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Fibre Friday: Spinning and Dyeing

Posted on October 31, 2014November 1, 2014 by Kimberly

Fibre Friday: Spinning and Dyeing

Last weekend I had the great fortune to help organize and of course attend the Maritime Spinners Retreat. This year it was held here on Cape Breton Island. What a time we had! The theme was “Dyeing to Spin” so we spent time dyeing fibre as well as spinning.

I dyed some wool from Cape Breton sheep with G&K Dyes – blue, teal, and black. I simmered it in a pot:

Citric acid was then added to the water to make the dye set (vinegar can also be used). Then I rinsed it out and let it dry. The colours came out beautifully:

The next step was carding the wool to prepare it for spinning. Instead of hand carders, I used a handy drum carder:

And then I had this lovely batt of wool ready to be spun:

I thoroughly enjoyed spinning up the wool on my spinning wheel. I decided to make it fun, lumpy, bumpy art yarn:

During the weekend, in addition to enjoying the company of other spinners, I spun up some beautiful super wash merino wool for sock yarn. I also dyed some silk hankies to spin and the colours turned out just gorgeous. I haven’t had a chance to spin them yet, but I’m looking forward to it. I hope to attend the Maritime Spinners Retreat again in the future. I hadn’t been to one in several years. Next year it will be held in New Brunswick.

Here is what a gathering of almost 100 people with their spinning wheels looks like:

Do you ever have a chance to get away from it all for a weekend at a retreat? What are you or your kids knitting, crocheting, sewing, or spinning this week? Please let me know in the comments below!

Love, Luck &
Laughter,

Kimberly

Home Economics

Fibre Friday: Make a Cape Out of an Old Curtain

Posted on October 24, 2014August 14, 2017 by Kimberly

Fibre Friday: Make a Cape Out of an Old Curtain

Last week, I promised to show you how to make a cape out of an old curtain. It’s a quick and easy sewing project. You can make a cape for Halloween or to dress up and make history studies come alive in your homeschool. I made this one a few weeks ago for a local haunted trail; it’s a Halloween fundraiser for Two Rivers Wildlife Park. We’ve been volunteering as a family for this event for several years.

I started with an old curtain. Using my son as a model for height, I cut off some excess length at the top of the curtain. I found that when folded in half, the curtain covered quite a bit of his body. Without any more cutting, I just folded the curtain in half, inside out, and hemmed all around the edges:

I left a small gap in one corner:

Then I stuffed all the fabric through the gap, and turned it right side out:

Next I hand sewed the gap closed using a blind stitch:

If you need some help with a blind stitch, here is a blind stitch tutorial video on YouTube.

The final step was sewing in some elastic a few inches from the top of the cape, on what I wanted to be the inside of the cape. When sewing in the elastic, just remember to pull it taught toward you as you sew, so the fabric bunches up nicely:

Here is the finished cape! It doesn’t look like a curtain anymore:

For the closure, I simply used a safety pin. You could also use Velcro or a nice, fancy closure such as a clasp or chain.

Are you making costumes for your homeschool or Halloween? What are you knitting, sewing, or crocheting this week? Please let me know in the comments below!

Love, Luck &
Laughter,

Kimberly

Home Economics

Fibre Friday: Sewing a Skirt

Posted on October 17, 2014October 18, 2014 by Kimberly

Sewing a Skirt

Welcome back to Fibre Friday! I haven’t shared our latest sewing adventures in our homeschool. My daughter and I have been learning how to sew together in our homeschool. The last project I shared was the adorable jean tote bag she made for a friend. Well, another birthday came around and she decided sewing a skirt as a birthday gift would be a good choice this time.

Since we had already made a skirt once before, for her Elsa dance costume, we used it as a template for sewing a skirt. We just cut out the pattern a little bigger and longer as her friend is a little older.

My daughter made the skirt almost completely independently. First she sewed up each side:

Then she hemmed the bottom.

And then we tackled the waistband together. I didn’t really know what I was doing when I made the waistband for her Elsa costume. This time, I consulted the book, Sew Everything Workshop by Diana Rupp. I got this wonderful book with the Craftsy sewing class, “Sewing Studio”. We followed the steps, first sewing the “tube” the elastic goes through, then threading the elastic through with a safety pin.

Here is my daughter modelling the finished skirt. As I mentioned, we made the skirt a little bigger so it would fit her friend well. It turned out quite well.

Next week, I will show you how I sewed a cape out of an old curtain. It may just come in handy if you celebrate Halloween, or if you like to dress up for history in your homeschool.

What are you sewing, knitting, or crafting in your homeschool? Please let me know in the comments below!

Love, Luck &
Laughter,

Kimberly

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Home Economics

Fibre Friday: Sewing a Tote Bag

Posted on June 27, 2014June 28, 2014 by Kimberly

Sewing a Tote Bag

Last Fibre Friday, I shared how I was teaching my daughter to sew as I learn right along with her (she is 10 years old). We started working on a tote bag together and had cut out all the pieces in my last post.

