More winter crafts

Finally got back into the groove and made some more winter the hats over the past few days...started with an ivory one that I slapped a sparkly maroon bow onto, then a really soft yellow angora one, and then my favorite, a grey cashmere one with black leather bows, and fingerless gloves to match! Glad to be back in action, I think I'm going to use the rest of the yellow angora sweater to make a little cat sweater for Belle...I want to make one for Orion too, but I'll need a whole sweater, and a big one, so that may not happen until I make another trip to Restore.

Here are the hats I made this week...(the ivory one was really hard to photograph, so forgive the blurriness, and the brightness.)

I made the fingerless gloves using the same idea I used to make my last ones (which I ended up giving to my mom while she was here; she liked them and wanted them as driving gloves), but it was a lot less work this time because I used the end of the sleeves for the hand part, and just cut a little hole to sew in the thumb part (which I cut out of the bottom of the sweater), and also used the neck of the shirt (cut into two parts) for the wrist. They look a lot more professional, I think, and like I said, it was a lot easier. The bows are mostly to cover up stitching, but I really like them. :)

Today Josh and I spent some time outside working on clearing the two huge branches that fell next to our house. We made some pretty good progress, but it's slow going since we don't have a chainsaw (or even an axe - we were taking turns using a machete). I think we're going to go to Lowe's tomorrow and get an axe, before we tackle it again. Orion tried to help drag away branches as we cut them off at first, but then got bored and resorted to eating a pumpkin that I threw out.

I have plans to post a lot of words tomorrow, regarding the new year and reflections of this past year, but if I don't get around to it, everyone have a safe and happy end to 2012, and beginning of 2013!

Joining:

31 Days Series: Another hat.

Alright, I know, I've made a lot of hats already. BUT! This one is different. And by different I mostly just mean more complicated. Part of this stems from the fact that it was made from the arms, and didn't have a nice, snug, trim around the bottom like the other hats I've made so far did. (Told you I wasn't going to let a single piece of that sweater go to waste!) This meant I had to come up with a way for it to fit my head without flying off into the wind. Because I started this late last night with no real objective, and without really knowing if it was going to work, I didn't take pictures. I did, however, draw an amazingly accurate picture to show you how to start off if you want to recreate this. (Which I only recommend doing if you have random sweater arms laying around and no other way to use them. Otherwise, just cut your hat pattern from the bottom; it's much easier.)

Like I said, this is constructed from sleeves. Two of them. If you're using a shirt with short sleeves you may be able to skip the second half of this, but in my case I was using the top half of sweater sleeves, so I had to pick my brain and figure out how to finish it off. But we'll get to that in a sec.

Eh, you like that? ...ok, sorry. I tried. Follow the diagram, if you can. First you want to cut the sleeves off, and then open up the seam that closes the arm together. You'll have two pieces that are shaped like the third picture. Cut about an inch off the top (keep in mind; my sleeve pieces were about 8 inches long before I cut that off, so if yours are shorter you may need to cut less. If they're longer, cut some off the bottom too.) Put them right sides together and sew up both sides. Then finish off the top the same way we've done before.

Now you should be left with something like this:

Alright. Here's where it gets hairy.

We're going to add elastic! If you've ever made a skirt with an exposed elastic waistband, then you know where I'm going with this. If not, good luck! (Just kidding. It's not hard, but it's definitely going to test your patience if this is your first go at it.)

Start by cutting a piece of elastic that will fit comfortably around your head; tight enough to stay on, but loose enough to wear for long periods of time without getting a headache. Once you have the elastic cut, measure it, and mark the quarter, half, and three-quarter points on it. Then, sew those points to the corresponding points inside your hat. (Fold the edge over about ¼ inch, and just sew a zig-zag line across the width to keep the elastic in place; see the top picture.)

Now you finish it up by sewing the elastic all the way around the inside of the hat. Use a large zig-zag, and sew the ¼ inch piece of the hat that folded over to the edge of the elastic. It's a little easier if you work in fourths, going from one of the points you already sewed to the next, while keeping the elastic stretched all the way out. (This is the hardest part, and it may take some trial and error, so if you're not comfortable with the process, practice on some scrap fabric first.)

