A few months ago, my husband asked me to make him a felted sleeve for his new laptop.   So, of course, I started peppering him with questions like ‘what color?’, ‘knit?’, ‘crochet?’, ‘recycled?’, ’size?’.  Half jokingly, he said he didn’t care, but it just needed to have flames going down the side of it.  I had just bought a bunch of second hand wool sweaters to use for felting projects, and I found a dark olive one that would be perfect for a laptop cover.   Lucky for me, I also had a bright red sweater that just screamed ‘flames!’.   Thus, was born the “Greased Lightning” Laptop Sleeve!   He’s gotten a number of compliments on it (or so he told me — maybe he was just trying to make me feel good), so I thought I would post some instructions on how to make your own.

Tongues of Flame Fingerless Gloves

I also used the leftover pieces from the sweater sleeves to make a cool pair of fingerless gloves.  You can see more pictures of the gloves at my Etsy Shop.

I’m not a Photoshop genius, so please be kind with my diagrams!  Here goes — First step, select a sweater to use as the base of the bag.  In order to felt properly, it should be 100% wool.   If you are going to add an applique, select a sweater in a contrasting color.  The sweater used for the applique should also be 100% wool, but should be thinner than the sweater used for the base of the bag.  Felt both sweaters by putting them through at least one cycle in the washing machine (hot wash/cold rinse); dry in the dryer.  Using the diagram below, cut out the central piece of the laptop bag.

Template - How to Cut Sweater for Laptop Bag

If you are adding an applique, cut out the applique and sew it to the outside of the bag using whip stitch or ladder stitch. (you do not need to hem or turn under the edges of the applique; the felting process will keep it from unraveling) The sides of the bag will be partially open (where you remove the sleeves).  Sew the open part of the sides shut.  The bottom edge of the sweater (will probably have some ribbing) will be the top of the bag.   Attach a zipper.  You can also add buttons, if you prefer.  The last step is to turn the bag inside out and stitch the bottom shut.  Although I added the tongues of flame by hand, I did all the other stitching by machine.

Template - Sewing the Laptop Bag

You can use the sleeves to make a pair of fingerless gloves.  Cut according to the diagram above.  The cuff edge of sleeve will be the wrist side of the glove; the raw edge will be the finger side of the glove. Turn the glove inside out and mark where the thumb opening should be.  Machine stitch as indicated in diagram.  Snip the ‘triangle’ that is created with the stitching.  Turn the glove right-side out.  You can now stitch on an applique, embroider flowers, or embellish however you like!

Template - Stitching for Gloves

With Easter only a few short weeks away, I thought it would be fun to post instructions on hand dying yarn using Easter egg dye.

Finally Dry! Ready To Use

I discovered this art a few years back while surfing the net and have tweaked and combined a few different techniques to come up with a process that works well for me.  Unfortunately, my photos don’t do the final product justice.  I really need to figure out how to take better pictures!  If you want to see some amazing photos (and a detailed set of instructions), you should also check out the Kathryn Ivy site.  I love what they’ve done with their yarn.

If you like dying yarn with Easter egg dye, I definitely suggest you wait until right after Easter and scoop up a bunch of super-discounted egg dying kits.  Last year, my Mom found a whole slew of kits on sale for something like $.50 each, so I now have a small stockpile egg dying kits.  Now, I just need to find the time to dye myself a heap o’yarn!

If you end up trying it yourself, I would love to hear about your results!  And, stay tuned — I’ll be posting about dying yarn using Wilton’s food coloring, some time soon…

Easter Egg Dyed Yarn

Material Needed:

• 100% wool yarn (I used Lion Brand Fisherman wool 465 yards wound into 4 hanks approx. 115 yards each)
• Easter egg dye tablets
• Vinegar
• Wash basin, sink or large bowl
• Glass bowl large enough for yarn
• Large baking sheet (for hand painting)

Tips

• The less yarn you use per tablet, the more intense the color.  1 tablet per 100 yards of yarn gives a nice medium tone color.
• You can add more water to your dye mix to color more yarn, however the color will be lighter.
• Never run water directly onto your yarn or it may felt.
• Do not vigorously rub yarn while rinsing or it may felt.
• Wear rubber gloves, or you will dye your hands, too!

Process

• Wash yarn in warm water with a very small amount of dish soap.
• Fill your basin or sink with enough cold water to cover your yarn.
• Add approximately 1 cup of vinegar to your water and mix.
• Gently add washed yarn to the vinegar-water mixture.  Make sure your yarn is completely submerged.  Soak for at least 30 minutes.
• Remove yarn and gently squeeze out water.
• You can either use the immersion or hand painting methods described below

Immersion Dying Method (single color)

• Prepare dye tablets as directed on box.  Depending upon how much yarn you want to dye, you may want to add more water.
• Pour dye into a bowl big enough to hold your yarn.
• Add enough water to barely cover yarn.
• Submerge yarn into dye.
• When yarn has absorbed dye, remove from bowl.
• Gently squeeze out excess water (do not squeeze too tightly, yarn should still be wet)
• Put wet yarn in a glass bowl and cover.
• Microwave for 10 minutes.
• Remove yarn from microwave (be careful, it will be very hot).  Let the yarn cool until it can be handled comfortably.
• Fill basin or sink with very warm water.
• Submerge yarn in the basin and swish around with your hands. (the yarn should not be bleeding any dye at this point)
• Squeeze yarn dry with your hands; roll it in a towel to remove additional excess water.
• Hang the yarn on a rack to dry.

Hand Painting (gives a pretty variegated effect)

• Select 2 or more colors. Prepare dye tablets as directed on box.  Depending upon how much yarn you want to dye, you may want to add more water.
• Lay hanks of yarn flat on a baking sheet.
• Add an additional 1/3 cup of water to dyes.
• Use a small cup, ladle or squeeze bottle to pour dye over yarn in sections.  Be sure to prepare enough dye to solution to cover all of yarn.  You can also deliberately leave sections white.
  

  Hand Painted Yarn After Color Has Been Added

• You can “pre-dye” yarn using the immersion method and “paint” sections of the yarn before drying.
• When yarn is sufficiently coverd with dye, remove from bowl.
• Gently squeeze out excess water (do not squeeze too tightly, yarn should still be wet)
• Put wet yarn in a glass bowl and cover.
• Microwave for 10 minutes.
• Remove yarn from microwave (be careful, it will be very hot).  Let the yarn cool until it can be handled comfortably.
• Fill basin or sink with very warm water.
• Submerge yarn in the basin and swish around with your hands. (the yarn should not be bleeding any dye at this point)


Soaking The Yarn After Microwaving

• Squeeze yarn dry with your hands; roll it in a towel to remove additional excess water.
• Hang the yarn on a rack to dry.
  

  On The Drying Rack

  

  Hand Dyed Skein

  

  Another Photo of the Finished Product

Here is are are a couple photos of felted flowers I made from the yarn that I dyed. I also made a really cute yoga sweater, but I haven’t managed to take any pics of it!

Felted Lotus Brooch

Felted Orchid Hair Clip