Felt: it's something you can spend a lot of time making, or just go to Hobby Lobby and pay a few cents

Oh, I'm just kidding. Making felt is a fun and rewarding activity. I got these instructions from a Web site, but forget where. I'm happy to credit the person if I find out who it is (or remember).

Basically, you make wool felt from wool. No doy, right? The thing about wool, and the reason you can't just throw a wool sweater in the washer, is that it's scaly and likes to mat together. Therefore, when you take wool and add friction and hot water (or either temperature extreme), it mats up and turns from fluff to a compacted felt, which you can then make into any number of cute things.

OK, you're starting with wool. I have dyed wool roving here that I have pulled apart into tiny pieces of fluff, a few inches long and about an inch wide. I then place it in one direction on a little place mat made of sticks. You can get them at Pier One. I got mine at Target. One site recommended using a large one and doing this in your bathtub or a kiddie pool. I thought I was smart by doing it on a smaller scale in my sink. This works if you don't need much, but if you're going to use a lot of felt, this would be very time-consuming.
First layer on my mat:


Next, you drizzle or sprinkle some detergent of some sort -- liquid or powder. I used Woolite. Then top with another layer of wool, facing the other direction.


You'll repeat this, with a bit of soap between each layer and turning them different directions. I have divided my wool into colors, and some pieces will be one color on one side and another on the other. You could just do one massive sheet of the same color. I happened to have multi-colored roving and thought it may make a muddy mess if I didn't divide it up.


After you've built up around 4 to 6 layers, roll up your mat and immerse it in a few inches of super hot water. Gently roll the mat back and forth for 4 minutes. Wear gloves. I used rubber dish gloves. I designated a fresh pair for this. It also helps protect the hands from the hot water. You need really hot water -- hot as you can stand. I used some hot from the tap, but I also had a kettle going. I was at the kitchen sink, so this was handy. I'd add kettle water as needed.


You then take out the roll and open it up. You carefully turn the felt 90 degrees. Roll it up again and repeat this process 5 times. You might need to add more hot water. Here is is after the first time:


After the last time, your felt should be strong. Rinse it well, but with care. Allow to dry. Here is my felt, from each side:


So then what do you do with it? Well, lots of people make cute things like felt flowers. This is what I did. I made this flower, but I'm not too excited about it and feel like it kind of looks like a kid did it. I need to come up with a different pattern, but it was my first attempt. I attached a kilt pin to the back and will use it to complement a scarf I'm knitting from that turquoise wool you see in the pictures. I think that will be very cute, and I'll post the whole thing when it's ready.

Picture Perfect! (That one's for Amy -- the one-size-fits-all overline)

NOTE: I have since come to the realization (thanks to T-Shirt Face) that I probably should have the umbrellas turned the other way, with the light reflecting off of them. If that's the case, boy do I feel dumb.



I sell stuff online (here). One of the key issues with selling online is that you must have good pictures. Customers can't see your items in person. They can't feel them or examine them. You must entice them to consider your products through photos alone -- often a thumbnail, at that.

It's really hard to get good lighting and a good background indoors. You may think it's bright enough, but it's not. And your flash will just make shadows. You know when you visit a Web site and the items look like they're floating on a white background? Well, that's not easy to accomplish.

I usually photograph outdoors because the sun's light is very flattering and true to color. I also like the nature background. There are several problems, though, that come with photographing outside:
1. You're at the mercy of the weather. If it's rainy or snowy or windy or too overcast, you can't shoot.
2. The background gets drab in the winter. The vivid grass is a dull brown. The full trees are bare.
3. Where the sun is in the sky makes a difference. When it's directly overhead, it casts shadows. If it's too low, it can be too red and bright, glaring off the items.

From Thanksgiving through much of December it was unusually overcast for New Mexico. This made my photos dark. Then it got extremely cold - and windy. In the spring, it will warm up but we'll have the typical New Mexico spring winds for a while. This leaves me only about half of the year when I can depend on good weather.

