color blocks pillow

Felted wool from recycled sweaters hand and machine stitched, with needle-felting and embroidery.

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shoreline brooch

Felted wool (from a vintage sweater) framing a found bit of beach art, beaded and stitched.

beach+bits necklace

Playing with beach bits and electronics wire, some silver wire and chains….

 

wool stash home

Found a cheap old trunk at a thrift store and made a new home for my wool stash, getting it out of the paper/jewelry crafting space. Since the trunk really is “cheap” I just cleaned the outside and am going to braid new handles for it (as soon as I learn how!), but the inside had to be redone to get rid of the grime and mustiness. I learned that the smell is usually in the paper and the glue on the inside, so that was remove (fairly easily) with a vinegar-water solution and some scraping with a putty knife. Then it was scrubbed down to remove glue residue and spent a couple more days out on the screen porch getting air and some sun. Spray primer and painting with a mix of (leftover) exterior latex house paint = stash storage!

restyled paisley tunic

Found a fun paisley-patterned tunic at the flea market for a dollar. Discovered that although quite large, it had ridiculously tight sleeves, and the slit went down waaaaay too far. Black man’s tshirt from thrift store (another 3 dollars!) fixed the sleeves and the slit. Now if only it actually looked good on me….

copper spiral earrings

At last, something to post: hammered recycled copper wire earrings for a friend’s big birthday.
After seeing the photo I realized I needed to flip one around so they mirrored.

copperspiralearrings-koamist

tool patch

For a friend’s favorite work jeans = a use for the silly power tool print! Large patches stitched behind both knees, the one that was already torn through got additional tools fused on.

felted mohair vest upcycle

Found a lovely handwoven Irish mohair throw at the Thrift that someone had probably machine washed, causing it to felt. The colors are great and the fabric feels wonderful, with an intriguing bumpy texture.

I debated for ages what to do with it and finally settled on a long vest as a birthday gift. It was a bit too narrow to go over hips, so I knit inserts from some stash yarn. Deciding on closures took forever. Nothing suitable in the button stash. Hooks didn’t stay shut. Finally found these unusual buttons at a fabric store. Perfect.

I loved hand-stitching the seams and edges, it’s so soothing and satisfying.

felt flower brooch

Finally, for the new year, some “making”….leftover felted and unfelted wool trimmings, random beads, a tiny bit of roving…loosening up the rusty creative gears.

for solace

My contribution to India Flint’s wonderful Solace project (http://prophet-of-bloom.blogspot.com.au/2015/06/solace.html)

Salvaging a pillowcase from a grandmother’s dowry, dated 1922, with hand-crocheted lace insets. The inset background is dyed with turmeric, a quick amateurish attempt. It will probably fade immediately, but the boldness of the yellow made me very happy.