message from Santa

I was looking for some vintage photos from my Christmas Past when I stumbled upon this Santagram from Western Union, dated 1970. It's one of my favorite things tucked away in the baby book my mother kept for me.

Santagrams were sent from Santa directly to our home each December, addressed to my brothers and me. We were always SO excited to receive these! What a simple little treasure. Those were magical times for sure.

Have you seen one of the newer ways to get a message from Santa? It's called the Portable North Pole. Not sure if we'll try it or not, but it looks pretty awesome! On Christmas Eve we always make a point to track Santa via Norad before we go to bed. :)

My kids are bouncing off the walls right now with the anticipation of Santa's visit.We've had a few snow days off from school which has only added to the hysteria! (therefore I'm a little wall-bouncy myself) We're doing our best to keep busy with sledding, baking and last minute gift-making. We're also looking forward to my parents coming in tomorrow to spend the holiday with us, yippee!

This season just comes and goes so quickly, doesn't it? Time to sloooow down and breathe. On that note, I've decided to take a little blogging break until the New Year. I hope you take some time to relax and enjoy yourselves as well.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! See you in 2010!

Holiday Hints: Last Minute Ideas!

Ok, time to pull out all of the stops! As we embark on the week of Christmas itself, I bring you my last edition of Holiday Hints for Handmade Gifts: Last Minute Ideas! Though I had several more categories planned, I decided to regroup and handpick a few projects that take little time and materials.

For starters, there's my Caterpillar Eyeglass Case Tutorial, made from felted wool sweaters and appliquéd with a little leaf and critter. This can be made very girlie, as shown, or done without the embellishment and in more subdued colors.

My Cutie Pie Tutorial is a favorite. A handful of felt balls + 2 circles of felt = a cute little catch-all bowl that makes a quick gift.

Check out my Felted Brooch Tutorial and video for an easy-peasy felt scrap project. Decorate the top of a gift by looping some ribbon through the pin on the back and tying it to the package.

The pdf pattern for the Zippered Birdie Pouch shows you 2 ways to make these sweet tweets. 1) as a stuffed birdie, or 2) as a zippered pouch. The pattern is available in my etsy shop.

If you've got a copy of Sewing Green, flip to pg 48 for the Recycled Sweater Slippers. This style is where it all began for me about 20 years ago when I first started felting/cutting/sewing thrift store sweaters into slippers. I think every member of my family got a pair that year!

On pg 20 of Sewing Green you'll find the Penny-rug Trivet and Coasters. These give a fresh modern look to the traditional technique of appliquéd scrap wool. Great for use when entertaining or as a thoughtful gift.

I hope you've enjoyed my Holiday Hints for Handmade Gifts feature! If you've missed any over the past month you can find them linked below.

Holiday Hints Recap:
Scarves
Hats
Aprons
Decór
Home
Felted Bags
More Bags

Holiday Hints: More Bags!

The previous gang of Holiday Hints for Handmade Gifts were all bags made of felted wool. I mentioned that I had more bags up my sleeve and this time they are either made from repurposed materials or have an eco-friendly purpose behind them.

The first 5 bags below are from the pages of my book Sewing Green. (photography by John Gruen)

Pg 58: Tyvec Tote. This lightweight bag is made from 4 Tyvec mailing envelopes, printed with bubble wrap! Really fun to make and easy to roll up and take anywhere.

Pg 120: Beach Bag. A set of 4 place mats and some cotton webbing become this sturdy, roomy beach bag.

Pg 94: The Denim Shopper. 1 long denim skirt + 2 belts = a multi-pocketed, multi-pupose bag.

Pg 104: BYOB Water Bottle Sling. It's so much easier to bring water with you when you've got a handy way to carry it. I designed them as a single or a double version to fit your style and needs.

If you'd like to see what people have made from Sewing Green, be sure to check out the Sewing Green Flickr Group.

Need even more bag ideas? Here's some free-bees, courtesy of my tutorial list in my sidebar.

The Shoe Bags, made from vintage sheets...

The Canvas Tote Refab, made from a boring promotional canvas tote with a snazzy *slip cover*...

and one of my faves, the Two-Tie Sling, made from nuthin' but 2 vintage neckties!

Oh, look at the time! I better light a fire under my Holiday Hint feature if I hope to squeeze them all in before Christmas. Next my focus will be shifting to smaller, last minute ideas, so stay tuned!

Felt Ogee Ornament Tutorial

I woke up this morning with an image in my head of a felt snowflake. So I asked my kids to make a few traditional fold and cut paper snowflakes for me before they left for school. I wanted to use them as templates for my idea. Instead, my 10 yr old showed me a 3D paper snowflake they had made in his art class. I loved the beauty and simplicity of it, so I changed my course! After some quick google research, I've found that apparently this particular 3D Paper Snowflake is quite prevalent on the internet. (there is even a 3D Paper Snowflake Flickr Group!) I made a few prototype attempts, applying the 3D Paper Snowflake Tutorial to felt and came to the following conclusion...