Which brings me to the point of my post: how to shoot inside?
I decided to attempt a very low-cost photo studio. It would have to be something I can take down between uses and set up easily. It would have to involve a white background that would look smooth, yet fold up small and not crease for the next use. It would require good lighting, but not something that would make shadows. Most of all, it would have to be cheap. Really cheap.

First I considered a white vinyl shower curtain liner for my backdrop. I was a bit unsure how to hang it or where. I would want it to also drape down to serve as the bottom of the photo site. I bought one and opened it up, and of course it was full of creases. I steamed and steamed it, and some creases came out. But then I had a better idea: A window shade. They roll up -- no creases and compact! I bumped into a woman on etsy who was selling her two barely used photography umbrellas. They are tiny -- perfect size for me and $10 for both. Once upon a time, my dad gave me a clip on lamp with heat bulb for my pets, but I never used it. I got a regular bulb and another clip light. But how to attach the umbrellas?

I decided to give it a try by draping the shade from the entertainment center. I clipped the lamps nearby and set the umbrellas between them and the "set."


I had read not to use the flash of my camera, but here is what I got without it:


and here is with the flash:


So, obviously my lighting is insufficient. The bulbs aren't bright enough, the umbrellas are dimming them too much, and there are still shadows.

I ended up using my photo editing software to brighten the back, but it almost looks fake.
Before:


After:


I'm afraid that my story doesn't have a happy ending. I am not sure what to do. I need MORE LIGHT. I need to know where to position the lights. If anyone has tips, please comment!

Map kid

Wow. That's all I can say. I'm dumber than a 1-year-old.

Here I am!

Miss me? No? Geez.

I've been super-busy lately, so let me recap on everything, even the unimportant stuff:

1. Our refrigerator was broken for 2 weeks. We finally got our new one Thursday and I've rarely appreciated anything so much. It's a shiny black side-by-side with ice and water in the door. I love it, mostly because it keeps my food cold and I don't have to go out on the front porch to get my soup out of the cooler.

2. Mark was out of town and then came back and got really, really sick with a terrible cold. My two work neighbors had had it and had been coughing like crazy for a week and a half, so I figured I was a goner. I tried to keep my hands really clean, and my home, too. Mark had a miraculous recovery after two days and I still have no signs of illness! Yay!

3. For reasons in number 2, our Christmas stuff has yet to be put away. Mark is going out of town again, and so our very large tree will stay up another week. Boo.

4. I am learning to spin yarns, literally. I have a friend who just retired from my workplace. She lives in San Ysidro on a little property with 2 sheep, 1 horse, 1 dog, 2 cats and a bunch of chickens. She invited me over for a lesson. I had a lovely time. She taught me a few spinning basics using a drop spindle. It's, um, really hard. It's an ancient technology, but it's something that must be mastered. It involves a stick that goes through the center of a circle of wood. You let it hang from the yarn that goes up into the wool roving and you give the spindle a whirl. As it spins, you try to pull the wool bit by bit and let the spin move up into it, making yarn. It's not easy. Every time I get it spinning and move my right hand up to help my left hand, the spindle tries to go the other way, thus untwisting what I have. Of course, having a spinning wheel makes it much easier. They are expensive and Mark said that since I'm not 90, I don't need one and I should find hobbies that aren't for old ladies. And I took care of him when he was sick!

5. I plan to also learn to dye wool roving and yarn.

6. I made felt from wool roving and am making a brooch from it. I will be posting to describe this exciting process after the brooch is finished.

That's a wrap up of my life! I've just been so busy that I haven't had time to sew much.

Kill 'em with cuteness

I've found something cute. It's so cute, I almost can't contain myself. Check out these needle felted creatures from -- OK, wait -- the name is so awesome: Motley Mutton!!!!!

Here are some examples. Click the pics to go to her shop. I don't really need to explain anything once you see them!

Ring ring. "Is your refrigerator running?"

