Some of you may have already seen this on Thing-a-Day, but here is my newest foray into the repurposing world:
My husband recently pitched this suit and shirt. I loved the fabric and now it shall live on as a small purse to be tucked under your arm. I think I’ll use the jacket pockets to make a cross-body bag.
Isn’t it lovely how you can create a perfect alter ego with one picture? This is my true self: organized with a whimsical flair. In other words “practically perfect in every way.”
THIS is my wicked twin, alternate life ego who broadly sweeps all the junk on the table away and pretends to create a warm inviting space instead of putting her toys where they belong.
Time to go clean up. 
Oh and by the way that trivet is inspired by the doily trivets in Applique Your Way.
My first Thing-a-Day submission; a day late, but hey here it is:
Chloe is eight and likes turtles and the color green. This is for her birthday. I used peridot beads, and Swarovski crystals.
It’s time for the thing-a-day project again. As the organizers describe it:
Thing-a-day is a yearly creative sprint that is held every February and brings together hundreds of creative minds. The idea is simple: sign up is open to anyone and participants commit to create one new thing a day every day for the entire month and post it on the collective blog.
Participants can work in any medium and are free to follow-up on their commitment or not.
Sign up closes today, February 1st, at midnight.
This year, as last year, I’m organizing a Thing-a-Day swap and here are the rules:
On March 1st you will send one thing you made during the month of February to your swap partner. This will be more like a Secret Santa type swap in that you won’t know who has your name. This swap is open to up to 24 people who have also signed up for Thing-a-Day 2010. If you want to participate, please send your Thing-a-day username and your mailing address, by February 10th to mycraftevolution(at)gmail(dot)com. If you sign up, PLEASE follow through with your commitment. It is extremely disappointing to put a great deal of effort and dedication into a thing only to receive nothing.
Oh, and my thing-a-day contributor name is Simone, my affiliated posterous site is groundsel.posterous.com, and here is a link to a collection of my thing-a-day posts from last year, and this is a collection of things swap participants made last year.
Just mailed off a batch of hair accessory sets that will be included in ten raffle bags at the Spring Handmade Cavalcade.
And here is how I attach felt embellishments to ponytail holders:
First, sew the center button to the embellishment. Then sew through the button, the embellishment, and loop around the ponytail holder. Repeat this several times until you are convinced it will hold. Still using the same thread, sew on a small circle to the embellishment that covers the spot where you attached the ponytail holder to the embellishment. The felt circle will blend into the embellishment. Oh and I suggest you use button thread for a strong hold.
So, you bought your ticket to come to Brooklyn on May 9th and 10th, right?
I recently came into a large clutch of wooden eggs and have been wondering what to do with them that didn’t involve painting. So I present: the sampler eggs. These eggs are wrapped in fabric and embroidered with simple stitches you might find as part of an old fashioned embroidery sampler. For the giveaway, instructions below, I’m offering up two clutches of wooden eggs.
You need:
These eggs are 35 x 50 mm large. To cover them I used a 6″ X 6″ size piece of fabric. Experiment with the egg and fabric you are using and cut the fabric to a size that works for your egg.
Wrap the fabric around the egg and temporarily secure it with a rubberband.
Gather the fabric by sewing right beneath the rubber band. Remove the rubber band, wrap the thread several times around the “neck,” and secure the thread. The thread should be long enough to come out of the top so you can use it to hang the eggs.
Now have at it. Embroider the egg however you wish. I looked up some stitches in Complete Embellishing, by Kayte Terry, I never seem to be able to remember how to do a French knot.
Alternatively, you can also embroider the fabric before you wrap it around the egg.
To finish it off, tie a little ribbon around the egg and Voila! You are done. Happy Spring.
This time there will be two lucky winners: I’m giving away one clutch of five 35 x 50 mm sized wooden eggs, and one clutch of ten 25 X 30 mm eggs
For the giveaway, visit my Etsy shop Groundsel, pick a thing you like, and leave a comment here with a link to that item. The giveaway closes at midnight on March 3rd. Winners will be announced on Wednesday, March 4th.
Last week was a busy Thing-A-Day week which resulted in these projects:
A clock refashioning by printing a new clock face on sticker paper and carefully gluing it on the old face.
This also doubled as a book review while guest blogging on The NewNew blog:
By the way, this is a great blog to find interesting tutorials and recipes by New York/New Jersey artists and crafters.
Some quality toy making time with my darling child:
And misadventures with a soldering iron.
I’m still working on my paperclip attachment technique and got some excellent advice on the Thing-A-Day blog. One more week of daily creativity. After that I’ll need a month of decluttering and cleaning to recover from all that crafting.
I went on a trip to Philadelphia this weekend and brought some leftover yarn along to fulfill my Thing-a-Day obligation and to have something to do in the car. This is the outcome:
Here are the instructions:
This hat has a circumference of 17 1/2 inches and will fit a 4-5 year-old child.
10 stitches x 14 rows = 2″ x 2″
Cast on 88 stitches in color A. Close the round and knit 12 rows (@ 1 3/4″) for the roll brim. Add color B and knit 11 stitches of the chart. Repeat 8 times to set up 8 fish around the perimeter of the hat. Continue to follow the chart.
After knitting 4 rows in color C (rows 42-46 on the chart), begin the decreases.
Cut off the yarn leaving a 10″ end and pull the yarn through the stitches remaining on the needles. Pull tight and sew in the end. Finish the hat by weaving in the other ends resulting from the color changes.
For an adult hat with a circumference of about 21.5″ cast on 110 stitches and repeat the pattern 10 times instead of 8.
Little Girl Fish Hat by http://craftevolution.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Last week I made my first needle felted bead for the Thing-A-Day project. I’ve since been asked how to do this, so here is a brief tutorial.
Needle felting, at least in my limited experience, is surprisingly easy. All you basically need is some carded wool fleece and a barbed felting needle that you use to repeatedly stab the wool into the desired shape. The wool fibers will stick to one another and felt. The longer you felt an object the harder, tighter the texture will become.
And this is how I made a bead:
For a 3/4 inch bead I used a 4 inch long and about 1 inch wide piece of wool. Add a bit of a secondary color to this if you want a marbled effect.
Take the wool and tie a knot in the middle.
Place the wool on top of a foam pad (I used Styrofoam because that is all I had in the house), begin to wrap the wool around the knot, and repeatedly poke it with the needle. Continue to work it into the shape and texture you wish to achieve. Watch out! The needle is sharp!
Once you are happy with the bead, you can wash it with hot water and soap to felt it further.
Use the beads to make jewelry, to embellish something like a barrette or a garment, They would probably make awesome cat toys as well.
I got my wool fleece at a craft store when I went to visit my parents. It turns out, however, that Etsy is a fantastic resource for wool and needles. Just search the supplies category for “needle felting.”
The Silver Penny. This online store has some excellent videos that explain the different fibers, tools, and techniques for felting, in addition to selling wool and felting tools.
Felting Forum: A discussion group about all things felt.
Thankfully the server is back up. Our host company kindly moved us to bigger and better space. Below are the latest things I’ve been working on for Thing-A-Day under the username groundsel. If you are participating in this adventure you can still sign up for the TAD swap until February 10th. Click here for swap information.
The next book club will be on March 25th. If you’d like to participate, please suggest a book or second one of the books suggested by Dawn and Cindy:
Sew Darn Cute–30 Sweet & Simple Projects to Sew & Embellish, by Jenny Ryan
Re-Creative: 50 Projects for Turning Found Items Into Contemporary Design, Steve Dodds
Handmade Modern: Mid-Century Inspired Projects for Your Home, Todd Oldham
