DIY Life

Back when I was writing about all the things you can do with one yard of fabric, I found that for many projects, a yard of material was actually too much. There are scads of things you can make using only fabric scraps, leftover from other projects.

This is good news for those of us who save everything, but really don't have a place for it all... so pull out those bags of fabric scraps and start sewing! Some of these projects make great gifts; you'll be customizing your gift for your recipient, and saving a lot of money, too.

Fabric flower cards: Maggie has written a previous post on how to make fabric flower cards. Using your fabric scraps, you can create a floral garden right on cardstock. What a beautiful gift.

Summer is almost officially here -- at least in the Northern Hemisphere -- so it's fitting that the Summer 2008 issue of the free online knitting magazine Knitty hit the Web yesterday afternoon.

This time around, the majority of the patterns are small or lightweight things appropriate for warm-weather wear; not many of them will sit on your lap like a blanket while you work on them. Along with a few garments, there are many accessories -- even a knit lace garter for weddings.

We'll discuss a few of the best patterns and technical articles after the break.

Berroco, the popular yarn company, releases several new yarns just about every season. Because they're a leader in the category of fashion yarns -- that is, those you might use to make a special-occasion top with a bit of flash, or a fancy scarf that isn't necessarily intended to keep you warm -- their products are often complex, and relatively expensive and delicate. It might not be practical to make a full garment out of some of them.

Fortunately, Berroco is also known for their large archive of free patterns. Their most recent releases are small fashion accessories that you can make out of delicious yarns like glittering Lumina and textural Seduce... without breaking your budget.

My two favorite patterns from the latest update are Lurema and Scarfina. A close look suggests that they're actually essentially the same pattern, written for two different yarns: both are long (64"), slender (5") lace scarves. Lurema is shown as a head-wrap, while Scarfina is depicted as a belt, but you should be able to wear either of them either way: just choose your favorite yarn and run with it.

You may also be interested in Hedda, a small crocheted headband made in two colors of Linen Jeans, which was part of the same recent pattern update.

Are you ready for February 14th? If not, help is on its way: this year's round-up of Valentine's Day ideas from MarthaStewart.com has nifty crafts in several genres and adorable food ideas, all at several levels of difficulty.

The good people at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia have separated their tutorials into categories, with some overlap between them. A few of these projects might be suitable for last-minute scrambles, but you're going to want to tackle most of them as soon as you can.

Among the categories:

• Numerous Valentine card ideas: hand-stitched cards and envelopes, envelopes made from paper lace doilies, cards with attached flower seeds, heart-shaped string seals, "flowers" made from paper hearts, a small paper packet that both unfolds into a heart and holds other surprises, and more.
• Crafty hand-made Valentine gifts like heart-shaped soap with words stamped into the top, Victorian "Sailors' Valentines" (boxes decorated with a pattern of small sea-shells), and an easy heart bookmark made from two layers of paper. There's also a list of "green" gifts like a recycled wood picture frame and an organic cotton lace nightie. (Excluded from the categories, but still relevant, is this scarf stitched from wool felt hearts. You can make it from purchased wool felt, or recycle some old sweaters. )

Information about Valentine decor, recipes, and projects for children and family follows after the break!

I've written about furoshiki here several times in the last few months. How can you not love them? They bring traditional Japanese style into the 21st century with an eco-friendly bonus: you can avoid using throwaways like paper gift wrap or plastic carrying bags by wrapping something beautifully in a versatile, re-usable cloth. Recently, I came across a furoshiki bag style I've never seen before. I think it's so nifty that I have to share it!

Watch the video above to see what I'm talking about. It involves two cloths that have been stacked as two layers, then sewn together with stitches in the shape of a plus sign. Each row of stitches is halfway across one side, so the lines of stitches intersect at the center of the cloths and divide the stack into quadrants. Each quadrant is a small pocket, formed by the two layers of cloth, with open outer edges and a free corner point.

This furoshiki style is simple to tie: you can see it in the video, but I'll also describe it after the break. However, to get it to look just like the video's results, you need a cloth that has been dyed in a specific way, and if you're going to create your own cloth that isn't dyed that way or stitch together two existing furoshiki, scarves, or bandannas, there are some points to consider. Please continue reading if you'd like more details and ideas.

Over at CRAFT a little while ago, Becky Stern posted this cool pattern for a scarf featuring the iconic O RLY? owl. I have no arguments with the pattern itself: I'd wear that scarf! It's awesome and hilarious. However, in terms of the execution, there are some technical issues worth discussing, particularly since Becky said that she wasn't completely happy with how the scarf came out.

If you want a scarf that has two good sides and the correct tension, it must have reversible stitches. The most common reversible stitch in scarf knitting is garter stitch, but there are myriad other possibilities.

It is not possible for a flat, single-layer scarf done in stranded or fair-isle knitting to have both a clear image and two good sides (you can see that the O RLY? scarf, as made, does not have a completely clear image). By definition, "stranded" means that strands of the yarn not in use on particular stitches are carried across the back of the work.

There are two "correct" ways to make the O RLY? scarf in which it will be reversible and not have visible yarn floats. A third technique is available, but would probably require redesigning the pattern significantly. All of these techniques take much more work than a flat, single-layer scarf.

Read more about it after the break, where we'll discuss various ways to use color charts in small accessories like scarves, bags, and pillow covers, and whether or not you should really worry much about doing things the "right" way.

It's the beginning of the month, so, as usual, that means a new issue of MagKnits, the free online knitting magazine that hails from the UK (as well as a large, lovely picture of yarn, above).

This month, there's lots of cold-weather goodness: a baby blanket, a scarf, two hats, some fingerless gloves, and a sweater. Several of them are things you should be able to finish knitting in a weekend or so, but a few of the projects are larger commitments. On the down side, while they're all nice and potentially useful, the patterns are somewhat less unique than usual.

