How to Make a Fabric Broach (Christmas Flower)

Molly at Mollychicken gave an easy, fun tutorial on making fabric broaches. That tutorial is complete and easy to read, with great pictures. It gave me an idea for making a broach that I could wear with black and red colors.

Naturally, Christmas comes to mind with the reds and greens traditionally used for the season. I had lots of scrap fabric on hand, so the only fabric I purchased was 1/4 yd. of tartan plaid flannel. Total cost of the project was under $2.00, including the plaid fabric.

Molly says to use hessian backcloth for the broach. Not having any hessian fabric on hand, I resurrected an old piece of needlepoint backing for the broach base. It worked just fine.

I did not pull through the fabric strips, but instead, sewed them onto the pencilled-in concentric circles. Instead of using felt to cover up the stitching on the back, I recycled a plaid collar from a vest previously scavengered for fabric and trimmings. A circle of the plaid fabric was cut out to fit the back, then a clasp was sewn onto the circle, and the completed back was hot glued onto the backing. A more finished plaid backing was the result.

The other finishing step was cutting the ends of the fabric strips at a slant. This was done haphazardly with scissors, but pinking shears could also be used to make the ends look prettily frayed.

I also researched this site for information about making rugs with rag strips. It was a good read and gave me some more ideas about out how to make the Christmas flower broach.

Here is a picture of the back and the front of the broach, using red, green and coordinating colors in the fabric scraps:

The project was an hour well spent, and a different type of craft using old methods incorporating rug making and recycling.

Knitted Knockers

October is almost here. Did you remember that October is "Breast Cancer Awareness Month"? That means: GET YOUR annual MAMMOGRAM, Ladies!

I previously wrote about making knitted knockers in this post Boob Inserts. And now I've come up with a new and improved version on the insert.

But wait, first you might need some background on Knitted Knockers, The Program:

...word soon spread among mastectomy patients and their caregivers, leading most recently to a news story on our knitted knockers effort that was picked up by CNN. As a result, we have been flooded with requests for knitted knockers from survivors, information on where to obtain the pattern, and advice on how to start a knitted knockers group. 

To better help the knitting volunteers and survivors find each other, and hopefully inspire more knitted knockers groups, we have attempted to organize information on the program in one location. While this portion of our website will be a work-in-progress, we hope that you find it helpful and will keep us posted on your knitted knockers!
(photo courtesy of The Knitting Experience)

Benefit for Breastless Women says
My sister knits like there's no tomorrow. Really - she can knit sitting, standing, walking, lounging, and maybe even sleeping. She sent me this story about a gal who is a breast cancer survivor, and owns a yarn shop, The Knitting Experience. Chesley, the shop's owner, was recently featured on TV for her knitting Boob-A-Thon. Her shop gathered up knitters from all around who were willing to knit boobs in front of TV cameras, to raise awareness for breast cancer, and to create knitted breast prostheses for charity. I'm starting to think seriously about knitting again. Anyone want to join me? The original Beryl Tsang pattern can be found online, and many other variations are on Ravelry. If you can't get interested in knitting knockers, perhaps you'd rather create other items, to be donated to Knitting for Knockers, an online shop that sells handmade items and in turn, "donates the total purchase price of each item sold (minus Etsy and/or Paypal fees) to Breast Cancer Action." British women have also been knitting breasts, to teach new mothers how to breastfeed. Their pattern calls for wool, but I'd skip that, for a breast prosthesis!

Another and different pattern can be found at Arpelia's Blog.

The "new and improved" model that I fiddled with uses only one side of the knitted circle. Fill the cup with fiberfill and sew a fabric circle onto the filled cup with a running stitch, using cotton fabric for the backing. This saves time because only one side of the insert is knitted, and it makes for a more comfortable fit on a reconstructed breast.

Here is my final product.

It works for me!

For Everything There is A Time and a Season

For everything, there is a time and a season. Ecclesiastes, Chapter Three:

1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

The past week has been high drama for family and friends with health crises and simultaneous emotional upheavals. I have been away from home for a while, trying to help. I don't know how much help I gave, but at least I offered distraction and prayer.

Podcasts of craftlit and pray-as-you-go and knitting, of course, are some of my coping mechanisms to help maintain mental stability. Time to just listen to meditations and time for reflection are gifts which I have been given during this time. While knitting, I have been able to offer prayers and selected thoughts for family and friends facing difficult situations.

And I've decided over the past week that for this new autumnal season, I want to tackle a different and challenging project: an (easily) knit lace shawl.

I found a complete tutorial which sounds like it would be pretty and one that I could finish within a reasonable time frame. Never mind that I still have one beaded sock and a sweater to finish before starting the shawl!

A preview of (white) simple lace knitting is shown on the right, photo courtesy of Knitters' Review.

Here is the site I found: Making an Easy Lace Scarf. It looks like all the essentails are there: an easy lace scarf pattern, how-to's, and lots of links to patterns, tutorials, books and yarns. Once I master the "making of lace" technique, maybe a shawl will be on the list for another project for the winter.

Now to decide on the yarn to be used for the scarf. For everything there is a time and a season. Maybe next season will be the time to start the referenced lace shawl.

For Donna, may God's peace be with you. For Mary, Julie and Jack, may God's will leave you with strength and purpose. For Kathy, may God's peace shine on you. For anyone reading this post, may your time be purposeful.