Learning to Weave with the Bucilla Weaving Loom

I love trying new-to-me crafts, so I was excited that my BORC from Plaid contained the Bucilla Weaving Loom (affiliate link here and throughout the post). Weaving isn't new to me in the sense that I've done paper weaving and basic yarn weaving, but I'd never done anything besides the plain over-under stitch and I'd never completed an actual woven yarn project. 

The Bucilla Weaving Loom came with everything I needed except the yarn. I chose to use Premier's Sweet Roll Yarn (Gelato Pop and Mint Swirl, which is apparently discontinued). The loom instructions have text and pictures for the Plain Stitch (already knew that one!), the Soumak Stitch, the Looped Stitch, and the Rya Knot. Here are my first few rows. 

The rows worked up quickly and the comb helped keep everything nice and straight. 

Everything stayed nice and straight until it came time to take my project off the loom. In the process of tying off the bottom warp yarn, I messed up the tension a bit. I tried to fix it as I tied off the top warp yarns....

... but the finished piece ended up a bit off-kilter. I also noticed that I cut the fringe a bit unevenly. No matter. I'm happy with it and am confident that each future attempt will be better and better. 

I learned a lot during this first project and thoroughly enjoyed the process. How about you? Have you tried weaving? Any tips or tricks for keeping things straight once you remove your work from the loom?

Felt Applique Easter Egg Wreath

When I shared the felt applique bunny last week, I mentioned that it was inspired by the Easter egg wreath I was making. I've finished it and it came out even better than I'd hoped! 

The wreath was part of a kit (affiliate link here and below) that included the felt (I had to cut out all the pieces), the embroidery floss, the sequins, the beads, two needles, and the interfacing that serves as the base of the wreath. The only material I needed that wasn't included in the kit was the Poly-fil. I started out by following the directions closely, but as I got the hang of it, I veered off in my own direction. While my wreath looks similar to the photograph on the front of the kit, you can spot plenty of places where I changed up the colors or patterns on the decorated eggs. 

While there was a bit of a learning curve, overall this was a fairly easy project. I would recommend it to anyone age 9-plus. (If you're quite a distance on the 'plus' side of 9 like I am, I HIGHLY recommend this magnifying lamp for threading the itty-bitty beading needle.) Once I learned the basics, it was very relaxing to sew each egg. 

Now that I've dipped my toe into the world of felt applique, I am dying to start another project! I particularly would like to do other seasonal wreaths so that when I take down the Easter wreath, there's another to go in its place. I'm going to do at least two more kits before I even think about designing my own felt applique project. These are the ones I'm considering doing next: 

I'm also strongly considering this beautiful advent calendar. What do you think I should do next? Any of the designs jump out at you? 

My Version of the Stitched Bucilla Camper

Recently, the Plaid Ambassadors received something exciting in the mail. We're calling it a BORC (pronounced bork), which stands for 'Box of Random Challenge.' Each ambassador's BORC was specially curated to contain Plaid items that the recipient doesn't normally use, with the goal of challenging us to see what we can create. My box held all sorts of interesting items, including this camper-themed Bucilla embroidery kit (affiliate link here and throughout the post). 

I didn't want to just complete the kit as is. In the spirit of the BORC, I used Fabric Creations fabric inks for the first time. I used brush to paint the inks onto the unstitched canvas, let it dry, and was delighted to find that the inks covered perfectly in a single coat and the fabric remained soft and flexible. 

On to the stitching! Because the design is printed on the canvas, I opted not to use the directions to determine which stitch to use where and instead did whatever stitch I felt like using. 

I did my stitching in the evening. Thank goodness for my Brightech lamp! It makes stitching so much easier, not to mention the fact that I can thread a needle in a single attempt when I use the magnifying lamp. It's almost like being young again, LOL!

The kit comes with a wood frame, but again, I didn't want to just use it as is. I dug around through my ever-increasing stash of Plaid products and found Folk Art Transparent Soft Gel Paint in sepia. I used a cotton ball to rub the gel into the wood, then let it dry before framing my stitching. Here is my completed project:

And for comparison, here is the picture on the front of the package next to what I made. 

I had a lot of fun with this quick and easy project. I particularly love that it gave me the chance to try two types of colorants that were totally new to me. I'm looking forward to my next BORC project!