And the winner is...

 Jen D! Congratulations, Jen. I'm excited to get to work on your upcycled T-shirt blanket!

Note: There were technical problems with Blogger, so Jen's comment isn't visible, but she contacted me to let me know. I'm sorry if this happened to anyone else; I looked all through the "help" topics and couldn't find any answers.

Here's what else I've been up to: getting headbands ready to sell.

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Upcycled Headband Tutorial


Striped Shirt Refashion

Reconstructed Sweater Upcycle

Gratuitous

And this is my repeated cry:

Can anybody tell me why

We have so many

Extra,

Surplus,

Supernumerary,

Excessive,

Spare,

Unnecessary

Gratuitous,

Superfluous,

Overabundant

Words in English that mean redundant?

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Colour Fling


Call Me: from the Unpublished Writings of the Wicked, Wicked Witch

Anti-Pastoral Nursery Rhymes

Gratuitous by Erin Woods is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Remember, if you haven't entered our exciting contest yet, you have until Saturday October 29th at noon!

T-Shirt Blanket

What's this?
One of the things I do is turn clients' old T-shirts (you know, the ones you just can't throw away) into blankets. Some people call them quilts, but they're only one layer of fabric so I call them blankets to avoid misleading folk.

Where do the T-shirts have to be sent?
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

What will the blanket look like?
It depends. I've done blankets that are made of simple squares, and some that have squares bordered by other colours of fabric. The blanket will be done on my serger with black thread (check out the seams on any T-shirt to see what a serged seam looks like). Here are some pictures of my personal blanket, which is more of a modern design than I usually use. Most people prefer a layout that doesn't break up the pictures on the T-shirts. I'm flexible.

The back (those black lines are the seams):

The front:

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Textbooks and Polkadots

A Reminder

Upcycled Headband Tutorial

Buttons!

A more detailed post will come soon. But for now... I went to the Toronto CreativFestival on the weekend without intending to spend anything. And I came home with:

Oh, buttons. How do you make me so happy?

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Date at the Distillery District

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Amos Obadaiah

When I was a camp counsellor, I loved to spin stories about my supposed adventures to entertain my campers. One of my favourite characters in these adventures was Amos Obadaiah, a singularly grumpy old dragon. He's shown his face a few times in stories I've written since, but this is the first time he's managed to get his very own poem. I'm sure he is not grateful in the least.

Amos Obadaiah
Amos Obadaiah is a sort of friend of mine,
But of course I'd never say that to his face.
He'd rather not be friendly. He'd rather not be kind.
In fact, I'm sure he'd think it a disgrace.

Amos Obadaiah is a grimmy sort of grouch.
He's a griper and a grumbler and a grump.
He's a gristle-ated grizzum with a surly sort of slouch;
He's a fire-breathing pain in the rump.

"I'm a dragon!" rumbled Amos Obadaiah when I asked.
"I'll be fearsome as I want in my own den!
People think that they can tame us, slay us—Ha! Now there's a task!"
Then he laughed so long I never asked again.

Amos Obadaiah met a hero by and by:
Handsome face and glimsome sword and gleamsome smile.
And I guess that he was brave to look a dragon in the eye,
And to call him "lizard", "beast" and "crocodile".

Amos Obadaiah glared and glowered, growled and gruffed,
And observed, "His clothes won't be much fun to eat."
Then he breathed a little flame and very gently huffed and puffed,
And he burned the pants right off that hero's seat.

"Aie!" exclaimed the hero while his cheeks were growing red.
"You've burnt my favourite pants, you dragon, you!
They even matched my sweater!" "That's too bad," the dragon said,
And he very calmly burned the sweater, too.

The hero shrieked and shuddered and he muttered it was chilly
As he skitter-scatter-scrambled to the door,
And he ran off with no clothes on, looking absolutely silly
And his grin was not so gleamsome anymore.

"Nice!" I yelled, but Amos Obadaiah turned and glared
So fierce-ishly I swallowed up my shout.
"Um, good job," I told him, speaking just as loudly as I dared.
Then he ordered me to sweep the ashes out.

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Amos Obadaiah by Erin Woods is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Slinky Stripey Scarf Crochet Pattern

This is a choose-your-own-adventure pattern.

I wanted something slinky and soft, but still warm. I knew I would need three things: a very thin yarn, a rather large hook, and a pattern that had enough holes for "slink" and enough substance for warmth.

I also wanted vertical stripes, which made things a little complicated. After some trial and error, here is what I came up with:

PS - I know if you don't crochet this will all look like a secret code made by nasty exclusive people who don't want to share crafting with the rest of the world. To learn what it all means, check out this resource on About.com, or try typing "how to crochet" into YouTube.

