By Julie Finn •
August 18, 2009
The nice thing about sewing for kids is that their clothes take so little fabric. A shirt or pair of pants for a five-year-old, a dress for a three-year-old, matching bloomers for both–you could sew any of these things using less than a yard of fabric.
For that reason, kids’ clothes are very well-suited for sewing with recycled materials. I’ve sewed smocked sundresses for my girls out of pillowcases, a pants and kimono shirt outfit for a newborn out of one blouse, two sturdy diaper covers out of a felted wool sweater.
I was afraid of sewing from a pattern when I was a novice seamster, ironically, but now that I sew well, I enjoy using patterns to create more complicated clothing with attractive detailing and sophisticated elements. And so, although they’re pricey, I do buy some of the children’s clothing patterns from Oliver + S each season.
By Julie Finn •
February 24, 2009
I’ve mentioned before that one of my New Year’s Resolutions is to have an organized and awesome craft room. An ability to walk through it without slipping on colored pencils and felted wool and the odd button would be nice, but I also want quirky decorations and cheerful accessories and inspiring color schemes–have you seen Yummygoods’ craft room? Basically, I want Yummygoods’ craft room, only I want it to belong to me, not her.
In our last makeover, we talked about how nice it is to store your craft supplies in vintage containers instead of mass-market plastic bins–this was basically an excuse for me to show off my thrifted Pyrex, the Fiestaware coffee mug that the handle broke off of, and the other mug that PROVES that I did, indeed, go to Space Camp.
Today, however, we’re getting our inspiration board on. We are going to cover a ratty corkboard with a rockin’ T-shirt (Funny story: I never lost the baby weight after my second baby, and now my entire pre-baby rockin’ T-shirt collection basically gets to be turned into other stuff. Sigh). With a rockin’ T-shirt corkboard, you get to remember your rockin’ days, and not have to see how teeny-tiny slim your T-shirts used to be.
By Julie Finn •
February 17, 2009
Wherever you might normally stand on the felt controversy, I think that we can all get behind the claim that felted wool?
Is awesome.
Felted wool has all the benefits of wool for crafting–it’s sturdy, can be shaped, holds a dimensional structure well, is durable, and has an appealing texture–and has the eco-friendly attributes of being natural and second-hand. As part of my green crafting manifesto, I do not buy new things, nor do I intentionally buy products exploitative of the world’s creatures (please, don’t ask me about glue!), and yet when I buy a wool sweater from the Goodwill Outlet Store, I don’t have to worry about whether or not the wool has an organic certification, or about the high price of organic wool. I just think, “Yay, recycling!”
And yet, the wool sweater you take home from the thrift store requires some work before it becomes that versatile wool felt. Here’s exactly the work you need to do:
