Dream Pillow

May 2013
My dear little sister saw one of these and wanted a Dream Pillow of her own.  She said she'd even pay me to make her one!  Well, I decided to make her one for her birthday.  She liked it, but not sure about her hubby!  LOL!  The herbs are sleepy time herbs & not as "sweet" as some would like!  Here's some pics of the process:

First I readied the materials I'd use.

Then I trimmed the felt to size.

I used a disappearing ink pen to draw in the sun.

You may have to click on the pic to see it.

I stitched the outline of the sun.

Then added yellow rays to the sun.

Added some orange rays to the sun.

Then I sewed up 3 sides of the pillow.

Separated 7 different herbs and spices into wooden bowls.

Used my spoons from Turkmenistan to scoop herbs.

Here's a close up of the 7 herbs and spices I used.

The herbs and spices I used were chamomile flowers, 

lavender, patchouli leaf, cinnamon chunks, 

whole coriander, pink rose buds, and cloves.  

Do you know which is which in the pic?

I added some alpaca batting to the bottom edge & sides.

Then I added the herbs and spices.

Added more alpaca batting after hiding a couple shells

and some beach glass among the herbs & spices.

Sewed the top closed and the pillow was ready to mail

Hope you enjoyed this small tutorial!

Needlework Owl Sewing Kit to my Sister

Many years ago I saw an owl needle case online.  I liked the idea & kept it in my idea book.  Now, years later, I wanted to make one for my sister's big birthday since our Italian family Lare is an owl, but I couldn't remember who to attribute my inspiration to.  I remember it was just a couple pictures, but had no tutorial with it.  If you recognise something similar to this, let me know & I will give you credit. I had no idea how to start, so I decided to ask my DH to draft a pattern up for me.  And he did!  Not only a pattern but instructions!  It's wonderful to have a co-creator as a life partner!  And I hope our Owl Lare continues to protect my sister.
Here follows a tutorial for the one I made which was much larger than the one I saw online & used very different materials.

1.  Get DH to draft the pattern for you!

2. Cut out the pattern pieces.

3.Set out where pieces will go.

4.  Cut out lining pocket and felt.

5.  Sew owl body to cover.

6.  Sew owl body parts to cover.

7.  Sew branch and leaves to cover.

8.  Owl sewn to cover.

9.  Sew wing closure, felt and pocket.

10.  Sew gusset pocket to lining.

11.  Add snap to wing.

12.  Add snap to body.

13.  Blanket stitch lining to cover.

14.  Here's the finished lining full of useful items...including a band aid!

15.  Here's the snapped & finished cover.

16.  Here it is RTG with a card made by my pal Azlina.

You can see her site here.  If the link doesn't work,

try:  http://azlina-lin.blogspot.com/  Seems to be having some

problems today.  Maybe 'cuz of all my updates!

My sister liked her sewing kit.  It may come in handy this summer

since her daughter is getting married!

2nd Blogoversary Tutorial - Needle Felted Egg

I was trying to figure out what to give away for my Blogoversary.  I decide to give everyone 2 tutorials.  I had to do this early in case anyone wanted to make this Needle Felted Egg for Easter, or any spring holiday.  You have time!  It only took a few hours.  (And fellow bloggers, this is the tutorial to comment on if you want to win this finished egg!)  Here we go!

1.  First I gathered my supplies, tools and a sketched egg shape.  You can barely see it!

2.  Next I cut out the inside of the egg shape to make a template.  You could also use a cookie cutter if you have one.  Place it on your foam pad.

3.  Next I started to pull out pieces of the wool roving.

4.  Then I crisscrossed the wool over the template.

5.  Next I folded the wool roving on itself to an approximate shape of the template.

6.  Now start tacking the wool down with your needle felting tool.

7.  Be sure to check and make sure the wool isn't sticking to the foam pad.  You can turn it over and do the back also.

8.  This picture is hard to see, but I am checking for holes or weak spots that need more wool.

9.  Don't forget to felt the sides.  And watch your fingers!!!  The barbs on the needle are sharp!!!

10.  Continue felting until the background is done.  It should be solid.  Mine felted down to about 3/8 inches deep.

11.  Add Lincoln curls to make wiggly stripes.  (Lincoln curls are what I used.  You can use whatever kind of wool you want.)

12.  If the curls don't seem to be attaching well, you can place a "cobweb" over the background & felt it over the curls.  Don't worry about the curls going off the edge.  You can trim them later.

13.  Pull wisps of other colors to make some dots.

14.  Fold and roll wisps into dots.

15.  Start felting dots between the curly lines.  Smaller dots need just a teeny bit of wool.

 16.  Now it's all felted & ready to hang.  Add a floss hanger...or you could use the egg on a gift, or you could back it with regular craft felt so you could sign it.  Wherever your imagination takes you!  For the tutorial, I left the back plain & just added a hanger.

17.  And there you have your hand needle felted egg.

Now if you want a chance on receiving this egg for my Blogoversary, be sure to comment on this post!  I will inform whoever I draw that day.  Then I can get your snail mail to get your spring egg to you!  Happy felting.  If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

1st Blogoversary Tutorial - Sunflower Study

This is a quick tutorial on how I did a study of a sunflower.

1.  First I sketched a sunflower from a reference photo & then I inked it.  The most important thing to remember is to really SEE what you are drawing!  Not what you think it looks like, but what it really looks like.  Take time to really look at your reference, even before you start sketching.

2.  Next I used watercolor pencils to add the local colors of the flower & background.

3.  Next I wet down the water color pencil with my water brushes.  Let dry.



4.  Then I used the watercolor pencils to add shadows and darken the background.

5.  Last I wet down the added colors, & here you have the finished study.  Let dry.

Here is a pic of the only tools I used.

If I were to go from the finished study to a full size painting, there may be some changes I'd make, but it gives me a great start.