Make Your Own Zoom Loom Pumpkin

Fall is here and that means, Pumpkin Spice everything! We’re adding some pumpkin to our weaving with this Pumpkin Zoom Loom project! The Schacht Zoom Loom is a great way to get started with weaving. If you don’t know how to weave on a zoom loom, no worries, we have this YouTube video that will tell you everything you need to know:

Now that you know how to weave on the Zoom Loom, here are all the materials you’ll need to make your pumpkin:

• Schacht Zoom Loom
• Orange Yarn (We used Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport Weight in “Orange You Glad”)
• Green Yarn (you only need about 5g so utilize those stash scraps!)
• Scissors 
• Stuffing material (fiber fill, wool, cottons balls, your choice!)
• Darning needle

First we need to weave up our squares using the Zoom Loom, so get weaving! We will use the ends to sew up our pumpkin, so skip weaving in your ends.

Weave up a total of 6 orange squares and 1 green square. Remember, don’t weave in or snip your ends.

It’s time to start sewing our pumpkin together. Place two orange squares on top of each other with one end at each corner, sew one side of the squares together using a Backstitch. Make sure you are sewing one warp thread in from the outside so your stitches stay put.

Continue sewing orange squares together in the shape below. You are basically attaching a new square to every side of one middle square. Be sure to keep all of your seams on the Right Side (outside of the pumpkin). If you run out of yarn because your end is to short, just attach more yarn and keep sewing.

Next we are going to make our pumpkin 3D by sewing up the sides. Line up the sides of your “cross” above and stitch them together so you have an open cube. The square that is in the middle in the photo above will become the bottom of your cube.

You can now sew your last remaining square to close the top. Just line up your edges and start sewing. Leave one side open so you can stuff your pumpkin.

Once your pumpkin is stuffed you can close up your last edge. Pull any remaining yarn tails to the inside of the pumpkin to hide them.

We pretty much just have an orange cube, now we need to make it a leaf so it actually looks more pumpkinish. Grab your one green Zoom Loom square and pinch a bit of one of the sides towards the back. Make a stitch along the backside to make the fold stay put.

Now do the same thing to the side to the the left of the side you just folded.

Flip your leaf over so the back side is facing you, then fold the top corner down to the middle and stitch it there so it stays.

Trim all the ends  on your leaf and flip it back over and it’s all finished.

Our leaf needs a vine to connect it to the pumpkin. You can make a vine however seems best to you, you could make a crochet chain, braid, or tie knots like a friendship bracelet. We chose to do a knitted I-cord, our I-cord is 3 stitches on US Size 3 needles and is 3.5″ long.

Sew one end of your vine to the very middle on the top side of your pumpkin.

Then sew the other end of your vine to the top middle of your leaf.

Give your vine a little twist to make it curly and your pumpkin is ready for Fall! Folks around The Woolery have been calling our pumpkin the “squmpkin” because it’s a square pumpkin. Happy squmpkin making to everyone! If you have ideas for future Zoom Loom tutorials you’d like to see, please let us know in the comments!

 

DIY Home Decor: Free Tutorial Round-Up

Now that warmer weather is here, we’re on the lookout for fun ways to keep crafting this spring! Most crafters have a lot of leftover bits and bobs from previous projects taking up space in their craft rooms – if the urge to spring clean has taken hold, you may find that you have more than you realized!

Luckily, there are plenty of clever ways to put these leftovers to good use. In the process, you can also give life to other everyday objects you may have lying around the house such as old jeans, empty plastic jugs, etc.

Here are a few of our favorite free tutorials for upcycling home decor this spring. Enjoy!

All the Best,

Wave, Perri and the entire Woolery Team

DIY Upcycled Fringed Basket

Add a splash of fringe to your craft room, or anywhere in your house! Our free DIY tutorial will show you how to upcycle an empty plastic jug to make a fun fringed basked with leftover yarn. It’s available for free to our newsletter subscribers, click here to claim your free PDF download.

Fringed Wall Hanging

Can’t get enough of the fringe trend? Learn how to weave a trendy fringed wall hanging with this free tutorial on the Schacht blog.

Upcycled Denim Rug

Rag rugs are a classic way to give old garments new life, and there are tons of great tutorials out there for weavers, hookers, and knitters to try. This blog post showing how to weave with strips of old denim piqued our interest; it would be a great technique for making one your own version of the gorgeous denim rag rugs spotted on Apartment Therapy!

Hygge Handspun Candle Holder

Hygge season may be long gone, but you can update your candle holder with bright, sunny colors of handspun yarn with this free tutorial!

Make Do & Mend: How to Give New Life To Well-Loved Garments

When your favorite garment has more holes than a slice of swiss cheese, do you toss it in the rag pile or trash can? Rips and tears near a seam are easy to repair invisibly, but a hole that’s front and center requires a little bit of ingenuity – here’s where the visible mending trend can come in handy.

Visible mending has become an art form unto itself by using a variety of materials and techniques to highlight what was once an imperfection in a garment, turning it into something unique.

Below, you’ll find some creative ways to reinvigorate your wardrobe with visible mending!

All the Best,

Wave, Perri and the entire Woolery crew

Image by Hunter Hammersen, used with permission.

Knitwear designer Hunter Hammersen has been chronicling her process for repairing a holey sweater using colorful embroidery techniques.

Here, a pair of torn jeans have been mended using Sashiko, a traditional Japanese embroidery technique that employs repeating geometric designs.

A combination of fabric patches and Sashiko were used to mend these children’s garments on the Swoodson Says blog.

