Adventures in Shrinking Sweaters or How Not to Felt a Sweater

I must admit, I have been feeling the creative bug pretty heavily the last few months. It might be related to all of my recent travels, or any one of the numerous fabulous holiday craft shows out there.  Last week, my parents and I visited St. Mary's Catholic Church in Park City, UT, for their Christmas in the Meadow craft fair. I purchased a pair of the most delicious, homemade, felted wool mittens from Ashen Moon Recycled Wool. A mere $45, but worth every penny!



So with my newest prized possession comes some inspiration as well.  I decided I would try my hand at felting sweaters. I'm not really sure what I will do with them once they are done, but hey, I'm feeling inspired right?

Off to the thrift shops I went.  I was on the hunt for 100% wool sweaters that didn't say machine washable on the label. From what I've researched so far, any wool that says "machine washable" has been treated with a chemical that will prevent it from shrinking, not ideal when shrinking is the goal.  I must have visited at least 5 or 6 different thrift/resale stores over the past week looking for just the right colors and styles of sweaters for my "upcycling" purposes. Finding wool sweaters was not as easy as you might think. Is it possible that there are other crafty chicks out there looking to felt up some woolly wonders?  In the end, I found 9 beauties that I think will be fun to shrink. Here are photos of some of my finds!

Ready to felt! I loaded up my machine with a small amount of detergent and set the cycle to "sanitary" as that is my machine's hottest wash cycle. My washer didn't offer a choice of temperature for the rinse water so I just let the machine do it's thing. I didn't really mind putting the different colors together, but I suppose if I was doing something bright red or blue I would separate them from light or cream colors. Also, I did not add any towels for aggitation or place my sweaters in pillow cases as recommend on other websites. In the end, only 6 of my sweaters felted up which left me wondering what happened to the other 3. Perhaps I will never know, but I suppose that's part of the fun?  Here are some of my newly felted treasures and a list of my best practices. Enjoy!

Best Practices!!

1. Choose your sweaters carefully. Even from a thrift shop, expect to pay between $3-$8 per sweater. Try to find sweaters with the fabric labels still attached. One of my sweaters did not have a label and I thought for sure it was wool, turns out it wasn't!  I look for 100% wool sweaters which do not say "superwash" or "machine washable in cold." I did buy a couple that said "handwash" and they came out fine.

2. I have read that you can felt any kind of natural fiber (silk, cashmere ect.) but I'm not convinced. I bought a couple different cashmere sweaters, one of them felted, but the other did not. Both labels said "dry clean only." The one that did felt was just sort of OK, perhaps not as thick as it could have been. You can always wash them again until you reach your desired level of felting. 

 

3. Buy them big! Some of the sweaters I bought were sized XXL to start, and by the time they were felted would only fit a toddler. So, if you want the most of amount of felted fabric, try not to start with a size small.

4. Visit thrift shops often. I found that one thrift shop was almost 100% different on my next visit 4 days later, keep at it!

5. Be adventurous! Try pants or old coats or blazers.... then report back here how they came out! My experiments to come!







Alpacas in the Fall!

My mom and dad have been out here visiting Park City from the Chicago area for the last month. It's hard to believe all of the things we have done, our travels, our adventures. I am woefully behind on my blogs and I hope to get all caught up!  I have tons of new yarn and pictures as well!  Although my parents left this morning, a trip out West was not complete until Richard and Tina were able to visit with the fuzzy-headed buddies. My good friends Carol and Tom with Utah Alpacas out in Heber, UT, were gracious enough to share a part of their afternoon yesterday.

 

 

Look at this face!

 

 

 

This little girl is listening intently to my mom talking to her.

 

 

Hard to tell if this lil' guy is hoping for a treat from my dad or just giving him a sniff!

 



Soap In a Jar

I've been spending so much time lately at farmer's markets that is inevitable that I would buy some homemade soap. As a part of my nursing education, I made soap in my Organic Chemistry class, however, I'm not certain I could tell you the process. I can tell you that the soaps I have purchased are like tiny works of art and are packaged so beautifully that I don't have the heart to use them! I've been thinking of a way to stash and display my soap and I came across this large Bell jar at World Market. It cost about $14 and I think it's a cool way to show off my treasures!  Enjoy!

Seriously obsessed with cabinets right now!

I don't think I can help myself! After getting my yarn organized I decided that it shouldn't just be my fabric that gets an adorable place to hang out. I started looking through the secondhand classifieds on a local website looking for anyone or any place that was selling a cabinet, bookcase or small dresser. I made a list of places and set out on a Monday morning.

On my way to the first destination, I actually spotted a big antique warehouse I've always wanted to go in, but for whatever reason never did. I found the parking a little confusing, but was not disapointed. Euro Treasures in Salt Lake City is an amazing gold mine of antiques and antiquities if you have time, patience, imagination and a flash light.

Euro Treasures is a huge warehouse stuffed to the brim with dusty, furniture relics in various conditions and states of repair. The one thing they have in common is that the great majority of them come from Liverpool, England and all date back to around 1880. The story as it was told to me... "There was an older gentleman in England who enjoyed going throughout the English countryside to many different estate sales and would buy everything he could, and store it in a giant warehouse in Liverpool. Eventually he came down with Alzheimers and was forced into a home. His treasures were eventually sold off in bulk."

The place couldn't be more amazing. Cabinets, chairs, old port-a-potty's, suitcases, trunks, windows, doors and that's just the beginning! It's simply an amazing treasure chest of odds and ends. If you plan to visit Euro Treasures, make sure to dress warmly (it's cold in there) wear your grubbies (think 100 years of dust and grime) and leave your kiddos at home (lots of sharp objects and broken pieces).

