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“Felt so Good” Martha Stewart Living, 9/2009 Magazine

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I was so excited when I opened my latest issue of Martha Stewart Living and as I thumbed through the pages I came across a wonderful 6 page spread on new and fabulous felting ideas.   The September issue is on sale at your newsstand now, so don’t miss out on this issue.  Introduction to the article: Wool may be soft to the touch, but look at it under a microscope and you will see a tangle of rough fibers and you’ll see a tangle of a rough fiber covered in tiny overlapping scales.  A little coaxing makes the scales catch on one another and locked together with a craft called needle felting, you can take advantage of that quality decorating wool pillows, scarves, blankets, and other items with wool accents and no sewing or gluing is necessary. Just take a simple tool called a felting needle and moved it up and down through two layers of wool. Then watch as they fuse. Start with any woven wool as your base fabric and for embellishments use the fiber and in another of its forms yarn, felt cutouts or loose wool known as roving. The result is a stylish one-of-a-kind accessory to cozy up to this fall.

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Learn All About Sewing Velvet Fabric

 

I’m always tempted by the pretty velvets at the fabric store.  So much texture!  And the way the fibers catch the light!  But sewing on velvet is trickier than you’d think.  That nap that lends beautiful texture also likes to slip and crawl.  That nap can also spell disaster if you cut a piece the wrong direction.  That isn’t to say you shouldn’t use buy that velvet and sew it into something gorgeous, you just need to go into your velvet sewing project prepared.  And Melissa at Melly Sews has a post that takes you step by step through sewing on velvet. 

Velvet is such a luscious fabric, especially for winter sewing projects.  Of course there are velvet Christmas sewing projects – stockings, tree skirts, santa hats – but velvet is beautiful for all winter.  Think of all the gorgeous velvet dresses, evening bags, hair accessories, even pillows and other home décor that you see all winter long. 

Melly Sews’ post gives you the tips and tricks you need to know in order for your velvet sewing project to end up a success.  There are types of projects better suited for velvets, and kinds of projects to avoid.  She describes the different types of velvet available.  And she also tells the best way to lay out and cut your pattern pieces from velvet fabric.  Her tutorial also covers marking, pressing, and of course sewing that beautiful fabric.  There’s also a video included in case that’s your preferred method for learning.

Head over to Melly Sews to learn how to sew on velvet fabric. 

And if you want to learn more about that lovely blue velvet dress shown, she has a post that tells more about it including 2 ways to style it depending on if you want to be more dressy or more casual.

[photo credit: Melly Sews]