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st. patrick’s day giveaway!

GIVEAWAY CLOSED. CONGRATS TO LISA IN FLORIDA!

Are you feeling lucky? Maybe a four-leaf clover would help. St. Patrick’s Day is the second day of the Lincoln Handmade Team’s giveaway extravaganza and I’m throwing a four-leaf clover coffee sleeve into the ring!

All you need to do to win is leave a comment and tell me how you celebrate St. Paddy’s Day. Do you wear a lucky shamrock or lots of green? Maybe you wear orange! Do you eat corned beef and cabbage? Drink green beer? Make Irish soda bread? (Yum!)

Whether you use the cozy for a tasty Irish coffee or rich and creamy Guinness, join in on the fun! Then visit the other members of our team for more giveaway goodness.

Comments close Thursday at midnight CT. Erin Go Braugh!

felted wool coffee sleeve

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how to refashion an ’80s sweater in five easy steps

UPDATE: Thanks to the Craft Magazine blog for their link to my tutorial!

March is Mending Month over at Craftzine. I’ve been doing a lot of mending lately. I keep a bag next to my desk for whenever I have a little time for sewing a button or fixing a hem. Mending is good for the soul, at least mine anyway.

Last week I posted a scarf I made out of sweater scraps from resizing my brother-in-law’s ’80s style sweaters. It was super easy. I probably wouldn’t try this with an heirloom sweater, but it’s great for all those oversized sweaters you may have collecting dust in the back of your closet.

Step 1
Try on the sweater inside out and pin along the sides and under the arms for a more fitted shape. (I used safety pins for this step.)

Step 2
Lay the sweater flat and adjust the pins make sure your seams are straight and equal in size. (I changed to straight pins at this point.)

sweater tutorial

Step 3
Machine stitch the new side seams with a straight stitch. Then repeat with zigzag stitch to catch the frayed ends. (A serger would be perfect for this.)

sweater tutorial

Step 4
Your seams might be a little wobbly after stitching. Press with a warm steam iron. Use a press cloth if your sweater isn’t 100% wool. Trim excess.

sweater tutorial

Step 5
Turn sweater right side out and press open the seams. That’s it!

sweater tutorial

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coffee sleeve of the month: lucky shamrock

felted wool coffee sleeve

It seems like I can’t stop making felted wool coffee sleeves, so I’ve decided to start a feature cozy of the month!

March is all about St. Patrick’s Day and basketball. I don’t know much about hoops, but I used to be quite the little Irish Dancer. My Girl Scout troop had to learn an ethnic dance and we picked The Walls of Limerick. I remember that we performed on the stage at Golden Ring Mall.* A few of my friends and I stuck with it until high school. We competed, performed at Irish festivals and even walked in the St. Patrick’s Day parade. So in honor of my “Irish” background, this month is all about green!

Two sleeves are available in my etsy store.

*Sadly, Golding Ring Mall has since been leveled and replaced with big box stores.

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denim messenger bag for christina

I’ve been wanting to make a bag like this for awhile, but just couldn’t figure out the pattern. I fiddled around with a prototype that didn’t work out too well and then abandoned it for a few months. (OK, a year!)

upcycled denim bag

Then my friend Christina asked me to do something with her Fairy Jeans. I did a lot of sketching and research and actually got a lot of inspiration from diy skirt and maternity jean tutorials.

upcycled denim bag

When we went shopping for her wedding gown, she mentioned that she liked the color combination of dark blue and champagne. She also asked me to incorporate one of her finance’s blue silk ties. I used it for the lining of the flap and lined the rest of the bag with tan cotton.

upcycled denim bag

I’m going to make one more of these bags to make sure I’ve got my pattern down and then I’m going to offer it as a custom bag listing in my etsy shop. More pics of the bag in my sewing gallery.

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scrappy sweater scarf

Last year my brother-in-law gave me two sweaters for felting and bag making. He said he hated to give them up. They were in great condition, but their style was too outdated — over-sized and ’80s. I felt bad taking them from him so I suggested altering them instead. It was a simple project; one that might make a knitter cringe and a sewer tremble. (I’m writing up a tutorial so everyone can see how easy it is to update those baggy Benetton sweaters in the back of their closets.)

