Sweater Stocking

holidays-recycled

sweater-stocking

Well, maybe I can make all of our holiday decorations from two thrifted sweaters.  Here’s a quick tutorial for a felted sweater stocking.  I never can seem to find any good striped sweaters at the thrift store, so I thought I’d make my own.  I have a sneaking suspicion that Betz White has visited every thrift store in the land and is hoarding all the cool sweaters in her closet.

This makes a 12″ long stocking, but you could increase or decrease the pattern to suit your needs.  Print the template here.

  1. First, you’ll need 100% wool sweaters, washed and dried.
  2. I cut my sweaters into 1 1/2″ strips (the width of my yard stick).  I used about 15 strips in all.  I sewed them with a straight stitch right sides together until I had a somewhat rectangular striped piece.
  3. I then cut the pattern front from this piece, adding 1/2″ around the outside for the seam allowance.  I cut the back from a solid color (with a band at the top).  Be sure to cut the front and back in mirror image.  I then inserted a quick loop and sewed it all together.

sweater-stocking-tutorial

kiki-the-cat

This wouldn’t be a sewing blog without a picture of a cat, would it?  Here’s the the best cat in the world with her new stocking.  Seriously, this cat comes when you call her and she would meow at my door when the girls were babies and cried at night.  She was the only family member who didn’t have a stocking yet.  I will not be making one for the fish.

Etsy Finds Friday

11-13-09

Snowflake Card Set, 6 for $15 from Red Red Orange.

Vintage Chalet Music Box, $22 from Gold Grass Vintage.

Personalized Linen Stocking, $30 from One Girl.

Advent Calendar, $20 from Nouveau Designs.

Wooden Snowman Buttons, 4 for $2 from Stefanie Style.

Japanese Linen Cotton Gingham, 50x45cm for $2.55 from My Etsy Shop.

Quilted Potholder in Vintage Fabrics, $15 from Vintage Songbird.

Vintage Ornament, $5 from Dusty Lorraine.

Swedish Dala Horse Iron-on Patches, $6.50 from do little design.

Gifts for Kids

gifts-for-artists

I have some favorite gifts that I like to make for kids’ birthdays that could make nice holiday gifts.  So I’ll be sharing some of my entries from the past.

Here are some gift ideas for the little artist, and even those who would rather play with light sabers sometimes like to have time for artistic reflection.  Pictured here are the sketch box, doodle bag and craft can.  The posts for the sketch box and craft can include printable templates for a quick and easy gift.

This year I bought nice art boxes for my kids and plan to do a wood-burning design with their names and fill them with art supplies of their very own (that they don’t have to share).  A sewing set is another great gift for a child or teenager — you can make a drawstring bag, tote or box to keep the supplies.

Thrifted Tree Ornaments

holidays-recycled

tree-ornaments

I’ll be making some projects from repurposed materials in the coming weeks. First off, I made some more trees from felted wool sweaters — a miniature version of my thrifted trees from last year. This version has a new template to go with it. So get some wool sweaters, wash and dry them, cut 15 circles according to the template, string them together and hang them or add them to your miniature winter village. I’m hoping to make one of those this year, but we’ll see. You know, because everyone needs a miniature winter village, right?

Handmade Gift of the Week

handmade-gift-of-the-week

wooden-wagon

I have such memories of these candle pyramids from my childhood.  We had several of the pyramids that my grandmother must have bought in Germany.  You light the candles and the tiny wooden figures spin around in a magical way.  These are amazingly beautiful and well-crafted.

The Wooden Wagon has a large selection of candle pyramids and has offered readers of The Long Thread a 10% off coupon for the month of November (enter the code TLT1109 at checkout).  They have lots of beautiful wooden toys including my favorite — Flade wooden figures, plus nutcrackers, Fagus trucks, Ostheimer wooden toys, and a great selection of high quality art supplies for kids.  So check out their site and buy some new family heirlooms.

Please note: This is not a paid advertisement. The Wooden Wagon sent me this coupon code and since I love their site, I thought I’d pass it along to you! If you have a shop of handmade goods, I’d love to share special discounts for the holidays. Just send me an e-mail at thelongthreadATgmailDOTcom.