Sizzix Creations

Here are some things I have made using felted wool cut from my Sizzix BigKick. Most of these were made during the winter and spring. Now I am not making many things with wool, I have switched over to cotton for the hot months.

Charm Pack Door Hanging

The new sewing machine came--it sews like butter! There are some nice features that I will post about later.

I went to Joanne Fabrics and a nice quilt store in Richmond to get fabrics and threads. I found some charm packs- which are five inch squares of coordinating fabrics, pre-cut and ready to sew. Each square is one fabric from a collection that a designer puts together.

I got one pack that featured cherry prints in various colors. It looks so cheerful and springy. I made a wall hanging for my front door.

I sewed together 8 of the blocks and then got out my Sizzix machine. I used some of the other squares and ran them through my BigKick to cut graduated circles. I stacked up the circles and machine embroidered them together. Then I found some red wool and ran that through the Sizzix to cut out a large flower shape. I arranged these flowers and the extra circles to suit me and then hand sewed them on using the blanket stitch.

Another thing that I found at Joanne's is a bias tape maker. You cut the strips and feed them through. They come out the other side folded and you hit them with the steam iron to press the creases in. I made some binding tape using the same fabric that I backed the wall hanging with. I sewed it on the back with the machine and then hand stitched the binding on the front side to finish it off. It looks pretty good, I think.

I still need to work out a hanger for it so I can put it on my front door.

New Projects

I am halfway through a rainy Spring Break and last night I realized that it has been days since I did any stitching. No wonder I am feeling crabby!

I went back to the wool room and pulled out some felted sweater scraps, then went through a pile of hand dyed wool off the bolt and chose some colors for making flowers. A while back I got a new die for my Sizzix Bigkick machine and I had not tried it out yet. It is for making layers of flower petals that you stack and assemble.

After lots of cranking I had a largish pile of flower parts ready to assemble. I spread them out on my lap desk and began putting together color combinations. Here are my flowers just pinned together.

This morning I went through my bead stash to find some round beads to use as flower centers. I sewed about half of the flowers together using thread and the beads I found. I need to get some more beads in colors that go with the remaining flowers.

I will probably make pins from some of these flowers. I am not sure about the rest.

I just love the look of the blossoms made from the soft wool! I have some black/white plaid wool that I may overdye and make some more in other colors. Some of these may end up on ETSY.

While looking through some blogs this morning I came across these directions for making a key fob with ribbon. I saw some of these in a local bridal shop (where I was looking for ribbon, not bridal wear). I may try to make these using felted wool instead of the cotton webbing the directions call for. Stay tuned for updates.

The weather should be clearing up soon, I hope.