Sweater Hoodie Dress Upcycled Wool Cashmere Rose Cable

Off my cutting mat is this sweater hoodie tunic dress of mostly wool with a touch of cashmere.

The focus of this piece is the cabled, multi-color wool sweater from my closet that I loved but rarely wore. It's a bit scratchy, and the neckline was so high that I could only wear it with a turtleneck shirt. I haven't worn a turtleneck since I left Wisconsin in 2001.  Thus, that sweater sat lonely in my closet waiting for a more useful life. Last week, I decided to upcycle it into something new, cut it apart, and stitch the patches back together with a bunch of other sweaters to make something wearable and wonderful, a cozy piece of art to keep you warm.

I always loved the design of that sweater, but I hated the neckline.  So, I redesigned the neckline to keep the scratchiness off your neck. To do this, I binded the neckline (and the sleeve ends) with soft cashmere in forest green. I used this same cashmere to line the pouch pocket in the front to keep hands cozy and warm. Yup, the pocket is super soft inside.

The cut is a tunic dress that drapes slightly longer on the sides. It has a roomy hood that is still functional.  It isn't so big that it will fall over your eyes when you wear it. When the hood is down, it forms a large wide collar, a large cowl neck, which frames your face and keeps your shoulders warm.

I hand dyed the pretty burgundy sweater on the torso with wool dyes. It is soft fluffy lamb's wool.  The other colors include dark pink, gray, navy, blue, brown, olive, and a touch of golden yellow. The seams are dark pink. 

Most of the seams and hems are professionally sewn with four polyester threads on my serger sewing machine. Some of the finer detailing, I first edged on my serger and then I stitched by hand with pink wool yarn. The hand stitching adds visual interest and gives me more control when assembling the pieces to keep the wonkiness to a minimum, especially around the hands and face. You can see the hand stitching on the sleeve hems, the pouch pocket and the inside of the collar. This sweater very well made, comfortable and warm. It is number 10 in my ongoing series of upcycled sweaters.

This work was inspired by the amazing sweater coats of Katwise, with help from her tutorials. Find her on Etsy here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/katwise

Lotus Drop Earrings in Pink Bronze Burgundy Pearl

Here is a new pair of Lotus Drop Earrings I stitched with pink and pearl Swarovski crystals and bronze and burgundy seed beads. I like the way the colors look deep and rich together. The pearls and the facets on the crystals add a touch of light.

Find this pair here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/261517656/
Learn to make your own here: http://www.beadinfinitum.com/Kits/Lotus_Drop_Links.html

Have a great day, better than yesterday.  Thanks for looking.

Ginkgo Earrings in Pantone's 2016 Color of the Year, Rose Quartz Serenity Lint

Last night I tried playing around with the ‪Pantone 2016 Color of the Year. 

This year they picked Rose Quartz, so pale pink. So I used a sparkling pale pink cubic zirconia at the top of each earring, and a row of milky pink Swarovski crystals along the bottom edge.

As always, Pantone offered up some of the other colors to coordinate it with their Color of the Year. This year, they include Serenity (a pale bluish periwinkle), Silver Gray and a pale, dingy green color they call Lint. So here is my first attempt at working with these colors that were handed down from above.

Ah, lint... I still can't believe they named a color Lint. I don't know about you, but the lint around my house comes in lots of colors besides pale, dingy green.  I almost hope they pick Lint as the Color of the Year in 2017.

The tutorial for Ginkgo Leaf Earrings is for sale in my Etsy shop. Thanks for looking.  Have a better than average December.

Victory Pod Earrings on a Hetty Friedman Scarf

I recently purchased a scarf made by Hetty Friedman. It's made of hand dyed, handwoven rayon chenille. The colors scream AUTUMN, and I fell in love with it from the moment I first saw it in Hetty's Etsy shop. The colors in this scarf include teal, jade, curry, blue, orange, and brown. When I saw Hetty's photos, all I could think is, "Could the colors of that scarf really be that pretty!? I must have that scarf!" And so they were!!!

As I do, I made a pair of earrings just before I bought the scarf, and as accidents will happen, the scarf matches the earrings perfectly. Since I just happened to be writing a tutorial for how to make this pair of earrings, I photographed the earrings on the scarf. Tada!

I fell in love the colors in these photos. So I wrote to Hetty, and she kindly gave me permission to share these photos with you. Thank you Hetty!

I couldn't stop taking photos of the earrings on the scarf, just for the sake of eye candy. Photos like these make me unreasonably happy.

This cat video also make me unreasonably happy.

If you want, you can learn to make Victory Pod Earrings with my new tutorial, but you'll have to find Hetty if you want a new scarf.

Thanks for looking. Have a great holiday. Spread some love. Be nice to each other.

New Tutorial - Victory Pod Earrings Beaded with Cellini Peyote Stitch

I just released a new beading tutorial, Victory Pod Earrings so you can make earrings with this original variation on beaded Cellini spiral, combining peyote and herringbone stitches. 

These earrings are stylized, dangling drops with an elegant symmetry, like a puffy V in 3D. The beadwork is stitched with just 3 sizes of regular Japanese seed beads. No fancy shapes required! So if you are a bead weaver, you probably already have everything you need. Using just a pinch of each color, these pods are a great way to use up seed beads leftover from other beading projects.

This project is suitable for intermediate bead weavers who like peyote stitch.

With ear wires the earrings measure 46 mm long.
Beaded pod measures 27 mm x 21 mm x 12 mm.

The tutorial is 11 pages, with over 50 full color illustrations and photographs, a colorful feast for the eyes. The tutorial gives highly detailed illustrations, photographs, and written instructions to make the earrings.

These earrings are designed to match the Cellini Flowers and Leaves.  Here you can see a pair of Victory Pod Earrings colored to coordinate with a Large Cellini Flower for a matching pendant and earring set.

That's all for today.  Thanks for looking!