lion mane costume

Lion Mane Dog Costume

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Happy Halloween! Yesterday I showed how I made Rusty’s lion mane dog costume. Here is the finished result!

top view

Top View

lion mane costume

Give me treat!

He is a very scary lion! Or an adorable one!

Ready for the day!

I love how his ears turned out in this costume!

Hope you all have a safe and fun Halloween!

Check out a second version of a lion mane dog costume here!


lion mane costume

How to Make a Lion’s Mane Dog Costume

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I decided Rusty needs to be a scary lion for Halloween. So I needed to figure out how to make a lion’s mane dog costume. His fur is already the right color so now all he needs is a mane. First thing I did was get online to search for some possible fake fur and order some samples.

Lion Fur

fur swatches

I went with the coppery color from Mendel’s. It was a very close match to the color of Rusty’s fur. I took a tape measure and measured around Rusty’s neck. I didn’t need a lot of fur, a less than 1/2 yard but I went ahead and ordered 3/4 yard because I’ve never worked with fake fur fabric before.

Fur!

I first placed the fur around Rusty’s neck and placed a couple pins where I will need to cut the fake fur.

Place around to help measure

Pin/Mark desired length

Next I drew dots along the cut line constantly measuring the width to keep is the proper amount and then I connected the dots and cut along the line. Also, since the fabric is so thick and I knew it would not bleed through, I used a permanent marker so I could easily see the line.

Mark cut line

Connect the dots for cut line

I wanted the mane to really highlight Rusty’s face and have the fur going in multiple directions so I decided to hem/roll over the fur around his face. First I needed to roll over and pin the fur.

Roll over and pin

Rusty wasn’t too sure about this…

Rusty is not sure about this

then this face happened because I wouldn’t  let him lay on it

I then hand stitched the hem because I wasn’t too sure how my machine would handle it and I didn’t want to risk it. Because of the fur you couldn’t see my uneven stitches, so I appreciated that 🙂 Next I needed to figure out how to keep the mane on Rusty so I went with velcro, a couple of inches long.

Cut velcro

I put the newly hemmed mane on Rusty and marked with pins where the velcro should go.

pin where velcro needs to be placed and trim away the fur

One part of the velcro needed to go on the right side of the fur so I needed to trim away the fur where it was going to be placed. I tried to hand stitch the velcro but I broke a couple of needles because of the thickness of the two pieces so I used Liquid Stitch and glued the pieces down and waited overnight for the glue to dry.

glue velcro down

After all of that work for the velcro, I put it on Rusty to test it out, and although I thought he looked adorable, Rusty wasn’t really having it and started to shake and actually shook hard enough for the velcro to come undone! So I had to come up with another plan. I went with a button, and it worked out quite well. I went into my button bag and found one that was similar in color, I think it’s an extra button from a coat I use to own, and hand sewed it underneath where the velcro is,

added a button

Next I needed to mark, cut and whip stitch the button-hole. I cut the hole to be a little smaller than the button itself so it would be secure and then I whip stitched around the opening to prevent the hole from stretching.

 

button

button-hole

Next I placed the mane back on Rusty and marked, with a pin, where his ears begin and end and then removed it from Rusty and drew a line for me to cut along.

mark where ears are

draw line and cut along it

I did the same thing for where his D-Ring on his leash will peak through, so I’m able to actually take him outside and celebrate.

inside minus D-ring hole

See what he looks like tomorrow!

Finished Results. 

Check out another version of a lion mane dog costume here!


How to Make a Simple Braid

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First I need supplies. Three pieces of thread or string at the desired length and then I usually add about four to sixes inches to my desired length because of the knot I need to tie at the ends of the braid.

