FurSlippers

See how beautiful fur slippers I designed and made. I used old fur coat so the slippers are actually recycled and very environmental friendly in many ways and part of my sustainable life style. Only new thing for the slippers are the decorative ribbon and sewing thread. I used the same ribbon for example for my padded sewing case. Because we are living by the arctic in an old house and want to save the energy to save the nature, we need something to keep our feet warm when walking on the chilly floors on the cold season. Recycled fur slippers are an excellent choice for that.

Many people are against the fur these days because of the animal rights. And that is quite right thing to do. It is important to understand animal rights and fur are part of my indigenous Forest Sámi culture. I grew into it since I was born. As a small child I learnt to re-use and recycle because it is a strong part of my Forest Sámi culture. We kept on doing so despite of the modern disposable culture "shop, use & throw away" where things or relationships are not meant to last. Already as a child I learnt natural materials last longer than a human life. So does fur coats which are today excellent material for sustainable lifestyle to protect oneself from the cold.

Last Saturday we had again the annual Earth Hour (25.3.2023) which importance is to raise awarness for the issue. You know I've been talking about the environmental issues every now and then and shared some energy saving tips last autumn because of the energy crisis. I must tell you iron stove fan and tiles have worked better than I've expected. It feels warmer with the less fire wood. It gets warm faster. Because of the tiles the warmth stays longer. I warmly recommend this option to those who have a change for it. 

SummerCourses

 Yesterday I put up a show at local culture house to advert my coming summer season courses. I will have courses with many themes and skills.

Learn to make your own dress making patterns.

Learn to make your own knitting charts on PC.

 

Learn to make your own old Nordic style leather belt. 

Learn to make your own Kuolajärvi Sámi costume.

Learn to spin your own yarn includes...

...learn to card...

...learn to spin by a drop spindle / wheel spindle...

...learn to wind...

Power Yoga

Get into Yoga (introduction of different styles)

From the head down to toes (learn to treat yourself)

Chakra Yoga

It's all introduced in these three showcases standing in a corner of the arrival hall of Kemi Cultural Centre (right hand).

SewAway

On Valentine's Day 2023 I received my 1st ever gift from him. Since that I have desired to sew a case for them. Now I designed and sew it. The case is padded. 

To make the case I wanted to use very special materials. The fabulous sewing themed quilt fabric I received as a gift from my dear friend in UK. The ribbon and closing for the case I have bought from Karnaluks when visiting Tallinn, Estonia. The button has the date 1993 on which I graduated from high school. Reading for the exams and waiting for the results and celebration included a lot of crafts.

The bias tape is a bargain I made years ago. I bought the whole pack of it in ridiculous small amount of money. Some is still left. I was very poor then and very happy to have it so cheap! I still can remember the feeling!

The lining is Laura Ashleys' rose fabric. At my teens I spent all my savings to buy the fabric and make full length curtains of it. It was something very special at my teens: Laura Ashley from UK with rose garden print by the arctic!!!! The fabric shop owner didn't give me any discount despite advertised, so I had to walk home half of the way (5km) because after shopping there was not enough money left for the whole bus ride. I had the correct amount for the full price and some extra but she said I had to buy some extra because otherwise she won't sell it to me because then all she has left is just a stupid piece of fabric of which none can do anything. I am happy that shop was taken down in a year. This is the last piece of the curtains that's left after 30 years. I have wanted to create something special and eternal of it for myself. It reminds me about my dreams but also it that children and teens are real customers and should be sever with respect.

The little piece of black-white felt at top right corner is a piece of felt I received as a gift from another friend. It stands there to hold some needles/pins and reminds about that friendship. Hope she is doing just fine.

If my initials are T.S. what E.H. stands for? She is my great-mother-in-law who passed away on 2010. She was very skillful at crafts and did also embroidery at her earlier years.  I inherit several hand made table cloths and craft materials from her. This embroidery is the last remaining one that's left and I have wanted to use it same like that Laura Ashleys's rose fabric you see on the pic. 

Hand made with love -ribbon is also a gift from a beloved friend. So special and something you can't find here where I live. The last pieces of it for a special place to stay forever with me.

And when I close it again it is like a warm hug from a friend. I just love this case. It holds many important and needed memories and items. It is a true feelgood craft.

TabletWeaving

Interesting! See what I am up to. I am up to tablet weaving. It is even older method than band weaving in which you use the heddle (reed) instead of the cards which you use in tablet weaving.

I am making sample bands for my band weaving course in May 2023 where you can do either band weaving by the heddle or tablet weaving by the cards.

For the beginner I absolutely recommend -if started alone- simple band weaving by the heddle. Tablet weaving either is not impossible once you get it all into the order -what ever the order and staying in the order means.

The plastic clip seals are something modern  you can use in both of these ancient methods: tablet weaving and band weaving. Just make sure they are clean. 

JustInCase

Just take a look what I designed and made for my facial massage stones and rollers. I used 100% printed cotton fabric. I chose the fabric to remind about it that if you are in the need of a massage, you perhaps have been in the thunder or feel it arriving. But, I chose the fabric also to remind me where I come from, what I am made of and what is the purpose of the action.

I made two cases. One is for the stones and the other is for the rollers. I designed the cases to protect the equipment and prevent them to crack if hit something when transported especially in the cold climate.