Here is my prized possession, a small cabinet. It's original use was for keeping books, but I have repurposed it to hold my cozy yarn! 

I bought the baskets at potterybarn.com. They are called the "Gym Basket," and cost $16.99 each. I am waiting for some more to arrive as they are on back order.

The latch that came on the door was not original, but it was old. It looks like the latch that was added to the chest was made of Catalin which was the precursor to modern plastics. People started using Catalin in the 1930's. Anyway, this latch was cracked (bummer). After I removed the screws I found that the original doors would have been held together and closed with an old key.  I went looking for another latch in a similar size and color at Silverstar Hardware silverstarhardware.com.  I was in luck, and found just what the doctor ordered.

This latch cost me $21.99, but is the perfect compliment to my cabinet. Last but not least, I did run into one problem. On carpet, the legs are not wide enough to support the weight of the doors when they are open, and the whole thing ends up falling forward. Once the cabinet is filled with treasures the problem almost goes completely away, but I wanted to be sure it didn't end up falling forward when no one was looking. I stopped at Home Depot and purchased a small magnet device that would help keep the door from swinging open, it works like a charm.

For about $300 I got the cabinet, latch, baskets and magnet piece. It might sound like a lot to spend on something that is just intended to hold my yarn, but the bottom line is that I've decided that I want to invest a little more in my hobbies. Having everything tidy and organized feels great. I love looking at my cabinet and knowing that I found it, cleaned it, and fixed it up myself.  I don't really think of myself as the fix it kind of girl, but seriously if I can do it, anyone can.

 

Update! December 9, 2012

 

I finally have all the baskets and have my yarn organized!  Recently, I did see some cool wire baskets at Crate & Barrel as I understand Pottery Barn no longer sells the "Gym Basket."

 

 

 



 

For love or cabinets?

Very interesting last few days!  I have literally walked my legs off looking for the perfect cabinet. The perfect cabinet would have glass doors on the front, 3-4 shelves and maybe a drawer or two and would cost less than $500. It would also be a fun color that would compliment my gorgeous assortment of cotton fabric.

Enter seanswoodworking.com in West Valley City, UT. This is a husband/wife team who I have commissioned to build me the most amazing cabinet possible. Unlike many of the nationwide furniture depots who quoted me 4-6 weeks for delivery, Sean is able to deliver my piece in 2-3 weeks. I could not be happier, even if that leaves my fireplace burried in fabric for now.

In the end, my cabinet is about 68" tall and has glass doors, 4 shelves and a medium size drawer. The best part of all is the color, Peacock Blue. I am in heaven! I can not wait for this beauty to be a part of my family. I will add the mock up that Sheri drew for me, keep in mind the final version will be slightly different.



Yarn sort, sort of...

So! After the most boring winter on record in Utah, (I skied a whopping 8 times) I am turning my attention to sewing and I'm putting knitting to bed for now... The good news is, I was able to finish up a few projects. However, the winter blues have left me feeling like I need to get organized!  My yarn up until now has been living in a couple of baskets from World Market, as well as a couple of plastic tote bins. I know what you're thinking, I'm committing a crime against all yarn. So, I decided to organize and sort.

I ended up donating most of my acrylic yarn to a local knitting group who knits for charity.  I think that that was a worthy cause, and I was able to reduce my stash to a more manageable level. Additionally, I'm able to actually see what I have and stop buying duplicates.

I've been thinking long and hard about how to organize my stash. I also sought the counsel of Pinterest and of course my trusty sidekick, Chopper! He mostly sleeps while I'm working hard, and only occassionally lets out a sigh.

Here is my stash in progress. I organized my yarn by color, and sorted it into these great Ikea baskets that cost $2.50 each or $1.99 if you sign up for their free "Family Plan."  My organization project has had me criss crossing the Salt Lake valley in search of the perfect bins, we'll see if these make the final cut. I may not have as much yarn as some of you crazy knitters out there, but I think it's a good start!

Fine, I'll make something!

Sew! I'm sitting here all week staring at my cotton treasures deciding that I need to make something, but what? I did what any normal fabric-loving gal would do. I went to the fabric store to buy fabric to make something. Since I couldn't bear the thought of cutting into any of my perfect pieces, I was hoping to buy something I was a little less attached to.

I've had an idea to make a holder to organize my double point needles for a while now, and since I am bound and determined to make order where knitting chaos exists, I thought there's no time like the present.  I didn't use a pattern for this, but I could probably come up with some written instructions if anyone wants. Enjoy!

Fabrication!

It's a Sunday. What better way to spend the day than watching old movies and washing, ironing, and sorting fabric. This all started innocently enough. My mom and dad are retiring at the end of Spring. They have bought themselves a small RV and aptly named it "Our Little Girl." They asked me to sew some blankets for their beds and I am more than happy to oblige. Easier said than done right? Well, I have been needing to go through my fabric for a few years now, and I can't think of a better reason to get going. With the movie Footloose purring softly in the background, I get to work. After a full day of purging, washing, and folding I am left with 12 tidy stacks of inspiration.

The only problem now is that my piles are so darling that I don't want to cut into anything. I'll have to think more on this.

I couldn't leave my ribbon out! I saw a blog sewmanyways.blogspot.com where the author used galvanized spikes ($0.70) from Home Depot to help hold her ribbon. I found some spikes there that were slightly less initimidating for ($0.10) each and I'm considering this as a way to go. Still thinking...

 

After a very indulgent day of organization, I now need to figure out exactly how I am going to create a way to store all of my hard work. I am considering wire baskets in my closet or repurposing the cabinet in my laundry room. None of these options are standing out right now, so, I may have to trek down to the city to check out the local Pottery Barn and Crate and Barrel. Wish me luck!