Patchwork Underground

Here’s a fun little project I’ve been meaning to post for a while now.  I made these in several colors since the first ones I made in purple.  I had to edit out my face in this picture because I looked super silly.  Don’t laugh!

These earrings sell themselves.  They’re big, they’re light, you can make them to match any outfit and they use up those pesky scraps you’re saving for no reason.  What more can a girl ask for?

Materials you’ll need to make these guys:

• scraps of ribbon, lace, cord, sequins or what-have-you
• ear bobs
• a 1.5″ x 1.5″ scrap of felt
• matching thread

Get er done:

1. Cut out your 1.5″ x 1.5″ square of felt.  (Excuse the pic, it’s Oregon and it’s February.  Light?  What light?)

2.  Choose your trims.  Be sure to vary the lengths of the scraps so that they hang in tiers.  Finish the ends of ribbons by cutting across them on the diagonal; the bias edge doesn’t unravel.  Knot the free end of the strand of sequins or else they will fall off one by one at inopportune moments (been there, done that).  Don’t shy away from using something you think isn’t that fabulous - if it matches in terms of color, it will probably look awesome once it’s mixed in with your other “conversation” trims.  You’re aiming for an interesting mix of textures.

3.  Knot your thread and whip-stitch along each piece of trim so that it is secured along one edge of the felt.  Stitch them at slightly wonky angles if you want them to flay out like the ones in the first picture.

4.  Wrap the free edge of the felt around the whip-stitched edge so that your stitches are hidden.  (The action is a lot like rolling a cigarette or a sushi roll.)  Whip-stitch the free edge down.  Continue stitching to the top end of the earring and draw the felt inwards with a few stitches so that it purses shut and you can’t see the free ends of the trim inside the felt casing.

For an optional wrapped texture wrap the remaining thread around the felt itself.  Wrap towards the top and knot.  With a needle, pass the free ends through the mass of felt.  Remove the needle from the thread and trim the threads that peeks out on the other side flush with the felt.

5.  Stitch the ear bobs to the top of the earrings.  Make sure that there is NO GAP in the circular link on the ear bob - thread can pass through really small places and your earrings will wind up on the ground!  If there’s even a tiny gap, push the link closed with a pair of pliers.

All done!  Enjoy.

I finally took pictures of all the yummy head scarves I made for Holiday Market that didn’t sell. I made 150+ and it was an unusually slow market so I’m still rollin’ in head scarves. God bless self-directed self-photography though, seriously. How else could I take this many semi-decent pictures of myself? I love these new-fangled digital cameras.

Check it out…no two alike!

How did I make them? Well, they’re lined with a cute fabric on the side that goes against your head, so first I serged the edges of the lining and the outer fabric together using contrasting thread. Then I attached ribbons to the ends and then I stitched a felt cut-out of a flower onto the finished product using a star pattern. When they’re all hanging over a clothesline together in my booth they look adorable - you can’t help but come in and play with all the dangly ribbons. The display is a babe magnet.

I wanted to post them here first to give ya’ll a first glimpse before I post them on Etsy. I’m going with the 1 Etsy post a day rule - the theory is that your new listing will top-list in people’s searches and bring more traffic to your shop. We’ll see how that goes.

Hope you guys like ‘em! People seemed to like them at market but they just didn’t go as fast as I’d hoped…