My adventure with felt continues

It is getting pretty funny--because it is getting out of hand. No you may NOT see my sewing room. It is a true DD.

Here are my mittens. I've been wearing them everywhere. Alex and Joseph have some, too. Now Dave has asked for a pair. I've also been trying to perfect a pattern for an owl. My favorite is the one in the middle. Buttons are taken off the sweaters I've used for all these projects. The football shaped buttons are from a vintage sweater--a beautiful brown with a small green stripe and some delicate green embroidered leaves. I've not decided just what to do with that one... but the buttons are perfect for owl eyes.

Just let me know if you want mittens--or a hat--or an owl!

Happy New Year and Merry Christmas!

The photos are from Colin's birthday party. Santa visited. I like that Joseph signed thank you to Santa. You can't capture a boy saying thank you to Santa in a photo, unless that boy is signing!

Sarah's blog made me think about how old we would be in 10 years-- 64, 63, 22, and 21. Oh my---We have a lot to do in the next 10 years! However, I think we have done a lot in the past ten, so I guess we will make it.

Six Hats and one Monster

and it is only a little past two in the afternoon. That is a pretty good days work for this elf. I reached the limit of what Mom's sewing machine can do with the last monster. Each one of these monsters broke at least one sewing machine needle. But, I now have four monsters all ready for gifting! Although they are pretty cute all together--it will be sad to see them separated. I'm NOT naming them before I give them away. I'm having a hard time picking which two will stay here with Joseph and Alex.

Two of the six hats will stay with us. The other four are gifts. The one in the front right and the one in the rear left of the photo have a piece of cashmere lining around the bottom. You can just see that on the photo of the hat in the front. It makes the hat very comfortable. The bright yellow one will be mine. The stripe one is for Dave.

Teacher tokens

I won't call them teacher gifts, because it is just a cookie. However, I like to remember all the teachers, aides, therapists, etc. that work with Joseph and Alex each year. For Joseph the list includes 11 names, for Alex 10. We do a gift certificate to Dave's company for the lead teacher for each boy as well.

These photos document the process this year! I had a bit of trouble with the cookies. The first trays were under baked--then I forgot to set the timer for the second set, so they were overbaked. I ended up making a second batch of dough. Now we have extras for ourselves. Dave actually likes these this year. It is the first time in seventeen years he has liked my sugar cookies.

Monster!!

Should this Monster be under the tree for Joseph or for Alex this Christmas? I'll make another for the other one--so it doesn't really matter.

I think I've found my medium for creativity. This wool felt is such a forgiving fabric. And making monsters is just my speed. If I make a mistake, it just adds to his monsterlyness. I was inspired by similar toys I saw on Etsy, so I can't take credit for all the creativity. If you can see his mouth, you may be able to tell that it is the pocket on a sweater vest. I stuffed him with scraps of wool felt, so even the stuffing is recycled. I love how soft he is. He should also be washable, since I already washed all the wool in hot water. He may gather lint, so I'll need to clean him off every once in awhile. I also like the fact that I made him in under two hours! Off to browse Etsy for more ideas. Well, maybe I'd better get everything else done that I need to do today before I let myself disappear into Etsy.

recycled wool felt Christmas stockings

Yep, I'm getting a bit obsessed with wool felt. I made these last night. Dave and I have old stockings from our youth, but I think we need nice new ones. These will be perfect. The boys have quilted stockings I made years ago. I found this sweater at Goodwill yesterday. I thought it too beautiful to pass up, and decided on the way home it would be perfect for Christmas stockings. I even lined them with cotton so trinkets from Santa won't get caught in the yarns on the inside of the stocking. They are about 14 or 15 inches long. There is an old button sewn on by the hanger, but you can't see it in the photo.

FYI 3.29 for the sweater, and I have about a third of it left. 2.00 for the two "fat quarters" I used to line the stockings.