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!

Jaime's Pippin Sweater for Rhinebeck

Ysolda Teague has just released a new book, The Rhinebeck Sweater, and it's my favorite knitting book this year. It is a tradition for most knitters to knit a sweater to wear when they go to Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool festival. Ysolda turned this idea into a beautiful book with 12 sweater designs by 12 different designers (herself included). When Amber and I decided to go to Rhinebeck this year, I knew I had to make a sweater to wear so I chose to make one from Ysolda's book. This pattern is Pippin by one of my favorite designers, Gudrun Johnson.

Amber and I might have some connections so I was able to get my hands on the this pattern before the book was released. That being said, I knit this up in record time to get it finished in time for Rhinebeck and before Spinzilla started (which took me away from my knitting for a week). 

Pockets!

All the sweaters in The Rhinebeck Sweater feature farm-y yarns that are representative of the yarns you can purchase at the Sheep and Wool festival. I knit this up in our Heirloom Romney yarn which worked so well for this pattern. The worsted weight longwool Romney has great stitch definition - perfect for the brioche details. I used the deep-purple Elderberry and the sweater took 5 skeins for the size 33 1/2".

Upstate New York is a great backdrop for photographing sweaters

There are so many things I love about this sweater, I don't even know where to start. First, there is the unusual sleeve construction. The shoulders are created with short-row shaping and then the sleeve is knit down from there - interesting to knit and soo flattering to wear!!

I love the fluffy brioche stitch details at the collar, cuffs, and pockets. The large fluffy brioche cowl neck was picked up and knit last - it really gives the sweater a striking look, and you know how I feel about large cowls...(insert heart eyes).

Professional details such as the bottom folded hem and kitchener seams make this sweater look fantastic and sophisticated.

I can tell you right now, you will be seeing more sweaters from this book knit up by yours truly - its a beautiful collection. The Rhinebeck Sweater book is in stock now so you too can start knitting up the sweaters of your dreams!

Big Loop Wool from Loopy Mango is Here!

Insanely bulky Big Loop Wool has arrived from Loopy Mango!

One skein of Big Loop weighs a whopping 40 ounces (2.5lbs), and is enough to make a cozy 40"x 28" throw blanket in just 3 hours, or a 32" crocheted circle rug in no time!

Whip up the Eternity Cowl in an hour--or three of them in three hours, because one skein of big loop will make three cowls!

Check out Loopy Mango's free patterns for Big Loop Wool for more inspiration.

Happy knitting!

Chambrays and Shirtings and Jerseys, Oh My!

Garment sewists, rejoice! Loads of new garment-friendly fabrics are here! We have been up to our elbows in exciting shipments this week and we've finally got it all unpacked.

New homespun shirtings are here and we love the details, like dots, stripes and cross marks, woven right into the fabric. We can't wait to make Tovas and Esmes and Laurels galore from these great fabrics!

These double-sided fabrics feel like a double gauze and look amazing on both sides! They would be perfect for reversible garments or bags. We are thinking the simple Wiksten Tank with flat felled seams would be perfect!

Omg, batiks? You might feel like our shop is a desert when it comes to batiks, but we are batik-curious, that's for sure. When we saw these zig zag batiks, it was over. Chevron batik Staple Dress? Yes, please!

Featherlight chambrays are here--perfect for ethereal blouses or dresses. The Chantilly or Clara Dress would be lovely!

There is a rainbow of new jerseys here, too! We hope to be sporting new Lolas and Leggings in these babies soon.

See you soon!

Better Know Two Crafters: Laurel-Along-ing with Becky and Sara!

Two of our favorite ladies have been spending a lot of time in our sewing studio lately during Open Sew Nights! They've been on a Laurel-making adventure, whipping up cute Laurel dresses and tops left and right. You may know these presh ladies from around town--Becky is one of the Fancy Tiger Clothing folks, and the woman behind Becky's Buttons & Things. Sara is one of our favorite local artists (although Denver stole her away from her homeland of Canada). In addition to their love of making Laurels, Becky and Sara also join forces making miniature illustrated worlds with their collaborative Diorama Lockets.

Becky Wareing Steele & Sara Guindon

Tell us about your crafty selves.
Becky: I am a compulsive crafter. I try to create something every day whether it be something for myself, a gift, or for my business (insert shameless promotion here...) I love to crochet, sew and mainly work with miniatures.

Sara: I'm an illustrator and I like to draw and paint people. I'm new to sewing, but I used to do a lot of felt applique, and I have some English paper peicing for on the go.

