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cool birthday gift idea for boys

I was at the bookstore the other night and found a book called How to Draw Cool Cars.* These weren’t your average cool cars, but super fast ones like Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Lamborghini — you get the idea. I had never seen anything like it and knew I needed to get it for Wyatt’s ninth birthday.

A few years ago I made a bunch of crayon rolls, including one for Wyatt with car fabric. You can’t really draw a Lamborghini with crayon, though. It just doesn’t seem right. So, I made him a much more grown-up colored pencil roll.

felt pencil roll

I have this really nice, thick wool felt that I got at a garage sale a few years ago. I never knew what to do with it, but it had Japanese characters printed on it with a sparkly gold ink. I knew I had to save it. I was so glad I did. It was perfect for this project!

felt pencil roll

I saved the printed part of the wool for myself. It will make a cool crochet hook roll, don’t you think?

stash: If you don’t have a use for a certain fabric right away, but it speaks to you somehow, I recommend keeping it in your stash. It might just be waiting for the perfect project to come along.

*I can’t find the exact book online, but this one looks similar.

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my creative space

I’ve got some tough decisions in my creative space today. I was given this beautiful hand-knit sweater from my friend Tana. It’s big. Really big. Too big to be refashioned with my ’80s sweater tutorial. She was thinking I could use it to make a felted tote bag. I can’t bear felting it. The stitch work is so beautiful.

recycled wool sweater

This is what I’m thinking: take apart the seams and make smaller bags out of the front and back each. I would serge the edges to keep them from unraveling. I really like the colorway of the yarn, which is Cascade 220. I think I might unravel the sleeves and use the wool for some granny square scarves.

What do you think? What would you do with it?

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how to keep kids away from tree ornaments

felt snowman and christmas trees

Give them felt shapes!

It’s getting more and more difficult to keep my three-year-old away from the ornaments on the tree. Being cooped up inside with no preschool or swimming lesson this week has not helped. This morning I decided she needed her own trees. I grabbed a big pile of felt and cut lots of circles and triangles.

Check out that strong snowman. He’s carrying all four trees with his stick arms!

past project: Here’s my original felt board post.

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blue and yellow custom sweater bag

It’s been awhile since I’ve made a sweater bag and I had forgotten how much fun it is to work with felted wool. I especially love how you can whip it into shape with a hot iron and a little steam.

thrifted felted custom sweater bag

My friend Cathy LOVES tote bags. She frequently brings a thrifted sweater to knitting group and asks me to make the largest bag possible. This sweater felted up so well that I was worried it wouldn’t be big enough for her. I added denim at the bottom to give her some more room.

thrifted felted custom sweater bag

Cathy is on the Board of Directors for our local Sewing for Babies. She is constantly knitting and sewing the cutest baby items. That’s why she likes having lots of big, roomy totes. She also asked me to make a box bag for some of her smaller projects. Don’t you just love this fabric?

measuring tape fabric box bag

project notes: Thrifted sweater was 100% lambswool from the Gap. Their lambswool sweaters always felt nicely. Lining and box bag fabric provided by Cathy. Denim from a pair of thrifted jeans in my stash. Garage sale interfacing and zipper for the box bag.

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custom wool felted bag :: black and white

I thought it would be fun to start showing some before and after photos of my bags. Let’s just hope I remember to take the before photos. I tend to get all excited and jump right into a project!

I’m calling this my X and O bag. Can you find them?

custom wool messenger bag

custom wool messenger bag

custom wool messenger bag