Upcycled Wearables in GreenCraft Magazine

I just received the latest issue, Winter 2010, of GreenCraft Magazine in the mail today. It's full of creative ideas for repurposeing everything from junk mail to old leather jackets!

A couple of my repurposed, felted wool sweater projects are featured in the Green Craft Walking section on page 96.

The model is holding one of my Emily mini-totes and wearing one of my felted flower brooches.

You can follow the instructions in the issue to try your hand at making your own felted flower brooch. Or have a look at the many choices of flower styles and colors available in my shop, FeltSewGood.

I find GreenCraft Magazine and other Stampington Publications at my local Barnes and Noble and at craft stores like Jo-Ann. Or they can be ordered online.

Work in Progress

Yesterday I set up my dining room table as my cutting table and organized and cut out enough projects to keep me busy sewing for a while! Here are a few photos of what I am working on today.

Several new handbags should be complete and listed in the shop
next week.

I'll also have some new zippered pouches, including a new design, if all goes well!

I've been wanting to incorporate some leather and/or suede into my felted wool purse designs, so I've been experimenting with pieces of a repurposed suede skirt. I purchased sewing machine needles made specifically for sewing leather but so far I've just done a few tests.

And I found a few brightly colored wool sweaters in what I thought would be great flower colors, so I've started a new batch of felted flower brooches. All these projects will definitely keep me occupied for the next few days!

Snowflakes!

Snowflakes - by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Out of the bosom of the Air,

Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken,

Over the woodlands brown and bare,

Over the harvest-fields forsaken,

Silent, and soft, and slow

Descends the snow.

A fresh coat of snow overnight was the inspiration for my search of "snowflakes" on Etsy. Here is a simple collage of a few of my favorite items with a snowflake theme. Clockwise from the upper left photo:

a collage sheet of real snowflake photos from 1900, from piddix

child size felted wool mittens with snowflake pattern from my own shop, FeltSewGood

vintage snowflake brooch, from DesiredSimplicity

snowflake motif wedding invitations, from rgbcolor

Have a look at these items and more in the shops of these Etsy artisans and sellers!

Hearts for Your Valentine!

I've been working on some new Valentine and heart themed goodies for my Etsy shop. As I've mentioned before, hearts are one of my favorites shapes to work with and I've come up with a few new ways to incorporate them in my felted wool projects.

I'll have a shop update on Monday, January 25th with new Heart Felt brooches in Valentine colors and some other new Heart Felt items.

Craftivism for Haiti

Some very generous organizers, artists and crafters have come together to raise money to help the people of Haiti. They've organized online auctions and opened Etsy shops with donated handcrafted items with proceeds from the sales going to Doctors Without Borders, Red Cross International Response Fund and other relief organizations. I wanted to share what I'm sure are just a few of these online groups. There's more information on Etsy artists Craftivism on Etsy's Handmade Blog, the Storque.

This photo of a woman in Haiti, taken before the disastrous earthquake, is from the Etsy shop HelpHaiti. All the proceeds from this shop go to Project 81.

Hearts for Haiti is an Etsy collective of donated items from hundreds of Etsy shops to raise money to rebuild Haiti. Proceeds from this shop go to Doctors Without Borders.


Craft Hope is another Etsy shop full of beautiful donated items from the crafting community. Proceeds from the Craft Hope Etsy shop go to Doctors Without Borders. You can find out more from the Craft Hope website.

Indie Fixx is holding a silent auction of items that have been donated by indie crafters, artists and designers. Proceeds go to the Red Cross International Response Fund. More details on the Indie Fixx website.

In just a few days these shops and auction have already raised a lot of money. Be sure to check out these sites for more info or to purchase or donate an item. And I'd love to know about other efforts you are a part of, or know about!