My daughter had a great time exploring all the fancy stitches that are possible on our machine when we made a tea towel and handkerchiefs. She decided to use a fancy stitch to embellish the pocket of the tote:

I had never sewn a pocket before and found the instructions a bit mystifying. We read them together a few times and eventually figured it out. First we pressed back the fabric at the top with an iron:

Then we flipped it over, folded it over, and pressed it again:

Finally we got to the sewing part, which is always so much faster than all the pressing:

The pocket had to be flipped inside out. And then of course more pressing, under this time so the pocket could be sewn on the bag:

And here is the finished pocket! As you can see, my daughter also embellished the corners of the tote bag itself:

Then we just had to sew together the front and back of the tote and its lining. This went nice and quickly:

Here is my daughter sewing the lining into the tote bag. Almost done!

Here is my daughter modeling the finished tote bag:

I love how great it looks with a hint of the bright colours of the lining showing. As I mentioned in the last post, we wouldn’t use that crazy fabric for anything else.

My daughter decided to give the finished tote bag to a friend for a birthday present. Here it is with a birthday card tucked in the pocket:

My daughter’s friend absolutely LOVED it! She was astonished that it was homemade. We are looking forward to many more mother-daughter sewing adventures!

Love, Luck &
Laughter,

Kimberly

Blog Hops/Walks, Home Economics

Fibre Friday: Learning to Sew

Posted on June 6, 2014June 9, 2014 by Kimberly

Learning to Sew

I’m quite new at learning to sew myself, so I only this week started teaching my 10 year old daughter how to sew! As I suspected she would, she loves it!

I started her off with sewing a simple tea towel.

All it took was cutting out a rectangle, pressing the hem, and then turning it under and pressing it again. Once the hem was sewn all around, my daughter could have fun decorating it.

Then she decided to sew some handkerchiefs for her grandpa for Father’s Day.

This was done the exact same way, except we cut out smaller squares instead. She very much enjoyed experimenting with all the fancy stitch patterns on the machine:

Handkerchiefs and tea towels make ideal first learning to sew projects. I’m glad I let my daughter experiment with all the stitch patterns. She really knows her way around the machine now.

My daughter loved sewing so much that she moved on to making her own tote bag. She decided it would make a great birthday present for a friend.

She chose some jean fabric we had on hand for the tote and we cut out the front and back and handle.

Then she chose some crazy fabric for the tote bag lining and we cut out the front and back.

Next time I will show you the finished tote bag. I am enjoying learning to sew with my daughter! She’s a natural! She has really caught the sewing bug and you should see the list of things she wants to see next. It’s a good thing we have a bunch of hand-me-down fabric.

What have you been sewing, knitting, crocheting, or making in your home or homeschool this week? Feel free to share and link up!

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Love, Luck &
Laughter,

Kimberly

Blog Hops/Walks, Things to Do, Places to Go

Fibre Friday: Sewing a Frozen Elsa Costume Part 2

Posted on April 4, 2014April 5, 2014 by Kimberly

Last Friday, I shared the beginnings of the dance version of a Frozen Elsa costume I’m making: Fibre Friday – Sewing a Frozen Elsa Costume Part 1. It’s dance competition season and my daughter will be wearing it for her lyrical dance solo. I’m not finished yet! Some of the hand sewing took quite awhile.

I finished hand sewing all the beads to the bodice. I also hand sewed the bodice to the skirt:

My daughter is looking forward to helping me add sparkles to the skirt with fabric spray! I need to start making the gauzy sleeves to attach to the bodysuit that is going underneath.

And then there is Elsa’s coronation cloak. We have some lovely purple velveteen to make it out of. I have started working on the capelet part. I made a mockup out of some spare fabric:

I tried hemming it, but hemming rounded edges is HARD! So a friend gave me the idea of doubling the fabric, sewing all around it and flipping it right side out (as I would do for making a pillow). It will make the capelet a little stiffer than the rest of the cloak. I will be keeping the rest of it single so the fabric flows while my daughter dances – it should be pretty easy to finish that part and hem it – it will be a simple rectangle. Hopefully I’ll be done in the next few days. I will share the finished product next week!

What have you been sewing, knitting, crocheting, or making in your home or homeschool this week? Feel free to share and link up!

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Love, Luck &
Laughter,

Kimberly

Blog Hops/Walks, Things to Do, Places to Go

Fibre Friday: Sewing a Frozen Elsa Costume Part 1

Posted on March 28, 2014March 30, 2014 by Kimberly

Welcome to Fibre Friday! It’s dance competition season! I have been busy sewing a costume for my daughter’s Lyrical solo. It’s going to be a dance version of a Frozen Elsa costume. She is a huge fan of Frozen the movie and of the music. She sings the songs all over the house, all the time.