The Slinky, Stripey Scarf (A Choose-your-own-Adventure Pattern)

Materials: 

• Three colours of very thin yarn (that is, three balls, not one variegated yarn)
• A large-ish hook (mine was somewhere around size 5)

Foundation Chain:

Choose 1 colour. Ch to the desired length of the finished scarf, making sure the number of chains is a multiple of 3.

Row 1

Ch 3. Sc in the 6th Ch from the hook. *Ch 2, skip two chs, 1 sc.* Repeat from * to * until the end of the row.

Here comes the choose-your-own-adventure part. Mix and match the following rows as desired.

Row A (tiny holes)

Ch 3 (counts as first sc and 2 ch). Sc in the 2nd stitch of the row below (a ch 2 sp does not count as a stitch). *Ch 2, sc in next stitch.* Repeat from * to * until end of row.

Row B (medium holes)

Ch 4 (counts as first hdc and 2 ch). Hdc in the 2nd stitch of the row below (a ch 2 sp does not count as a stitch). *Ch 2, hdc in next stitch.* Repeat from * to * until end of row.

Row C (large holes)

Ch 5 (counts as first dc and 2 ch). Dc in the 2nd stitch of the row below (a ch 2 sp does not count as a stitch). *Ch 2, dc in next stitch*. Repeat from * to * until end of row.

To change colours:

1. Cut off old colour at the end of a row, leaving a small tail.
2. Pull your hook out of its loop of yarn.
3. Feed the tail through the loop of yarn and pull tight. leave the tail dangling for now.
4. Tie the new colour on to the same place using a slip knot.

To finish:

Using one colour, work a border of sc all around the scarf (1 sc in each stitch, 2 sc in each ch 2 sp). When working the short ends, be sure to crochet right over the tails of thread, securing and hiding them. When you get back to where you began, tie off and draw your tail of yarn under the stitching to hide it, too.

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This pattern is a part of this Wednesday's link party at Tea Rose Home!

Reconstructed Sweater

I've been wanting to do this for a long time: make a new sweater out of patchwork bits of several old ones.

Recognize the fabric? Those are the same shirts I used to make my upcycled headbands. The sweater was done almost entirely on my serger, though I added the spiral by hand. It (the spiral) has just one line of stitching down the middle, so I expect the edges will fray and get ragged with time. I'm a fan of that.

In basic theory, this is a pretty simple project. Breaking your machine halfway through the first seam will complicate things, but the piecing itself is manageable even for a "no math, please" kind of brain like mine. Just think of it in three tiers: the grey stripe, the wide patchwork stripe, and the thin patchwork stripe. Sew the tiers together and sew them all to the top of the shirt (which you left intact because you knew it would be the hardest part to sew yourself), and you're golden.

I hoped to give you some links to actual sweater reconstruction tutorials (I don't have any pictures of my process), but I can't seem to find any for this kind of reconstruction. If anyone has a post on this subject that they'd like me to link up to, drop me a comment and I'll add your link to the post.

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 Upcycled Headband Tutorial


Striped Shirt Refashion

Sloppy to Sleek Sweater Refashion

I recently figured out how to get eBooks onto my iPad, and went straight to Project Gutenberg to get some subway reading material. I got really excited when I found Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. I was very pleased with myself when I added John Keats' Endymion. I was downright smug when I clicked "download" for the Confessions of Saint Augustine of Hippo.

And then I found the children's section.

I have excellent intentions when it comes to literature, and sometimes they carry me through quite impressive reading lists. And the rest of the time I succumb to an incurable - and inexplicable - passion for nineteenth-century children's literature. I know it's outmoded. I know it's contrived. I know it glosses blithely over a hundred social issues of the age. But oh, it's escapism at is very best, and I just can't resist it.

So I have had my head full of children's verse again this week, and since my efforts in that area were so well-received last time, I decided to revive my old plan of writing a whole series of 21st-century chidlren's poems. This time I mined my own past for ideas, so I hope my family will forgive me for the licence I've taken with some particular memories.

My Friends

I have a thousand little friends
No bigger than my thumb.
They fly with magic mittens on
And when I call, they come.

I call them with my fingertips;
A wiggle means "come play!"
I clap means "let me talk to you."
A wave means "fly away."

I know a lot of them by name:
There's little Emily
(Whose mittens are too big for her),
And also Sally B.,

And Mark, who wins the flying races,
Old Marie, and Joe,
And - well, a lot more than you'd think
A kid like me could know.

My friends are all invisible
Unless I say "appear,"
So grown-ups never see them
Even though they're always near.

We play a lot of Hide-and-Seek,
And Tag, and Count-to-Ten,
And then we rescue Emily,
Who's lost her mitts again.

The other kids need games or toys,
Computers, or TV.
But I have fingers full of friends
And that's enough for me.