Supplies for Braiding

knot

Tie a Knot

braid

Tape

Now something I always think about when I’m braiding, is think of as the three strands are fighting to stay in the middle. The outside always wants to be in the middle.

colors

outside towards to the middle

So in the picture above the pink thread, outside right, is crossing over the center, red, thread.

bring the other side to the middle

Now the pink is in the middle and I need to bring the blue, outside left, over the pink and into the middle.

close up

close up of first braid

middle

to the middle again

Again, bring the outside right, now the red, over the blue to the middle.

again

pink to the middle

Now the blue is the outside right, the red is in the middle and the pink is outside left. Bring the pink over the red making the red now the outside left and the pink the middle thread.

close up of the braiding

If you’re yarn long thread, be careful and separate the threads after each passing because the ends can get tangled. Also try to keep the same tension as you braid so there’s an even pattern.

continue to braid

keep going

Continue all the way down until there is only about an inch or so left of thread, or until you can’t braid anymore. Then, I like to tie a knot to keep the braid from separating.

complete

braid complete!

This is going to be the string for my stitch counter, so I carefully cut the knot off each end, as close to the knot as I possibly can, and carefully thread the stitch counter and then knot both ends together.

necklace

my stitch counter is ready

I’m now ready to use my new stitch counter necklace!

 


Felted Knit Envelope Bag

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My first project in the book I’m going to tackle is the felted knit envelope bag which actually the second project in the book because the first project is a scarf with a knit stitch and since I have completed two already I decided it was ok for me to skip that one. 🙂 Here are my yarn choices. They are in skeins, so I don’t need to hand wind them.

skeins

time to knit a bag

I was a little worried at first about combining two different yarns but it hasn’t been too big of a deal. It is a little difficult to see where the stitches are so I have employed the use of some awesome knitting tools. First one is a stitch/row counter. It helped me keep track of the number of stitches in each row. I think I will braid some yarn in order to make a necklace out of it. It even has a lock on it so I can stop wherever. Second is the use the purple knit stoppers. It’s great to place them on the needle points when I am finished knitting and I do not have to worry about the stitches falling off the needle.

I have skipped stitches a couple of times and with the fuzzy novelty yarn it was hard to tell at first, but you just carefully pull the yarn to where the skipped stitch is and place the stitches back on the needle, carefully, and start knitting again.

The bag is basically a giant rectangle and could be made into any size. It just depends on your intended use.  You fold and then whip stitch the edges to create the pocket which turns it into a bag. I’m using both threads to do the whipstitching. I’ll do a separate tutorial on the whip stitch because it is used in knitting, needlepoint and a hand stitch for finishing in sewing and at the beginning I had a bit of trouble making sure I was going through both layers to connect them. That’s probably because I was too busy watching television as I was finishing. :/

rectangle

knitted rectangle

fold

whip stitch close up

This is also a felted bag which really concerns me. Something about doing all of this work just to place it in the wash to shrink rubbed me the wrong way. How much will it shrink anyways? It’s currently about 15inches by 10inches. But here is how it turned out. :/

How to Felt:

First I needed to get all of my materials, the bag, a zippered pillowcase, towels, jeans, and quarters for the washing machine.

felting supplies

put knitted bag in zippered pillowcase

put pillowcase and jeans in the washer

feed the machine

Place on small load, hot wash, and check after awhile, 10 minutes, to make sure it is felting and take it out when it has reached the size I want and also not let the cycle go into spin or rinse.  Now maybe the washer I chose in my building is old or maybe because it is a commercial machine or I picked the wrong wool yarn but I don’t think it looks like it’s suppose to..

finished?

So it was suppose to turn out to be a thick fabric where you can no longer see the stitches and shrink a little bit and it didn’t. So, maybe I’ll try the felting process again?

So felting fail, but no worries that’s why it’s good to practice.


Finishing Knitting, Weaving in the Tails

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Now that the scarf is finished we have one thing left to do, weaving in the tails into the scarf.

Weaving in the tails is pretty easy. I used a size 16 Plastic Canvas needle, that I use to do the needle point for the doll workout equipment, because I didn’t have an actual finishing needle but it got the job done.

weaving in

Need a needle

needle

Thread the Needle

This can be a little tricky, use a threader, trim a little yarn, or use some spit to make the yarn thread the needle easily.

weave

Next take the needle to a row and start to move the needle through the ripples

continue to weave

Continue to weave the needle through the ripples to where you have weaved a couple of inches

pull

Pull the needle all the way through the last ripple

off

Take the needle of off the yarn

cut

Cut the excess yarn from the scarf

yay!

And the scarf is finished!

scarf

Beautiful finished scarf!

