Whiptips craft advice column for readers to ask questions or offer advice by leaving comments. Whiptips archive here. Questions to whiptips@gmail.com.

Hi, I’m wondering if anyone has some advice on purchasing felt that is thicker than ordinary craft felt. I’ve seen some wonderful projects in Japanese craft books but as I can’t read Japanese I’m not sure what kind of felt they are recommending for the more sturdy bags, and I’m not sure where to purchase thick felt in the US. Can anyone help me? Thanks! Kris

Meg Mateo Ilasco is the author of the newly released book - Craft Inc - published by Chronicle. Its a must have read for anyone in the indie design/making/art world trying to sell their goods and make a go of life in the small business lane. Meg is a designer, entrepreneur and mother with two small kiddies. I recently interviewed Meg about the new book.

You have interviewed a few big names in the indie design world - how did you decide who to include?
Choosing indie businesses to profile was both easy and hard. There were folks like Denyse Schmidt and Jill Bliss that immediately came to mind. But there are so many good indie designers out there that it was difficult to limit it. Trust me, I wanted to profile more businesses, but there just wasn’t enough room in the book! It was such a wonderful opportunity to ask myself, “Who do I want to talk to and learn about their business?” It was really awesome that Jonathan Adler agreed to do the interview. He’s my idol!

I like how you have tied in the interview questions and answers with book content - this might sound simple but its great how you have used the examples of these people to launch into a relevant discussion - was this planned or did it just sort of emerge after a while of writing?
It worked both ways. What I learned from the interviews did drive much of the content in the the book. But the placement of the interviews throughout the book came after writing the bulk of the text. As I arranged the interviews within the book, I thought about each one and asked myself, “what was the biggest lesson or advice to glean from this interview?”–and that essentially determined its placement.

This book is very relevant to the current surge in indie online shops - its perfect timing - at a time when a lot of indie makers are getting out there and finding a ready international market - but then coming across a lot of difficult issues that hold them back or even might make them quit. Is this book something you have been working on for a while - or did it all come to all at once?
Craft Inc was one of those ideas that was basically sitting right under my nose for awhile. I was living the book–experiencing practically everything I discussed in it and talking non-stop to other designers/crafters for their advice. It didn’t immediately dawn on me that what I was doing/living would make a good book. The light bulb (or duh! to the forehead) finally turned on in late 2006 and I started writing it the next year.

Many of the issues you tackle in this book seem like very straightforward advice but it is often difficult to find this information - I love how you have tackled difficult issues and discussed these issues with designers and makers who are successful in different ways. What was the process for you on deciding on the form this book was to take? and are these issues areas that you have personally dealt with in your business?
I definitely wanted to discuss a typical “full” cycle of a business–from the exciting inception of the idea to its closing or expansion. Oh yes, I’ve personally dealt with most of the topics in the book (good and bad): starting a creative business without a degree in art or design; experiencing partnerships and sole proprietorships; opening a retail storefront; selling a business; starting a blog; participating in a trade show; struggling with burnout; and juggling motherhood with entrepreneurship. (Dude, I have two kids!)

Now it is a really cute designed book, with curved corners and a fun bright layout - I know you didn’t design the book but how much input did you have in the final look?
I know, the book is so cute. You want to hug it and pinch its cheeks. I wish I could take credit, but Sarah Meyer is responsible for designing it. Chronicle Books is a really great publisher. You can see their unique perspective in the titles they publish and their phenomenal visual sensibilities. In my experience working with them, they’ve always been gracious in giving me an opportunity to express my opinion on the design and art direction of my books and they do take my suggestions to heart. They are awesome like that.

In fact Chronicle are so great that they are giving away 5 books to lucky Whip Up readers - just leave a comment with answers to the following two questions

1. What is/was the biggest hurdle to starting your business?
2. What was your proudest moment in your business?

comments will close tuesday and winners posted later next week

On September 30th, Schmancy and Made by Moxie are teaming up for a prePlush You! Event at Victrola coffee at 310 E. Pike St in Seattle, WA. - Needle felting demonstration - free event supplies included. Meet fellow crafters and drink a damn good cup of coffee.