When I was finished with the alterations, I was left with four long sweater scraps. They were scrappy-looking scraps, especially the Benetton ones, which had serged (!) seams. I decided to turn them into a scarf.

scrappy scarf

I wanted to do something a little unconventional. I sewed around the edges with a 1/4 inch seam allowance to keep the yarn from unraveling. I’m hoping that with use, the edges will fray and give it even more of a scrappy style.

scrappy scarf

I hope Tanuj likes it. It’s a little offbeat, but if there is anyone in my family who would appreciate an offbeat scrappy scarf, it is him. Hopefully he’ll take a follow-up picture for me next season so I can see if the edges turn out as expected.

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custom wool felted bag :: gray

Who knew it would be so hard to find a plain gray wool sweater in the winter? When I got the request for this custom order, I had to visit a lot of stores to find the perfect sweater for the job.

gray wool felted sweater messenger bag

I’ve developed a new style strap that I really like, and I’d like to find a way to put a zipper in without hand stitching. I don’t want to compromise the beauty of the ribbing with a seam, though, so I’m not sure there is another way. Suggestions?

gray wool felted sweater messenger bag

While I was looking for this sweater, I picked up some new, spring colors and I’m looking forward to making some more felted bags. It’s time to experiment with some new styles and I can’t wait to get started! More pics of the gray bag are posted in my etsy shop.

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valentine’s crafting

After looking over this post, it seems like I was in full Valentine’s Day mode for the past week, but I really wasn’t. All of these were really fast and easy to put together. I had a pretty busy week, so fast and easy was just what I needed!

Last year we colored and put stickers on blank cards. This year we made cards out of M’s existing artwork. She’s been drawing with her magic markers on a stack of make ready sheets T brought home from work and one looked particularly valentine-y.

valentines

You can download my heart template here and if you print it at 100%, the cards will fit in standard invitation size envelopes. I also used the template to cut out some hearts for a garland. I always try to hang something in this window for holidays and birthdays. You can see it from both the living room and kitchen and it’s right behind our table. That little touch always makes our house feel festive.

garland

I also made some quick gifts for T and M. After falling in love with the ball I made for Brady, I felt like M needed one of her own. I made it with leftover fabric from her bibs.

bella ball

I also whipped up a quick sweater sleeve scarf for T, complete with a roundel. I’m not sure if he really likes it or was being polite. There is a fine line between cool and too crafty for T. I think the scarf is sitting on that line! (I really like it, though!)

bmw scarf

We had a really nice day. M played in the snow, I did some sewing, and T cooked up some awesome Valentine’s chili for dinner. The best part of the day was watching M open her gifts and give her dad his Valentine.

valentine

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birthday crafting

Last Friday was Brady’s birthday, and in keeping with my pledge, he received some handmade goodies from us. I had made him some Peanuts bibs for Christmas (which I forgot to take a picture of for the blog — you can see one in action here) and I decided to stay with that theme.

snoopy and ball

The ball is a pattern from the Purl Bee and was really fun to make. I used some leftover fabric from the bibs. I think I’m going to do the same for M with the leftovers from her bibs. She really liked it!

Snoopy is a pattern from Chibi Ami. I found it on ravelry. I think you can find a pattern for pretty much anything on ravelry!

It’s a great feeling to watch someone enjoy a present that you made by hand. Brady had a huge smile on his face when he pulled the ball out of the bag, and when we left, he was chewing on Snoopy’s ear. I’m pretty sure that’s a universal sign of toddler approval.

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Shop update: more felted heart coffee sleeves are up in my etsy store.

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more felted wool coffee sleeves

I am overwhelmed at the response to my coffee sleeves on etsy. They are selling like hot cakes! I listed my last one yesterday. All of the others have sold out and I just finished up a custom order for three. I’ll be making more this weekend. I’m glad I went out and stocked up on sweaters last weekend. Thank you to everyone who has purchased one!

coffee sleeves