Learning to sew.

With all the felted sweater sewing that's been going on in our house, K has become very interested to learn to sew. She has tried to sew in the past, but seems to loose interest after the second stitch. Today, she was determined to complete her own sewing project. Her fairy needed a pillow, you see, a very pressing need indeed.

She had her own pillow design in her head. She cut out the pattern herself and began to sew.

After a while, the customary frustration set in... the stitches 'JUST WERENT GOING IN THE RIGHT PLACES!!!'

Usually, this is when I get frustrated too and the sewing bag gets stuffed back into it's drawer in a HUFF!

But, this time, I had a brain wave... I'm quite sure I'm not the first to think of this and I'm also a little sure that if I had read all of those sewing books I checked out of the library, I would have heard of this learning technique...

I took a marker and marked dots exactly where K was to make her stitches. Oh my gosh... she sewed her pillow like a seamstress! She was done in minutes. She left a small hole for the wool stuffing - yes, her fairy will be very pleased with her comfy new pillow!

She sewed up the hole, even knotted the thread herself and...

A pretty little pink, cashmere pillow. She is super proud of her handiwork... can you tell?

Blessings and magic to you today.

Using Tea to make an Aromatherapy Rice Pillow from a Felted Cashmere Sweater.

Yesterday, I felted two of my favorite cashmere sweaters (click on the link to see how easy felting a sweater is). Felting turns your sweater from a relatively loosely knitted weave into a strong, tight weave. The hot water, detergent and agitation, mats the fibers together and your sweater becomes a lovely, fluffy piece of felt.

What I love so much about working with sweater felt is that the felting process provides you with a fabric that not only comes in so many wonderful colors and textures, but is also totally 'cutable'! When you cut a felted sweater, it will not unravel, it will not fray... it will give you a lovely clean edge - just the perfect medium for a person like me who doesn't sew all that much!

Yesterday, my children weren't feeling so very well. They needed comfort and I suggested we make a soothing Aromatherapy Rice Pillow for them. Not just any Microwavable Rice Pillow... oh no! Our one would be made from felted cashmere! Can you imagine how luxurious this would feel to a poor sick baby?

We needed a felted cashmere sweater, a needle and thread and scissors...

Rice

And for the aromatherapy part, I provided a selection of my sweetest smelling teas.

Cut the arm off the felted sweater, just under the armpit. Then cut off the cuff so that you have a tube to work with.

Turn your tube inside out and sew one end of the tube closed.

Like this...

Turn your tube the right way and you will have a cleanly sewn bottom to your rice pillow.

Now for the fun part of choosing your favorite tea to add it's wonderful aroma to the rice.

K chose my Ruby Red Chai - not surprising as it's the tea she drinks when she's not feeling well.

She opened the tea bag and mixed the brown leaves into the rice, a therapeutic activity in itself.

Then she spooned the wonderfully aromatic rice into her rice pillow.

Please note how I turned over the top edge of the tube so that tea leaves did not get stuck onto the outside of the rice pillow. If your child is anything like mine... one little itch from a stray stalk of tea would have the rice pillow thrown indignantly into the corner, never to be touched again. A Princess and the Pea I have here!

Fill the felted sweater tube up with the rice until it is about an inch from the top. If you wiggle it gently on the ground, the rice will settle and you'll get a better idea of how much more rice to add.

We had to interrupt our rice pillow to give Timone a nut.

When our rice pillow was adequately filled, I sewed it closed. Please don't look too closely at my sewing... as I said earlier, sewing isn't my strong point *blush*, *blush*.

We popped K's gorgeously aromatic rice pillow into the microwave for 1 minute and put it into her bed to warm and sooth her as she read her favorite book.

She is feeling much better, thank you, although she walks around with her sweet smelling mauve pillow as if it's her newest best friend. Now I have orders for one from Mr T AND A Good Man... seems like I'm going to be busy felting sweaters!

Blessings and magic.

How to Felt a Sweater.

I have poor little sick children today... stuffy noses and a barking cough. They need lots of 'mummylove' and some quiet and gentle activities to keep their minds off their sore throats and their watering eyes.

Felting sweaters is a great activity to do when you need to be indoors... and all the lovely treasures you can make from felted sweaters will make you crazy to start!

Just have a look at some of these gorgeous felted sweater creations I found browsing Etsy!

A colorful owl from The Lavender Tree.

An elegant purse from Needles and Kim.

And a beautiful baby bonnet from Sesame Seed Design.

We had a few projects on our 'to do' that I had been saving for a day just like this. Out came my saved sweaters for felting.

Not just any recycled sweater will felt. It has to be made from animal fiber... wool, cashmere, alpaca, etc. Alas, synthetic or plant fibers don't felt. A blend will sometimes felt... make sure it is at least 80% animal fiber and you might just get lucky.

I often find wonderful recycled wool and cashmere sweaters at garage sales... for a steal too! And there are always a few at The Good Will and other thrift shops to choose from.

Today, I felted two of my favorite cashmere sweaters... (chocolate stain and holes, alas!). Time to reinvent them and create new treasures to be loved just as much as I the old sweaters on a warm, wintery day.

Both were 100% Cashmere.

I always put the sweater in an old pillowcase to felt it. You will be surprised at how much fiber comes free in the felting process and if your sweater wasn't in a pillowcase, this fiber would be washed out with the soapy water and clog your washing machine. I also always put a few golf balls into the pillowcase as they help speed the felting process... don't tell A Good Man that that is where his golf balls disappear to!

Tie a knot in your pillow case and pop it into a HOT wash with the usual amount of washing liquid.

The felting occurs when the hot water, detergent and agitation shrinks the fibers in the sweater. The fibers shrink closer and closer together until the weave of the sweater is no longer visible. I usually find that I need to agitate my recycled sweaters for 3 washing cycles before they are felted properly.

When you are happy that your sweaters are felted, pop them into the dryer to solidify the felting process... the dryer fluffs the fabric nicely.

I extracted a handful of fiber from the pillowcase... glad it didn't wash out with the soapy water as I'm sure it would have blocked my washing machine and turned our calm, gentle day, upside down!

My poor K, she got great comfort from resting her head on our newly felted sweaters, still warm and cozy from the dryer.

The soothing warmth gave us great inspiration to make her an Aromatherapy Rice Pillow. This treasure is now her favorite belonging and she went to bed tonight breathing a little easier for its comforting touch.

Tomorrow, I will share how we made our Aromatherapy Rice Pillow from our recycled sweater... you'll see, I will think of any way to limit the need to sew! No one believes me, but I am dreadfully 'sewing challenged!'

Blessings and magic until tomorrow.