Why, no. No it isn't. It's been flat dead for a week and a half now. You don't realize what your fridge means to you till it's gone.

You don't appreciate the cold water at your fingertips until you have to put your glass of water outside to chill.



Go now, and tell your refrigerator you love it. Go!

Hey! "First" rhymes with "worst"!

I came across these awful pictures of me at age 10 the other day. I was torn between burning them and keeping my awful little secret to myself and sharing them with the world to give everyone a good laugh at my expense.

I remember this hairdo. It was my first real hairdo -- the first one that I decided on myself and asked my mom to take me to the salon.



What's that? You want a closer look? Well, you asked for it.



We went to Fantastic Sams. I wanted feathered hair, like my friend Tamara's. We were and still are best friends. We had to get feathered hair at the same time (it was 1984, after all). In the end, hers looked much more "feathered." She pointed out that she didn't get a perm. I had gotten a perm. Doh! Thus, I looked like a 50-year-old woman in a fifth-grader's body. Tamara was always a step ahead of me (or a hundred steps) on the coolness scale because she had an older sister to learn from. I just had my mom, and she had this hair:



What's that? You want a closer look?



(This is a test to see if she reads my blog, in which case I may not be of this Earth much longer. So, just in case she sees this, I'd like to say that my mom has very nice hair now. Very stylish and pretty. She's the most beautiful lady.)

Snuggle wuggles

Making stuff, as usual. Here is a fringed scarf, knitted in a seed stitch with a removable crocheted flower brooch:


(available at Burst of Happiness)

This scarf and flower I made for my mom for Christmas out of a lovely alpaca/silk blend:



And here are a few bags offered up to the highest bidder. Or whoever will pay the regular price:

Spammy

I never get blog comments. This may have something to do with the fact that nobody reads my blog, but lately I've gotten a few. And they are both this crap:

Hello I just entered before I have to leave to the airport, it's been very nice to meet you, if you want here is the site I told you about where I type some stuff and make good money (I work from home): here it is

Who would really click the link? Can I please have some real, nice people, non-spam comments? Please?

Scrumptious textiles

I like to knit and crochet a little. I'm no expert, but it's fun to do. I love textiles -- be it yarn or fabric.

I've only recently discovered my love for luscious, natural yarns. If you just go to a chain craft store, you're going to have to choose from mostly synthetic, mass-produced yarns. They are evenly spun, evenly dyed, and to me they lack personality.

Once I stepped foot in Village Wools, I realized I could never go back. Local yarns, exotic yarns, fat yarns, skinny yarns, alpaca yarns, wool yarns. And naturally, synthetics, too. All these yarns are beautiful, but also so much more expensive. I'm currently making myself a wide scarf/narrow shawl from an alpaca/silk blend and I think it's going to cost me $50 in supplies -- never mind the time it takes to knit it. This is why a hand knitted or crocheted item made with nice yarn will cost you a pretty penny.

I especially love bulky wool yarn. Thick and chunky, with plenty of personality. They hold up well when you use huge knitting needles. They knit up fast and look so snuggly. But even better are bulky WILD yarns, like this one I drooled over and finally bought:

The colors are so dreamy together.

I like when some parts are spun skinny and some are spun fat, like this, which I also want to buy from etsy.com shop Hobbledehoy (click photo for link to item):



I am interested in learning how to spin yarn from roving, and also to hand paint it. Some beautiful, hand-painted yarns that I love include this one from etsy shop Jirbydesigns:



I hope that for my birthday I can get the gift of taking a spinning class at Village Wools, and maybe a dyeing class, too.

Caught up on picture-taking

I finally finished taking photos of the items I have for sale (not that there aren't always more coming up!). Here are my aprons.

This one is a gold-beige underskirt with a double-tier topping of chocolate lace:



This one is reversible, in a retro print. The front and back are in coordinating colors.

Everything I needed to know about New Mexico I learned from the movies, part II

Remember this post?

