It's What I've Been Working On Wednesday - Fleece guinea pig accessories

With new pets come new sewing projects! As much as i'd love to make everything out of wool for our new guinea pigs, it is just not practical for all the washing these things will need to endure, so I made a bunch of fleece accessories. Fleece at the fabric store can get expensive, but the thrift stores are full of fleece, just waiting to be upcycled! I found 2 different big double layer (twice the fabric!) fleece blankets, each under $1, and set to work.

I made cage liners first. Why not just use small animal bedding? Bedding is expensive, and not eco-friendly, since you have to use so much of it and throw it out often. I found that my piggies use their "litter box" for most of their pottying, and use so much less litter than filling the cage. The fleece is soft on their paws, more attractive, and for the stray "tiny Italian sausages" (what my son calls their poops, lol), it is easy and fast to just scoop them off the fleece.

 


I saw this idea for a "fleece forest" online, and my piggies LOVE it! They spend most of their day in there, and they think they are invisible when they are in there, lol. I see you Scruffy!



This is another idea I got online. I just made a triangle of fleece with a fringe of fleece hanging down on one end. We don't have to look at the... um... litter box contents, and they like feeling like they are hidden. Win-win!
 

Since whatever doesn't end up in the litter box is usually done in the corners, I made poo-pads, so I can just lift out the litter squares and shake them off into the garbage. Easy Peasy cleanup!



The little bed I did make out of wool, but tucked a piece of fleece in the bottom, so I can switch that out when it gets dirty

.
 

Just like the wool hidey bags I made for them,  but this one is fleece, so I can wash it with the rest of their fleece stuff.




Scruffy loves to lounge in there :).


Since I love to sew, and my guinea pigs seem to love everything I make them, i''m sure there will be more guinea pig sewing in my future! :)

It's Tutorial Tuesday! Make a recycled wool bow in under 5 minutes!

This is such a versatile and easy project. These take me under 5 minutes to make, but look so nice! Ready to learn how to make these yourself? First you cut your pieces of felted wool. You can tweak this to get different sizes, but for this tutorial I used 7" x 2 1/2" for the main piece, and 1 1/2" x 1/2" for the small piece.




Once you have your pieces cut, take the main piece and fold it in half. Sew the 2 ends together. It doesn't matter what the stitching looks like, because you won't be able to see it when your bow is complete.

Leave the needle/thread attached, and move the sewn seam to the center.




 Now fold the width of the bow in half, so the seam is facing you, and the ends are facing away.



 Now, while keeping the center pinched, fold the sides back toward the seam. The middle should resemble a W.



Now, while keeping that "W" pinched in the middle, wrap the small strip tightly around the center and sew into place.

 Now flip it over and voila! You have a bow!



 From here there are endless things you can do with your bow. Sew a hair rubberband to the back for a hair bow...



 

 Sew a loop of elastic to the back and slide it onto your dog's collar. I apologize for the bad pictures... Spots was not being a cooperative model ;) ...

 

 and of course you can use this as a classy bow tie too! Just sew a small strip of wool, or fabric, to the back, to go around the neck, with a little velcro at each end. My child model declined this photo op, so this picture will have to do, but it's much cuter on an actual boy ;)...

 

You can use these bows to embelish purses, presents, barrettes... you name it! Watch out though. Once you start making them, you cant stop!

 I never mind anyone blogging, tweeting, Facebooking, Pinning, etc. any of my tutorials, but please always link back to my blog, instead of cutting/pasting the tutorial to somewhere else. Thanks, and enjoy! :)

Before and after!

I always love to see what everyone makes from the sweaters, but this was too cute not to share! Lisa made this ADORABLE sock monkey costume for her grandson. Thanks for sharing with us Lisa!

Before...
 

and after...


Margaret of Fox Island Fancywork, makes a lot of fabulous things from Resweater sweaters. Here is one before and after:

Though I couldn't find the "before" sweaters on these, she has made all these wonderful things from Resweater sweaters, and I am always amazed at what she can do to a sweater! If you need any warm weather accessories or unique gifts, her shop is the place to go!

Resweater craft show right here!

