DIY: Sew An Organic Sweater (with hoody!)

Armed with some sustainable Organic Cotton Fleece and Bamboo fabric I decided to take the challenge of making my own organic sweater for the winter. Organic clothing can be really pricey, most times far out of the range most people want to spend and when it comes to organic cotton winter wear it's even worse...although worth the $$$ to those with sensitive skin, chem sensitivities or eco minded ethics, sometimes we just can't pay $100 to stay warm.
This is why DIY sewing skillz can be a big money saver, not to mention a lil' creative fun. I am not the best at sewing to be honest, each project is a lesson...
so here is what I learned & how I did it....
I took a shirt I made a few years ago, and used it to make a new pattern.
When making a pattern from a garment you already own here are two important tips:

• Make sure to trace extra room at all the seams where you will be sewing (see pic below)
• Check for differences in the fabric, like stretch vs. not so stretchy and adjust accordingly

Once you trace your pattern cut it out with scissors.
I cut out the body part and the sleeves separate, because I planned on sewing them together later.

THE HOODY ::::

Making a hoody is actually super easy, like making a basic pillow!

Trace a hoody you already have, which will make a pattern for one side of the hoody. Both sides will match and be sewn together.

You can always test the paper pattern on your head to make sure it will fit, and to see how long the neck part may need to be to meet the back of your sweater.

Lay out all your pieces on the fabric and make sure you have enough. I ended up not having enough purple organic cotton fleece for the hoody and used more bamboo fabric instead.

To make cutting out the pattern you made easier, pin it down to the fabric. I totally hate this part for some reason and always try to find ways to get out of it... but it never turns out right without those pins holding it right in place.

Once the pins are in, you can cut out the fabric pieces that will be sewn together.

I doubled the fabric so that I could cut out the back and front of the sweater all together.

I then took my sweater cut outs, and pinned them to the bamboo fabric I wanted to use as a warm smooth lining inside the organic cotton sweater.

TIME TO SEW ::::

I made the sleeves separate, and after sewing together the seams for the body part of the sweater, i added on the sleeves.

I did a tight zig zag stitch on the outside of the sweater so that it could have that cute handmade look.

The hoody got cut out and sewn on last....

END RESULT #1 ::::

The sweater is SO amazingly soft and warm, but was feeling a little tight because the fleece didn't have much stretch... (some organic cotton does and some doesn't, bamboo typically stretches.)I could have taken out the inner seams and loosened it up, but then i got another idea!!!

NEW IDEA! :::::

I cut down the entire front of the sweater and sewed some zig zag seams along those sides to hold in the bamboo lining.

Then I took the bone awl Urban Scout made me (see pic below) to punch holes evenly along those seams.

I used the bamboo lining scraps to create a corset, lace up front for the sweater that way the size could adjust with my needs.

ADorabLe & SeXy!! It has a hardcore fairy feel to it now, and I like it even better. :)))

END RESULT #2 :::

Yes? Yes!

Xoxoxoxoxoxo

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FABRICS BY :

The Bamboo Fabric Store, see more.

Near Sea Naturals (who now carry Spiritex local organic cotton), see more.

Playing With Cob! (A Mosaic Adventure)

Cob is a mixture of subsoil (clay), sand, and some kind of fiber (like hay) that makes a kind of hard cement when it dries. Growing up in the city of New Orleans "cob" meant the snot in your nose that you coughed up and spit out, usually referring to spitting a 'cob' on people or near them. It still takes me off guard when I hear the word 'cob' now used to refer to the sustainable and ancient building material that is being handmade all over the world as an alternative to the inefficient building materials of the modern (cheap) human. Cob produces thermal mass, and all kinds of other fancy words that mean it has some awesome natural qualities in controlling temperature in your home.
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My cob project was to build a fire code safe platform underneath my wood stove. When I moved to the Luck Cabin there were just some haphazardly placed bricks under the hot box, and they didn't come out near far enough to prevent fires caused when the sparks fly out the wood stove door (this usually happens while putting in new logs like Hickory which throw off many hot flamin' sparks.)
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With the wooden frame set in, I was ready for my cob expert friend Mary Jane to come over and help me get the project started!
Mary Jane and her special man built their WHOLE HOUSE outta cob. Seriously! There is no better teacher then experience, Mary Jane knew her shit about the mixture and what consistency we were aiming for. Sticky, ooky, gooky, bloppy.
We used clay dug up at my house (when my grey water system & mini barn were put in), sand (some i stole from a secret place and some mary jane brought), and the magic ingredient ......
DONKEY POOP! yay!
Here is the equation broken down::::
clay + sand + donkey poo + water = sticky heavy cob worth throwin' down.
We mixed it up in this big storage bucket with our hands. Mary did alot of mashing, pushing it down with her fist, turning it over and over. Adding water, adding sand. Checking the feel of the cob.
I pushed it around, flipped it and kept talking cause i was so excited.

Once the cob mixture was feeling right, we started tossing it down into the wooden frame bordering the wood stove...

We filled in all the spaces, and used our hands to sculpt it flat and smooth on top...

Can you believe how awesome that looks!? We don't need no cement, we need only found Al' NaturAl' materials!

GETTING ARTSY WITH THE COB::::

I wanted to decorate my cob with lots of broken plates, glass, and beads. I can say from past experience it tends to crack more with lots of close together decorations, but Mary Jane said all cob cracks, you just want to reduce the amount of cracking to a minimum. She also noted that with cracks, you can just fill them in with more cob later.