Schmancy is a toy store in Seattle selling toys from large stuffed cigarettes and stuffed donuts to vinyl bunnies - lots of fun toys for adults and children. Once a year Schmancy, along with their friends over at Nancy and Fancy + Pants, team up to bring you Plush You! This year’s show opens up Oct. 12th and will feature over 100 artists from all over the world. The show has received so much attention that this October, F+W Publishing will be releasing a book titled ‘Plush You!:Loveable Misfit Toys to Sew and Stuff’. [congratulations - ed] To see more about the show visit: plushyou

Baby Kimono by Kristin Spurkland from Interweave Knits Summer 2005 by a knitter in queens

Norwegian seamless yoked sweater in Ann Budd’s The Knitters Handy Book of Sweaters. from anny purls

Over the weekend, I got a bag of those glass pebbles and started experiment with shibori felting technique. Fifteen minutes later into the felting process, half of those glass pebbles came off and most of the intended area didn’t even get felted. I was sweaty and a little disapointed. I don’t know why it never dawned on me that I should probaby test felt a swatch instead of jump right into the process. Fortuitously, it was not completely ruined. I do love how those textures came out. Despite of it being a little weird, it’s still soft and wearable. by coloursknits

process - Little Majolica, Interweave Knits, Fall 2006 by knitting box

strikker tailored jacket, the cover design from debbie bliss’ cashmerino dk book

shifting sands by so much yarn

Hanami Stole by Melanie Gibbons, Pink Lemon Twist at split yarn

The BUST Magazine 2007 Holiday Craftacular is set to happen on Saturday, December 8!

BUST will be handpicking 200 of the most unique and talented crafters from across the country to sell their wares.

If you would like to participate as a vendor, applications are now available! There are no exceptions as to who can apply: hip handmades, accessories, housewares, vintage clothing, knitwear, silk-screened items, cosmetics, paper goods, handbags, ornaments, cards, and whatever else your crafty canny brings to a table. For a list of FAQ and information on how to apply, please visit http://www.bust.com/craftacular

Be a sugarplum and jingle-tell all your crafty pals about BUST’s Holiday Craftacular by sending them our way!

It seems that there are a lot of guilty pleasures out there - please take a moment to revel in reading these - and feel a little less guilty about your own. Thank you everyone for your fantastic lists - oh and just for fun - some of my faves were

* sappy girly movies, the ones that require a box of Kleenex
* a craft project binge from beginning to end
* Going into bookstores for hours and hours, without the need to rush or feel harried
* Checking whip up for the one hundreth time (in ten minutes)
* Escaping into a book.
* shoe shopping on the internet
* wearing fancy head scarves when biking (you feel so vivien leigh)
* Flea market/garage sale/junking trips
* picking my nose and wiping it under the driver’s seat in my car
* Doing two yoga classes in a row in order to avoid being home at the kids’ bedtime.
* Making elaborate illustrations on post-it notes using only office supplies (white out, highlighters different colored pens)
* Taking a day off mid-week because I can (Once deadlines are met!)
* Gardening in my bathrobe

the winners of a listography note book are: - you will be contacted by email using the email address that you used to comment - if you are not contacted and you are one of the winners please email whipup[@]gmail.com

Allison Hoffman

1. Making a pan of brownies and being the only one that licks the spoon and/or bowl (even with 3 kids and a hungry husband who I just don’’t tell until they’’re done)
2. Googling every ex-boyfriend I can think of to see what kind of lives they’’re leading now
3. Down with Love (I mean, have you ever seen this movie? Guilty, very guilty)
4. Picking stray hairs off my husband’s shoulders, then pretending I didn’’t know it was actually growing out of his skin, but that I thought it was just sitting there (gotta get rid of those– yecchhhh)
5. Going off to put my baby to sleep so that I can get a few quiet moments to nod off in the rocking chair (”he just wouldn’’t go to sleep …really”)

talya

1. Singing along to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical episode soundtrack, fastforwarding to the good parts and then rewinding to hear them again
2. Taking naps in the morning, when I haven’t quite earned a rest yet . . . so delicious
3. Taking a cab home from a nice night out, when I could take the subway instead
4. Checking the mailbox about 5 times a day —even after I’’ve picked up the mail that day just in case someone delivered a present in my mailbox for no reason
5. Purchasing decorative objects with no function that will barely fit in my apartment. My favorite objects to purchase: small vinyl figurines of strange creatures

