes will be offered! Most classes are only $10/hr plus minimal supply costs. Some classes have supplies included in the one hour $10 class fee!

Don't forget that your class fee also grants you access to the studio for the entire day of your class. :)

Crafters Co-op
910 Pioneer Way
Oak Harbor, WA 98277
360 632 4200

Crafters Co-op is OPEN!

Washington's only craft/fiber arts store focusing on eco-friendly supplies (>50% recycled,vintage, reclaimed) and practices is now open!

910 Pioneer Way, Oak Harbor, WA 98277 (3 blocks past the mermaid)
(360) 632 4200

M-F 11-8
Sat. 10-8

We offer supplies, classes, a boutique of handcrafted items, and an open studio. Studio fee ($3 for elementary age students and $5 for middle school-adult) includes the use of ALL of our studio tools, space and our 150+ craft book/pattern library!

Some of our tools include:

Two sewing machine stations
Rotary cutters/mats
Rigby Wool/Fabric Cutter
Fricke Finest Drum Carder
Drop Spindles, Spool Knitters, Lap Looms
Niddy Noddys, Ball Winder, Swift and More
Art Supplies of all kinds
Huge Stamp Collection for Scrapbooking/Paper Crafts

We also sell by the item or by the ounce and minimize plastic packaging! We have the largest collection of fibers/dyed and natural on Whidbey Island and have supplies for the following fiber arts:
Spinning
Weaving
Knitting
Crochet
Embroidery/Cross Stitch/Tapestry
Kumihimo (Japanese Braiding)
Fiber and Silk Dyes (including many silk scarves for your projects)
Nuno/Cobweb Felting
Needle Felting
Rug Making (Locker hooking, Primitive, Latch hooking, Braided, Toothbrush)

Come check out our huge $3/yd fabric section and our vintage/antique fabrics and notions! We also have the largest collection of vintage sewing baskets in the Northwest...pick out one for your crafting needs/joys!

Many scrapbook papers available by the sheet too. Die Cutter coming later this spring for the studio.

We have nine talented craft artisans to teach classes and assist you in the studio:
Jessica and Kymy: Basic and Advanced Sewing
Agatha and Kathy: Crochet and Kids Crafts
Dena and Glennda: Rugmaking and Recycled Fiber Arts
Dena: Fiber Arts of all Kinds
Ruth: Primitive Rug Hooking
Amy: Jewelry and Beading
Cheryl: Scrapbooking and Paper Crafts

Hope to see you soon!

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!

Make It Mondays! Tutorial: Five Minute Project--Wrist Warmers

We had snow this weekend. Lots of snow. Here at the beach, we had four inches and "in town" they had six inches. We're expecting up to ten additional inches early this week. For those of you in the Midwest and East Coast, that's not much. But for us wimpy Pacific Northwest islanders, it's a major event. :)

Our housing isn't built for severe winter weather either. So, I've been chilly in my rustic beach cabin and made these 5 minute project cashmere (okay, I'm spoiled) wrist warmers to help keep me warm. What I like about them is that when I HAVE to take a craft creation break and wash dishes, I can easily push them up my sleeves.

Because these are made with recycled fibers (wool, cashmere, angora.....), the ends will not unravel, so they are not sewn. However, they can be blanket stitched, embroidered, or further embellished at a later date.

SUPPLIES:
The upper sleeve pieces of any recycled/felted sweater
scissors
(Yep, that's it!)

Sleeves are one of my treasured parts of any recycled sweater. The lower sleeve section (with the cuff) works for fingerless gloves, coffee cup sleeves and many more projects. However, when I use this lower sleeve section, I always have the section from half way between the wrist up to the elbow. This piece works PERFECTLY for this project. It's already in a tube, so no sewing is required. It's loose enough to fit on your lower arm over any long sleeve clothing you are wearing, yet snug enough to keep your wrists warm.

Simply cut two arm "tube sections" 5" to 6" long (based on your preferences) straight across, and voila! You are now the proud owner of a pair of comfy wrist warmers. (They would also work as ankle warmers too. :)

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.

Now THIS is a Public Art Project-"Yarn Bombing" in Seattle

Today, on a cold, dreary day in the Pacific Northwest, I was driving through downtown Seattle. I'm just recovering from a serious bout with the flu and was frankly tired and grumpy about having to drive "in the city." All of a sudden, I just had to smile.....

While stopped at a busy intersection in Pioneer Square, my eye caught color....bright, vivid color and on TREES! The trees had striped knitted blankets rising up their massive trunks. I just had to open my car door and take a quick cell phone photo, as shown below.

