The Mookah Challenge - Completed (sort of)

Just in time for the final day of Blogtoberfest.... I completed my challenge set by the lovely girls over at Mookah.

After the complete failure of trying to make the felted jumper into a softie, I appliqued it onto a new cushion cover instead. I used the same base fabric as my one of my new art canvasses, so now I have a cute little cushion for the couch.

There is however half of a felted jumper left over, so I don't think that I can truly say that I completed the challenge...... stay tuned for more felty jumper to come in the future!

Blogtoberfest Day 3: Waste Not Want Not

I have to confess.... I definitely have the hoarding gene.

I keep every bit of useable scrap that I possibly can - I have containers and shoeboxes and baskets full of various bits and pieces that I've collected.

So what to do with the little scrappy bits of jumper that I cut off to enlarge the armholes of my felted vest (see those bits that were constricting the bloodflow to my arms)?

They're now lovely turquoise felted wool brooches (with a little bit of crazy stitching thrown in for good measure).

Finally

It seems like I've been harping on about this woollen jumper forever.... until lastnight, when I finally tired of it sitting on my craft bench and mocking me while I sewed!

The photo above is the style that I was aiming for. All I did was to cut it down the centre front panel, and then hack the arms off with a pair of scissors.

I really liked the look of the short sleeve cardi. I didn't like the fact that the arm holes were actually cutting off my circulation. I have my hands on my hips in the photo because the arm holes were so tight that I physically couldn't put my arms by my side.

Luckily for this project (unluckily for when I actually try to buy clothes), I have really narrow shoulders which are quite out of proportion to the rest of my body. My shoulders are actually the perfect size for my poor little shrunken jumper.

I kept hacking at the arm holes trying to fix the problem, but it seems that the arm holes had other ideas, so I hacked off the arms entirely...

.....and ended up with this.

At least it's a beginning - I'm looking forward to trying out some felted refashioning projects after looking at even more inspiration this week here and here.

My creative space

My creative space is taking a number, joining a queue, and waiting patiently (or not so patiently) in line.....

There are so many ideas and creative visions rolling around in my head at the moment, and it's impossible to do everything that I want all at the same time - so all new ideas are now required to join the queue.

I'm not really sure where this project fits in the queue. I spotted the jumper at an oppy in Yarraville on Saturday. It's pure wool, and I'm assuming that somebody accidentally felted it (therefore saving me the trouble of felting it myself), and then gave it away.

The neck opening is so small now, that even a child would have trouble getting this jumper over their head.

Inspired by the refashioning talents of Gina and Nikki and Tania, I am going to try to refashion it into either a scoop necked cardigan, or a scoop necked vest.

Please try to ignore my pathetic attempts to illustrate what I'm trying to do in photoshop (hopefully it makes enough sense though)!
I've never attempted anything like this before so I need a little advice.

The jumper looks felted to me. If I just cut it, will it unravel, or am I safe?
How do I finish it - do I have to hem, or overlock the edges?

Disclaimer - I make no promises that I'll even attempt this in the next month!