Tag: felt

Craft Projects, Quick and Easy Crafts

Whimsical (Faux) Dreamcatcher

Jessica Smith

I found a bunch of unused ribbon when cleaning my craft room a few weeks ago and decided to put it to use by turning it into a whimsical dreamcatcher.

For this project I needed:

  • 1 small embroidery hoop
  • Lots of ribbon
  • Tape
  • Embellishments
  • Thread
    Dreamcatcher1

Steps:

  1. First, separate your embroidery hoop. You only need the inner circle.
  2. Take ribbon and wrap the embroidery hoop. Secure the ends with tape or glue. Mine didn’t meet up, but it didn’t matter.
    Dreamcather_2
  3. Create a hanger for the dreamcatcher by knotting a piece of ribbon in the empty area or where your ends meet. Wrap that ribbon around to cover the tape/glue used to secure the other ribbon. Knot to secure the hanger and tuck and excess ribbon  and the knot underneath ribbon wrapped around the hoop.
  4. Hang your colorful ribbon in random lengths along the bottom of your dreamcatcher, opposite the hanger. Depending on the style of ribbon, I either knotted the ribbon to keep it secure, or simply looped it through itself to keep it attached. (Tip: The thick, wavy ribbon was really hard to knot, so I looped this to secure. Thinner strands knotted and likely would’ve fallen off over time. I basically judged by the style of ribbon.)
    Dreamcatcher_3
    I wanted more color and more volume, so I ran to Michael’s to grab a few more spools of ribbon.
    Dreamcatcher_5
  5. Add any embellishments you want! I made a felt flower for mine. You can see a tutorial for that here. To secure it to the dreamcatcher I simply stitched it through a few strands of the ribbon I’d wrapped around the hoop.
    dreamcatcher_6
  6. Hang and enjoy!
    Dreamcatcher_Final

It’s not a real dream catcher because I didn’t add strands of ribbon through the middle of the hoop to catch dreams, but it’s so charming nonetheless.

Pro tip: Ribbon is shockingly expensive. I had a bunch in my craft room, and for the extras I hit up the ribbon dollar bin at JoAnne’s (pre-project) and the $0.50 ribbon section at Michael’s (mid-project). Overall, this cost me $3.50 for the extra ribbon and $1.17 for felt — I had the rest of the supplies on hand. It’s even cuter since it cost under $5!

Craft Projects

Nuno Felting

Jessica Smith

Last Christmas-related post …  I swear!

For Christmas, my dad gave my stepmom a nuno felting class at the Savage Mill. He bought two classes so she could bring a buddy, so Jill invited me along.

We went to a shop called Peaknits for the class and learned all about nuno felting. I won’t give a full tutorial because I am not an expert. But here’s the jist… first, you separate the wool. Then, you place it on a piece of chiffon in the pattern you want. I went for a mostly pinky/purple shade for mine. Once your wool is where you’d like it, you can add ribbon and all sorts of other things to the scarf. Wet all of the wool, then roll it up (there’s a lot more to this step…). You roll your project a bajillion times, which is activating fibers so the wool becomes felt. Then you get to beat the crap out of your project – my favorite part. Let the project dry out, trim the edges and you are done!

OK, wow… that was a really brief and not so great “tutorial” haha. But like I said, I am not a nuno felting expert by any stretch of the imagination. Here are photos of the process.

And here is my finished product!

Scarf

I am allergic to wool, so I don’t know if I’ll actually be able to stand this on my neck for more than a picture or two. The scarf is totally unique and I am still impressive that I made it from tufts of wool!

Scarf1

Ever felted before? I want my next felting project to be some sort of animal craft. I’m not sure if and when that will ever happen, but they are so darn cute!

If you are ever in the area, make sure to check out Peaknits and all of the other unique shops at the Savage Mill. It’s one of my favorite places!

Craft Projects, Holiday, Quick and Easy Crafts, Valentine's Day

10-Minute Heart Garland

Jessica Smith

IMG_2821

Supplies:

  • Felt
  • Yarn
  • Scissors

Instructions:

To make your garland, first you need to measure your mantel or wherever else you’d like to hang your decoration. I used yarn for my garland, folding it in half so it was doubled up and a little bit thicker.

Cut your yarn and tie loops at each end.

IMG_2818

Then, cut out hearts from red felt. Each heart needs two slits at the top for the yarn to pass through.

IMG_2817

Start to weave one end of the yarn through the cutout slits of the heart until all of the hearts are threaded.

IMG_2819

Then spread the hearts along the yarn until they will spread the width of the mantel. Then, you are done!

Heart Garland

Hang it on the mantel some Valentine’s Day cheer made in less than 10 minutes!

Heart Garland