Crafting with Buttons

 

 

 

 

 

Just finishing up some projects this afternoon and I now have a new set of my "button fruit" zip pouches listed in my shop. I love making these cute zipper pouches from felted recycled sweater wool. I added the "cherries" and "grapes" from my button stash, combined with some embroidery  leaves and stems.

Perfect for gift giving, these three dimensional pouches are approximately 9 inches by 6 inches, the perfect size for a small clutch, cosmetic case, and safekeeping small electronics such as a digital camera or iPod. Or use them to organize small items in a larger tote bag!

See these and more FeltSewGood zip pouches here

 

 

On My Sewing Table. . .

 

 

 

 

 

I finished up a lot of sewing projects last week.

A custom order of flower pins, plush cats and pillows from a customer's own beloved sweaters.

And a set of my heart felt embroidered ornaments.

 Now I'm working on stocking up on purses, zip pouches and other accessories for the summer craft fair season. And even though I don't want to plan that far ahead, I need to photograph some new FeltSewGood items because it's time to apply for some fall craft shows.

What have you been making on lately?

Fresh Snow

 

 

 

 

 

 

We awoke to a cold snowy day and I spent most of the day inside. I completed a custom order of my heart felt ornaments and with a little help from Jimmy, my Burmese cat, prepared them, and some other items, for shipping.

The afternoon was spent sewing, working on some new zip pouches. It's time to restock the shop after the holidays.

The daylight ended with a beautiful pink and lavender sunset.

 

Just for Fun

 

 

 

It seems I'm usually making and crafting for my Etsy shop, and sometimes gifts for others, but I don't very often make or sew for myself. But I made two plush koi fish just for me.

As I enjoy watching our koi and goldfish in our backyard pond, I can't help but admire the colorful spots and patterns. So I tried to duplicate the look by needle felting sweater wool to make soft plush koi pillows. I started with the orange koi with black spots and then made the "calico" koi, white with bright orange and black spots.
They now reside on the back of the family room sofa.

Plush Blooming Catus

 

 

I finally found some small clay pots in just the right sizes to finish up a collection of plush cactus. I have a whimsical prickly pear cactus, a San Pedro cactus, and a barrel cactus all made from repurposed sweater wool in varying shades of green. I've added some not so prickly "spines" made from thread and beads. And I couldn't resist adding some small blooms to each one.

These make great gifts for anyone lacking a "green thumb", and are fun home or office décor, alone or in a grouping. I have a group of them on my coffee table right now!

 

They are all available in my Etsy shop right now.

Crafting Inspiration from the Garden

 

 

 

 

 

 

My prickly pear cactus is blooming in the garden, which got me thinking that I haven't made any of my plush cactus soft sculptures for a while. So I dug out some green felted sweater wool and set to work. I need to hunt for a few more small pots for my soft, wooly cactus garden and then I hope to have some of them listed in the shop by the first of next week. I'll let you know!

 

Shop Update - Denim and Wool Collection

I have a new collection of purses and accessories in my Etsy shop featuring a combination of wool and denim. The wool is one of my favorite materials. . . felted, or fulled, upcycled wool sweaters and denim from upcycled jeans.

 

 

I love the combination of textures of the soft, thick wool and the woven denim. And denim comes in so many color choices besides the traditional blue.

 

Here's just a sampling of items now available in my shop.

 

These are all great casual summertime accessories.

Gingerbread Christmas Holiday Craft Show

I've spent the last several weeks getting ready for the annual Gingerbread Christmas holiday craft show this coming Saturday, December 3, at Plainfield High School in Plainfield, Indiana.

I've been cutting and stitching felted wool flower brooches.

Making a variety of my recycled sweater wool handbags.

These cute zip pouches make great gifts!

And I have lots of colorful wool mittens for both adults and kids.

I'm looking forward to the show - there's always a great crowd. And I love to be a shopper, too!

And I'll be listing everything left after the show in my Etsy shop next week.

Get Your Craft On!

March is National Craft Month. Whether you like to craft with paper and glue, needle and thread, or wax, or clay, you can always find inspiration from other artists and crafters on Etsy. And just in time for your Easter crafting projects, I found these wonderful, Easter inspired DIY patterns, kits and tutorials all from fellow Etsy artists.

Make your own fabric Easter eggs with Retromama's Retro Ruler Easter Eggs Sewing Kit.

This Felt Food Easter Basket PDF pattern includes instructions for the dark chocolate bunny, colorful marshmallow bunnies, woven Easter basket and more! All from GulfCoastCottagePDF.


Here comes the Easter bunny! This sweet Bunny Rabbit Needle Felting Kit is from Bear Creek Design.


Try your hand at making a molded Sugar Easter Egg with Fondant Flowers from this silicone mold. Half egg and flower mold with intructions from Whysper Fairy.


Learn how to make a Pine Needle Basket. Pattern and instructions for this wide raffia style basket offered by Make A Basket.

Happy Crafting!