Nikki

1. sour cherry balls
2. reading (and writing) blogs at work
3. lying on the bed still wet after the shower and air drying
4. Bon Jovi’’s “You Give Love a Bad Name”
5. reading so intently I can’’t hear what’s going on around me

Chase

1. Buying all that’s left of an amazing dollar-a-yard fabric, leaving not a single scrap for anyone else.
2. Letting the kitten get into a huge bag of yarn and unwind every ball around the entire house. I, personally, think it’s adorable.
3. Going to the ridiculously expensive chocolate shop and buying just one for me, and not telling my boyfriend I went there without getting him one.
4. Taking way too long in the shower just so I can finish singing the song that’s been stuck in my head for a week.
5. Using my relatively agile toes to pick something up when I’m too lazy to reach down and use my hands like a normal person.

Rosemary

1. Singing out loud to Duran Duran songs while driving on the highway
2. Eating pickles straight from the jar. Not bothering to get a fork, but just fishing them out with my fingers
3. cracking my knuckles. the sound is so satisfying!
4. punching my mechanical pencil through lined paper. I can get pretty obsessive about filling a sheet with that pattern
5. leaving just a few drops in the milk bag in the fridge without changing it/leaving one ice cube in the tray in the freezer. It’s sweet revenge for when someone else does it to me, but then again, it’s a vicious cycle!

Also - 2 of the winners of the yarn and pattern from Hipknits have not been able to be contacted. If you were one of the winners and you have not received your yarn - can you please contact Kerrie at Hipknits. If no-one comes forward Kerrie will pick 2 more winners.

This tutorial explains how to felt an item that you have knitted or crocheted first. It can also be used to recycle an old wool scarf or sweater, which you can use as is or refashion with your sewing machine.

You will need

- a completed knitted or crocheted project, or an old wool item
- top loading washing machine
- a meshed bag with zipper or drawstring

Fibers that felt: 100% wool (but not Superwash wool); other animal fibers such as: alpaca, mohair, cashmere and llama

The Basics

- Prepare your item: weave in all ends.
- Place in a bag: preferably in a zippered meshed laundry bag.
- Wash: fill your washing machine to the lowest level and select the longest hot water cycle.
- Check periodically: Let agitate to allow the wool to felt. Check after 5 minutes. A fully felted item will not show stitch definition. Continue to wash until you achieve the desired size or felted effect.
- Squeeze out water: Do not allow to proceed to the rinse cycle. Rinse by hand in cold water. Gently squeeze out excess water. Roll in a towel to remove more water.
- Air dry: lay flat to dry or if it’s a bag, pull and shape the bag as desired, then lay flat and stuff with plastic bags or a rectangular object to hold a shape and sit up or hang depending on the bag design.

Notes

- I prefer a meshed bag with a zipper than a pillowcase. Air bubbles can form in the pillowcase causing part of the bag to float on the surface resulting in uneven felting.
- The more friction there is the quicker the wool felts. If you cannot select a low level water setting, you can still felt the bag in more water but it will take a lot longer and you may want to add a few pairs of jeans to increase agitation, but don’t use towels as the lint may embed itself in your felt.
- Different brands will felt differently. Most worsted wool will felt in roughly between five to 30 minutes. Reset the wash cycle before it goes to rinse to felt for longer periods. Test before mixing brands. Not all 100% wool is the same, I have found that I don’t like the texture of some once felted. You may add a small amount of detergent but I have found that this is not necessary and it’s better environmental practice.
- Don’t use the spin and rinse cycle as sometimes this causes problems. Your piece might end up with heavy creases that are hard to smooth out after the fact.
- It can take a couple of days or more to dry a bag. You can direct a fan towards the bag to speed up drying, but this will use more electricity.
- Generally, knit with needles that are a size and a half or two larger than what is recommended by the yarn manufacturer. I have knitted with the recommended needle size and still obtained excellent felting results. Knitting with larger needles will give you more opportunity to play with size.
- Some imperfections in your knitting will disappear once the item is felted, e.g. Twisted stiches, dropped stitches.