The artist in me could not resist a full out mosaic assault on my cob platform. I didn't know what I wanted to do so I started with a simple border made from glass beads I've carried around for years (called "mass of glass" at craft stores, it's the reject 'ugly' glass beads sold in a big tub.)

I wanted to do some kind of bird too, and after Mary J looked around the Luck Cabin she noticed I had alot of owls... her suggestion led to some majorly scary fun! I was so scared to fuck it up but then it started really coming together as we collaborated on the owl's features...

Since the cob was setting up slightly (due to the wood stove actually cranking out some wood burnin' heat) I was adding some water to keep it wet and using the back of a heavy kitchen knife to 'tap' in the tiles evenly. We also used a paint brush dipped in water to run over all the tiles to smooth out the cob and fill in cracks. This covered the tiles in a muddy wet coating that can be removed with a sponge AFTER it dries.

Mary J went home to work on her own cob stove project... and I became obsessed for hours making the mosaic more and more elaborate.

.-.-.-.--.--.--.-.--.-.-hypnotizing.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

This project was so much fun I can not wait to do my next cob idea, which will be to take my old broken wood stove sitting out on my porch and build a cob oven around it!

but it'll have to wait till Spring time when it's warm cause nobody wants to stick their hands in frozen sticky mud. ;)

XOxoxox

Up On The Roof (Scrap Wood, Handsaw & Milk Paint)

This is the BEFORE picture :::::
(Before I put the red scrap wood "sunburst" decoration in that triangle below the roof...)
I had some thin long pieces of scrap cedar that had been cut off larger pieces of wood used on my deck - I decided to paint them with red Milk Paint and use them for a lil' exterior cabin decorating. I was inspired by my longing for the ornate houses of my childhood in New Orleans - a city where people don't hold back on the splashy colors and elaborate carpentry work. While what I did so far isn't quite as fancy as the French Quarter, it certainly gives my Luck Cabin the funky flare I love to come home to!

SUPPLIES I USED::::

• Scrap wood
• Milk paint
• Handsaw
• Hammer & nails

This exterior beautification project cost me under $5 (some money for the paint) and only a few hours of warm tanning time on the roof - it took VERY little skillz. Pretty rad when it's cheap & easy, right?

So I brought all the supplies up on the porch roof - I decided to measure each one by eye'ing it artistically, then using my handsaw to cut the angles to make it fit. I was not a perfectionist about it, but I wanted it to look symmetrical and have a good flow.... aka: SunBurst-y feeling!

The easiest way to start this, is by placing the one in the middle first, since it is perfectly straight up and down - then 'burst' outward from the center point.

So the only skillz you really need, are to push the paint brush around to paint with the milk paint, and to push a handsaw back and forth - and to hit a nail with a hammer....

AND WA-LA.... totally cute & affordable home improvement! This idea can be added onto, while I was up there I began to think of shapes that could be added, variations on the pattern, and other colors I could add in too.... circles or squares, gingerbread decor - I may keep going with this.

Here are some photos of the end result from afar..... AFTER....

Compare them to the top photo for a full Before and After ::::::

I love it! Makes me wish the stupid power lines were not in the way.... anyone wanna get me some solar panels!?? ;)

Xoxoxo

DIY Transformation: From Crusty Ole' Cabinet to Fly Lookin' Desk

When I moved into the Luck Cabin there was this one old cabinet that was no longer attached to the wall... just sitting empty next to my front door. At some point I had slid it across the room and started using the top as a spot to prop up my laptop and do all things internet related (like dis' blog!) After a while it dawned on me that I could add some legs to the thing and actually use it as a desk - and by flipping it over it would make the perfect flip top storage desk!
(Thanks to Bort for the idea of having it open on top, to resemble a kid's school desk.)

SUPPLIES I USED:

• a long tree log to cut four legs
• 8 screws (to attach 4 log legs to cabinet)
• old cabinet
• milk paint
• sponge brush & matte knife & paper cut outs (for decorating)

STEP ONE: The Legs!

My uncle helped me attach the legs to the cabinet - the best way to do this is to be able to set the cabinet up on something that is the height of the legs, that way screwing in the hardware to hold them in place is much easier.

The other thing that needs to be right is each leg needs to be the same length, and FLAT/parallel on the top & bottom --- this may take a little extra effort when you are working with organically shaped logs rather then perfectly straight manufactured wood.

STEP TWO: The Stencils & Drawings!

I used a negative or relief technique to get the shapes i wanted - in stead of using silhouettes, i cut out the shapes and taped them down to the surface of the desk. I wanted to keep the light green/mint/pastel color that was already on there - and used black Milk Paint as my top coat color to carefully paint over the shapes. (Most of ya'll know by now I am in love with milk paint!! It is interesting to work with plus totally non toxic and bio-degradable!)

As the surface of the black paint was drying on top the old toxic mint colored paint, I decided to use the black paint like a scratch board and cut into the slightly moist black color with a matte knife - in this way i could draw back into the paint!!! Super fun. (I think the scratch method into milk paint is something that could be taken alot further....)

I did three sides and the top with relief pictures/stencils and drawings-here are what they looked like (above and below) as I was working on them- with the paint partly wet....

(i was going with a nature/primitive drawing theme.)

Hell yeah :)

And I ended it with a vague quip on the front....

The top opens up, just as planned... what do ya'll think I should hide in my special desk?

FINISHED TRANSFORMATION:::::::

All done and shoved into it's corner in the cabin, ready to have a laptop on top and me sitting in front. I think it rocks!!

Xoxoxo