Craftastic Weekend Project: Needlefelt Mushrooms

For this weekend, we have a mushroom needlefelting tutorial. Needle felting is a dry method of making felt (matted wool) using a barbed, triangular needle. It is easy to learn and can be conceived of as sculpting with wool as your medium and the felting needle as your tool. Roving is the name of the wool that has been cleaned and carded (brushed). Amber is an amateur mycologist, so for this project she was inspired by Clustered Bonnet mushrooms. If you live in the Denver area, we will be doing a free make-and-take of this craft project at the Clyfford Still Museum from 5 - 8pm tonight. 

For this project you will need: (all materials are available at Fancy Tiger Crafts) Our finished mushrooms are 1" - 3" tall and the caps are about 1" - 1 1/2" in diameter. One ounce of fiber will make 5 - 6 mushrooms.

• White Wool Roving - mushroom stem and cap
• Light Grey Wool roving - mushroom cap
• Pale Brown Wool roving - mushroom cap
• Foam block - used as a work surface to protect your needle and your fingers
• Felting Needle - we used a size 40
• Chopstick

Step 1: Make stem. Pull a piece of white roving - about 1" by 3". You can just pull it apart gently with your hands - no need for scissors. (If it is hard to tear, move your hands further apart along the roving and it is easier to break.) Wrap this strip tightly around your chopstick. Now pull the roving off of the chopstick - it should already look stem-like without any needle felting. Place this on your foam and needle felt it while turning it over so it is even on all sides. To needle felt, poke the needle into the stem about 1/4" to ½" deep and at a 90 degree angle. Leave one end fluffy - this fluffy end will be used to attach the stem to the top. 

Step 2: Make cap. Pull a small amount of white roving and lay it on your foam. Repeat with the grey and then brown rovings, pulling a smaller piece for each color (brown being the smallest). Now wrap this strip of neutral roving rainbow into a spiral. The white should end up on the outside with the gradient to brown going toward the center. Now needlefelt this round shape until it holds together - you should end up with a flat disk.

Step 3: Attach stem to cap. First you can shape your cap with your hands so that it has a dome shape instead of a flat shape. Next, you will attach the stem to your mushroom cap by poking the fluffy end into the underneath of the mushroom top. Poke it all around until the stem is firmly attached to your mushroom.

Yay! Now repeat and vary your size for the ultimate cute factor. For a lovely display we attached our mushrooms to a real log using hot glue. This would make the perfect centerpiece for your next foraged meal with friends or family. If you want more needlefelting, be sure to check out all of our awesome kits!

Craftastic Valentine Project: Sleepytime Love Eye Mask

Here is a quick project that makes a perfect crafty gift for the object of your affection--a sleepytime mask filled with rose petals!


To make your very own mask you will need:

• 2 pieces of wool felt (1 pink and 1 red)
  
• 1/2 yard of elastic
• rose petals
• rice
• sewing machine (or you may handsew your mask)
• scissors
• pinking shears
• thread

Draw a heart about 4" x 4". Cut it out and use this for your pattern. Trace two hearts onto each color of wool felt and cut out your four hearts.


Sew your first heart together, leaving about a 1" opening to fill it.


Trim the edge with pinking shears for a cute finish. Repeat for other heart, leaving an opening in that one as well.


Place one heart on top of the other, overlapping the edge just a bit. Stitch the hearts together by stitching-in-the-ditch of the previous seam.


Now fill one of the hearts with a bit of rose petals and a bit of rice. Don't fill it too full, you want it to be soft on your dear love's eyes. Insert one end of the elastic into the opening and pin everything in place. Now stitch the opening closed.

You can now check the elastic band length. Hold the mask up to your face to determine how long you want the elastic to be. Cut it to that length.

Now you will fill the other heart, insert end of elastic and pin in place. Stitch the second opening closed.


Voila--super-cute sleeping mask!

Happy Valentine's Day my lovelies, and sweet dreams!

Craftastic Weekend Project: Pony Pillows!

We thought we'd share this super simple weekend project--pillowcases! When this over-the-top unicorn/pony/pegasus fabric came in, we thought dreamy pillowcases would be the perfect project. Every 5 year old girl (and perhaps a few grown-up girls) will want these pillowcases in their soft pinks, purples and yellows.


If you need to make some for yourself or someone you know, here's how:
For each pillow you will need 5/8 yd each of two coordinating 44" wide fabrics.

1. Cut pieces: Leave fabric folded as you bought it and cut each piece from fold to selvedge so that they measure 20" by 44" (unfolded). Do this for both the main fabric and edge fabric. The edge fabric you will also cut along the fold so you have 2 squares, each 20" x 22".
2. Sew edging onto main pillow: Line one 20" side of edge fabric up with the selvedge of your main fabric right sides together and sew them together using a 1/2" seam allowance. Repeat with the other edge onto the other side of the pillow. Fold and press the opposite edge of the edge fabric in a 1/2" along the edge. Now fold your edge piece over so the folded edge lines up with the wrong side (inside) of the selvedge. Top stitch this on so that the edge piece of your pillow is folded over, thus making the final edge 20" long by 11" wide.
3. Seam pillow sides: Now turn your pillow inside out and line up the raw edges. Stitch these together with a 1/2" seam allowance. Serge or zigzag to finish. Repeat with other side.

Enjoy your adorable new pillowcases! Sweet dreams!

Craftastic Weekend Project: Cafe Curtain Apron

Here is a quick and easy sewing project--an adorable apron made from cute Japanese cafe curtain fabric.