Sewing a Frozen Elsa Costume – Part 1

Once we had decided to make her outfit look like Elsa’s, my daughter had some great ideas for things we could recycle and use. She brought out her old ballet costume (which she had worn so much for dance and theatre, that the bottom had started to wear). We started cutting the skirt pieces off:

Once removed, we were left with this:

And then we cut off the bottom, leaving just the bodice/bustier part. And of course, Elsa’s bustier is very sparkly, so we bought reflective beads to sew on it:

We also bought some beautiful, stretchy fabric for Elsa’s skirt. I took my daughter’s measurements and made my own pattern. I am a beginner sewer, so the stretchy fabric was a bit of a challenge, but I made a mock-up skirt out of some spare fabric first, just to make sure I had it right. And here it is:

It looks great on and my daughter loves it. Now I have to finish sewing all the beads on the bodice and I have to attach the skirt to it. We bought some fabric spray paint and still have to spray it on the skirt for some sparkle.

A bodysuit needs to be worn underneath of course, and we were lucky to find this one at Ginger’s for just $10!

Elsa also has sheer sleeves, so my daughter pulled out her Cinderella nightgown, with a gauzy overgown that has a big tear in it:

We have cut off the gauzy material and will be attaching sleeves to the bodysuit. So, we still have quite a bit of work to do. I will share where we are at with it next week – hopefully it will be done or just need a few finishing touches as the first dance competition is in just a couple of weeks!

Is your child obsessed with Frozen? What have you been sewing, knitting, crocheting, or making in your home or homeschool this week? Feel free to share and link up!

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Love, Luck &
Laughter,

Kimberly

Blog Hops/Walks, Things to Do, Places to Go

Fibre Friday: Knitting More Fingerless Gloves

Posted on March 14, 2014 by Kimberly

A couple of weeks ago, I shared about A Knit-a-thon, Arm Knitting, and Fingerless Gloves. Since then, I haven’t got much knitting done (or any other fibre arts for that matter), but I did manage to knit more fingerless mitts.

It’s the same pattern from the book, Knitting New Mittens and Gloves, that I borrowed from the library and shared in my post. I knit some fingerless gloves for charity and then both my son AND daughter wanted a pair!

Here is my son’s pair. He wanted his in the same, blue yarn.

For my daughter, I knit some up in a beautiful pink bamboo yarn that she just loves.

Hopefully, by next Friday I will have some progress on knitting a dog with my daughter, and on the Crosstown Convertible that I started during the Olympics.

What are you or your children working on this week? Knitting, crocheting, spinning, or felting? Please share and feel free to link up!

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Love, Luck &
Laughter,

Kimberly

Blog Hops/Walks, Things to Do, Places to Go

Fibre Friday: A Knit-a-thon, Arm Knitting, and Fingerless Gloves

Posted on February 28, 2014March 2, 2014 by Kimberly

The Olympics and the Ravellenics are over! Did you knit, crochet, or make something? I didn’t finish the Crosstown Convertible, but it’s on the back burner – I would love to finish it sometime in March!

Last Saturday was the annual Knit Fit Knit-a-thon. We spent all day knitting from 10am to 5pm and had a fabulous time. We raised about $1100 or so for the library’s Children’s Literacy programs and knitted, crocheted, and wove hundreds of items for charity! The photo above shows just one wall of the items collected by the end of the day.

I taught a bunch of people how to arm knit and we all made scarves. Here I am modelling one of the three I knit and donated:

And here is my friend Chris’ very first arm knit project ever:

Before the Knit-a-thon, I took out these two books from the library:

I thought the fingerless gloves pattern would be perfect for the day of the Knit-a-thon. I started knitting them last Saturday after arm knitting scarves, and finished them during the week:

My daughter loves these fingerless gloves, and I will be starting on a pair for her. Hopefully I can also get to the Knit Your Own Dog book and knit some cute dogs with my daughter in the next couple of weeks!

Have you ever tried arm knitting? What fibre arts projects are you or your children working on this week?

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Love, Luck &
Laughter,
Kimberly

Blog Hops/Walks, Things to Do, Places to Go

Fibre Friday: Winter Olympics, Ravellenics, and a Knit-a-thon

Posted on February 21, 2014February 22, 2014 by Kimberly

I can’t believe it’s already been two weeks! The Closing Ceremonies of the Olympics is happening on Sunday. Haven’t we had an amazing week for Canadian hockey?

I am definitely not going to “win” the Free Dance competition in the Ravellenics Winter Games 2014. I chose to knit the Crosstown Convertible, which had a rough start right from the beginning. And once I got to the button holes, I couldn’t even understand what the pattern said. I had a bunch of my fellow hand spinners (and knitters) pour over the pattern last night at one of our gatherings. We came to the conclusion that the complicated, vertical buttonholes were crazy and that I should just make regular buttonholes. So onward I knit – it should be fairly easy from now on.

I am very excited about tomorrow! The annual Knit Fit Knit-a-thon is being held at the McConnell library in Sydney from 10am-5pm. We will be knitting (as well as crocheting, weaving, and sewing) and donating the completed items to charity. It’s such a great time and it is so great to see the pile of beautiful items at the end of the day for people who need them! I will share some pictures next week.

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What are you working on in the fibre arts, either yourself or with your children this week? Feel free to leave a comment and let me know, or link up and share!

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Love, Luck &
Laughter,

Kimberly

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