Find loads of visible mending inspiration here on the Tom of Holland blog; this excellent tutorial on the Sew Mama Sew blog will help you master the sewing techniques needed to embark on your own visible mending adventures with needle and thread.

Bonus: You can combine any of the techniques listed above with our latest tutorial, using Zoom Loom squares to patch holes in any garment – click here to download our free PDF!

What are your favorite tutorials or techniques for visible mending? Leave them in the comments, or share your photos with us over on Instagram using #thewooleryshop in your post!

Give Rug Hooking A Try For National Craft Month!

Happy National Craft Month! Although we believe in celebrating year-round, the start of spring seems like a great time to explore a new craft. Why not give rug hooking a try?

Rug hooking is an accessible craft that is easy to master. It’s not only a useful skill, but quite relaxing, too! Even a novice can create an impressive work of art – just click here to download our free guide to get started.

This sometimes-overlooked craft has its roots in creating practical (yet beautiful) items for everyday use, but there’s no reason why you have to limit yourself to just making rugs. In the gallery below, we share some of the incredible must-make projects we’ve spotted on Pinterest to inspire you; click on each image below to view a larger version.

Sheep Portrait

Cow Portrait

Floral Foot Stool

Houses Purse

Gold Finch Pillow

Zen Doodle Pillow

Star Coasters

Sunflower Coasters

Fox Coasters

Featured Projects
Top Row, L-R: Sheep Portrait, Cow Portrait, Floral Foot Stool.
Middle Row, L-R: Houses Purse, Gold Finch Pillow, Zen Doodle Pillow.
Bottom Row, L-R: Star Coasters, Sunflower Coasters, Fox Coasters.

If you’re totally new to the craft, we recommend starting with a project kit – we have a lot of options here on our site, but our Henny Penny rug hooking  kit (which was featured in our free guide) is 100% beginner approved!

Happy hooking, and be sure to share your projects with us on social media using #thewoolery in your post!

All the best,

Wave, Perri & the entire Woolery team

Mug Rugabilities – Pillow Cushion Tutorial

The beautifully-made portable weaving looms from Purl & Loop have arrived at the Woolery! We’re pleased to introduce the Swatch Maker 3 in 1 Portable with optional stand, which is great for using up leftover yarn in your stash to create a variety of projects. To celebrate, we asked Angela, founder of Purl & Loop, to share a special tutorial with our blog readers. 

All the Best,

Wave, Perri & the entire Woolery Team

Our Stash Blaster® portable weaving looms (mug rug size) were inspired by the problem of what to do with all my yarn stash. In some cases, I had no way of identifying the yarn or knowing if there was enough yarn for a particular pattern. The little looms solved that because I could mix and match my yarns to make all the mug rugs I wanted. Since I found weaving to be very meditative, I accumulated those mug rugs quickly. I decided it was time to expand my mug rugabilities with a pillow cushion.

I sorted through my stash of finished rugs and chose four very similar in size.  The type of fiber used was not a factor in the choices. The four rugs put together measured 10” x 12.5” and I chose a piece of natural linen measuring 11” x 13.5” for the backing. The four rugs were all positioned with the less pretty sides (aka more mistakes) all facing the same direction. In the photo below, the less pretty sides are all facing down into the linen. 

I had already decided that this project was going to be done all by hand because I wanted a work in progress I could carry around in a big purse and I was not sure how machine sewing would interact with the yarn. Also, I have been partial to hand sewing my whole life. My grandmother owned a cleaning and tailoring business in Chicago and I hand sewed all of my Barbie clothes while hanging around her shop as a child. Using Appleton crewel wool, just because I liked the texture, I attached the pieces using a mattress stitch. Using mattress stitch is not a must, it was just what I thought, after watching a variety of videos demonstrating how to attached knitted pieces together, might be the least visible and most effective at the same time. Surprisingly, this was completed in about one hour. 

Below is a photo of all four mug rugs stitched together.

Next, I attached the mug rug piece to the linen.  In this case, the less pretty side faces up because once the pillow is turned right side out, the less pretty side will be inside. 

Continuing with the crewel wool and using a straight stitch, I attached the rugs to the linen backing on three sides.

This is a photo of what the backside (what will be the inside of the pillow cushion) looked like. 

I gently turned the pillow casing inside out so the good sides were facing outward.  You will see there is a good amount of extra linen on this edge that is here on purpose.  This will be explained a little bit later.

The pillow was stuffed with pillow stuffing from a craft supply store.

I folded the extra bit of linen in toward the inside of the pillow and used pins to hold it all together.  I brought my needle from inside so my tail would not be visible and continued using a straight stitch to close this final side.  I worked from the mug rug side but only attached to the folded in linen facing the inside so my stitches were not visible. 

This cushion was quick to finish with already completed mug rugs and we look forward to trying to make a larger one. 

We hope this inspires you to think of all your mug rugabilities!

Angela and Audrey Pearl, one of our two studio dogs.

Angela Smith is the owner of Purl & Loop.  Purl & Loop specializes in needlecraft kits and supplies with a focus on needle felting and weaving.  Purl & Loop is the creator of the Stash Blaster® and Swatch Maker 3-in-1 (patent pending) weaving looms.  Purl & Loop sources all of their materials in Houston based businesses where possible or from other North American suppliers.  All human staff (Hector, Missy and Liana) are paid a living wage and canine staff receive deluxe housing and organic food and treats.  All products are designed and manufactured in the Houston, Texas studio.