Plaidypus Spotted in the Coloradoan!

Posted on November 29, 2014 by Plaidypus

The Coloradoan (Fort Collins’ local newspaper) has a gift guide every year to give people ideas and inspiration for their holiday gifts. It’s full of gifts for him and gifts for her and gifts for food lovers and gifts for children and gifts for pets and gifts for pretty much every other person and for every reason you can think. I’m sure there’s a page in there that is dedicated to gifts for that one relative that you never talk to but feel the need to get them something they were nice to you as a kid.

Anyway, this guide came out on Black Friday, and Plaidypus is in it! Sure, it claims I make felted wood cup cozies (which, in case you were wondering, isn’t a thing) rather than felted wool ones, but it wouldn’t be a true feature without a glaring typo (right?). And publicity is publicity, so I’m not complaining.

Here’s the bit of the page that is dedicated to our (now famous) felted wool (not wood) coffee cup cozies.

And here it is in context of the full page:

That’s like a whole 1/8 of a page! Which doesn’t seem like much, but considering I didn’t have to pay anything for this opportunity and that an ad that size can cost a fortune, I’m pretty excited. So remember us this holiday season. You can come get some coffee cup cozies, as well as many of our other products, at Wadoo or online at the Plaidypus store.

We also still have one more fair for the year (next weekend!), so keep your eyes peeled for that as well. I’ll post specifics soon on here.

Plaidypus Spotlight: Wadoo’s Annual Holiday Trunk Show in Fort Collins, CO

Posted on November 13, 2014 by Plaidypus

Wadoo is this cute family business (my family, to be more specific) in Fort Collins, CO, that houses hundreds of artists’ works, and has been Plaidypus’s biggest supporter. We send them hundreds of coffee cup cozies, hand warmers, and headbands every year. We also participate in their Holiday Trunk Show, an annual festivity filled with champagne, chocolates, and local artists, which just so happens to be coming up in a week.

Here are the quick and dirty details for this year’s show:

What: Wadoo’s Annual Holiday Trunk Show
When: November 20th, from 4pm to 8:30pm
Where: Wadoo Gift store, 200 S. College Avenue, Fort Collins, CO

If you show, you’ll be treated to champagne and chocolates, as well as the opportunity to talk to and buy from local artists including myself, Alison Cope (felted garlands), Kimberly Orrell (sewn totes), Chris Reynolds (fabric baby accessories), Maura Jacobson (pottery), Heather Matthews (bike bands, cards, and advent calendars), and Leah Simmons Decapio (pottery and small tables). This is a particularly big deal that Leah will be here this year, as she lost her home and shop in the 2013 flood. But she and her husband have opened their studio again and will be here in Fort Collins to celebrate the holidays with us.

Plaidypus will be there with our bestsellers, such as our fuzzy crocheted hand warmers, our felted coffee cup cozies, and our t-shirt headbands.

Plaidypus felted wool sweater coffee cup cozy Plaidypus T-Shirt Headbands upcycled recycled

If local artists and chocolate are not enough for you (chocolate is always enough to get me somewhere, but to each their own), this year Wadoo is also adding a charity aspect to the show. During the event, you are invited to give in a variety of important ways:

1. Bring an unwrapped, new toy to donate to Santa Cops;
2. Bring non-perishable food for the Food Bank Of Larimer County;
3. Purchase personal-care gift bags created by Windrift Hill and available at cost ($12) to be donated to residents of Crossroads Safehouse, or donate cash to Crossroads.

To learn more about these charity organizations (they’re all pretty cool), click on their corresponding logo below (or their links in the descriptions above):

The show allows you to come out and support local businesses, local artists, and local charities while getting yourself some chocolate and champagne. It was created simply for the joy of sharing festivities with customers and bonding over warm feelings and good art. Who doesn’t love that?

How to Use Fabric Scraps: The Hair Clip

Posted on September 10, 2014 by Plaidypus

I go through a lot of felted sweaters. Like, A LOT. I scrounge for wool sweaters at the ARC or Goodwill at least once every week from September until March (which according to thrifts stores is sweater season). I felt and cut up sweaters once every month or so and organize all my pattern pieces so they are easy to grab and use. My goal at this point is to throw away as little of the sweater as possible, so I’ve had to get creative over the years.

I started by only using sweaters to cut out patterns for my Coffee Cup Cozies. But there were all these parts left over. I began using the sleeves to make scarves, which helped ease my guilt, but I still felt like I was wasting some good scraps. I started looking online for small accessories I could create, and realized that hair clips were a worthy investment.

I found inspiration for the pattern I eventually made on the internet and at home.
After searching the web I found a few tutorials and photos that I really liked and tried to figure out why I liked them. For example, Here’s one that I liked because of the layering effect they used.

I also had a few hair clips at home that friends and family had bought me over the years that added to my inspiration and designs. Inspiration really is everywhere. I knew I wanted layers and I knew I wanted buttons (because I like buttons on everything. Who doesn’t like buttons?) so I messed around until I made something I liked and then stuck with that and made a bunch more.

Because I was just using up scraps that I would have thrown away otherwise, I was keeping costs low and could therefore keep the price lower for customers. Also, I felt better about not throwing away so much good wool (because wool is getting harder and harder to come by as acrylic and acrylic blends take over the sweater market).

If you don’t use sweaters, you can still make hair clips or pins out of other scrap materials you have laying around. I also use a lot of t-shirts and end up with a lot of scraps from that and I’ve been thinking about making hair clips from those scraps as well. A lot of people have scraps from quilting or sewing projects, and those can be made into hair clips just as easily. Here’s a website with a bunch of great collection of hair bow ideas that you can make with your fabric, yarn, and ribbon scraps.

Bonus: Here’s one of the first hair clips I ever made combined with the moment I realized how difficult it was to take photos of myself with an SLR camera. At least my hair looked fabulous.

Using those old T-shirts: 7 Websites with Fabulous Tutorials and Inspiration to Help You Use That T-Shirt Stash

Posted on July 3, 2014 by Plaidypus

Pile of t-shirts

T-shirts are my favorite source of fabric. They’re colorful. They have patterns on them sometimes. They’re inexpensive. They’re plentiful and easy to find. They’re stretchy. And they don’t fray. That’s right, they’re practically magic. They’re great for clothing and quilts and accessories galore. If you’re more of a book kind of person, then check out the t-shirt books referenced in my previous blog post, 6 Books for Recycled/Upcycled Clothing and Accessory Patterns.

Sometimes I’m more of a website, girl, though. My poor bookshelf already bows down in the middle of every shelf. So the whole every-pattern-you-could-ever-want-is-on-the-web fact is one I love. All you have to do is type into Google whatever you want to look for and a million (most likely more) results will pop up for you to sift through.

I sifted through a few pages looking specifically at patterns and ideas that use old t-shirts, and found these for you. They’re all pages with bulk t-shirt ideas. Maybe I’ll come through and make another post with more specific projects.

1. Personal Creations

Toggle Bolero White T-shirt Upcycle Pattern This is a great website because it not only tells you what the item is and where to find the pattern, but also gives you a photo of the item! You can go through and find something you want to make and know what it will actually look like instead of hoping it’s nice when you get to the second linked page.

My inspiration from this website is the Bolero Pattern they show. Definitely going to have to make this one. The website they have this pattern on, by the way, also has some other fun ways to fashion a boring t-shirt.

2. Saved by Love Creations

Apron made from recycled/upcycled t-shirt by Ruffles and Stuff Another big bunch of t-shirt projects rolled into one page. There are so many to choose from! This site also puts photos next to all the titles and links.

My favorite one from this is the T-shirt Apron. It looks easy. And I’ve been needing an apron for a while now. maybe it’s time to actually make myself one!

3. Infarrantly Creative

recycled/upcycled ruffled front t-shirt top First of all, I had to look up the word “infarrantly.” Fun fact: it’s not a real word. Here’s what the site says:

“What is an Infarrantly? Haha! One of the #1 hits I get from my site from Google searches is “definition of infarrantly”. Since I made the word up I suppose only I can give you the definition. My last name is Farrant and I was playing on the word “inherently” which means something intrinsic, innate, basically born in me. So I am inherently creative…infarrantly creative. Get it? Smile ”

Now you know.

There are some great ideas for kid’s clothing and accessories on here as well as for adults. My fave from this site is the Ruffle Front Top.

4. Buzzfeed (that’s right, they have more than just quizzes and funny pictures)

Recycled/Upcycled t-shirt tunic/dress with cinched waist from large t-shirt I was surprised to see Buzzfeed had this cool of a post. But it did. I haven’t tried all the links, but it looks like at least some of them are tutorials. Some might just be a pretty picture. Which, by the way, is also helpful for inspirational purposes.