And now you are the proud owner of a scrap hat, that can be worn pulled down over your ears on cold days, and pushed back like a head band inside. :) Woo!

Joining:

31 Days Series: Angora sweater accessories

I finished my sweater accessories!! One $3 thrifted angora sweater turned out a hat, a set of leg-warmers, and a pair of gloves! Ready for the breakdown?

Hat.

Again, this is a fairly simple project, but if you need some guidance, Kirsten has an easy to follow step-by-step here.

I was also inspired by her post here to make a few other things and not let a single piece of this gorgeous sweater go to waste! But I did want to change it up a bit. Instead of simple hand warmers, I went all out on gloves. But first, I made leg-warmers! (Which are even easier than the hat!)

For these I simply cut the sleeves off from about half-way down and then sewed the tiniest of hems (about ¼ inch) since it won't be seen anyway. The bottom part will be tucked into boots. :)

And last but certainly not least, the gloves! I really wanted them to be comfortable and easy to wear, but also to look nice. I chose to use my alpaca gloves as a pattern. I half traced/half free-handed a simple two-piece pattern based on those gloves.

I cut the thumb part out from the bottom of the sweater (next to wear the hat came from) and the hand piece from the top to cut down on the amount of seams I would have to sew. (I didn't take a picture of how I cut the hand part, so I used my super-professional photo-shop skills to draw it out for you.)

To make the gloves you put the pieces together right sides in, and sew the side that will be on the outside of your hand closed. Then, you sew the thumb part to the other side, starting about an inch below the top edge. Sew half of the thumb piece to one side, and the other half to the other side. Then, sew the rest of the front and back together. (You should have approximately one inch on top, which will be between your pointer finger and thumb when you wear these, and two to three inches below the thumb part, depending on how long your gloves are going to be.)

Repeat for the other glove and you're done! Cute matching accessories, all from one cheap sweater!

Personally I still have a little bit of sweater left so I might make something else...just not too sure what yet. :)
And if you have any trouble understanding anything, let me know and I'll try to clear it up! I'm not the best at explaining things in detail. I would make a horrible teacher.

Joining:

31 Days Series: Sweater hats

Today, I made hats. Two of them so far, one more in the works. They're pretty basic and easy to make if you have a sweater or two that don't fit, and depending on the size of the sweater, you can not only make multiples, but you can use the rest of it for other re-purposing purposes! (Pretty sure that's some kind of grammatical blasphemy, but I'm making it work.)

Anyway, here's a link to a tutorial if you need one.

My process came about after getting distracted while trying to finish up our Halloween costumes. (More on that tomorrow.) I was desperately searching for a skirt that I'd bought at Re-store before Joshs birthday party, and then packed away when I got to cleaning. I emptied my entire bin of fabric before remembering that I'd put it with the rest of the costume supplies, in a box on the shelf in the closet. Anyway, long story short, I needed something to do while the skirt (and other costume bits and pieces) washed since they had gotten that 'been in a box in the closet' smell to them, and after coming across two pieces of what used to be sweaters in my fabric bin, I decided to make us a couple of winter hats.

Sorry for the poor lighting, a storm rolled in on me and it got dark earlier than I expected. Brown one is mine, the patchwork one is Joshs.

Our attempts at taking a picture together with the hats were...a failure, I think is the best way to put it. I offer this as proof:

I'm going to make one more hat, considering that I managed to find a gorgeous grey angora sweater at Re-Store today. It's too small for me to wear, but I want to find a way to utilize as much of it as possible, then I'm going to work on making some soft, gorgeous matching accessories. :)

Here it is, in all it's soft, fluffy, grey glory:

(Yes, I did take that in the car immediately after buying it. I WAS EXCITED! And the light was great.)

Here's a close-up of the detailing.

This is taken back at home, obviously, but check out the buttons on the top; you could open it up for a more 'off-the-shoulder' look! I almost feel bad about cutting it up, but it only cost me $3.

That's all for now. Our Halloween costumes coming tomorrow! All three of them, including Orion. He's going to look hilariously adorable! So excited!!