Christmas In July? [Part 1 of My 25 Part, Felt Ornament Sew-Along]

Last Christmas was my first Christmas since I discovered Pinterest. Of all the unrealistic holiday crafting ideas that entered my head THIS was the king. 

Oh, yes, a harmless felt advent calendar. I think it was October when I decided to take this on. I made the tree, equipped with super strong magnets to hold my (non-existant) 25 intricately stitched ornaments, in about an hour. That is all I accomplished last year. Naked tree. 

This poor thing has been hanging around my craft area for 8 months. Last week, I made a giant leap forward and stitched around my circles. I decided that it was time to start thinking about maybe working on this again.... soon. "I'll just make an ornament a week!" No pressure, I can totally manage this. Well, I took a looksie at the calendar... I don't just need this to be done by Christmas, It needs to e done before 1 December... That leaves me with 20 1/2 weeks. Yes, friends, That's all there is between now and December. Better get my butt in gear! 

I decided this is a good way to keep me on track, and it's fun for all! Felt ornament sew-along! I'm doing all of mine with magnets, but a string or velcro can be used just as easily. This week I did an in depth, step-by-step, but the techniques will be the same, just different shapes from here on out. 

Here is a wonderful resource for embroidery stitches:

Embroidery Stitches

AND

A refresher on the joys of working with Eco-Felt:

Working with Eco-Felt

Cupcake Pattern

^First, Print out your pattern^

You will need:

Felt

embroidery floss

 fusible interfacing

needle

magnet/velcro/thread loop hanger/buttons/whatever

Now gather your felt...

...Yes, I have a problem.

I cut out my pattern, but it would be a lot smarter to just trace the pattern onto your fusible interfacing. Brain fart, I guess. You only need one of each piece cut out of the interfacing.Adorable face is optional •_•

Iron the fusible interfacing to your felt. Parchment paper is a good idea here. Use some pressure, and only keep the iron over the piece for a few seconds at a time until the interfacing appears to be stuck. 

See, stuck. 

Double your felt piece and cut. This way you'll have perfect matches (pattern is asymmetrical), and it saves some time. Leave about a millimeter of felt around the edge of the interfacing. 

Repeat the process with the frosting. Now you can decorate your frosting piece (stitch on the side with interfacing,it has more stability and if you're using a light color of felt the thread will not show through) however you like. I decided on Christmas-y French Knot sprinkles. 

Use any stitch you like to attach the front and back pieces together. For the cake, I used a running stitch, then just added a few big lines for decoration. When starting to stitch the frosting, lay the cake piece over the top to get an idea where you will need to start and stop stitching. 

I used a blanket stitch along the top of the frosting, now I have gotten to the point where I need to stuff (i Just chop up some of the scrap felt) and insert the magnet and cake piece. 

Once everything is in place, continue stitching, but rather than going all the way through the layers, only pick up the front layer of the cake and frosting...

...Like so. Then continue this process around to the back. 

Tie off your thread, and you're done! 

Woo! One down,  24 to go!

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My First Knitting Pattern*

Last year I learned to knit. It was something that I always thought was way too intricate for me to ever really do, let alone excel at. I stepped my game up this year, mostly because I have more than enough garter stitch scarves, and I want some diversity in my overflowing closet of scarves scarf collection. After dozens of...cast on, knit a few rows, stare perplexedly at the pattern, stretch it out, wrinkle my nose, and unravels... I came up with this pattern*

*as a novice knitter, and a horrible follower of directions (ask my husband about that one) I will try my hardest to put this in "normal" knitting pattern lingo. If you're like me and "co 56, k4, p1 blah blah blah doesn't paint a good enough picture for you, I will also write it in a way that makes sense to me. 

Sorry about the grainy pics! It's winter time, thus, very dark in the mornings still. 

I used one (120m) skein of Bravo Big, which is a bulky yarn. (Similar to Lion Brand Hometown USA, but a much bigger skein. You could substitute 2 skeins of Hometown for this.) Sorry I don't have more information, I threw out the label a while ago/most of it was in German anyway. 