If you’ve clicked through all of these that I’ve posted you’ll start to see some repeats at this point. Pay no mind to those. They’ll happen if you hang out on the internet for more than an hour (if you’re like me and you’re searching for the perfect pattern, you’ve already been on the internet for at least that long.)

The thing I’m definitely going to have to make here (and then see if it actually looks good on me) is the T-Shirt Dress with Cinched Waist.

5. Trash to Couture

Okay, not all of these are from old t-shirts. So sue me. They’re all recycled/upcycled basket woven t-shirt pattern/tutorial REALLY cool patterns, though. There are links and how-tos and everything. Some of them look pretty simple. Some look hard, but cool (maybe they aren’t hard. Maybe I’m just convinced that if there’s an intricate-looking pattern on something it’s difficult. You’ll have to try it and let me know).

I was really digging the Basket Woven Shirt idea they had going on. I put it on my long list of things to make.

6. Of Dreams and Seams

Of Dreams and Seams refashioned/recycled/upcycled t-shirt dress This woman is amazing. Again, not everything she writes about is made out of t-shirts. But dang, this woman knows how to upcycle old clothing and make fabulous new clothing.

She does use a lot of t-shirts, though! Like this dress made from 3 old t-shirts. But there are also other cool things. Just click through her blog. I promise it’s worth it.

7. Julie Ann Art

Here are some cute accessory ideas for your old t-shirts. Some of them only need scraps. Which is good because you will end up with so many scraps from all the other patterns you’ve alr recycled/upcycled t-shirt bow eady done from this post, right?

I’ve already decided I’m going to make this cute T-shirt Bow and put it on a headband. Or maybe as an appliqué for another t-shirt. I’ll figure out why I’m making it after I’ve made it.

The Headband: For Those of Us Who Don’t Want to Let Our Hair Down

Posted on June 24, 2014 by Plaidypus

Yes, you can let your hair down. Or you can put it up. It’s really up to you. But if you want a way to put it up (because it’s summer and it’s hot and if you have long hair you probably get that thing where your hair sticks to your forehead when you’re outside and it feels uncomfortable), there are a lot of options out there right now in the fashion world.

For one, headbands are coming back. I’m not sure if they ever actually left, but suddenly I’m seeing a lot more of them around here. I personally like the bigger, thicker headbands because otherwise they get lost in my hair (I always have more hair than I think I do…)

You can make your own headbands by cutting up t-shirts and braiding them in cool ways (I’ve seen this, but never figured it out myself because braids with more than three strands confuse me), by sewing some pretty fabric to some elastic, or by covering a pre-made headband of any size with fabric. Heck, you can even embellish a pre-made headband until it looks nothing like it’s original form. Here’s a website/blog post that gives you some ideas and some tutorials if you have creative energy and time to kill.

If you would prefer to buy a handmade headband, well then you’ve come to the right blog post! Plaidypus makes some lovely thick headbands from upcycled t-shirts. They come in many colors and textures and with many embellishments, and unlike many headbands, they don’t start to give you a headache after ten minutes of wearing them. Check them out in our Photo Gallery or on the Plaidypus Etsy Site.

The Magic of the Fuzzy Fingerless Mittens

Posted on June 12, 2014 by Plaidypus

Again, it’s summer. I know. I’m sweating here, too. But I still believe in these Fuzzy Fingerless Mittens. Yes, they are probably more useful when it’s cold outside and you still want to use your fingers (like in driving or biking or texting or instead of gloves with fingers), but I swear they have utility even in the heat of the summer.

Well, not literally in the heat. That’s probably a bad idea. But a lot of people work in overly air conditioned homes or businesses where their teeth chatter and their extremities get frost bite as they type away at their computers or file papers or whatever it is that people with real jobs do (I’ll learn what that is as soon as someone is willing to hire a fresh-faced college grad…) Those people might need a little insulation, like a coat or a blanket or, hey, maybe a pair of fingerless mittens (because they do still need to be able to do what it is that they do).

If you are one of these cold people, let me know. I happen to sell these nifty things in all sorts of colors. Otherwise, it’s never too early to start thinking about Christmas gifts or gifts for people traveling to places like Russia or Greenland or the northern tip of Norway.

Plaidypus

Freak of fashion

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