Fun Felt Flowers: Makeover your Wardrobe with a Floral Flourish

These felt flowers are great accessories you can use to spice up any outfit. No need to go shopping for a new winter wardrobe this year. Rather, add a flower, or several for that matter, to your old cardigans, drab pullovers, or even last year's winter coat.

Materials needed: Two colors felt (single sheets run for about 25 cents at your local craft store); one safety pin, and a needle and thread (if you don't sew, you can simply use some super glue to assemble your flower).

First, cut out your petals and center circle (as shown in Figure 1). You can create a pattern for each of these items, using card stock, or simply free-hand it. Each of the petal cutouts measure approximately 2 inches in width and the center circle measures about 3/4 of an inch.

Second, stack the circular cutout atop the two petal cutouts (as shown in Figure 2) and adjust the cutouts to your liking.

Third, sew the three pieces together, using the blanket stitch around the edge of the center circle (see Figure 3).

Fourth, use a safety pin to attach your finished flower to your chosen piece of clothing and enjoy your new look.

Show that You Give a Hoot about Christmas and Make Your Own Ornaments: Felt Owl Plushie Ornament Tutorial

Materials: Black, white and your choice of colored felt (you can purchase single sheets at your local craft store for approximately 25 cents each; you won’t need more than one sheet of each color for this project), card stock, pen or pencil, white sewing thread, sewing needle, poly-fil or cotton balls or even an old sock (for the stuffing), a piece of white yarn five or six inches in length. and fabric scissors.

Step One: Draw all the pieces shown in Figure 1 (front body, back body, wing one and wing two, eye one and eye two, and the face) out on a sheet of card stock (the owl measures approximately four inches in height and three inches in width at it widest point), then cut them out and assemble to match the finished ornament (you may want to modify your cutouts at this point); once you are pleased with your cutouts, you will use them as a pattern to cut our your felt pieces by tracing a line around each pattern piece.

Step Two: Start by sewing eye one and eye two onto the face (see Figure2). To do this, you will employ the blanket stitch (which you will use to finish all edges of the ornament).

Step Three: Using the blanket stitch, sew the face onto the front body (see Figure 3).

Step Four: Using the blanket stitch, sew wing one and wing two onto the front body (see Figure 3).

Step Five: Using the blanket stitch, sew the front body to the back body. Be sure to leave enough room at the top of the ornament so that you can stuff it and attach its loop (see Figure 4).

Step Six: Fill your ornament with your choice of stuffing (I’ve used Poly-fil here). You don’t need much; a handful will do the trick.

Step Seven: Make a loop with your piece of yarn and secure by knotting the two ends together.

Step Eight: Insert the knotted loop of yarn into the top of your ornament (see Figure 6) and secure it into place as your finish sewing up the top edge of your ornament.

Step Nine: Hang on your tree and admire!

Getting Crafty in the City

We're making a name for ourselves - as is the world of HANDMADE! Check out this clip featured on Eye On LA where Handmade Galleries talks about the work they feature (including mine) and the growing popularity of the handmade movement: http://handmadegalleriesla.com/media/abc7.html.

Kitschy Craft 6: Make Your Own Kitty Cat Hand Puppet

Materials: orange, brown, magenta, pink, mustard yellow and white colored felt (you can purchase single sheets at your local craft store for approximately 25 cents each; you won’t need more than one sheet of each color for this project), card stock, pen or pencil, brown & white sewing thread, sewing needle, and fabric scissors.

To begin, draw all the pieces shown in the diagram out on a sheet of card stock, then cut them out and assemble (you can make your modifications at this stage); once you are pleased with your cutouts, you will use them as a pattern to cut out your felt pieces by tracing a line around each pattern piece. Pieces A and D (see diagram) measure approximately 8” in height and 5 ½” in width. Piece C (see diagram) measures approximately 4 ½” in height and 3 ¼” in width. All additional pieces can be cut to proportion and/or adjusted to suit your preference.

Next, start by sewing the three flower pieces together (see F in the diagram). To do this, employ the blanket stitch (which you will use to finish all edges of the puppet). If you are not familiar with this embroidery stitch, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJht13Bcw-U for a visual tutorial. To start, employ the blanket stitch around the edge of the small pink circle and attach to the gold floral shape. To follow, employ the blanket stitch around the edge of the gold floral shape and attach to the magenta floral shape. When you finish, do the same with the magenta floral shape and attach it to felt piece A as indicated in the photo.

Next, employ the blanket stitch around the smaller gold eye pieces (see G in the diagram) and then attach to the larger brown eye pieces. To follow, employ the border stitch around each completed eye and then attach to piece A (as depicted in the finished puppet).

Next, employ the blanket stitch around the edge of piece C and attach to the body of piece A.

After, use the satin stitch (a satin stitch fills in a design with rows of straight or slanted stitches across a small, outlined area) to create the cat’s nose and then use the back stitch (go to http://www.sublimestitching.com/stitches for instructions if needed) to create the whiskers.

Next, employ the blanket stitch to attach the two tail pieces (see E in the diagram). The brown piece will be seen from the front, the orange from the back. To follow, attach the finished tail to piece A so that the inside lower edge tucks behind piece A and the curved inner edge sits atop piece A (see finished photo). Be sure that when you attach the tail that your thread doesn’t go entirely through the piece A so that it’s not visible.

Lastly, employ the border stitch to attach piece A to piece D. Be sure, however, that you do not stitch the bottom edges together. Rather, stitch each edge independently so that you can slip your hand between the pieces and utilize your finished produce as intended: a kitty cat hand puppet!