Knit using size 15 circular needles 

cast on 56 stitches and join the ends together, making sure the stitches aren't twisted.  

Knit four stitches (counting the join as the first knit stitch) then purl one stitch. keep doing this until you are almost out of yarn, then cast off loosely & weave in ends.

in Knitter lingo I think that would be:

CO 56, join ends *K4, P1* until you are almost out of yarn, cast off loosely & weave in ends.

  

It is reversible, and looks cool both ways.  

I prefer the Purl side though. 

On a side note, my big accomplishment of the week: Re-covering my ironing board. It got some much needed new padding (by way of a sacrificed old towel) and a cover that hurts my eyes much less than the pink swan number it was sporting previously. I'm proud of this because I love ironing. L O V E it. I'm not kidding. 

Special thanks to Liz Miller for the yarn! :) 

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My First Love

Of all the memories that managed to stick around from when I was a wee tiny child, pasta was definitely my first love. Coffee is a close second. My parents would have friends over, we would roll out crazy long sheets of pasta dough, and everyone would enjoy their dinner a little bit more due to the satisfaction of making it with their own two hands. 

When I got married and moved away, my Mom and Dad got me the two most important kitchen accessories: A Kitchen Aid mixer, and a pasta machine. 

I use it as often as I can, and homemade fettuccine is my go-to impress the neighbors meal. It's easy, but a tiny bit time consuming. In the words of the great Alton Brown, "Your patience will be rewarded."

This is a pretty basic pasta dough recipe, I had a photocopy from the book that came with my Mom's pasta machine, so original credit goes to Mercado, I believe. 

You start with a bowl, dump in your flour and salt, then dig a little swimming pool in the middle for your wet ingredients to play in. I add a few teaspoons of dried herbs to the wet ingredients to make my pasta look pretty. :) 

Stir with a fork, just like you're making scrambled eggs, scraping a little of the flour wall in at a time. GO SLOWLY, if the flour gets added too quickly, you will get a big crumbly mess. Trust me. 

You will get to a point where the fork will no longer cut it. That's when you get your hands involved. Knead the remaining flour into the dough until it is all combined, and your dough ball is tough, and not sticky. Sort of Play-dough consistency. 

Roll it into a nice, happy ball, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Let it rest for at least 15 minutes. 

Cut the ball in quarters, and flatten and cut it with your machine, if you have one. If you do not, don't despair! You can roll your pasta out with a rolling pin and make ravioli, tortellini, or just cut strips with a pizza cutter! (this part is fun for the kids)

Then hang your pasta to dry! Before I got this fancy pasta rack, I used 1/4" dowels hanging from my cabinets with rubber bands. Classy, I know, but it worked really well! 

When you are ready to eat, boil a BIG pot of SALTED water (DO NOT skip the salt, it makes all the difference in the world with ANY pasta... I can go on a very long tirade about not salting pasta water, but I will spare you today. ) Your water should taste like the ocean. Don't add a teaspoon to a gallon of water and call it salted! Ok ok ok, I'm calming down. 

Depending on the thickness and level of dryness, your pasta should cook in 5-10 minutes. Just keep sampling until it feels good. 

... I promise you, it will be oh, so good! 

-CJ

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Felt Bow Tie Pasta

My child finds mysterious ways to inspire me. Example: One of my friends needed their daughter's Halloween costume shortened, in the midst of measuring and pinning and whatnot, she left her plastic pearl necklace here. Dom found it, and has been trying to feed it to me as Spaghetti for the past few days. 

So I was thinking

I need to make more stuff with many small parts so I can go crazy trying to round them all up constantly! This kid needs play pasta! 

It's an easy one, trust me. It's exactly like making real pasta shapes, except felt is less floppy and tear-able...So it's way less frustrating.  

