Facemasks.....

Been planning on making freeform knit, crochet and beaded jean bags again for some time now.. took up strap weaving.. learned more freeform crochet techniques.. worked on my beading designs... last step to take was to dust off my sewing skills.. was gifted a vintage sewing machine.. perfect.. timing.. not for making the bags I have dreamt of for ages now.. no the timing was perfect for making facemasks..

I had also been looking into making facemasks for a bit now too.. allergies are not fun in the slightest.. son has been asking for a knit or crochet one.. I gave a few tries at it but just can't get a tight enough tension to stop anything but the cold weather ..

 so as it turns out as this virus was just starting up.. I was already seeking info on good designs.. learned surgical mask are meant to keep you from spreading your germs not so much to keep you from picking up germs, although any face covering will help to some degree.. 

The style they refer to as N95 form-fitted and meant to keep you from picking up any germs.. 

Polypropylene liners are breathable, washable and affordable..

Elastic straps behind the ears hurt after awhile.. ties don't, can be adjusted, washes and doesn't matter if they stretch after time as you just retie them..

Bias tape is time consuming and a bit of a pain to tie.. my solution shoe laces.. 

Outter layers of cotton fabric .. 

To make the mask form fit over the nose I shaped a piece of 20 Gage jewelry wire and stitched the fabric around it.. so if need be you can make a small cut and replace the wire with a new one and just close with a couple of hand sewn stitches .. 

Double seam everything... These need to be durable

The sides need to hold shape as well.. not buckle out.. so placement of the ties should be adjusted with that in mind.. but I noticed that didn't always work... double seaming around the nose did though.. so I started to add a lot of stitches to each side.. not the neatest looking seams lol.. but they work... 

as I am getting all of this worked out.. the masks were suddenly needed by many...  

Friend in the medical field asked if I could make some not knowing I was making one right then.. 

Heard Joann's was asking for help to get millions made.. 

Posted about this on Facebook..

So many requests came in for masks there was no way I could afford to keep it up without help.. asked if anyone wanting some could donate some supplies... turns out if you don't know how to make things like this getting the supplies is a pain.. much easier to hand a couple of bucks to the person making them...

Too many requests .. to deliver all .. socal distancing is definitely helping.. 

plus the risk is too high for family members.. now what.. Etsy puts out the plea for anyone who can make masks to please do so as they are getting requests for them.. win win...

Then hear how the post office is hurting... Bonus win

I am using the funds after costs to get more supplies.. I lost count how many I've made dozens and dozens ago.. spending 12 to 16 hours a day.. vintage sewing machine was heating up too much.. the machine my husband said couldn't be fixed he revisited.. good as new.. much stronger than the other one.. has a better zig zag ability.. doesn't over heat as fast.. but when it does I just switch between them.. 

Please stay safe out there... 

D

What I've been doing

Updated... tried doing the post on my cheapie phone.. clearly that didn't go very well.. editing was a nightmare.. finally gave up after 1am.. hopefully this will be easier to read lol 

Been super busy with orders over the holidays.. I have created a few of my own patterns but as of yet haven't had the time to write them out.. 

Working on learning more free form techniques so many of the items I have created I won't be able to write out patterns for but have been so much fun and such a great stash buster

 ..

A few of the projects I have been working on... latest ones first... just finished tonight

Octavia the Octopus

My son "displaying" Octavia lol... think I might have to give a go with doing a hat now lol

I was asked to make a paid pattern spotted on Facebook of Falkor from The Neverending Story... 

pattern was on Etsy, but the shop is currently on a break however this is the link

Falkor 

 hopefully they will be up and running soon..

I really like the overall finished item..

there were a few difficulties, couple of mistakes in the pattern, not hard to work out, slows you down for a bit but nothing big..

 the second issue was coming up with similar enough yarns here in the states, pattern designer is from the UK, to get the same look.... 

the first one pictured, which is actually the second one I made ...

 I went with Bernet Baby Sport in white. 

Which was so much easier to work with then the Simply Soft I went with on the first , a d hook and Simply Soft is not going to happen again lol.... normally I love working with it, love the sheen... however the endless splitting of the yarn with the smaller hook added days to the overall project.  Came out looking great but I really like the look of the second one as well..

For the ears and mane I used Yarn Bee's Snuggle Up in white, the pattern calls for eyelash yarn but I think the substitute of a fun fur yarn worked out quite nicely even though it was a real pain to knit on size 1 needles, seeing the stitches through the "fur" added eve more time.. no sooner then I posted a photo of the first when I got a second request ...  might be a couple weeks before I do another ;) lol cute pattern worth the work

I was gifted the baby Yoda pattern just before it was pulled... I didn't follow the pattern exactly, somewhat... I changed  the yarn, I had just spent a week working with bulky blanket yarn and flat out was not going to go there again.. I will do simply soft on D's again before that happens.. ugh... lol. even with 50mm needles it was a pain to deal with... so worsted weight it needed to be..