What you'll need:
3/4 yard cafe curtain fabric
2 yards ribbon

1) Start by trimming off the extra material along both the top and bottom of your cafe curtain fabric. Cut along the fabric's pretty scalloped border--it is finished in a way that won't unravel.



2) Prepare the sides of your apron to be hemmed. Fold the raw edge in 1/4" on the wrong side of the fabric and iron, and then fold in again and iron. Pin.

3) Stitch the side hems.

4) Thread your ribbon through the curtain rod holes at the top of your new cafe curtain apron.

Adorable! These are some of the cute cafe curtain fabrics we have in right now.

If you are feeling more advanced you can make your apron ties out of a coordinating fabric and add cute pockets, too! You'll just need 1/2 yard of another fabric.


Happy sewing!

Craftastic Weekend Project: Fancy Felt Flower Pin

Here is a super cute, quick project perfect for felt scraps. A fancy felt flower pin! Make one for your best friend and she'll love you forever. Make one for your worst enemy and you'll have a new best friend!

Materials:

Wool felt in three colors
Felting needle
Foam safety cube or needle felting brush
Scissors

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1) Cut five cute hearts out of your petal felt. They should be about 1" high. Cut out a few green slivers about 1-1/2" long for leaves and a 1/2" circle for the flower's center.
2) Overlap all the hearts' points and needle felt them together where they overlap. Be gentle with your pokes so you don't bend or snap your needle.

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3) Place the leaves on the back of your flower and poke with the needle to join.
4) Needlefelt the circle onto the front center of your flower.
5) You can hot glue or sew your flower to a pin back or barrette, or carefully straight pin it onto your lapel like the olden-days!

Cute-tastic!!

Craftastic Weekend Project: Oilcloth Pouch

Here is an idea for a quick and cute project--a simple oilcloth pouch to hold all your goodies. Oilcloth is pretty awesome. It's waterproof, dirt proof, and easy to sew. This little zippered bag is perfect for craft supplies, art supplies or a re-usable snack pouch.

Materials:
12" zipper and a 3/8 yard of oilcloth

Here's how we made it:

• Cut the oilcloth into two 13" x 10" rectangles.
• Centering the zipper along 13" edge of one piece of oilcoth, sew zipper in place. Your oilcloth should extend past the zipper stops (little metal thingies) about 1/2" on either side.
  
• Repeat with second piece of oilcoth for other side of your zipper.
• Folding at zipper, put right sides together.
• Using 1/2" seam allowance, stitch around sides and bottom of bag. Be careful not to hit any of your zipper with your sewing machine needle.

(Optional) Square bottom of bag:

This is super easy, but hard to describe, so how about some diagrams? Click on the diagram to enlarge it.

• Right sides together. Pinch together side seam and bottom seam, lining them up and flattening the bottom corner.
• Mark a line perpendicular to the seam 1-1/2" from point of corner.

• Stitch corner flat along line. Trim to 1/2 from seam.
• Repeat for other corner.

• Now unzip your zipper and turn the bag right side out.
  

Nice work! What a perfect little easy gift. Come by Fancy Tiger Crafts and check out all the cute summery oilcloth we have in right now!

Craftastic Weekend Project: Yo-Yo Mason Jar Cozy

This fun weekend handsewing project will use up some of your fabric scraps and turn a simple mason jar into a cute and craftastic travel beverage carrier. If you don't have a lot of fabric scraps you can also use a couple of fat quarter bundles.

Materials:
cute fabric scraps
fabric scissors
thread
handsewing needle
mason jar
1/4 yard elastic

1) Make your yo-yos. The number will depend on how big your yo-yos and your jar are. Mine took about 25 yo-yos.

• Cut circles out of your scraps about twice as wide as you want your finished yo-yo. You can trace around a small dish or a cup to mark your fabric. I like to make mine all different sizes.
• Fold in the edge of your fabric about 1/4" as you run a basting stitch around the edge of your circle, about 1/8" from the edge.
  
• When you have gone all the way around, pull the thread to gather your yo-yo together.
• Stitch to secure.

2) Assemble your cozy.

• Measure around your mason jar.
  
• Begin sewing your yo-yos together in a strip that is as long as your jar measures around. Sew this strip into a ring.
• Now pick some yo-yos for the bottom of your cozy and sew those together and attach them to the bottom. Add more yo-yos for the sides of the cozy until they reach the neck of your jar.
• Cut a length of elastic that fits around the neck of the jar and overlaps 1/2". Stitch the overlapped ends together to make an elastic band.
• Stitch the yo-yos at the neck of your jar to your elastic band.

Now you can drink on the go with super-crafty style!

*note: You can also use a yo-yo maker
to make your yo-yos. They are super
simple and speed up yo-yo making!
We have lots of them in different sizes
at Fancy Tiger Crafts!

Craftastic Weekend Project: Fabric Scrap Gift Wrap

Try out this adorable and earth friendly gift wrap next time you have a gift to give. You can recycle scraps from past sewing projects and your friend can re-use the wrapping for a tea towel or a new pocket on their favorite skirt.



You will need a scrap big enough to wrap around your gift. Rather than cut your fabric to size, snip the fabric on grain where you want the cut to be and then rip the fabric. This will keep your line straight and keep the edge from fraying too much. You will also need a ribbon long enough to tie around your gift.




Fold in the the fabric on both of the short sides of your gift. Fold in the other two sides. Tie the ribbon around. Your friend will love it!