Wool

Winter Survival

~ Michelle ~ 6 Comments

We have had a lovely Autumn. Even though I live in the Great White North, we didn’t see very much of the white stuff or experience freezing temperatures until December.

It was in December I realized we had a real motley crew of dog booties left over from last year. I have no idea why either.

Missing Boots

We have one animal print boot.

I wonder what happened to the other three.

We have two of the full pad bottoms.

And one left that I made from an actual pattern and put straps on. I often referred to these as the mittens of shame because he’d lose a boot and usually my husband would have to turn around and try to find it. With these ties, they weren’t getting lost because they were pinned to his sweater.

I was sure these ones would last, however, there was only one left.

It was time for new dog boots. At least I had enough experience making them last year that I knew how to put them together quickly and well.

New Boots

Here are my pup’s 2017 winter boots.

He doesn’t love putting his boots on, but there are days when it’s -20 Celsius or worse and he simply stops walking. It’s just too cold for him. These booties also have the long tie to attach them to his coat. I have no desire to make dog boots over and over.

This pattern comes in one size, that’s probably a medium-large, but I reduce it on the computer and it’s been great. Seeing as he’s a small dog, at times we have trouble finding him the right size.

You can find the pattern on this blog post here. And there’s a great video for making dog boots here.

I’m Missing Things Too

One other winter survival item that went missing was my cold weather face mask. I usually put it in my coat pocket when I’m not wearing it. I went to go out on a -16 Celsius day, and it was nowhere to be found. It was back to holding my scarf over my mouth.

I was upset for two reasons. I didn’t have my mask, and my son had given it to me. It was such a thoughtful and practical gift. I loved it!

It very quickly became time to make something else.

What I Had

What I Tried

Here’s the free pattern I found.

Well, they’re not the same shape, but I was hopeful. You can find it here.

First I made one out of fleece and cotton just to see how it would all come together. It fits and I thought, maybe. It doesn’t do a thing outside.

Once I knew the size would work, it was time to break out some serious materials and stash bust at the same time. Boiled wool, left over lace from my Pin-Up Girls Boy Shorts, and coordinating cotton.

I’d hoped this one would really be warm with the boiled wool. It was better than the red one, but shape of the mask isn’t right.

The one my son bought me stood out from the face to allow a warm air pocket to develop. These don’t. I kept looking.

I found this photo online. Here’s a side view of the mask and shape I need.

I used that photo to make a template for a pattern. I enlarged it, and figured out the sewing process and…

I have a new cold weather mask.

It’s boiled wool with a cotton lining. I do need to adjust the elastic a bit more to make it snug on my face, but this is good. The boiled wool will be nice and warm, and the cotton will make it comfortable to wear.

I have a few more fun sewing things planned, so I may just leave this mask unadorned for now. It works and that’s what I was wanting.

Happy creating!

A Few Odds and Ends

~ Michelle

I have a few odds and ends to share with you. I have a couple of projects in the works, but can’t share those yet.

My first project to share with you is a comforter I’m making my son. It’s almost finished. Seeing as I’m not a quilter, there’s no piecing in this – just 4 long pieces of material sewn together with batting. Simple.

comforter

He loves the mountains, so the bears reminded him of that. He also loves music and plays the piano. He loves the music print. The music print was to be the backing, but he wants that on top now. To finish this off, I’m hand-tying it with wool yarn. The yarn will felt and make a nubby little ball after it’s been washed a few times.

knotting process

Too bad I didn’t work on this in the winter! Instead I have this wonderfully warm quilt on my lap now that Spring is here. My son is thrilled though.

Another project I’ve been working on is to take apart any of the bras I had in my Don’t Really Fit pile. Included in that pile was a lovely Fantasie bra. However, being a RTW bra, the cradle matched the cup size, which meant it didn’t fit me properly. I took it apart.

Fantasie cups

Very pretty bra cups should be a smiley face, shouldn’t they? (smile) I can run a gathering stitch along the bottom of those cup and put them into a frame I make with a smaller cradle. They were just too pretty to throw away. I kept the bows and hardware from this bra too.

There was something very interesting that I found while I was taking apart this Fantasie bra. I kept a piece of the channeling to show some of my bra-making friends.

Inside of Channeling

The channeling is actually wrapped up! There’s a lovely fuzzy thicker material covering the whole of the channeling, which I’m sure makes it much more comfortable.

Here’s the outside:

Outside of Channeling

Seeing as channeling is applied to the bra frame in a two-step process, I think this would be applied so the raw edge ended up under the channeling in that second sewing pass when the channeling is sewn on the bottom. Isn’t that neat?

I almost had one other project to show you, but it really wasn’t working out. I tore out stitches so many times on it. At one point, when I was faced with tearing out the stitches yet again, I decided it was time to find another project.

Garbage

This was going to be a lovely little clutch for a dear friend. It’s gone now. The photo is the last reminder of it, and it will soon be forgotten.

tease

I can’t show you just yet the second project I made, which did work out – I have to give the gift first – but this is the material I used, and it turned out so nicely.

Happy creating!

DIY Wool Dryer Balls

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

While I was recovering from the flu, I got to that point where I didn’t want to rest anymore, but didn’t have the energy to do much of anything either. I decided it was a perfect time to start a project I’d read about and wanted to try.

Wool Dryer Balls. I have no idea where I even saw this idea at first, but once I did hear about it, I had to read up on it and, or course, find a project to make.

Here’s the site I found for my project: Do It Yourself Natural. The link will take you to the article on wool dryer balls, and explain how to make them. Here are their very pretty wool dryer balls. I’m thinking I need more color!

Felted-Wool-Balls1-560x377

The wool I used was some I’d bought from a friend who is raising sheep. The balls are a Cotswold/Merino blend. I’m also very happy to say, the balls didn’t take that much wool. I still have the better part of the ball of wool I used left over for whatever my next project will be with it.

Winding the wool was the easy part. There’s more to them than just winding them up though. What makes these little balls work in the dryer and not fall apart is they’re felted. So the next step was washing these little balls while they’re tied in a knee high. Hmm. I don’t own any knee highs so my little balls of wool sat for a few weeks.

Then this past weekend, my hubby and I were out just spending some time together and I said I wanted to hit my favorite second hand store – the same one where I scored all that leather. So off we went. I was looking for wool blazers and leather clothing for bag-making, but didn’t score any this time. While we were looking around I did find some footlets. They weren’t exactly what I was looking for, but I thought they’d work.

pre

They did work just fine too. However, tying them was a bit tricky. Next it was time for them to go for a spin in the washer and dryer. Once you’ve washed the dryer balls you’ll know they’re felting when your nylons become all fuzzy with wool like these ones.

IMG_0338

Here’s how they came out after they’ve been set free from the footlet. They’re still fuzzy, and you can still see the individual yarns, but I’d have a hard time separating one of them. They’ve become very attached to one another.

IMG_0339

So, how do they work? I tried them with my polyester tablecloth with no fabric soften sheet, and I have to say not bad. We live in a very dry environment, and usually if I don’t use a dryer sheet, well, everything clings together. There was only a little bit of static, no cling, and the tablecloth felt nice and soft coming out of the dryer. I used them with a dryer sheet and a load of laundry as well, and I did notice the clothes coming out were softer. I’m thinking these are a win.

Happy creating!