 Which meant the hook size needed to change as well, the length of the body seemed off then.. so the length of the robe plus the collar, cuffs and colors needed to be adjusted, ok the color was purely due to what I could get in the same weight lol..
       the eye size changed  as did the shape of the head.. just because I preferred it .. and how the ears were colored.. I used the marker technique instead of using blush and hairspray.. overall look came out pretty darn close.. but will hopefully last longer..
   sounds like a lot of changes but as detailed as the pattern is I'd say still pretty close..
      I am making my own smaller pattern as I wanted even more changes  Like smaller lol .. but definitely will be keeping the fingers and toes similar.. so cute .. I learned a lot from this one and the other two toys.. a plus for sure

This one was also inspired by a friend seeing the pattern online.. on Pinterest which leads to YouTube.. the link on Raverly takes you to Youtube without the bother of searching through Pinterest.. that could take hours with having to check all of the other cool ideas you will undoubtedly come across LOL
it's called

Easy Braided Crochet Cowl With Buttons on Pinterest and Youtube

  ..  on Raverly

I used 2 skeins of Big Twist in white easy pattern, but a yarn eater.. and takes a fair amount of time... end results well worth it 

This last one is just a simple keyhole scarf.. I had a ball of random yarn someone had gifted me awhile back from their stash clean out, no clue what brand just that it is acrylic.. soft textured, easy to work with and pretty, I wanted an easy mindless knit to work on.. so I just used Gardner stitch.. size 10 and a half needles ... cast on 25 stitches I think.. after a dozen or so rows I bound off the center stitches then added them back in the next row.. kept going until I had enough length to go around my neck plus the dozen or so rows to match the length before the keyhole.. very quick and easy yet warm and stylish..

A few of the patterns I am working on are keyhole scarfs and cowls.. some quick and easy .. a few more complex works..not sure when I will be able to get back to them..

I was just gifted a older model sewing machine.. the scrap fabric doggie blankets and then custom bags are getting closer to reality..  where free form, weaving, sewing and beading all come together .. stay tuned 

best wishes

Happy New Year

Turkey Seed Bead Chart

Made with size 11 seed beads

Card Tablet Weaving the begining

I love making bags.. but knit and crochet straps not so much.. takes forever to get a nice thickness that doesn't stretch and is strong enough..

 last year I started to inkle weave bands, while I haven't made one in since last summer, in those few months I fell in love with them..
wasn't able to get back to weaving until yesterday .. I decided to give tablet/card weaving a try..

I used my inkle loom as I don't have an area where backstrap could be easily done ..
 my work area is about 1 3/4 by 4 yards .. including my rocking chair and desk.. my beads mostly fit under my desk/table , yarn is being stored in hallway leaving very little walk way lol ..thankfully it is temporary :) ..
even trying to set up the warped cards was a bit of a challenge, used 9 four hole cards, in each hole about five feet of older than my adult sons acrylic yard .. was gifted to me not long ago, great way to try this out without a big cost, total of about 60 yards.. I didn't warp up much yardage both due to having no clue if I was even going to be able to pull it off and space issues.... using this yarn did add an extra level of difficulty as it was almost felting with so much movement, even with that it went pretty fast.. 

as far as other costs I got a new deck of cards ( cut to 2 1/2 inches ) and a hole punch.. about two bucks together.. I by chance saw a video on how to use barrel swivels for fishing line to attach your yarn together if you are planning on doing a pattern that goes mostly in one direction.. great tip highly agreed after only one go at it .. those were about $3.. for 35 ( sz 5 ) plenty of extras ... had a key ring already although I will be using more than one next time.. to tie the yarn to one side and the swivels with the other end of the warp yarn hooked up to..  the simple pattern I picked is only two colors and forward turning.. had I not added the swivels it would have been a whole different story ..

I got 1 inch wide by about 22 inches long band.. I stopped a few inches short of what I could have worked up thinking it would be long enough for a hat band.. it's super dense.. flat out love it.. this is going to add a fun and hopefully pretty strong and element to my bags..
total cost of $5. ( without yarn or the supplies I already had, loom, beater and shed stick ) the cards can be used again as the swivels.. paper punch is a much needed replacement.. not bad for trying out a new craft :)

Ground Owl Seed Bead Chart

As a life long fan of owls, I was delighted to find ground owls living near by..

I plan on stitching it on to a fabric to creat a charm or key chain that will hold up a bit better.. they can easily be made into earrings by adding a beaded hoop to the top of the head or metal ring.

 

  used round size 11/0 seed beads and nymo beading thread

Lady Bugs Loom Bracelet

 This is another item to check off my list of things I have wanted to make for ages now..
 I have loved Lady bugs for as long as I can recall..


very simple chart, works up fast.. braided closure so super easy on that score as well ..

I use round ( size 11/0 ) beads, so the chart looks a little squared off.. 

I made the chart using a free download of Bead Tool 4.. I don't use the same colors as they have listed so I only use the color chart, not the number or names .. pick your favorite brand/type of beads and go for it.. 

Paw Print Earring Bead Chart

11/0 seed beads

Loom Beading Bone Heart Paw

.Pulled out my beading loom.. been really missing weaving but have no were I can set up my table top loom right now, besides I've gone and pulled out all of my beads over the last few weeks.. only thing I could do was start bead weaving lol

I had only made a couple of bead loom weavings in the past.. I jumped into straight stitch and brick stitch right away..  it offers a freedom that looming doesn't in exchange for speed.. I adore free form works.. yet I love working up charts.. easy answer made my own :)

I am relearning bead weaving skills as it had been close to a decade.. my charts will progress as I do.. I do plan on jumping around between crochet beading, crochet, knit and weaving.. playing it by ear each day.. so stay tuned to see what's next ;)

here is the chart .. I don't have counts of each color yet after I get all of that together I will offer a pdf on Esty..
made with size 11/0 seed beads of iffy quality as I am just getting restarted I thought I might as well use up some of my lesser beads until my skill warrants higher cost beads lol 

Earring Bead Charts

 Brick Stitch


size 11/0 seed beads
Haven't had the time to get counts on the beads yet, but here are a couple of charts I've been playing with

just add 6 beads to the top to form a loop for you ear hook
used nymo beading thread ans size 12 needle I believe