Easy Recycled Gift Bag

I was sorting through our many photos, as tonight is my monthly Scrapbooking Night Out, and came across these two pictures which I thought I'd share with you all.  The photos aren't fabulous, but the idea I believe is one worth sharing.

 

We were invited to a 1st birthday party for a daughter of a high school friend and then promptly forgot about the party until the morning of.  We needed to come up with a gift and fast.  Luckily, I had a gnome doll already knit up and Sam chose one of his own books, Peter in Blueberry Land by Elsa Beskow, to give to baby Erica.  Now, all that we needed was to wrap it up, but  there was our true problem.  We don't use gift wrap.  I usually make a wrapping cloth or bag to give along with the gift, but all I had on hand was Christmas themed.  I didn't have any fabric, but I did have some old jeans that I had been using to patch the knees on Sam's pants (really all his pants knees blew out at once and I sewed 9 pairs in 3 days - whew!)  It occurred to me that I could just seam up the bottom of a pant leg and would have an instant gift bag.  So, I did just that and then finger knit some bulky weight yarn (on the car ride over to their house) to tie it closed.  I was so pleased I cannot tell you!  Now, we could have just gone out and purchased a gift bag and tissue, but it really goes against our principles on waste.  This bag was reusable and best of all recycled too!  If you have any old jeans on hand I recommend you give it a try.

Joining in with Linda for Creative Friday on a Saturday!  

What to do With Felt Scraps

As you may imagine I have LOTS of felt scraps from making my wool felt wands. I don't like to waste or throw away anything that has a possible use left. This value leads to a house full of stuff unless I can find a use for me or give it away to someone else to use. So, far I've made smaller items like my new head wreath band, composted some (as it's all natural it can decompose, but this takes awhile), saved the tiny tiny shreds to stuff a pillow and lastly given some to my son to play with. This last one is the one I want to talk about.

Here's Sam's array of color felt scraps for threading.

My son is forever wanting to sew or knit like his mama, but as he's only 4 so it takes some thinking on my part on what he is able to make. Of course because he's 4 he doesn't want help and the project needs to make "something" (gone are the days of just stitching through fabric in an embroidery hoop - sigh.) I picked up this project from my friend Teresa, who is an early childhood teacher, of making necklaces out of small felt pieces and wooden beads. It's so simple but will keep Sam occupied for at least 15 - 30 minutes, and for a busy active boy this is a LOT of alone time. I just threaded a tapestry needle for him with thick cotton floss tying a big knot on the end and he just starts threading away. Because the felt is thin it takes some time to make a full necklace that will fit over your head. The wooden beads help speed things along if your little one gets frustrated.

Sam ever so carefully threading the felt into a long strand.

I had to add this last shot as Sam took the photo himself. I really like the angle.

Do you have any other suggestions for felt scraps? I'm always looking for ideas on how to use left over yarn, fabric and felt so please send me your ideas!

Knitting Doll Clothes

What is the best thing about having a new waldorf doll? Making clothes for him of course! Yes, with the completion of my Waldorf doll kit from Weir Doll and Crafts I had a nice new albeit naked doll. This kit came with patterns for making clothes, but alas I am unable to find it in the pile on my desk. Did I let this deter me? Did I take them time to sort through this pile of detritus? No, I simply made up a toe up sock pattern of sorts with some fingering weight yarn I had on hand.

They are a bit on the pointy side, but cute!

These socks fit just perfectly and with this success under my belt I wanted to knit more. So, I jumped unto the internet to Raverly and looked up free doll clothing patterns. Waldorf Mama has a great cardigan pattern for free on her blog, but it was for worsted weight yarn. Then I found this cardigan pattern made for the lovely Bamboletta Dolls from Pixie for Purls that I could use the same fingering weight yarn I used for the socks. I omitted the button as Sam is not too dexterous at using them yet, and I didn't want him to become frustrated and then mad at his doll. The sweater took a little longer than I thought, but with size 2 needles what did I expect?

Here's Lamby in his whole ensemble.

I still had lots of yarn left over so I created a hat as well again making it up as I went along. Starting with size 2 double pointed needles I cast on 80 stitches and knit in the round. I began with the same rib pattern as used on the cardigan then just good old garter stitch the rest of the way. I decreased ten stitches every so often (didn't keep too good of track to write out specifically) just checking the fit periodically until I had 10 stitches. Then I decreased to 5 stitches and knit for a number of rows to make the knot on top. I wish I would have knit for longer before my first decrease, but otherwise I like the elfin look it gives Lamby.

You can see how the hat decreases a bit to rapidly in this side shot. I love the knot!

Now, I just need to dig up those patterns to make pants and a shirt. I found a fun remnant of fabric at this really funky fabric store in NE Minneapolis that I am excited to use. The fabric is a cream background with red, green, blue, and yellow diamonds arranged in a pattern like you might see on a Harlequin costume. I just need to find the time to sort out that massive pile of stuff...

Waldorf Dolls

Wonderment is a fabulous toy store in Minneapolis that caters to the Waldorf family. They often have classes on making toys too and by far their most popular is making Waldorf Dolls. After struggling with a kit, taking a class that was canceled half way through I decided to try this class. It was wonderful and as the store owner predicted very empowering. Eight women sat down at 10:00 am on a rainy Saturday morning knowing zilch to ending at 4:00 pm that same day with a finished 16" Waldorf Doll. It was so amazing the transformation of cloth, wool and thread to this little person with a personality all his own. I made mine in the image of my child with auburn hair and hazel eyes. I purchased an outfit from the instructor to get him ready to give to my son Sam who was, with Daddy, picking me up (life with one car can be tricky) at the end of the class.

The class doll is in clothes and the kit doll just has a hat so far.

I was tired and in a bit of a daze as 4:00 pm hit and I heard a little voice behind me say "Mama?" I turned to Sam and showed him his new doll which he immediately hugged and said "I love him." Wow! I was so pleased my hard work and effort elicited this response - what more could you ask for?

With my new knowledge under my belt, as well as those few extra pounds (where do they come from ? Certainly not chocolate!), I decided to tackle my half made doll kit. So, today I made my second doll. He too is a boy but with blue eyes, Sam's request, and red hair - no clothes yet. What a wonderful feeling to know I could make this doll on my own! An old half completed project now finished and useful - hurray!

Getting the eyes right was so much trickier than I thought, but I'm pleased with the end result.

Sam is loving them with that special boy love of hugs one moment and wacking him on furniture the next. I hope they hold up to such affection. He named them Sheepy and Lamby. Kind of fitting when you think of all the wool used to make them yes? I'm off to make them socks now - wish me luck!