Good day readers!  We are excited to have mixed media artist, Susan M. Hinckley, guest blog for us today.  Be sure to check out her blog, small works in wool, to see more of her work and be inspired to make your own creations.

small works in wool

Somehow mixing new ideas with old materials creates art that is more satisfying than something made using new materials from the craft store.

I didn’t start out intending to be a green crafter, but I suppose I became one because of my work process.  I do only hand sewing, because I enjoy the slow pace at which the picture is revealed. I use all natural fibers because I like the look and feel of them.  The hunt for just the right fabric in an old piece of clothing adds interest to my creative journey. When I buy new wool, it is plant- dyed because I love the soft vibrancy of the colors. I use vintage trims and embellishments (beads and buttons, hand-me-down and collected) whenever possible.  And for the text I use in my work, I enjoy scouring my collection of old magazines and books.

See?  I’m an accidental environmentalist, but proud of it.

I enjoy the whole process of creating my pieces, and that includes both finding and preparing the materials I use.  While I buy some commercial felt,  I also repurpose old wool clothing whenever I can.  In fact, I started making my Small Works when a friend gave me an enormous box of old wool clothing she found under her porch. Apparently her mother had saved them years before to make rugs, but had never gotten around to it.  I had never worked with wool, but quickly became addicted to the wonderful texture and versatility of this amazing fiber.

100% wool is generally best for re-use, with a tight weave.  Beware of iron-on interfacings as these are difficult to remove and sometimes damage the fabric.  Many jackets and coats have them and you sometimes can’t tell until you start ripping the garment apart.  I find that skirts and sweaters tend to yield the most usable wool.  Blankets can be a gold mine and are easily over-dyed to achieve a variety of colors.

When I find a piece of clothing that I think will work well, I first remove all fasteners (zippers, buttons) and cut it open at the seams. Then I wash it in the washing machine, checking frequently to monitor the degree of felting and re-washing until the desired result is achieved.  If I need a more compact felt, a turn under the steam iron can help me achieve it. Once the wool is ready to use, it goes into my color-sorted stash so it will be easy to find when I need it.  You have to be opportunistic when using repurposed materials — just because it won’t fit in today’s project doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy it because tomorrow it may not be available.

The beauty of working with recycled clothing is that my pieces are truly unique.  When I start with material that already has history, I always feel that there’s an extra resonance to the piece as its  identity unfolds. It gives me great pleasure to rescue something and give it a new story. And figuring out how to use something old in a new way is a great exercise in thinking green.

Take a peek at my website.  Hopefully my work can give you ideas for creative re-use of the materials you have on hand, or those you may come across in your travels.  When you get in the habit of looking for possibilities, you’ll find creative ideas and materials everywhere, just waiting for you to give them a new lease on life.

Goodwill is considering organizing crafting and repurposing classes in northern New England and we would love to hear your feedback: would you be interested in taking a class? Do you sew, knit, felt, or make crafts? Would you be interested in teaching a class? Please fill out the poll to the right and let us know! You can reach us at info@goodwillnne.org.

I’m sure many of you have heard of felting: the phenomenon of creating a new, sturdy fabric out of wool. Felt is warm, water-resistant, and durable. Felting is nothing new, but it has recently been rediscovered as a resource for people who want to make quick and easy crafting projects.

We featured a felting project from Susan of the Maine Etsy team back in December, but I’ve received requests for additional project ideas. I’ve thinking about felting quite a bit lately (I think mostly because knitting has fallen to the wayside) and I found a number of sites with tutorials and easy projects for beginners.

The First Step: Felting the Wool

How do you felt wool? I’m sure many of you have accidentally put your favorite wool sweater in the wash and it came out looking something like this:

That’s really all you have to do! Check out this tutorial on Crafting a Green World for some great tips.

Easy Felting Projects

Instructables.com has a pretty easy tutorial for making a felted bag. You can ignore the first knitting step and find a wool sweater at Goodwill in your favorite color and pattern.

I started knitting an iPod cozy, but after seeing this felted cozy, I think I might switch and try this instead. It is easier to make and the water-resistant qualities of felt make it more appealing to protect the iPod. I also found this post helpful for making iPod cozies, though it gives options for making them out of other material besides felt.

Hats make for a very easy felting project and people love receiving them as gifts, too. I found this site that features some hats for inspiration. According to a tutorial on Threadbanger, simply “cut up a couple rectangles and sew them together to get a hat shape with ears, then embellish however you want…”

Threadbanger also features a variety of other projects that are a bit more challenging, but exciting, nonetheless. I really want to make these beverage cozys!

And because I find this completely amazing, check out this felted typewriter! Take a look at other felted projects blueblythemonster makes.

Thanks for reading and remember to take our poll on the right hand side of the blog!

I am excited to feature Etsy member, SuzeesJubileeZ, in today’s post. She is a member of the Maine Etsy Team and creates hats, mittens, and other felted gifts out of sweaters donated to Goodwill! She was kind enough to share some pictures and simple directions on how you can make your own pair of mitts (wrist warmers) at home.

From Susan:

Here is a hat that I made from a sweater.

I made this little pouch from an upper sleeve of a sweater.

Here are some larger bags made from the bodies of sweaters.

Here is a cute little bag made from a sweater vest!

The mitts are gone at this time but I do have some waiting to be made. Lately I have been working on needlefelted ornaments.

Here is a pair that I sold:

How to Make Your Own Mitts!

Mitts are very easy to make . First I wash the sweater in very hot water. It has to be 100 percent wool (dry clean only) and some “wool” sweaters made abroad don’t seem to work (it is unclear why). Figure out how long you want them to be and cut the sleeve right before the elbow ( after the first wash). You want the original sleeve cuff to ride the hand around the first knuckle of your index finger so measure the distance between that and your thumbjoint and cut a hole big enough for your thumb to go through. Make sure to blanket stitch this cut and the end of the cuff ( I generally stitch with 100% non washable wool yarn). I also add beads sometimes and tassles near the elbow.

Embellish as you wish but some sort of finishing stitch with wool is a must at the thumb hole and near the elbow.