I almost want to keep this but that wasn’t my original intention so it’ll remain a gift and eventually I will have to make one for myself. I just hope my nieces love the scarves too!


Finishing Knitting, How to Bind Off

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I’m at the point in my scarf that it is time to finish it! So I need to bind off of my needles.

To start, I need to knit two stitches, but do not do it too tightly.

Take the left hand needle under the first stitch on the right hand (the stitch farthest away from the point of the needle) and hook it back on the left hand needle and pull the first stitch over the second stitch and then drop, the one that is being pulled over, the stitch leaving only one stitch on the right hand needle.

Next knit stitch another stitch to make two stitches on the right hand needle again, and again take the left needle under the first stitch and pull it over the second stitch, then drop the stitch that you pulled over. Continue this until there is only one stitch left on the needle. Carefully pull the needle out of the loop, and place the yarn tail through the loop and pull tight. All there is left to do before completing the scarf is weaving in the tails of the scarf.

Bind Off Knitting

First complete two knit stitches

put left needle under first stitch

Take left needle under first stitch on the right

Pull first stitch over second stitch

Pull First Stitch Over the Second Stitch

drop the stitch

Drop the pulled over stitch off of the needle

repeat

Knit another stitch so there are two stitches back on the needle and repeat

Under the first

Under the first stitch

over

Pull over the stitch still on the needle and drop it

you've completed the last knit stitch

Continue knit stitching and dropping until there is only one stitch/loop left on the needle

carefully

Carefully pull out the needle from the loop

Loop

The Loop

loop

Another view of the loop, be careful not to tighten the loop

If you aren’t at the end of your yarn ball simply cut the yarn so a tail a few inches long remains.

Tail in loop

Take the tail of the scarf and place it through the loop

pull

And pull it tight

yarn ends

Now all there is left to do is to weave in the ends of the scarf

 

Side note to this, if you created a pattern with your knitting project like knit 2 purl 2 then you bind off in that same pattern.

I’m almost done! I’m so excited to finish this scarf for my niece! Both nieces are going to look super cute all bundled up in their scarves this winter!

 


How to Do the Knit Stitch

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The yarn is wound and cast on the needle. Now I can knit. I’m going to do just a knit stitch for this scarf. This is how I do it.

starting your knit stitch

Starting the knit stitch

hold the needles like this

hold the needles like this

step in knit stitch

place right hand needle under first loop on the left hand needle and bring the right needle behind the left

second step
Another view of placing right needle through loop and underneath left needle

 

take yarn and wrap

take yarn, that’s connected to the ball not the tail, and wrap around the right hand needle

another view of the wrap
another view of wrapping the yarn around right hand needle

 

 

 

 

pull the wrap down a little bit

pull the wrap down a little bit

pull the needle and catch the wrapped yarn

pull the right hand needle down and catch the wrapped yarn around the tip of the needle

catch the yarn

another view of catching the yarn

the loop

the loop from the wrap will be put on the right hand needle and push off the loop on the left

repeat knit stitch

repeat knit stitch

underneath and through

underneath and through

wrap and catch

wrap and catch

push off needle

push off needle

Now I can knit knit knit until it’s time to bind off and weave the tails into the scarf! I’m so excited to complete this scarf!


How to Cast On for Knitting

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I have hand wound my yarn now time to cast on the yarn so I can knit! I’m using the baby alpaca yarn again along with cast on 14 and US 10 knitting needles. I’m right handed so these are instructions to cast on for right hand dominant people.

First thing I need to do is figure out how long the tail is going to be. I need enough to be able to cast on 14 stitches. I have found some advice on how to figure out this length but when I do it, I’m usually off by a couple inches, so I just rely on trial an error, if I find a fool proof way I’ll let you know, and if you have a way, please let me know 🙂

To start I need to make a slip knot.

