|
|
One-Yard Wonders: 101 Sewing Fabric Projects; Look How Much You Can Make with Just One Yard of Fabric! $13.45 WORKMAN PUBLISHING-Storey Publishing: One Yard Wonders. One-Yard wonders will delight anyone who has ever fallen for fabric: from the novice to the lifelong seamstress. This book features a delightful array of simple yet stylish projects that can be made with just a single yard of fabric: from apparel to accessories; plush toys to pet beds; baby items to bags and home decor projects; have a hip co… |
|
|
Fabric-by-Fabric One-Yard Wonders: 101 Sewing Projects Using Cottons, Knits, Voiles, Corduroy, Fleece, Flannel, Home Dec, Oilcloth, Wool, and Beyond $17.99 The best-selling authors of One-Yard Wonders are back with an all-new collection of 101 sewing projects that each require just one yard of fabric! This time, the projects are organized by fabric type. From home dec to knits, wool to flannels, corduroy to cottons, these patterns–contributed by popular sewing bloggers and designers from across North America–show how to make the most of each fabric… |
|
|
Stitch by Stitch: Learning to Sew, One Project at a Time $14.44 Learn to Love Sewing, Stitch by Stitch So, you love all that gorgeous designer fabric and you really want to make something with it. Or maybe you’ve taught yourself a little sewing know-how but have become frustrated. Whatever your background, Stitch by Stitch guides you through everything you need to know to start sewing and make it to the varsity level. Inside Stitch by Stitch, you’ll learn esse… |
Fabric By Fabric One Yard Wonders!
Smocked Pillow in the Round
Fabric By Fabric One Yard Wonders Questions
Does mulch increase the possibility of termites?
I’m planning an extensive curb appeal project for spring. I have two front yards – separated by steps. Both are sloped. Not real steep. One is approximately 9′ X 12′. The other is about 5′ X 12′. I’m thinking about laying down some landscape fabric and filling the areas with mulch rather than rock. I believe mulch is cheaper. Maybe some big rocks. Some sawgrass. First, I’m wondering how much this is going to set back me back? More importantly, someone once told me mulch increases the possibility of termites visiting? Is this true?
Mulch has long been the “source” of termites, mold, etc. The fact is that some mulch (cedar bark) have been used to reduce and eliminate such pests.
Forget the fiber. It is a pain. Begin with a design plan to include all seasons and color. The cost will depend on your own personal opinion. Most designs begin at the front door with matching specimen plantings (read expensive). The remaining bed area can/should be a mixture of year-round plants and annuals (read cheap).
There are a number of products available to you that can control weeds pre and post emergent without using the fiber. Any bed that might be replaced seasonal or yearly should not have the fiber. For example, you plant annual flowers. The soil already has weed seed in it and you turn it over by cutting the fibre. Does the fibre stop the exposed weed seed?
A good triple shredded mulch at an appropriate level combined with a Preen or Dyclomec application will prevent the weeds. Apply only after the final planting and water it in. The triple shred will provide rich topsoil within two/three years. If you are worried about critters a simple solution is to apply a granular (granular only) Sevin. This will filter through the soil and eliminate most insects including your termites.
Whereas your region is not noted the plantings can not be recommended. My email is gjgjobs@yahoo.com. I have been a landscape designer for thirty years and currently retired. I would like to help you place the cheapest and best plantings in your plans. I made my monies by going best, cheap, easiest, and low maintenance. Good Luck.
Felting, Fulling, or Boiled Wool?
To ignore one of the basic knitting commandments, “Thou shalt not put wool into hot water” is to risk suffering the dreaded consequence of such action – very small, very stiff, little sweaters into which no family member would ever want to grow. But approaching the hot water as friend not foe, affords an opportunity to enjoy a wonderful new perspective on rows of knit and purl stitches. As a distinct change of texture and appearance results from the felting process, simple stocking stitch knitting can be magically transformed all without knowledge of complicated knitting technique.