...it worked! I am in love with the curves and the "Ogee" shape of this design. It amazes me that it is created from a square and a few straight cuts. The original paper snowflake is made up of 6 of these shapes, each becoming one "arm" of the snowflake. I decided to stop at just one shape. The following design uses a thick 3mm 100% wool felt. I had been saving this piece for just the right project, and this was it!

Step 1: Cut one 6"x 6" square of felt. (For a piece this large, the felt needs to be pretty stiff, such as this 3mm wool felt. A 2mm thick felt would also work well, but I suggest decreasing the overall scale of the design for better stability.) Mark lines 3/4" apart, parallel to the perimeter, using a chalk liner pen. Mark a line diagonally across the square from corner to corner.

Step 2: Using a straight edge and an Xacto knife, cut along the first line from the corner to about 1/4" from the diagonal line. Make 2-3 passes with the blade, cutting a little at a time and keeping even pressure on the straight edge so that the felt does not creep while being cut.

Repeat until all cuts have been made, keeping the felt intact at each corner on the diagonal line. Chalk lines can be brushed away.

Step 3: Lift the corners of the center square and hand stitch the ends together with matching thread. Secure and cut the thread, hiding the knot between layers.

Step 4: Turn the piece over and lift the corners of the second square. Overlap the points and stitch together at each point.

Step 5: Continue turning the piece over, overlapping points and stitching until all 4 squares are stitched.

Step 6: Create a hanging loop at one end with a clear monofilament thread. I added a few felt balls (natch) to mine.

This makes a large ornament, about 10" in total length. I hung it in our big kitchen window, but was unable to take any good shots of it today as it was too gloomy for nice photography.

I also experimented with 3" squares of wool blend felt (thinner) and marking the cut lines 1/4" apart. I was able to use Fabric-Tac glue instead of hand stitching the corners. This felt was not rigid enough to hold the shape of the 6 piece snowflake when I tried to put several of them together. So, I opted to string them together vertically.

Felt projects inspired by paper projects is a natural. They don't always translate, but the result can be surprising, evolving into something new altogether. Like, have you seen these felt bows? Even my ol' pomander rosettes *grew* out of a paper project!

This work by Betz White is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Holiday Hints: Felted Bags

The holiday spirit is flying high as we are planning to put up our Christmas tree today. Yippee! To keep that spirit going, I've got more Holiday Hints for Handmade Gifts: Felted Bags!

The Peas and Carrots Purse (pg. 100 of Warm Fuzzies) uses the shibori technique I showed you with my scarves. I love how the bobbles are felted right into the surface of the bag, like big green peas! (flower appliqués, optional)

The Mixed Messenger Bag (pg. 108 of Warm Fuzzies) is a great project for using up those wool sweaters that are super bulky and felted into a thick firm fabric. Seen here trimmed with felt balls, my favorite.

This little cutie, the Rainbow Bag (pg. 90 Warm Fuzzies) is simpler than it looks! It's got a very basic construction embellished with wavy strips of felted sweaters. The beauty of felted wool is that you can leave the cut edges unfinished and they wont ravel or fray. It'd be fun to make a shaggy version of this bag by attaching evenly cut strips and snipping them into fringe.

Now for a BW blog favorite, the Girls Spring Mini Tote. My free tutorial has been visited at least a gazillion times over the years. Maybe a bazillion. Easy. Cute. Whaddya gotta know.

One last felty bag for those thinking way ahead to February, the Lil Sweetheart Purse! You'll find the pdf pattern in my etsy shop. Hello Kitty compact not included. :)

More bags-a-plenty coming with the next round of Holiday Hints!

fast and felty

This past weekend was so busy that I am still coping with the aftermath (crazy messy studio, neglected laundry pile, old mother hubbard cupboards and the like). Without further ado, let me share what I've been up to!

Saturday: The Baltimore Holiday Heap was a fun, crazy-busy show! Thanks to the Charm City Craft Mafia for holding such a wonderful and well attended event. My friend Heather and I were on our feet all day working the booth, chatting with the crowd and keeping our eye on the first big snow storm of the season. (thanks, Heather!) My family was there too for part of the time. During set up the boys made extra signage, which I proudly displayed next to my betz white banner.
As long as the boys have a sketch book with them, they can almost always entertain themselves. Plus they had a good time scoping out the crafty goods at the show. As a reward for good behavior my husband got them each a T-shirt from Spaghetti Kiss! (sorry no booth photos, too crazy!)

Sunday: I had the pleasure of doing a book signing and trunk show an adorable yarn shop in Old Alexandria Virginia called Fibre Space. This is the little table smack dab in the middle of the shop where I set up my samples from Warm Fuzzies. The new little shop (just a year old I think!) was quite busy and I had a lot of friendly folks stop and talk to me about the projects and the book.