Caption: Picture above shows how neatly an edge sewn in mattress/invisible stitch disappears.

- Your item will shrink more lengthwise (see photo below). Lengthwise you can expect shrinkage to almost half the size and widthwise about ¼ shrinkage.
- Knit a swatch containing your chosen colours to see how differently they will felt. Darker colours generally felt faster.
- Consider how itchy the felt will be and if its appropriate for your application.
- Experiment by knitting or crocheting in some non-felting fibers.
- Consider rinsing your wool item in Eucalan wool wash. It does not require further rinsing, it is environmentally friendly, deters wool-eating pests, and if lavender is present, it is also a moth repellent.

Before and After

About the maker: Laura has worked with felt for two years. She has always been involved in the arts, first through photography, and then web design. She now designs her own hand-knitted and machine-knitted bags which she then felts. She is self-taught. See her work at her blog.

To submit an article or tutorial please read our submission guidelines.

Whiptips craft advice column for readers to ask questions or offer advice by leaving comments. Whiptips archive here. Questions to whiptips@gmail.com.

Hi, Can you help me find a tutorial to make pendants using old wallpaper and found objects in a small frame. Where can I buy miniature metal frames to use?

Thanks for a GREAT site!
Beth

edited to add: Thanks everyone - Beth, it turns out, is looking for a tutorial in making those little frames from scratch, soldering techniques etc - any ideas anyone

Learn to Machine Quilt with Pat Sloan by Pat Sloan; Leisure Arts (Author)

Very helpful book - check it out. Also Pat Sloan has video tutorials on her site - as well as workshops and patterns.

About a week ago Weeks Ringle - from Funquilts, a regular contributor here at Whipup, who has been giving us quilt lovers free advice for over a year now, wrote a post about copyright which seemed to get a lot of people in a bit of a tangle. Many of the comments were not very nice … there were lots of issues raised but as one commenter said I’m confused by the hostility in some of the comments. I would like to take this opportunity to remind readers about the value of comments - please take a moment to read our comment policy - I am going to be harder from now on about rudeness - and will be editing comments I feel cross the line.

The most relevent here are:
- Make the tone of your message clear - Sarcasm, in-jokes and exaggerations can easily be taken the wrong way in a public forum. Use emoticons or additional information to communicate the spirit of your message.
- Own your comment - Anonymous commenting, while sometimes necessary, can be seen as cowardly. Build your identity and own your words by placing your name and weblog address on your comments wherever possible.
- Be courteous - be respectful and objective at all times.
- Don’t post when you’re angry, upset, drunk or emotional - There’s no taking back a published blog comment - once you post, it’s there for everyone to see and for Google to cache.

edited to add:
we are absolutely fine with comments that are controversial or disagree with the post - by all means tell us what you think - we are not looking for a big love fest of niceness - differences of opinion are encouraged but personal attacks are not-

Want more creativity in your life? Too busy to commit to a lengthy course? Beginning in October 2007, you can create a contemporary craft project in a single session, when The Make Lounge launches in London.

Housed in a converted warehouse two minutes from Angel Tube, The Make Lounge is a friendly space where busy Londoners can meet people and make stuff. Interested participants can book in advance online - fees include all materials; workshops feature recycled, sustainable, and vintage materials that offer a way to help lighten the load on the planet.

workshops are meant to be accessible craft for instant gratification and include quick projects like crochet flowers which is run by Emma Seddon who is a knit and crochet designer and consults for Rowan. Make beaded earings in a workshop conducted by Juju Vail.

check out the site, the blog and the flickr group.

I love the idea of a re-usable fabric shopping bag, but you need to remember to bring them with you whenever you go shopping. Inspired by a fold-up bag I received as a gift, I wanted to create one that would be simpler to make (the one I received requires a zipper sewn into a curved shape) and just as convenient to use. You can stash this wallet sized bag in your purse and have it ready whenever you go to the store.

To see the full tutorial click on … for more
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