Tag: sewing

barberwitch:

barberwitch:

Yule Goat Ornaments 
Updated December 2018

I was asked to make a tutorial on how I make my felted Yule goat ornaments!

Yule goats are a part of the season in part their durability. Many times during the harsh winters of yore, the cows wouldn’t produce milk during the winter’s while goats would. Not only that, but the nature of the goat eating pretty much anything to survive meant that even if hay had run out, a family could still feed the goat from their stores and from their compost heap, even scraps from the table and cooking and would still produce milk. The Yule goat has become a symbol of strength, perseverance and one of blessing, staving off the harsh realities that winter can impose.

Step 1: Make you guide out of cardboard or sturdy paper. If you would like to print off the template, I made a quick google doc.
Step 2: Lay on piece of doubled felt and cut along outline.
Step 3: Tie a knot on end of embroidery floss and pull through one side right at the neck.
Step 4: This isn’t really step,

but make sure that the side where the knot is will be the inside of the Yule goat to hide the knot.

Step 5: Bring both side together and use a whip stitch to loop along the edges from the neck forward and all along there whole thing until just past the tail. They don’t have to be super close together, but try and keep the distance uniform and tight.
Step 6: Leave enough room to put stuffing in the goat using a chopstick, wooden skewer etc. You can also add in herbs, spices, crystals, sigils, or written petitions inside.
Step 7: Once it is full of stuffing, finish sewing up the back to your first knot and tie off a knot to keep it from unraveling.
Step 8: (optional) if you have enough excess, wrap the remaining floss around the neck until you have a just enough to tie a little bow. I usually tie the bow facing whichever side I designate at the front.
Step 9: Using black thread, or even a small seed bead, you can sew on an eye. If you want to decorate the goat more, use thin ribbon or trim and decorate to your style, trying to sew it in place with minimal stitches to avoid making bulges in the stuffed goat.
Step 10: Sew a small loop from the horn, pinch it in place to see what part is balanced, and sew the loop there.

These ornaments are pretty cheap to make and once you get the hang of it, you can make a bunch. Supplies include: Felt, needle and embroidery floss, stuffing, and optional decoration and supplies listed in step 6. 

Merry Yuletide!

🦇Cheers, Barberwitch

Support the Blog!

  • Original content of this blog is licensed under a Creative Commons Attributution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license


This post is not meant for terfs, or nazi’s. I see an uptick every winter of them reblogging this.

Witch Tip Wednesday 12.5.18

Yule Goat Ornaments

Yule goats are a part of the season in part their durability. Many times during the harsh winters of yore, the cows wouldn’t produce milk during the winter’s while goats would. Not only that, but the nature of the goat eating pretty much anything to survive meant that even if hay had run out, a family could still feed the goat from their stores and from their compost heap, even scraps from the table and cooking and would still produce milk. The Yule goat has become a symbol of strength, perseverance and one of blessing, staving off the harsh realities that winter can impose.

Usually Yule Goats were made from bent straw, wrapped in red ribbon or string, this falls along the lines of straw art done near harvest like the Corn Dolly tradition for fall that I posted about a while back. This is a modern adaptation that is a lot easier than soaking straw and braiding it, so I hope you enjoy it!

If you do make these, please send me pictures! I loved seeing them last year 💚

Source: barberwitch

cassolotl:

Last night I made two matching furoshiki to wrap two gifts for my mum.

She is getting more into reducing her plastic waste and persuading supermarkets to do the same, so I’m hoping she’ll be into the non-disposable culture aspect and maybe she will reuse these.

If you’re into environmental whatever you might be familiar with the Five Rs of Environmental Responsibility, which come in order of priority:

  • Refuse – wrapping paper and plastic tape.
  • Reduce – I suspect this one isn’t relevant in this case? But it is great that they are rectangular – the only waste was cutting off the tiny corners and the endy bits of cotton, both of which will be recycled.
  • Reuse – these are completely reusable.
  • Recycle – fabric is recyclable at many recycling centres, but it’s also possible to unpick the hems and turn them into something else.
  • Rot – the fabric is 100% cotton and therefore biodegradable and compostable (though I think it would take a couple of years).

I’m probably going to make more – these two were made from fat quarters, and all I did was roll the hems so it’d be pretty easy to get some “furoshiki – please reuse” labels made and then sew them into the hems.

Okay, so it was actually pretty involved and took me several hours, but it was very easy. If I make several at once and get a shedload more pins I could definitely save a lot of time by doing each step to like 10 pieces at once.

HOW TO MAKE FUROSHIKI

  1. Find a good rectangle of fabric. You want something thin but not transparent, so cotton is ideal. Using something that would otherwise go to waste is extremely compatible. If it has two good sides that’s a plus. You can often find fat quarters in batches in fabric shops, tied with a ribbon.
  2. Iron it.
  3. Cut off the corners a tiny bit, maybe a centimetre, to make your corners tidier when you sew the hems.
  4. Fold and pin your hems. Go around the whole rectangle, folding the edges in once and then again, and pinning in place. Pin perpendicular to the fabric – it makes machine sewing much easier! My hems were about 1cm. Be warned that blocking pins for pinning out knitwear as it dries are too big and make holes in the fabric, not that I have ever done that.
  5. Iron the hems as flat as possible, being careful not to melt the pin heads, not that I have ever done that.
  6. Sew around your hems with either very matching thread or something contrasting. I’m really pleased with how the blue one came out – I used blue thread that ended up basically invisible (perfect!) and white to match the cornflower pattern, because I couldn’t be bothered to change the thread on a bobbin.

sammmango:

thatgayguywitch:

thehereticwitch:

Sewing, knitting, spinning, crotchering, embroidering, weaving.

These things, these crafts are so often ignored or dismissed as parts of witchcraft. But wool, cotton, silk and leather are as much part of the world as any stone, crystal or plant. They hold as much power as any of these and these forms of craft, the possibilities in spellwork, should neither be ignored nor dismissed.

Speaking as a witch that just finished another crochet project, do you know how much intent you can pour into a mass of yarn that you stab a couple thousand times? The answer is a metric fuckton.

@marigoldwitch @charliemikebravo

petitedeath:

Finally finished my riding habit and just before the hunt on November 3rd. I got my darling husband to walk to the park with me in the morning to get some pictures of it.

The jacket is thick cotton velvet with black velvet accent. The vest and blouse/cravat are pretty simple and the petticoat is a lovely lightweight black wool and I managed to get some vintage kid leather gloves! The feather in my hat is also vintage. It’s all very comfortable and warm and probably my favorite project so far.

spooniewitches:

So the square a day blanket is complete! It was meant to be a year’s worth but I stuck to 6 months otherwise it would have been massive.. (at least more massive than it is now)

It’s really heavy and smells lovely so it’s the perfect comforting blanket, giving off cosy and safe vibes.

I’m hoping to back it with some brushed cotton just so it has a nicer finish, but I may have to pay the tailor to do that for me as my sewing skills are pretty dire.

I reckon I’m well on my way to the victorian granny reincarnated as a 21st c girl aesthetic that I aspire to.

Source: spooniewitches