Start with a pretzel over the knitting needle:

first step to cast on

Lay Yarn over Needle

Make a Loop

Make a Loop

bow

Make a Pretzel or a Bow

pull end

pull end tight to make yarn tight around needle

And I have made a slip knot which is also my first of fourteen to cast on.

slip knot cast on

Slip Knot

Next is to make a half of a rectangle or a gun with my hand.

get your gun

position your hand like this to cast on

Cast on

place the yarn on the ball draped over three fingers but behind the index finger

wrap yarn end around thumb

wrap yarn end around thumb and hold end with three fingers

first step to cast on

go under loop around thumb with the needle in right hand

Go under yarn on finger

go over and then under yarn on finger so it wraps around the needle

through loop on thumb

place needle through loop on thumb

remove loop from thumb

remove loop from thumb with needle still in the loop

first cast on stitch

tighten it a bit and you have your first cast on stitch after the slip knot

repeat cast on stitch

repeat cast on stitch

 

 


Working on Barbie’s Fitness – Needlepoint

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So I’m working on this too….

This is one of those things that I had the brilliant idea to tackle the moment I saw the pattern. But, I bought the pattern the beginning of May and bought the materials in the beginning of June and here it is October. I’ve only completed one of the three pieces. :/

I bought the pattern because my mom was and still is awesome and made my sister and I a lot of Barbie furniture when we were younger. It was amazing! Unfortunately we didn’t realize how awesome they were and how much time my mom put into making them until we were older and I really appreciate it now. I also picked this one because my sister loves to work out. Yes is one of those crazies and I’m a little jealous of the that. I dread working out but I do it.  Anyways, we have nostalgia of our mommy making these, which puts a smile on my face, and practical use because my nieces will use them.

After completing one of them, it is rewarding. Here is the treadmill! Doesn’t look quite like the one in the picture but I think that is because Barbie never used the one in the picture, it was just a photo prop. 🙂

Unfortunately, this is all I have completed of the other two pieces.

But, I think I should be able to complete the needlework soon. I consider the mapping and cutting out of all of the pieces to be the most annoying part of the entire process, second to the actual creation of the 3D object because they remind me of puzzles and I’ve never really enjoyed puzzles. I do enjoy the needlework though. I’ll keep you posted and maybe show the basic needle point stitch and whip stitch as I’m completing these.

Let’s hope I get them finished by Christmas!


How I Hand Wind Yarn for Knitting

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I’m making a second scarf! This one it for another niece! I hope they like them. But the yarn I bought came in the form of a hank so I need to hand wind it into a ball.

Here’s how I did it.

First I needed to take it out of the hank. It’s a circle so I put my hand in the twisted loop to hold it and then pushed out the end at the other end so it becomes untwisted into a big circle. My shirt almost matches the yarn! I love this color 🙂

Next place the yarn on a chair or stool or anything that will keep it’s shape without becoming tangled. It makes it so much easier to wind. There will be a little knot wrapped around the yarn, you can try to unknot it but I just cut it and then I had two definitive ends.

Next it’s time to determine which of the ends is actually the beginning of the yarn and which one is the end. The beginning one will be the thread that is sitting on top of the rest of the thread when you pull it.

And the end piece is the end that you pull and it appears that the thread is coming from the bottom.

It’s a little difficult to tell from the pictures where the thread is coming from but it is important to figure this out because life will be more difficult if you start to winding from the end but it could be done.

Take the top end and wrap it around your index and middle fingers of your non-dominant hand a number of times in order to get a little oval when you push it off of your fingers.

Now that you have your little mess of an oval/ball like the one above, take the yarn and wrap it width so it makes a little bow.

 Keep going  until it’s more of a ball.

Then you keep wrapping the thread. I like to wrap about three or four times in a the same spot and then move a little clockwise on the ball and repeat.

 Tiny yarn ball.

About half way there, and as you have noticed, I like to keep the chair cushion on because the ball fits so nicely in the dimples. So, if you get interrupted in the middle of your winding you can put it down without worrying too much about your yarn ball rolling away.

My completed yarn ball! I can now get my needles, cast on and knit the scarf! Maybe in the future I’ll get myself a swift and yarn winder so I don’t have to do it by hand but for now I’ll stick to hand winding my yarn.

Also I do this with the tag…

 Ok so it’s a horrible picture but it’s the tag from the hank and on top of it I tied a little piece of the yarn. This way I have the color and lot numbers, suggested needle size, wash directions and a piece of the actual yarn all in one place in case I need another hank or I might decide I want to get that yarn again for a different project.