A Felted Bird's Nest

Having bought a wreath last fall, I decided that in order to be perfect, it needed a little bird’s nest.  I remembered having seen a tutorial on a blog and I hunted and hunted for it, to no avail.  All I could remember was: Cut the sleeve off of a wool sweater.  Do some stitches with random NON-wool yarns.  Stitch around both ends.  Tuck the ends in and pull the stitches to tighten.  Then, wash in hot water to felt (shrink and tighten) the wool.

So, that’s what I did.  I whacked the sleeve off of an old wool sweater that I bought at a sale at the Salvation Army.  I made random stitches here and there with three different types of acrylic yarn in natural colors.  There was a lot of orange in one of the yarns.  I didn't like it so I tied it in a knot on the back side each time that color came up. I stitched around the ends with a strong thread and pulled the first end tight..  I tucked both ends to the inside and pulled the other end tight.  Using a needle, I tucked the threads to the inside before washing the whole thing in hot water.   

This is the first item that I have purposefully felted.  It didn’t shrink much.  My Mom convinced me to put it in boiling water and then in cold.  I stirred it with a plastic spoon and squeezed it out inside a wash cloth.  Then, Mom took it to her house to throw it in the clothes dryer.  It still didn't really shrink.  I think maybe the sweater was already felted!  Oh well.  It looks really cute in my wreath.  I love it! 

Cowly Coolness

I made myself a very cool . . . what is it?  It’s a hat.  It’s a scarf, a cowl?  It can also be a shrug!  A friend asked me to make a tutorial.  That sounded like fun, so here it is! 

I went to JoAnn’s looking for a half yard of fleece and 1 and 2/3 yards of a coordinating brocade.  I bought a remnant of black fleece.  I had decided that I needed a black hat anyway.  The remnant had to be at least 18” long to be big enough.  That’s ½ yard if you just go to the cutting counter and ask for it. (say they didn’t have a color you like or something)  Getting the remnant is more economical though.  I am so cheap!  A half yard of the fleece will work since it’s so wide.  It’s almost 60” once you cut off the selvage edge where it’s kinda funky.  My remnant was a few inches too big so I cut it down to 18” across.  

A remnant of brocade won’t work, since a remnant is a left over bit (usually less than a yard) and you need a yard and 2/3.  I found mine in the red tag fabrics in back. (again, cheap) Cut your piece 21” wide. 

 

 Now, make sure that the two pieces are the same length.  Sew the short ends of each piece together to make two loops. Because a brocade tends to fray easily, I also zig zagged the seam on the brocade. Press the edge of the brocade loop to the inside,(the wrong side of the fabric)about ½” using a cool iron.  (my iron is so cool, eh?)  No.  I'm saying don't melt it by going hot!

 

Lay the wider, brocade fabric loop inside the narrower, fleece loop with the wrong sides facing each other and seams separated by about an inch.  Fold the brocade over again and pin it to the fleece on both sides.  Sew around both sides.  Clip the threads and you’re done!  See how easy that was?  You can slip it over your shoulders like a shrug (I'm not crazy about the look) or wrap it around your neck, twist it in the front and then slide the second loop over your head.

I hope you love it as much as I love mine!