The Sneater Invasion

We had an outrageous time today at the Original Sewing & Quilt  Expo in Atlanta.

Colleen Maria Casey (that's me) led a group of adventurers on an expedition to discover a band of wild Sneaters.
Actually it was a blast, but no one had trapse through the jungle.

In a lovely classroom at the Expo, we gathered Sneater kits got to work.

Do you see your Sneater in the photo?
Like our post on Facebook and show your friends your handywork!

Like this post on Facebook and claim the Sneater YOU discovered!

We are so thrilled with the new plushies. What surprises will you put in their pockets? What adventures will your Sneater take?
These cuties are made from felted wool sweaters and love hugs.

Going to the Birds

Okay I am moving on, this holiday season feels pretty over, at least from a making standpoint. I need to think about spring and what is better than birds and birdhouses. So to that end, I started searching for patterns of plush birds I could fiddle with and make my very own. I found a lot of patterns for flat birds (no gussets) and some folks who are making 3 -D birds and the Spool bird pattern.

So I just started with a traditional shaped bird, slopey back and tummy added a gut gusset and a head gusset. Kinda liked them, my cat LOVED them, which is why they are covered in hair and other gunk. I thought they needed a tail. I added a tail to the last one and called it finished, I can't find that one, thanks kitty. They felt more like ornaments for the tree, I think I was still in Christmas mode.

So I made one of the Spool birds and it is too fat, too big and too puffy. I like the one back seam and how the tail was part of the body but ...

Let's modify! I put the pattern on a diet and reduced the overall size, then I significantly changed the tummy gusset and the tail, much sleeker. I added a head gusset but it looked wrong I kept changing the shape of it, still wrong. Finally, hubby suggested I make the head seam "correctly" or on the inside and let the other seams show. I knew I married him for a reason, he makes the hard choices. The inside head gusset made it look like a bird head instead of a bird with a hat on. On the last one I added some legs, that are seriously weird and I need to work on them.

Still not sure if this will get past the prototype stage but if you have been looking for some bird tutorial here are a few I looked at:

Here is a very cute mobile and tutorial using the Spool pattern made by Jen at House of Wood.

Retro Mama has an adorable Partridge pattern, just right if you need to make yourself crazy before Saturday.

Here is a cute Robin pattern from Bird's Party

Wicked Wool

I started getting ready for holiday shows and I pulled out the wool sweaters this weekend. I was dismayed to find that many of them were not neatly folded in boxes as I (cue the dream music) remembered, they were wadded into boxes. Now they are wrinkled and need to be pressed (or rewashed).

Under the direction of the EXTREME wool goddess Betz White (her blog not her personally), when I felted a sweater I cut off the sleeves and then cut the sleeve down the seam. Well in these boxes I have wadded sweater bodies and even more wadded sleeves. This obviously is not a very workable method for me and the boxes make finding the color I needed almost impossible.

THIS year I am slicing the sweaters open a bit differently, to eliminate the loose sleeves I am slicing them up the side seam, through the armpit and down the sleeve. So far I am please with the amount of workable felt.

This new method of cutting the sweaters open allows me to hang them effectively. So I purchased a wood closet pole and put it on the existing shelves in my sewing room. I used shirt hangers for most of my sweaters, on the miscellaneous sleeves I used skirt hangers.

Cause I now could, I color coordinated them and realized I have a lot of red and turquoise and only one blue. I am please with the final results but realize I need another pole for the yet to be felted ones. Wonder if hubby would give up some of his closet space.