Unfortunately, you can't see the color like I did, but after coming home, I researched "knitted trees" in Seattle and found this article about the art exhibit.

By Jessica Alberg
Whimsical Dr. Seuss trees and light poles are springing up in Pioneer Square’s Occidental Park, thanks to local artist Suzanne Tidwell.

Tidwell is participating in yarn bombing, sometimes considered a form of graffiti, which uses colorful yarn instead of paint or anything permanent. Tidwell, who posted on her web site that she was hired by the Seattle Parks & Recreation department to create an art installation for its summer ARTSparks program in Pioneer Square, is wrapping 16 small light posts, 16 tall light posts, 13 small bollards, 52 tall bollards, 16 flower pots of various sizes, and 42 trees in Occidental Park.

The installation will be up all summer, and the stripes (done in a palette of warm purples, reds, oranges, yellows and pinks) are designed not only to reflect the summer, or wish for summer, but to contrast with the dark, green square.

Before Occidental Park, Tidwell was already yarn bombing. Her yarn bombings have included tree stumps all over the city and a scarf for the famous Fremont Troll. Tidwell had hoped to have her installation up by June 11, the first International Yarn Bombing Day ever.

But the task of covering Occidental Park was too massive to complete by then, so the art project continues. Tidwell has been getting some help, posting a statement on her blog: “So... grab your most HOT, SHOCKING, and VIVID yarns... On your mark...get set...KNIT with me!”

Hopefully it will also bring a smile to your heart on this cold winter night.

EnJOY!

Make It Mondays! Coupon Wallet Tutorial

I made this as a custom order for someone whom loves tea and likes to carry teabags with her in her purse.

As I made it, I thought this would also make the perfect gift for those involved in couponing.

The four "pockets" inside are perfect to organize coupons.


MATERIALS LIST:
Recycled wool felt piece (8.5 inches x 7.5 inches)
Craft felt or thin recycled wool piece (8.5 x 7.5 inches)

TWO recycled wool felt pieces (8.5 inches x 3.5 inches)

Natural fiber yarns, vintage buttons
Large eyed needle (yarn darner, tapestry or chenille needle)

STEPS:
1. Cut out your wool/felt pieces. You want your large inside piece to be thin so that the wallet can fold and so it will be easier to sew all the layers together.

2. Embroider/embellish the large wool piece. Use a large button and attach it in the center. You will use this later for your wallet closure.

3. Now, take your craft felt or thinner wool piece and pin the smaller wool pieces to each end. Blanket stitch these smaller wool pieces to the craft felt AND stitch a "divider" down the center of each pocket.

4. Pin the completed "inside" to the embellished "outside" wool piece. Now, blanket stitch the project together. You're almost done!

5. Take some of your yarn and cut three pieces long enough to go around the body of the folded wallet with a bit extra yarn. Tie these three lengths of yarn around the large, centered button. Now, braid these three lengths of yarn together. Knot at the end. This is now your wallet closure. Wrap it around the wallet and then around the button. Easy access and looks cute too! EnJOY!

4Her Fiber Arts Open Studio This Weekend

My Christmas gift to my fiber arts 4Hers was a two day Fiber Studio Open House, where the kids had the opportunity to come over and spend two entire days handcrafting Christmas gifts.

Sweet Heats (lavender/rice microwave heat packs) and Owl Babies were the most popular creations.

It was so rewarding to see young teens spending their time totally "unplugged" and enJOYing the process of handsewing and using recycled natural fibers.

That was MY Christmas gift!

Nuno and Cobweb Felted Scarves

In between new recycled wool creations (check out our Etsy and/or FB pages to see Owl Babies, Alien and Monster Buddies and Mini-Mouse), I've been experimenting with nuno felt and cobweb felt scarves.

I love our hand dyed alpaca and an awesome ramboullet-silk blend (from Crystal Creek Farms) for the cobweb felt. Both art forms are perfect for incorporating little "treasures" of other fibers, yarns and threads. :)

Also getting excited about our first Fiber Friends 4H group meeting in early December. More on that project to follow.....

(Soda) Straw Weaving Tutorial

Even though it's not a "Make It Monday," since we've taken such a long hiatus, thought we would return with a fun, easy family fiber arts tutorial. Where have we been? College visits, History Day competition preparation and lots of good ol' Whidbey Island winter storms.

It feels good to be back on a semi-schedule and to indulge in fiber arts relaxation again. :)

Now for the tutorial....if you have these three items, you can weave!
Soda straws (3 to 5), yarn, duct tape.

