Felted Kitty Hats

It's not as if they needed more hats, hats are just the perfect transformative accessory and I just can't resist making them.
At all.
   So I saw this kitty bowler hat from Marks and Spencer on Pinterest and I just had to try it. My favorite yarn store, i.e. my mom, ordered the yarn from Brown Sheep and knit up the initial hats from this Fiber Trends pattern leaving the finishing to me.

 If I were doing it again I would make them 1 1/2"- 2" shorter before felting, because I think they turned out long. The ears are double knitted: They look 20 stitches wide, but they are really 40. With two double pointed needles you slip every other stitch on each row so you end up with 2 knit stitch faces to your work. Every third row I slipped with the yarn forward instead of behind.

Once the ears were sewn on and all ends hidden I threw the hats into the wash for some quick shrinkage, but I had to finish up by hand. By that time I was at my in-laws for Thanksgiving, and I found the perfect hat block: A medicine ball! It was all knobby and just the right size as I reshaped and finnessed the hats into shape.

All that was left to be done was embroidering the faces on with a chain stitch.

 

Needle Felted Feathers on a Wool Coat

 Way back in October I showed you a picture of some needle felting and then left you hanging! In the early summer I picked up a few brand new wool coats at Goodwill. They still had their tags, but had been marked 50% off about 3 times.

Needle felting is very simple. Using a felting needle covered in fine barbs, you push wool into your fabric. The needles are quite sharp. You should put a block of foam behind it, and keep your free hand and all interested toddlers out of the way. I used clean undyed fleece batts for the feather motifs. I didn't plan them, I just kept punching those suckers in until it looked right.

The strings are herringbone embroidery done in DMC pearl cotton, and also executed without forethought. The centers of the feathers are back stitched.

One awesome thing about needle felting into an existing coat is that even though you punch the wool through the lining, it easily pulls away unharmed. The lining may be a little rumpled, but a blast of steam from your iron eliminates that problem.

It's a fun, fast, easy project, and it gives you a completely unique product in the end. You could do circles, flowers, stars, patterns, mix it with more embroidery... go crazy!

I fully intended to sell it in the end, but I can't let it go!

 These pictures are brought to you by Daniel Konstanski, my handsome photographer, White Clay State Park, Delaware which is free all winter, and my fairly patient children.

Romper Reality

I had pulled a slip of paper from my jar of challenges, praying that it would not say "65. Make neon tasteful." To my relief it read "4. Focus on texture," the very thing I was eager to do!
Though I was going to make this pattern to share, the textural focus made it a difficult pattern to write... so no pattern for you.

I chose a herringbone type cable for the body of the romper, sort of measured one of her pajamas as a pattern, and went for it. For the buttons I used vintage mother of pearl. They all sort of almost match each other. You may or may not have noticed that the tabs at the shoulders and the placket underneath fasten the opposite way you might an older child's clothes. That wasn't a mistake... I know. SURE. But really, this girl is a genius at taking her clothes off, so I positioned the buttons so it is harder for her to get naked. This is common practice in baby clothes, but I find it more obvious on sweater knits.

I love the color. Obviously. It's the same color as this bag, these curtains, and any other ridiculous number of things I own. Greige is dangerous for me.

I may yet apply I-cord to the back neck of the sweater. The front already has it knit in.
I went for a longer length than the popular bathing suit length. I thought it would be a little fuller on bottom than it turned out. Maybe I would add an extra pattern or two of the cables if I did it again. However, it fits and looks charming and surprisingly ungendered!

About the sticks, Thacia spends a measurable percentage of her day gathering sticks from the yard into bouquets. Such a cute phase! Will her passion for yard work last into her teens?

My Own Bottega Veneta

Last Fall I fell in love with a bag from Bottega Veneta, and I got the fabric to do it my way.
And then I never did it. 
Yesterday I finally designed the pattern in paper and sewed it. I love the origami sensibility of the exterior. I think the lining is like an oyster and needs pearls.
If I make another one I will make it deeper and widen the handles. 

The Ecstasy of Perfect Seams

When I try to describe the... joy? Thrill? Ecstasy, maybe? that a perfect seam brings me, I feel embarrassed over my own drama. It is an actual physical sensation, like the delicious pangs of being in love, or the enjoyment of really good food. Every tiny stitch brings me a deep pleasure I am trying to locate. I think it resides in my chest and shoulder blades. Is that weird? Pictured here, the flat-felled center back seam and silk chiffon bias taped side seam of the high-waisted wool pants I am working on.