Being a Girl Scout is Finally Paying Off – Some Thirty Years Later!

I think everyone will agree that sales have been slower than slow these past few months, no matter how much interest we are able to generate. Relisting, twittering, chatterboxing, whatever… Nothing seems to be working with any consistency. So, what am I doing, you ask? Doing my best to prevent this economic bust from getting me down by challenging myself to work with new mediums. And in doing so, learning a new skill, or rather, in my case, relearning a new skill, has kept me busy as well as rekindled my love for handmade.

While I must admit that I was hardly the model Girl Scout (I hated camping then and I hate it now), my competitive nature motivated me to work towards earning as many badges as I could before dropping out (I think I lasted a year). One badge, specifically, required I learn to embroider. To fulfill this requirement, we had the option of taking a class from one of the scout’s mothers who was a whiz with a needle and thread. And she showed us how to do a number of stitches which I remember practicing, over and over, until I had then all down pat.

So, did I ever utilize those embroidery skills that I worked so hard to perfect some thirty years ago? The answer is, no, at least not until a couple of weeks ago when I decided to buy some felt after stumbling upon some really cute felt work on Etsy. At first, those skills I learned in that one embroidery lesson came did not come to me with ease. In fact, it wasn’t until my third or fourth attempt that I even remembered earning that Girl Scout badge. But when I did, everything started to click and my ability to embroider started to improve. I can’t tell you the names of the stitches I’ve been using to make some new items for my shop. But who cares? The point is that I have generated new interest in my wares, from people who might have not checked out my shop otherwise, simply because I am working with a new medium, or rather, a medium I hadn’t worked with in over three decades.

So, my tip for you is to try something new, something totally different, and see what happens. If you’re lucky you’ll not only generate new business but have a lot of fun in the process and perhaps even find a new passion.

Good luck!

To see more of my new felt items, be sure to stop by my Etsy shop: anisemouette.etsy.com

Kitschy Craft 5: Repurpose Those Catalogs to Create a Circular Tray

This month’s Crafster challenge asked entrants to make a creation with all those catalogs that arrive in the mail. We all get them, whether they’re from Pottery Barn, Pier One, or Williams and Sonoma, they come more often than any of us would prefer and usually find themselves in the recycling bin - without ever being read to boot.

Immediately, I knew what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to make a tray: an actual item often featured in a number of catalogs that specialize in housewares. The irony was too obvious to ignore as it was the publishers of the catalogs themselves who provided me with the medium to make my own houseware -- rather than sell me one of theirs. For that satisfaction alone, I thank you Craftster!

Materials required: eight or so catalogs, tacky glue, super glue, clear packing tape, scissors, polyurethane lacquer finish.

First, begin by tearing out the pages of your catalogs and then folding each torn page, long ways, by creasing the paper approximately ¼” from the edge and then folding it over. Continue by making another crease ¼” from the new edge and then folding it over. Proceed until you have folded your paper over enough times so that it measures ¼” in width. Its length, however, should still be the height of the original catalog.

Once you have a number of folded strips, you can begin to create the base for your tray. To start, take one folded strip and start to roll it as you would tape measure. Once it is completed rolled into a circle (see photo), use a piece of tape to secure it into place. I used clear packing tape (I just cut small strips ¼” in size before I started this part of the craft). To follow, take another folded strip and tape it to your rolled circle, then coil it completely around the circle and secure it into place with another piece of tape. Continue until you are happy with the size of your base of your tray. My tray base measures just under 14” in diameter (see photo).

To follow, you will want to brush a coat of tacky glue across the top and bottom of the base. This will ensure that the base remains intact. Let the base dry for at least twelve hours before adding the lip.

While the base dries, you can begin making the lip of your tray. With your remaining folded catalog pages, you will use the same technique you used to create your base to create the lip. The only difference is that you will create several small circles with your folded catalog pages rather than one large one. I used three pages for each of my circles, of which I made 27 in all.

After all your circles are completed, you will then want to brush them each with tacky glue and allow them to dry as you did the base.

Once all your circles are dry, you can then begin to glue them to the rim of your base to form a lip. To start, coat the bottom third of one side of each circle so to adhere each circle to the rim of the base. You will also want to place a dab of glue to the edges of each circle so that they will stick to each other and remain in alignment. In addition to using tacky glue, you will want to go over your finished project with super glue to ensure its overall durability.

After you have glued all your circles completely around the base’s rim and finished up with super glue, let your project dry overnight and then coat it with polyurethane, as many times as desired, depending on the level of shine you desire.

Let dry and enjoy!

Need New Venues to Sell Your Crafty Wares? Check Out This List of Brick & Mortar Shops

Often, it takes more than just your Etsy shop to get your handmade wares noticed and, ultimately, sold. In addition to selling online, you can do quite well by consigning your items at select brick and mortar shops that cater to crafters. I found a list of such shops on the “links” page of Handmade Galleries, a shop in Los Angeles where I rent a booth to showcase and sell my wares. The list was originally compiled by Oak of Boston. Be sure to check out their website (http://www.oakboston.com/catalog/) and Etsy shop (http://www. oakboston.etsy.com) as they deserve due credit for taking the time to search out all of these shops. To note, after stumbling upon this list, I was successful in making immediate contact with a handful of shops that are now carrying my retro-inspired tees and totes.

In exchange for this info, a follow on Twitter is always appreciated:
http://www.twitter.com/anisemouette

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