Warm Woolen Mittens!

I have discovered the process of felting old wool sweaters. It is so simple! The above hats, mittens and stuffed bunny all began their life as a men's sweater and a shawl. The instructions for felting the wool sweaters is at www.sewnews.com/resources/library/hol06/ All you need is a washing machine and a few old sweaters. I used 100% wool items - they are the easiest to felt! I laid the sweaters flat to dry so there were no creases in them and I waited until they were completely dry to begin sewing. I then placed the finished hats on a metal bowl and used an iron to
steam and shape them after I sewed them. I modified the pattern for the mitten and hats from the one in the Sew News article. I made a fingerless mitten for Clara and then purchased inexpensive knitted gloves to fit inside of them for a layered effect.

I made the pattern for the large and small stuffed bunnies myself. I used brown grocery bags on which to draw the pattern. The "baby" bunny fits inside a pocket on the front of the "mommy" bunny. I had such a great time with this project I will certainly felt old sweaters again!

Wee Wonderfuls Dolls

I have completed baby dolls to give as gifts to some of the younger girls on my list. I got the pattern from the wee wonderfuls blog (one of my favorites). The pattern called for felt hair but I chose to do yarn hair instead. I had left over fabric and decided to make aprons for the girls as well because every good dolly mommy should have a coordinating apron! Oliver wants to play with all the baby dolls and insisted on being part of the photo shoot so I think I will make him a boy doll for Christmas too!

Hand Appliqued Custom Stockings

I have now completed two of the children's stockings! I am just beginning to create one for my youngest, Oliver. He is only two and I am having a harder time determining which of his interests should be immortalized in his stocking. I think he would not be thrilled to have Elmo on his stocking when he is ten. He does like us to read to him so I might make that the theme and utilize classic story book characters. The stockings are made of felt and hand appliqued. I used beads and ribbon as an additional accent. I began with Clara's stocking. She is holding her special stuffed pig, Lumpy and I included Huggy the bear and the dollhouse she will be receiving this Christmas. Avery's stocking was more challenging. He is into science and math, thus the abacus and planets. He received the globe for Christmas last year. I included a special stuffed animal of his choosing which was his stuffed dinosaur. In my opinion a Stegosaurus is very difficult create in felt! The over all project was time consuming but not too difficult. I appliqued the items and children onto the felt before I sewed it together. If you want to try a similar project but do not want to freehand the items then you could use cookie cutters as templates. You could also print off the images on the computer in the appropriate size and use that as a template. The stitching or embroidery does not have to be perfect. I think the more primitive in appearance the better. I will post Oliver's stocking too when it is completed!