I am not doing craft shows anymore, for a variety of reasons, but I still have inventory to sell, so I am having a craft show right here on my blog! My prices all include shipping (free shipping on everything to the continental US!), and are lower than my craft show prices, so get 'em while they last! Take an additional $1 off each item after the first (example: buy 5 items, and get an additional $4 off)! Please excuse any wrinkles or wonkiness... these items have been in storage totes since my last craft show, but will come back to life with use! :)

If you wish to purchase something(s), please email me ( resweatercontacts [at] gmail [dot] com ) with the item #(s), brief description, and an email address to send the Paypal invoice to. Please understand that I cannot hold these items. If you want them, please pay right away. Thanks!


recycled wool and cashmere ornaments, handmade by me.  $5 for the first one, ($4 per additional, when you take off the $1 per item). Please specify whether you'd like Christmas colors, girly colors, earthy colors, colorful, or "surprise me"...
 Item #1

recycled wool dryer balls. These are handmade by me from recycled wool. These naturally help your laundry dry faster, reduce static, and soften your laundry. These eliminate the need for chemical laden dryer sheets and laundry softener. These pay for themselves in the energy they save, and the products they replace, plus they make a unique gift for those hard to shop for people on your list! I will do my best to fill color requests, but I am limited to what I have on hand. $10 each or $18/pair (pair counts as 1 item for $1 off discount). Using these in pairs is recommended.
Item # 2

Throw pillows (approximately 11"-13" square). All covers (removeable) handmade by me, made from recycled wool or recycled cashmere. The pillow inserts inside are new, prices below pictures....

#3 lavender cashmere with travel trailer (like Scamp) wool applique, $25
#4 gray wool with sheep applique, $18 [sold]
#5 brown wool with sock monkey applique, $18 [sold]
#6 purple owl with feet, $18 [sold]  This one is sold, but I do have a similar owl pillow in taupe/browns. You can see a picture of it here.
#7 aqua cashmere with travel trailer applique, $25 [sold]
#8 red winged black bird [was a bad camera angle- is not crooked], $15


#9  green and plum lambswool fair isle, $10
#10 neutrals patterned merino wool, $10 [sold]
#11 green with stripes lambswool, $10 [sold]
#12 blue/gray plaid merino wool, $10
#13 red/green patterned wool, $10 [sold]
#14 green paisley wool, $10 [sold]


#15 red fair isle lambswool
#16 red/green patterned wool, $10

Recycled wool and cashmere "funky hats". These are stretchy, so they fit a variety of head sizes. Some of the headbands are looser and best for adults only, but I think you can tell in the pictures which ones are. If in doubt, just email me and ask. Wool are $10, cashmere are $13...

 

#17 blue/pink fair isle/green, #18 cream/green fair isle/green, #19 purple/coral/pink
#20 gold/multi/moss [sold], #21 navy/orange/navy [Bears colors!], #22 tan/fair isle/magenta [sold]

 
  [these are all wool, $10]
#23 black/blue snowflakes/gray [sold], #24 tan/orange stripe/green, #25 green/purple/orange stripe
#26 pink/striped/pink, #27 lavender/striped/purple [sold], #28 blue/red & pink/purple


[these are all wool, $10]
#29 purple/striped/coral striped, #30 brown/multi/gold, #31navy/orange/navy [Bear's colors!]
#32 cream/fair isle/tan, #33 tan/fair isle/magenta, #34 lavender/stripes/tan


[these are all wool, $10]
#35 tan/brown stripe/brown, #36 cream/green fair isle/gray, #37 maroon/patterned/maroon
#38 maroon/patterned/navy, #39 blue/striped/gray, #40 rust/brown fair isle/brown


[these are all cashmere, $13]
#41 brown/pink argyle/pink, #42 light orange/orange/tan, #43 magenta/pink/raspberry [sold]
#44 raspberry/stripe/dk. pink, #45 plum/pink/pink argyle, #46 tan/coral/brown

Recycled wool and cashmere mittens. These are one size, and tend to run big, so not great for tiny hands, but great for average to large sized hands. Each pair comes with a pair of "mitten doublers", which are removable inside liners (wool for the wool mittens, and cashmere for the cashmere mittens), or take off $3 if you do not want the doublers. $15/pair for wool or $18/pair for cashmere ($12 and $15 without the doublers). I only have 2 pairs of cashmere doublers, so when those are sold out you can either use wool doublers in the cashmere mittens or buy them without the doublers.