You'll find more detailed discussion of this month's designs after the break.

If the man in your life is shivering from the cold because no one thought to give him a scarf as a Christmas gift, teleknitter has a wonderful manly cable scarf pattern for us to whip out before the New Year arrives. The pattern is simple and easy to follow, and according to one commenter, if you get a hole in the cable, just pull the yarn a little tighter and the hole will disappear.

What an excellent after Christmas gift to give the "manly" man in your life! Most men that I know would look at me in disgust and disbelief if I even thought of giving them such a girly gift. Really, guys don't know that they need to stay warm too, so if you decide to make a manly cable scarf, please don't use pink yarn.

Christmas is in less than a week: is all of your shopping done? It's getting a bit late to order anything (especially if you don't want to pony up for pricey overnight shipping), but if you're shopping for crafty friends, there's probably a lot available in your own town.

However, bead, paint, and yarn choices are completely subjective, you may not know what tools your loved ones need (beading loom? spinning wheel? umbrella swift? easel?), kits can be hit-or-miss, and I'm not sure anyone needs craft-themed sweatshirts. (Ever.) Have major advances in the world of crochet hooks or embroidery hoops really been made in the past year? Probably not. So when I thought about what makes a great holiday gift in the DIY realm, I kept coming back to one thing....

Please join us after the break to find the best of the latest craft books! There's certainly something here to please almost every creative person on your list: beaders and jewelry makers, people straddling the mixed-media art/craft divide, knitters, crocheters, scrapbookers, and anyone else who likes to learn how to make interesting things with their hands.

(Even better, you shouldn't have any problem finding most of these books at 4:00 in the afternoon on December 24th.)

By now, you've probably pulled all your winter sweaters out of storage. Are some of them in slightly worse shape than you remember? A hole here, some pilling there? Well, here are some ideas for what to do with your sweaters when they're beyond repair.

1. Follow Craft Addiction's simple instructions for using sweater sleeves to make extra long gloves (via Craft)

2. Use Write Mama Write's tutorial for fabric mittens to sew knit or felted mittens

3. Or use this tutorial from Whip Up, or these instructions from Canadian Living to make a felted bag

4. Craftster user maize has a tutorial for a recycled sweater coin purse

5. Last winter, Knitty gave us directions for turning an old sweater into a scarf

6. Sew Green has a tutorial for house slippers that could be made from a felted sweater. (via Craft Leftovers)

7. Use this free pattern from Totally Stitchin' to sew a knit purse (via Craft Gossip)

8. Another one from Craftster: a tutorial for turning an old sweater into a hat from user tickleagangster

9. Betz White has a pattern for turning old sweaters into adorable stuffed bunnies

10. Last, but by no means least, Digs Magazine has instructions for making pillow covers from old sweaters

The December 2007 issue of MagKnits came out the other day. It includes what may be, for some women, the simple winter hat of your dreams.

I'm not kidding you: If you have hair longer than chin-length, Hannah could be the hat you've been waiting for. It looks like a normal stocking cap from the front, but has a back similar to that of a baseball cap, so your ponytail isn't crushed against your head. (There are a few other hats like this out there, but mostly they use tiny extruded tubes and make your hair stick up at eccentric angles. Which is awesome, but a little too much for some people.)

More pattern chat after the break! This issue is a good one. It has nice accessories, cute sweaters, and a long coat with construction worth studying.

It's nice that, on the same day that snow -- and plenty of it -- came to my little corner of the Midwest, a new issue of Knitty arrived to soothe the chill. So I made some cocoa, and some English muffins with jam, and sat down to see what's on offer this time around.

Amy Singer, Knitty's founding editor, says that this issue is "all about sparkles and warmth and making things for yourself and the ones you love." There are also a large number of new designers in the Winter issue.

We'll talk about some of the highlights after the break.

Every week, the sites Knitting Pattern Central and Crochet Pattern Central post new free patterns that they've heard of or that have been sent to them. Several dozen patterns are often posted each week, and sometimes it can be tedious to look at them all to find the good ones... so I've done it for you. Then I've categorized them, alphabetized them, and written brief descriptions for each.

These patterns were all posted to the aforementioned sites in October, 2007, though some may have made their initial appearance on the web somewhat earlier. A few may have been posted in late September or the first few days of November: they were interesting enough to include here!

If you prove to like this feature, I'll continue to do it for you every month. You'll find patterns of all kinds after the break: sweaters for men, women, and babies, handbags, scarves and shawls, hats, toys, animals, socks, mittens, you name it.

November's MagKnits went up a few days ago, slightly late. This month brings us seven new knitting patterns, perfect for late autumn and early winter.

Most of the patterns this month are what I would describe as "quietly useful": attractive, without bowling you over. The standouts are the two sweater patterns: Basic Black, my favorite of the new designs, is a stylish v-neck cardigan, while Fibonacci is a slightly more complex cardigan with stripes and a shawl collar.

Read more about the rest of the new patterns after the break! There's a bunch of cold-weather accessories and a few baby items, one of which is an innovative solution to a problem lots of moms have.

Yes, folks, it's that time of year: the latest roughly-seasonal issue of The AntiCraft is up. The current issue is the Samhain (Winter) 2007 issue, full of cold-weather weirdness. As always, we have to start with a warning: the projects on the site are not "adult" in the naughty sense, but the language is, so if you're easily offended, The AntiCraft is probably not for you.

The newest issue is spider-obsessed, there have been changes to the site in the form of forums, and the ladies of The AntiCraft are also starting to peel back the covers on their new book, which will be released in a few weeks. In relation to the book, there's a shiny new extremely odd contest for you to try your hand at.

See what I mean after the break.

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