Cut soda straws to 2/3 length. Measure approximately 18" pieces of yarn and run a piece of yarn through each straw. (You can choose either a 3 straw or 5 straw project.) After running the yarn through the straw, bring approx. 1 inch of the yarn over the top of the straw and use the duct tape to firmly wrap around the yarn/straw. Tie the yarn hanging out of the bottom of the straws together into a knot. You now have your WARP (a weaving term for the horizontal threads/yarns.)

For your WEFT (a weaving term for the horizontal pieces of yarn), take a ball of yarn and start weaving in front of a straw, then behind the next straw, then in front of, then behind, then in front of (for a 5 straw project) turn the yarn and come back the opposite direction.

You'll have to hold the straws for the first few rows, but then the weaving will hold the straws together. Keep weaving until the straws are covered with yarn, then gently push the weaving down to make more room. Eventually the completed woven yarn will be down to the knot at the bottom of the straws. Take off the duct tape and tie the warp/weft threads together at the top. Voila...you have an AWEsome bookmark!

Other project ideas with longer warps? Belts, headbands. Add more straws and create wider projects, including mug mats or wall hangings.

This fiber art craft is great for age 5 and up. Older kids and adults can create patterns by changing weft colors/yarns.

With skinny straws and embroidery floss, your teenager can create friendship bracelets for all of his/her friends!

EnJOY!

(We're doing this with our fiber art elementary youth tomorrow, so will post pictures after class.)

From Farm to Yarn-Youth Fiber Arts Class

We are volunteer teaching a fiber arts class each week to youth at a local school. The students have learned about the various fiber animals, learned to identify their fibers by touch, have learned to "leg spin" and are now using KoolAid to dye fiber for them to drop spindle next week.

Who is the ceramic alpaca supervising the completed project? That's Phidippides (named after one of Adrianna's alpacas), whom Adrianna made in pottery class as a bobblehead. He's our new blog mascot.

Why the gloves and masks? Even KoolAid has non-natural particles in it and we want to protect these young people's lungs! :)

EnJOY!

Make It Mondays! I HEART You Tutorial and GIVEAWAY!!!

Valentine's Day is only two weeks away....so, why not honor those you care for with a special recycled wool heart pin? (These are also AWEsome for every day of the year gifts, to embellish cards, scrapbook pages, and more.)

Also, think outside of the red/pink box. I have LOTS of felted wool scraps which are not in traditional Valentine's Day colors. Lots of browns, navy, blacks.... Yet, with a creative use of threads/yarns, you can transform that little, dark scrap into a cheery heart.

1.Cut your hearts out of leftover felted pieces. Gather your threads/yarns and experiment with different combinations. Don't forget crochet threads and any variegated thread/yarn is wonderful. Get out your buttons and find the perfect match too.

2. If you need a review of stitches, review blanket stitch and others on the Net, or better yet, look for a classic needlework/stitch book at your local thrift store. I just found five books (on 1/2 price book day) for under $2 each, kept two and gave the other three as gifts.

3. Time to CREATE! Use a blanket stitch around the heart, remembering to give each stitch a "tug" so that they are snug. This provides a neat finish. Embellish the center with stitches, if desired, and add a favorite button...or not. It's difficult to see in the pic, but the heart without a button is a subtle argyle and I didn't want to cover up the pattern. I used a handspun, handdyed alpaca yarn for that one...and it just didn't need anything else. :)

4. Block your completed heart by steaming it with your iron for the final finishing touch. Add a pin back if desired. These make great gifts for teachers (with a coffee or office supplies gift card attached!), your postal carrier,etc. Want a great family project? Spend an evening or afternoon crafting these beauties and then take them to your local nursing home! You'll all be rewarded with lots of "I HEART You" smiles from the elderly residents. EnJOY!

Now for the giveaway! Do the following: "Like" our FB page at "Everything but the Oink" and become a follower of this blog and you'll be entered into the drawing for your choice of one of the tutorial hearts. Drawing will be next Monday.

From last week's giveaway (our first), we only had two entrants, so they EACH get skeins of the tutorial hand dyed threads/yarn. Kendall Sirak and Ann Murphy are the lucky winners!

Please post pics of YOUR completed hearts on our Facebook page!

Vintage Refreshed!

I'm expanding my horizons a bit.....past recycled wool sweaters. This week I picked up some vintage beige doilies (lace) at our local thrift store for 50 cents each. They had hearts in the design and I was thinkin' Valentine's Day. :) So, I put a couple of them in a red dye pot, and voila.....Vintage Refreshed! An entire new look.

