I may even like it better than the original!

And then the bag containing those things stayed exactly where I put them for months.

Until this weekend, that is, when I finally found some yarn that I liked. First, I rolled the two colours of yarn into balls to make the processes of wrapping the wreath much easier (less knots), and then started going around and around and around the straw, trying to avoid having any straw showing.

After a couple of hours of wrapping, my wreath looked like this:

I had to find/make some bits to have the whole thing look a bit more interesting, so that’s what I’ve been working on last night and today. I made some felt rosettes, seen below, and have added some cute buttons and will be exploring other options. I’m not sure if the birds will make it on there or not. I’ve already made and discarded two other kinds of flowers that I made from tutorials online, including this one. Keep tuned for the pictures of what it looks like when it’s all said and done.

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I can say, however, that I happily made this bird’s nest without ripping off anyone else’s idea. It’s for the window of the store where I work. All of the employees are crafty, so we’re trying to give the store a bit more personality, specifically the windows, in the hopes that it’ll draw a lot of attention. I love this bird’s nest and may want to take it home with me.

Another cowl for auction!

All proceeds from items sold on the To Haiti with Love auction go directly to the St. Joseph’s Family in Haiti. To make a bid, simply leave a comment (in the linked entry) with the amount of your bid and your email address. The auction will wrap up on February 8, 2010, and winners will be contacted right away to arrange payment and shipping. Good luck!

Please go and check things out, over at To Haiti with Love

If you’re interested in what Pip’s got to offer, check it here.

Behold Midwest Alchemy

Since cowls are so seasonal, I’m struggling to come up with a new idea for warmer weather. I am tired of purses, even though I have a dozen of them cut out and ready to sew, I just can’t bring myself to finish them. Making them brought out the creative side to my personality, something I’d never delved into before, outside of writing, I suppose. I don’t want to let Pip Robins die during the warmer months, so I have to find a new product.

I’m experimenting with these collars that I invented. I haven’t seen anything like this out there, ever. Sure, there are lots of different kinds of collars, but these ones are reversible and close with a magnetic clasp (I was accidentally sent the wrong size clasps by a supplier, so I had nothing to do with them until I figured these out). I was walking to pick up Ash from daycare one day and trying to figure out a closure other than a button or a snap (neither of which I’m good at doing), and the magnetic clasp popped into my head and I got SO excited that I could hardly wait to go home and sew my prototype (which you can see in my About page).

I was originally thinking about making the ones with clasps for children, but since my son is a terrible clothing model (he just wants to rip them off), I couldn’t really showcase them properly, so I never ended up doing them.

I don’t know. I really like them, I like to wear them, and I’m hoping they catch on for the rest of the year. Last year everyone was wearing those fashion scarves, so in an ideal world, people should switch to cowls!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/piprobins