You will need:

1 sheet of felt (mine's antique white)

Floss or thread to match

Pinking shears (zig zag edge scissors)

First, cut 2" wide strips with pinking shears. 

Cut the strips into 2x2" squares with regular straight scissors. 

Take one square and accordion fold it, so it looks like a "W" ... or "M" depending on where you're standing.   

If you get confused, you can just check out a piece of bow tie pasta, but here's what you should be looking at. 

Thread up your needle with 1/2 thickness of the floss (3 strands) Start in the middle crease...

... thread to the outside, then back all the way through to the other side...

...and through to the middle again. 

Like this. 

Knot the two ends together, pull tight and double knot. 

Taadaa!

One sheet of felt will make 20 pieces. Which is the perfect amount for a bowl of pasta. 

--CJ

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The [Won't Fall on the Ground and Get Run Over] Stroller Blanket

I can't believe it's October already! The leaves are changing, it's starting to get cold, and today, it looks very gray and wintery. *sigh* 

On a happy note, the other day my friend/next door neighbor hooked me up with a bunch of fabric. Amongst which was this super-adorable monster print. I was instantly in love! I needed to make it into something that would get a lot of use, so I can see it all the time and be happy. It was a whole yard (which I don't usually get because fabric is pricey over here) so I could make a blanket for Dom! 

I'm pretty sure anyone who has a kid has put them in a stroller in the winter, and threw a blanket on them, because I know I would love to be chaffered around while bundled in a blanket. Then as you're trekking through the snow, suddenly your child gets claustrophobic, and Incredible Hulks their way out of their cozy bundle. Leaving your Brookstone Nap blanket mangled, wet and dirty wrapped in the tires of your stroller. Yes? 

NO MORE! 

Introducing The [Won't Fall on the ground and Get Run Over] Stroller Blanket! 

It's a simple square blanket with straps, super easy.

You need:

1 yard cotton fabric

1 yard Fleece/minky/flannel 

1 hair elastic

2 buttons

sewing machine

First things first, wash and dry your fabric. 

Press and cut the cotton fabric into a 36x36" square. 

You will have a strip left over.

Cut that strip to about 15" long (the one pictured was shorter, but if I were to do it again, longer would be better) then cut the strip in half lengthwise. 

Fold and press your two pieces in half, and stitch along the long open end. 

Press open the seams, turn them right side out, re-press, and tuck the open ends into the tube. 

Cut the metal piece off of your hair elastic, and cut the remaining piece in half. You can melt the ends with a lighter to keep them from fraying. 

Insert the elastic loops into one end of each strap. Pin in place and sew. I ended up hand sewing this part because my machine did not like going over the elastic. 

Now take your nicely cut 36x36" square of cotton fabric, and line up its selvedge edge with the selvedge edge of the fleece (minky/ flannel/ whatever you use). I do this because it is the factory straight edge. The cuts they make at the craft store are rarely ever straight.  

 See:

Use the cotton as a stencil, and cut the fleece to match it. 

Sandwich your strap pieces (elastic end inward) between the fleece and cotton (which are right side together) eight inches from the outside edge, one on each side. Pin all the way around the  blanket, and stitch, using a 1/2" allowance. Leave a 5-6 inch opening to turn the blanket right side out. 

This is what you will get! Hand sew the turning hole shut. 

Press it nice and flat (on the cotton side, fleece and minky don't like to be ironed) re-pin around the edge, and top stitch. 

I used about a 3/4" allowance. 

Sew a button to the base of each strap. You will use the strap to attach the blanket to your stroller frame so it can't get thrown off. 

If you fold the blanket in thirds, and roll it up, the straps can also be used to tie the roll together for tidy storage. 

I had to bribe him with fruit snacks to model this thing for me. Crazy kid. 

It's wide enough that it can be tucked in around his body, and there's enough room at the top that he doesn't feel like he's in a straight jacket. 

And it's just short enough that it won't hang all over his wet boots! 

--CJ 

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