I then got the idea to purchase old hand embroidered tablecloths, the forgotten orphans, because they have holes in them or huge stains. My thought is to iron on some Wonder Under, cut out the precioius embroidery, and then applique that on to trivets, recycled wool pillows, etc. I'll let you know how it turns out as project idea comes to fruition. Give me a week or so....smile.

This next week I start volunteer teaching a Fiber Arts class to 2nd-6th graders at a local school. It will meet one hour a week for the entire semester and we'll be doing a sampler of the following projects: KoolAid dye, drop spinning, lap weaving, straw weaving, knitting, kumihimo, silk painting, spool knitting and more. I am also "vintage" and I always feel "refreshed" when teaching fiber arts to little ones. :)

EnJOY your weekend!

Make It Mondays! KoolAid Dye Tutorial and GIVEAWAY!!!

Okay, you've been to Resweater or your local thrift store and have purchased/felted a lovely wool sweater. Why don't you try handcrafting some projects? And, don't settle for boring, monotone yarn/threads....dye your own instead!

I often purchase wool tapestry yarns at the thrift store, usually not paying more that 75 cents for a ten to thirty yard skein. A lot cheaper than your yarn shoppe skein! But, when I dye them, they look so lovely in a felted wool project.

While commerical dyes are available and I use them often, KoolAid is an expensive, convenient dye for the novice dye crafter. So, raid your cabinet and pick out interesting colors. You'll also need the following additional supplies:
White Vinegar
Glass bowl and lid (I use an old Pyrex dish/lid and use this ONLY for dye projects)
Recycled wool yarns, threads (or other natural fibers)
Gloves, masks optional (but I do strongly recommend masks/gloves for children, as even KoolAid powder is not good for the lungs)

Step 1: Soak your yarns in vinegar water in the sink for approx. 5 minutes. (1/4 C. vinegar to a gallon of water...aprox.)

Step 2: While your yarn is soaking, heat to almost boiling a couple of quarts of water with an additional 1/4 C vinegar. Vinegar is the mordant for your dye, meaning it will keep the dye in the fiber.

Step 3: Place your wet yarn in your glass dish and sprinkle on the KoolAid powder. You don't need to cover all of the yarn...diffusion will do it's job when you add the hot vinegar/water. :) If you have more yarn, then place a second layer, along with more KoolAid powder. Kind of like making a fiber lasagna...LOL.

Step 4: Pour the hot water over the yarn until the yarn is covered with water. DO NOT STIR!!! If you do, you'll get muddy colored yarn. Cover the glass bowl immediately and let the hot water and steam do it's thing. Don't be tempted to peek!


Step 5: After the water is clear (that's why I like to use a clear glass bowl/dish) then pour off the clear water into the sink and thoroughly rinse your newly dyed yarn. I like to use a fiber rinse/conditioner product at this point to get rid of any residual vinegar odor, but this is not necessary.

Step 6: Let the yarn dry and then roll it into a ball, ready for your next project. These yarns look beautiful in a bowl on your coffee table also....while you're awaiting inspiration for that "special" project. EnJOY!

Now, a giveaway! If you do all three of the following:
1. Become a follower of my blog and comment on this tutorial or another post
2. "Like" our Facebook page at Everything but the Oink
3. Forward this tutorial to at least three people.
Then you will be entered into a drawing for two skeins of the tutorial yarn. :) The drawing will be next Monday and the winner's name will be posted on the blog.

A Link to an AWEsome website!

Resweater is a great blog and one which I read faithfully. She now has 500 friends on her FB page, so she is doing a sweater giveaway. Not only does she post AWEsome tutorials and other tips for using recycled wool, she also sells sweaters to felt!Check out her blog (and sign up for her giveaway!) at http://resweater.blogspot.com/2011/01/resweater-giveaway-i-have-500-likers-on.html

Tomorrow morning I'm teaching my first adult class: Wool Rosettes using recycled fibers and hand dyed yarns...and of course...vintage buttons! I'll post pics after the class. Today, in between class preparation tasks, I spent some time on the spinning wheel, and working with the dye pot. I haven't spun in quite some time (due to my autoimmune arthritis) but it went well today! I usually prefer to spin very fine yarns, but people are always asking for bulky, novelty yarns, so that's what I created today. Whatcha think? The fiber I dyed/spun is a lovely-licious combination of Ramboullet, angora and silk. Super soft!