It was about how whenever my home state of New Mexico is featured in a movie, it's featured as some freaky, backwards place full of mutant murderous freaks? (I have to say that "Little Miss Sunshine" was successful at treating us as normal people, even if the movie's geography was on crack). See, the thing about being a New Mexican is that most of the country doesn't know you exist. The ones who do usually think we're part of Mexico and are surprised at how well we speak English. People in other countries know where N.M. is, but other Americans don't seem to. Then, when we finally get noticed, it's always for something bad, like teen pregnancy or kids who don't get enough to eat. But even those things are better than the movies make us out to be.

I wonder how things will change now that New Mexico is becoming a big player in the film industry. With the new Albuquerque Studios at Mesa Del Sol, south of Albuquerque, and the Rio Rancho Lions Gate location, along with all the state incentives, maybe filmmakers will start playing nice.

But until then, I'd like to complain about "The Hills Have Eyes." You see, if you've never been here, you need to know: All of N.M. is a desert with a couple of broken down gas stations with creepy toothless workers who are bound to set up a trap with the other creepy people in the area. They will kill you and eat you. Also, much of New Mexico is a nuclear test site wasteland, and therefore we are all mutant freaks. I, for one, am proud of my three eyes, so please stop making fun of me.

Bumble bee heaven

More stuff I was able to get photographed and finished up:



I posted the apron before, but since it went with the theme, I posted it again. All are available at Burst of Happiness, along with this:

Catching up with my life

Everything has been so hectic lately. Work is crazy because we're down so many people. Being a newspaper, we are working 365 days a year, so no guaranteed holidays off. I am pleased to have Christmas Day off this year, but I'm a busy bee working till then.

I had trouble getting to my sewing machine as much as I would have liked, but I sat down a week ago and spent hours cutting, cutting, cutting. Cutting out the fabric is the worst part. I hate it. But it does allow me to be able to sit down and sew a bunch of things quickly.

Here are a few things I've finished. I have several more aprons and bags, but I need to photograph them. I depend on the sun for good lighting, and it's been overcast a lot since Thanksgiving. To top it off, whenever we do get sun, it's been windy and my items try to blow over. This has gotten me a little behind on posting stuff for sale.

New things:

Sewing challenge

I was approached by Albuquerque the Magazine to participate on a prom dress makeover project. Or maybe it's bridesmaid dresses. Or both.
I was given two dresses and asked to turn one into a handbag and the other into an apron.
I think this will be in the February/March edition.

The first dress was a casual Hawaiian print. It wasn't what I expected, and to be honest, I didn't feel very inspired by this fabric. I think it would make a fine men's Hawaiian shirt, but not much else. I wanted to make a bag like this one but much bigger -- like a casual beach tote. I didn't have enough fabric. It's really challenging when you have a garment with seams and slits and zippers and not just a big piece of fabric. In hindsight, I wish I'd considered a yoga mat bag. I don't know that I had enough fabric for that without having weird seams all over the bag, anyway.




The second dress was exactly what I pictured: Big, poofy sleeves and everything. My mom wanted to get in on this project and she had some great ideas. We really utilized everything, including the existing neckline and the rosettes from the sleeves. OK, we did not utilize the puffy sleeves.




I'll post more when the issue publishes. I'm sure their pictures will be much better, and I'm excited to see what other people did with their dresses.

Warm and cozy

Since the weather turned chilly, I have felt like knitting again. I am especially into making rosettes, though I have found that crocheting them is 10 times easier than knitting them. They are cute when attached to scarves or used as brooches on a coat or big sweater. I plan to make lots of them!

This scarf is knitted, with two crocheted rosettes:


This is a fuzzy, cornflower blue rosette brooch:


Available at Burst of Happiness.

9 bits of cuteness

I just finished a big holiday order for my friend Autumn. She picked all the fabrics, styles and details. I had so much fun with it because I really like to make different items every time. It's fun to see how they end up coming out.



Orders available at Burst of Happiness.