"My Friends" by Erin Woods is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

The Present
My sister had a birthday
With some presents just for her,
And all day long we guessed and guessed
At what we thought they were.

"The big one's a computer!" and
"The little one's a doll!"
I thought one was a puppy,
But that wasn't right at all.

'Cause later when the cake was done
And everyone was full,
She opened up that box and said,
"Oh, it's adorable!"

Then Mommy smiled and Grandma laughed
And so did Grandpa Drew.
I hope I get a Dorable
For my next birthday, too!


"The Present" by Erin Woods is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

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Waiting: a poem for impatient people

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Upcycled Headband Tutorial

I know it's a poor marketing strategy to show people just how easy it is to make something I intend to sell, but I just can't resist. Everyone should have the chance to make these.

Now, you could use new fabric for this project, but as a committed re-user, I encourage you to get creative and chop up some old sweaters that are destined for a landfill, or find some scraps you already have on hand. I used leftovers from a sweater upcycle I'll show you later on.

NOTE: I did this project on an overlock serger. If you don't have a serger, a tight zigzag stitch on a conventional sewing machine will do. 

Headband with unfinished seams

1. Sew two strips of fabric of equal length. One (the plain one) will be the liner. The other will be the visible part of your headband. I added interest to the outside by using several different fabrics, all of a similar consistency.

When cutting your fabric, think about the way it stretches. I've used a ribbed fabric, which stretches far more in one direction than the other. Since a headband needs something of an elastic quality, I made sure it would stretch horizontally.

Sew your strips into a loop.

2. Attach a decorative motif. Since I like the look of the unfinished seams, I've left them on the outside.

 3. Embellish. I like buttons.

 4. Slide the liner into the outside loop with wrong sides facing.

5. Sew the liner to the outside along both sides.

6. To hide the tails of thread, use a darning needle to draw them under a few centimeters of stitching. Trim the end.

7. There you go!

 

Headband with finished seams

1. Sew a lining strip and an outside strip, as in Step 1 above. Do not sew into a loop. Embellish as desired. With right sides facing, sew the lining to the outside along both long sides; this will make a tube. As you sew, pull any tails of thread to the outside so that, when you turn your headband right-side-out, they will be hidden.

9. Turn the tube right-side-out.

10. Make your tube into a loop by sliding one open end over the other, turning the edge under as you do so. Attach with an invisible stitch all the way around.

11. Enjoy!

This tutorial is part of this week's link party at Tea Rose Home!

Sweater headband

My parents visited this weekend for Thanksgiving. With dad's wiring skills and Mom's serger knowledge, I was able to get both my antique singer and my newish serger working properly again. When the serger broke I had been working on a reconstructed sweater, so to get myself re-acquainted with the machine today I sewed up a headband from the scraps. The Indulgent Boyfriend helped with photography this time, and got a little over-enthusiastic.

This headband is a prototype for a line I'd like to develop and sell this winter. I'll update you when there's more progress. I might even tell you how to whip up a few yourselves.

I Feel Clever

It's been a long week. And today was a long day, in which many things happened even though I barely left my apartment. Things broke, got stained, messy, inefficient, hectic... and I dealt with them. And to congratulate myself for dealing with them, I sang this song:

I feel clever,
Oh, so clever.
I feel ever so clever and smart!
Fixed a lever,
Turned a mess into a work of art.

I feel canny,
Superman-y,
And if anyone doubts what I say,
See the many, many problems I solved today:

Broken toilet handle? Holiday weekend? Company coming for Thanksgiving?

 

Pliers, a clamp and an old dog collar:

Tiny apartment? Drowning in sewing supplies? Lace collection necessary but unmanageable?

You can imagine this photo. Picture your messiest closet. Sympathize with my reluctance to put such an image online.

Ikea lamp, cardboard spools and toilet paper tubes when the spools run out:

Too many onion bags going in the landfill? Skeptical room mates who think you're silly to hoard them?

Grimy bathtub, old rag and desire to use less elbow grease:

Okay, most people would probably have considered the grimy bathtub the problem in this scenario. But I really did want to prove those bags would be good for scrubbing something. It's why I started collecting them in the first place.

Of course, all this happened between:

doing work sending emails cleaning house last-minute groceries baking pumpkin pies watching documentary for school washing dishes making supper scrubbing toilet grime out from under finger nails again doing hair updating blog getting ready for Mom and Dad to get here for Thanksgiving.

And they're almost here! Canada, happy Thanksgiving. The rest of you, have a great weekend.



Love,
Erin

An Explanation

I don't like the word excuse, so I'm calling this an explanation for the scarcity of my posts.

I'll be back with more projects as soon as I wake up get some daylight time away from work and school to get pictures taken.

My apologies! Wishing you all much happiness, supreme craftiness, and lots and lots of buttons (which are an essential ingredient to a life well lived, aren't they?)