Felt is a warm, windproof fabric that despite its matted texture remains remarkably lightweight and soft to the touch. To produce a felt fabric, the basic raw material is always the same but the production method can vary. The raw material that is common to all methods is a protein fiber derived from an animal source, most often wool. Other protein fibers such as mohair, angora, alpaca, and some furs can also be successfully felted. Why only animal fibers? It is because these fibers have a unique surface structure which consists of overlapping scales. These scales in reaction to being plunged into hot water, open up and latch on to each other creating new formations. This interlocking process is further aided by rubbing the scales together through some form of agitation such as kneading by hand or the action of a washing machine. Further scale mixing is achieved by making the scales slippery with the aid of a sudsy, soapy solution. Once these scales have found their new positions on the surface of the fabric, there is no going back. These newly-positioned scales remain locked together in their latest relationships and the happy result is felt.
“Felting” is the term most often used to define the transformation of a protein fiber into this warm and wonderful fabric. In the strictest sense, felting describes the procedure of taking batts of wool fleece (raw wool that has not yet been spun into yarn), adding hot, soapy water and kneading the wool batt until the fiber scales interlock. The word “filz” is found in Old High German. This language was in use prior to the 12th century, an indication that when felting today we are continuing to explore a very ancient craft.
“Fulling” is the process of producing felt fabric from animal fiber yarn that has already been woven or knitted. Fulling takes the woven or knitted fabric through the process of hot water and agitation in order to facilitate shrinkage and create felted fabric. In the Middle Ages, “fullers” were textile workers who used Fuller’s Earth, a highly adsorptive clay that removed grease and oils from the woven cloth. The agitation of the cleansing action would shrink and matt the fibers creating a fabric that would not unravel. The term fulling stems from “fullare”, a Medieval Latin word meaning “to walk on or trample”. This process emphasizes the agitation that is required in coaxing those fiber scales to intertwine. Today, it is more common to see Fuller’s Earth used as an ingredient in a cosmetic face mask, where it sets its shrinking powers to other tasks.
“Boiled wool” is another descriptive term for felted cloth. It is the characteristic fabric produced in Austria and used to fashion chic Tyrolean jackets embellished with braid binding and pewter buttons. Again, the basic raw material is wool yarn. The process is the same as fulling but completed on an industrial level in order to facilitate the handling of larger quantities. Computerized controls finely tune water temperature levels and agitation strength in order to produce a consistent result. The yarn is first dyed, then knit and shrunk without the aid of chemicals. This process produces felt fabric available by the yard, ready for cutting into pattern pieces to be assembled into garments.
Allow yourself time to experiment with the felting process and how the knitted yarn reacts. Knit test samples of stocking stitch in a pure wool yarn. One caution must be observed. Do not use a wool yarn that has been processed as a superwash yarn, in other words a yarn that can be machine-washed without fear of shrinkage. Since it is shrinkage that is the goal in felting, these yarns are not suitable for felting projects. Knit a number of samples, perhaps in different yarn weights and colors, while making note of the knitted measurements of each. Place these samples in the hot water cycle of the washing machine, removing after the rinse and spin dry cycles. Square up the edges of the samples and allow to dry flat. Measure the samples again and compare to the original measurements. If felting has taken place, it is not only indicated by the change of measurements but in the texture of the fabric. Holding up the felted fabric sample to a strong light, one should barely be able to distinguish the grid of stitches and rows. The felted sample should be very matted and if you cut the knitting, it will not unravel. Notice that the knitting remains soft and lightweight, not stiff and harsh.
If you have moved on to transforming your hand knitting into a felted garment, you may think that is has gone through the most vigorous and tortured wash that knitted yarn could ever endure. Now and forever more, you assume that you can throw that felted garment into the hot wash cycle. Treat your felted garment with “wool rules”. Hand wash using a mild soap or wool detergent in lukewarm water and do not rub or leave to soak as further felting may occur. After thorough rinsing, dry flat. Felted handknitting can always be improved with brushing and even a light pressing with a warm iron to produce a smoother surface appearance. If you are storing felted garments for an extended length of time, be sure to tuck a moth repellent inside the garment.
These are the basic guidelines to start you down the felted path. If you take the plunge and experiment with different yarn weights, brands and colors, you will increase your knowledge of what really happens when a particular yarn meets hot water. After all, the knitting is easy and the results can be spectacular.
About the Author
Maddy Cranley is a professional knitwear designer, who has created exclusive designs for knitting and craft magazines, authored and published three books on the subject of creating felt garments and projects from hand knitting, and produces an ever-growing line of maddy laine and maddy baby hand knitting patterns. For additional information, see http://www.maddycraft.com