 [wools: shorter style on top row, longer style on bottom row]
#47 coral/tan/green, #48 multi/pink/blue [sold], #49 blue fair isle/green/blue
#50 maroon orange stripe/blue/orange, #51 navy pink stripe/navy/pink, #52 pink fair isle/lt green/green


  [wools: shorter style on top row, longer style on bottom row]
 #53 blue stripe/navy/maroon, #54 purple/pink/blue, #55 aqua/green/purple
 #56 green/maroon/tan, #57 multi stripe/tan/tan, #58 stripe/brown/burgundy



[wools: shorter style on top row, longer style on bottom row. Example of mitten doublers on right]
#59 green/coral/pink, #60 multi stripe/plum/gray
#61 blue stripe/gray/green [sold], #62 gray/green/pink

















[cashmere: shorter style on top row & bottom left, longer style on bottom row right]
#63 maroon/magenta/maroon, #64 green/moss/coral, #65 moss/yellow/moss,
 #66 yellow/moss/yellow, #67 blue/blue/gray, #68 maroon/plum/gray,
#69 yellow/tan/tan

Recycled merino wool runner's mittens. These thin, soft, breathable, moisture wicking mittens are perfect for runners. These versatile mittens are also great for errand running, and can also be used as an inside lining for other mittens. $10/pair

#70 tan, #71 tan, #72 gray, #73 black, #74 charcoal

Recycled wool draft stoppers (place on threshhold to keep drafts from coming in), filled with recycled wool scraps for natural insulation, all 40-45" long. $12.

[***pictures of draft stoppers to come soon***]

#75 scrappy gray/burgundy/fair isle, #76 brown/ends look like cut logs, #77 scrappy brown/gray/patterned, #78 scrappy rust/brown/striped

#79 scrappy with gray bug face, #80 scrappy with blue bug face


Please don't hesitate to email me with any questions... ( resweatercontacts [at] gmail [dot] com ) !

1000 likes sale!

I have 1000 "likes on my Facebook page! Time for a sale! All individual sweaters in my shop are 50 cents off each, and $5 off of any mystery lots in my shop. This sale will run from now until midnight (CST) Wednesday, September 12, 2012. This discount will not automatically apply at checkout, so you have 2 choices. You can pay for them, and I will refund you the difference, or you can email me with your sweater choices and I can remove them from my shop and send an invoice for the correct amount. With the second option, you run the risk of someone being able to purchase the sweaters before I am able to remove them.

Resweater local (to Chicagoland) craft show this Saturday!

If you live locally, i'd love to see you at my last craft show of the year! I'll be at Alleluia! Lutheran Church in Naperville (directions & map can be found here) from 9am-3pm on Saturday, December 5rd. They will have a bistro with homemade pastries, soup, paninis and desserts for lunch, so grab a friend and make a day of it! Suggested entry fee donation is $1 or canned goods/non-perishable items for the food pantry.

My booth at Fiber in the Park

Here is my booth at Fiber in the Park. This is my first time using my canopy at a show, since i've always been indoors or under a shelter, and I love it! I used the canopy a few times while camping (came in really handy when it rained during one trip), setting it up is a breeze, and I love that I can hang things from it, pin my banner to it, and lean things against the legs. It's a EZ Up, that I am lucky to have... my mom found it at a rummage sale for $10 (thanks, Mom!)!


I didn't sell much at the show, but still had a good time! The weather was perfect. I got some work done in between customers. The music was fantastic...



There were lots of great venders...









and classes...



and my son even made a new friend...



If you are local, i'll be at the Friends of the Plainfield Library craft show this Saturday, September 34th, 2011, from 9-3. Come visit me! There will be 80 venders, so this should be a fun craft show to visit!