Tell us about the Laurels you've made.
Becky: This was my first time sewing with a pattern. Sara encouraged me to try the Laurel pattern from Colette and now I'm addicted.

Sara: I made three Laurel dresses. It was fun adding extra details like contrasting bias tape and applique collars.

How did each of you learn to sew? 
Becky: I came from a long line of crafters. My grandfather taught arts and crafts at a prison in Philidelphia and, even though we never met, he's been a huge inspiration of mine. 

Sara: A long time ago I used to hand sew applique bags. Then I started making small alterations on my home sewing machine. Now I want to learn how to follow patterns--I'm addicted to Colette Sewing Patterns.

What is your favorite animal?
Becky: I love all animals, but I live with two cats.

Sara: My boring answer is dogs. Visually I like giraffes because they have big eyes and long eyelashes. 

Thanks Becky and Sara! Happy crafting!

Geilsk Tweed Yarn is here from Denmark!

It's adorably nubby--it's Danish Geilsk Tweed! This single-ply sport weight yarn is milled in magical colors that we can't resist.

We see classic shawls and cardigans--and with this palette of hues that are made for each other, colorwork would be perfect from these woolly balls of goodness.

We can't wait to see what you make!

Quilt Market Fall 2013 Report

Amber and I just returned from Houston Texas for the fall Quilt Market. This is where we get to preview and buy new and upcoming fabric collections! We were able to meet all sorts of fabric and pattern designers, chat with other shop owners, and get completely inspired by all the amazing things happening in the fabric industry. Here is our report of the most exciting things we saw this fall.

The people over at FreeSpirit and their parent company Westminster Fibers have a lot of amazing designers on their roster. Amy Butler, Anna Maria Horner, Parsons Grey, Ty Pennington, Tula Pink, and Denyse Schmidt all have new collections that they were debuting at market. So much awesome stuff! Anna Maria Horner's new line Dowry is scheduled to be released first (any day!) and we love it. Dowry is classic, beautiful Anna Maria Horner style and we ordered it all. Her booth featured an amazing inspiration wall for Dowry and of course, tons of color!

Amy Butler's new collection, Hapi features Amy's bold florals and interesting geometrics. Her booth was bright and fun - we love the fabric wrapped, rustic god's eyes.

Tula Pink's new line, For Field won't be out until next spring, but it will be worth the wait. Ponies, bunny-dots, foxes and feathers grace the prints of this new line. Now you, too, can upholster your Louis XV chair in pink ponies!

Speaking of ponies...Sarah Jane's new line Wee Wanderer for Michael Miller Fabrics is a collection that perfectly captures any little girl's dream childhood. Lightning bugs and ponies frolic across the fabrics in beautiful hues of green, blue and pink. Perfection!

Birch fabrics is getting ready to release their highly anticipated collection of Charley Harper fabrics. We are hoping to get these in this month (soon!). We were excited to see things sewn up in them and even more excited to find they have added canvas, knits, and flannel prints to the quilting cotton collection - all organic cotton.

Leah Duncan has another beautiful collection coming out next year for Art Gallery Fabrics. We can't get enough of her unique illustrations and love the saturated green colorway she has in this new Meadow collection.

Ellen Luckett Baker has another collection coming out for Kokka. Garden features her bold graphic style on the cotton/linen canvas base we all know and love from Kokka. Her booth was adorable and we loved meeting her! Ellen has some inspiring projects for her fabrics in her books, 1,2, 3, Quilt and 1, 2, 3, Sew.

Just chillin' with Carolyn...surrounded by her beautiful work.

One of the collections we are most excited about is Carolyn Friedlander's Botanics for Robert Kaufman. Botanics features Carolyn's fine line drawn style in soft and bold colors. A few of the prints have a hint of metallic gold that is used perfectly. Get ready to sew with these fabrics in December and January.

the ladies of Cotton + Steel: Alexia, Sarah, Rashida, Melody,  and Kim

The talk of the market was the announcement of a new division within RJR fabrics formed by Melody Miller including herself, Rashida Coleman-Hale, Alexia Abegg, Kim Kight, and Sarah Watts called Cotton + Steel. Cotton + Steel will release their first fabrics next July so we don't have any prints to show you, but we know it is going to be awesome. Stay tuned to see what these ladies have up their sleeves for us. You can learn more by watching their awesome video here.

Look for all of these amazing fabrics and more to hit the shelves of Fancy Tiger Crafts in the upcoming months. Thanks, Quilt Market!