The owner, Danielle, was a great hostess! Again, both of us were so busy with the customers that we neglected to take any *action* shots. :)

After the signing I held a small holiday workshop in the adjoining classroom for 12 enthusiastic stitchers! They all happily dug into my felt stash and we spent the next 3 hours making nest and flower brooches, sweet pea ornaments and more! Here's just a few snapshots I was able to squeeze in at the end!

Lauren, with her felt beauties, even had time to make a scrap wreath...

Claudine and Cameron with a flurry of felt brooches...

Lorraine, who pinned everything she made onto herself! What enthusiasm! She even made the sweet pea ornament into a barrette in her hair! Too fun. :)

Last but not least the *inspired* Amy Powers shows off her felty goodness.

Thank you to everyone that attended both events! It was a great weekend. I hope to do some more workshops at Fibre Space, soon!

BTW, my holiday shipping (for the US) cut-off date is December 17th, that's next week! The Cupcake Pincushions I had left from the show are listed in my shop. Also, I don't usually sell my felted nest brooches online, but I put some of them in the shop yesterday as well. They make great teacher gifts!

Holiday Hints: Home

With the arrival of our first snowfall of the season, I was inspired to bring you another edition of Holiday Hints for Homemade Gifts: Home. Winter is here, time to hunker down and settle in!


The Rustic Throw, pg 21 of Warm Fuzzies, is made from 5-6 felted wool sweaters cut into rectangles and stitched together. I keep this on the back of the couch for chilly evenings.

Got scraps? The Scrapwork Pillow (also from Warm Fuzzies) is a wonderful way to use up felt scraps and makes for a super cozy pillow.

Mmm, who doesn't like breakfast in bed? Or at least the idea of it. The Breakfast in Bed Pillow (Warm Fuzzies, pg 30) is a pillow with a sense of humor. (And no crumbs!) This project takes a little time to make, but each step is really quite basic. Like a slow cooked meal, the result is totally worth it!

More pillows...this time we're taking shortcuts with the Easy Repurposed Pillows (free details in my sidebar). Use an old favorite sweater and shirt/jacket and you've got a new favorite pillow for your couch!

In Sewing Green, I show you how to appliqué Big Time with the Graphic Pillows on page 40. Great for making a bold statement and freshening up your decor on a budget.

For the ultimate in luxury, hunt down some second hand cashmere sweaters for the Cashmere Lap Throw in Sewing Green. Like the Rustic Throw (shown at top) this is made from large rectangles seamed together, but this time lined with a yummy organic cotton velour. Lux!

Lastly, for a cozier home at the get-go, dodge those drafts with the Woodland Draft Buster, Sewing Green page 44. Looks and works great on a window sill, too. Make one for the person on your list that has about everything!

* * *

In other news, I've updated my shop with felt goodies from last weekend's craft show. In addition, I'm offering free US shipping on any orders of my Indian Summer organic cotton fabrics through the end of December 2009.

Book & Fabric Give-away at Burda Style!

Quickly people, get yourselves over to the BurdaStyle blog if you'd like a chance to win a copy of Sewing Green and a 5-pc sample set of my Indian Summer organic cotton prints! Hurry, you must comment over at Burdastyle by noon, EST on December 8th!



Here's more details about the BurdaStyle Annual Holiday Giveaway Calendar: Everyday in the month of December they are giving away an amazing prize! It’s super easy to enter, just leave your comment answering the bolded questions by noon EST the day after the giveaway post and one lucky winner will be chosen at random from all eligible entries! Entrants must be a BurdaStyle member to enter to win- membership is FREE and open to all. www.burdastyle.com/blog

join me this weekend!

Well, the felt lint has been flying here at the BW HQ in preparation for the Holiday Heap Show in Baltimore, Maryland. Come by and see me tomorrow, December 5th!

I've been *making* like crazy and it's time to stop and prepare the inventory! I've set aside today to label, price, make signage and otherwise organize all of my stuff for the show. These scarves are new this year. Repurposed cashmere on one side and my lux organic cotton prints on the other, trimmed with colorful little felt balls.

I've had loads of fun making these mini-scrap wreaths with jingle bells. You may have seen similar wreaths around the blogosphere, most recently at wisecraft. I've also got stockings and pillows and cupcake pincushions and, of course, copies of my books to sign! I do hope if you're in the area you'll try to come by. Click the Holiday Heap graphic below for a full vendor list!
If you can't make it Saturday, how about Sunday? (persistant, aren't I?) I will be signing books at Fibre Space in Alexandria, VA on Sunday December 6th. The signing is 4-5pm, followed by a workshop. (sold out, sorry!)

If you're not in the area and still want to get in on the action, I will be updating my etsy shop on Tuesday December 8th with any of the goodies I bring home from the show!

Hope to see you soon!