I need more than one of each (stone and roller) when teaching the students how to use them. Usually the students bring their own ones but someone may always forget it so it is good the teacher has few spare ones.

Both cases have home made bias tape. There's tutorial for it so that you can do your own bias tape easily by yourself or make the matching one.

One case is for the facial massage stones. It is closed by proper velcro. The padded pockets are deep enough to prevent the stones to slip off by accident. 

The other case is for the facial massage rollers. The flap is closed by a permanent ribbon that has elastic band inside. The elastic band makes the fastening to stay better on and hold the flap better at its place when closed.

Also this case has pockets deep enough to prevent the rollers to slip off. Also, this case has padded pockets.

Both cases are full padded. They are easy to close and open but also transported in a bigger bag. Despite they are called facial massage equipment you can use them at any body part for the relief and relaxation for both physical and mental stress. You can use them warm or cold. (If inflammation, warm is not recommended because it provokes the inflammation.)

Goldeneyes

It's been a long time since I posted you about the dogs for the last time. It is actually almost two whole years! Can it be so?! And also then Nuka was seen in the plastic post surgery collar! And no, she has not been wearing it since that! Gosh No! It indeed took several more weeks of her to recover and Pii to destroy some of my apple trees. 

What at the end helped in healing the wound in 2021 was the honey. Pharmacy honey for the wounds is extremely expensive. Our vet recommended to buy Finnish honey meant for humans to eat. From a Finnish shop; and to spread it over the wound 2-3 times in a day. Why Finnish and in Finland? Because we have strict rules considering producing foods and selling it so you can be sure the grocery honey is as clean as the pharmacy one. The only difference is it that pharmacy one faces even more controlling than the food one. (We used the sticky honey like the vet recommended, not the running or the hard one, but the one between, that stays on well and is like an antiseptic glue for the wound.)

Anyway, Nuka was in a surgery on 2.3.2023 because she had lipoma in her belly. It has grown in a year to the size of an egg. None of our dogs has ever before have it but I know it is very common.  Nuka is 8 years now so we decided to get it removed because we don't know will it grow bigger and bother her bowels function or not. Nuka is in a good fit so it was still ok to send her in the surgery. Unfortunately she is experienced patient so this was just a minor surgery to her and she is doing just fine.

Meanwhile little Pii has been busy. Before pulling has been her beloved hobby but now when she is almost 3 years old she has started to work seriously in pulling. She is participating in a nature conservation project. 

In the project people fund, build, take and look after the goldeneye bird nests. We participate in taking the nests into the wild and looking after them. Pii pulls 2 nests at time by her sled into the wilderness. Goldeneyes face a heavy hunting in Europe and problems to find proper trees for nesting here in Finland where the trees cut down grow so slow because of the climate. And when they grow they still never reach the size of southern trees. 

From the video you can see that despite Pii is doing a hard and great job she still has energy left to use her breaks in digging the snow to find little creatures or frozen water under the snow. 

This combo arises curiosity among the tourists that see us around while passing by. But if you spot us, you know what we are up to. 

New&Old

Last December I bought new winter coat for me. It had no faux fur around the hood. Which is only good 'cause faux fur is useless here where I live so it is just a waste of nature resources and supports only oil industry. If a coat has a faux fur I always need to take it off and throw away.

My old winter jacket is still doing just fine. It has lost a bit of its warmth but is still very usable and I wear it weekly. That's why I could not re-use -again- its fur for the new winter jacket. And that's why my mother-in-law gave me a fur collar from an old coat she didn't need. 

The shape of the old fur collar matched quite well to the shape of my new hood. That's why I decided to put it rather inside than just around the hood's outer edge. 

You can't just pin anything made of leather or skin/fur. Pinning makes permanent holes, pierces, to the skin. That´s why, if you need to make it stay, you need to use some kind of clips. Anything does just fine as long as it opens wide enough so that you can attach it. 

This time I decided to sew the fur from its one edge to the hood by my sewing machine. For it I needed leather needles.

The other edge I sew by hands -as usual- to fasten it into the lining of the hood. So, both edges of the fur are attached to different places of the hood. So, this is made differently than in FurHood -tutorial.

At the end, the fur turns inside the hood (instead of rounding the hood from its outer edge around the face) Some consider this warmer. It might be that but after using this and other styles I am ready to say that in my use I need it to be done rather like in FurHood-tutorial than like this -turn inside. It is because I have over 30 years old -bad- frost bites in my cheeks. When you compare these two styles you can notice how much more and better "the old style" covers my face.  I need -most of all- the fur to be a wind breaker. In that way it creates like a tiny hut for my head hidden in the hood. Of course the pattern of the hood determines a lot too but a fur around the edge makes it deeper anyway.

Anyway, this style I used now works good enough and is pretty enough. So, I let it be and protect my cheeks with extra collar. See how beautiful moose horn button my father-in-law made for me for my birthday for my belt!

WarmForMe

At spring I finally always have time to knit woollen socks for me for the next winter season. Here is the pair I designed and just finished for myself. 

These socks are extremely warm for two reasons: They reach all the way up to my knees and the leg parts is made of AAW (50% our own ethic produced arctic angora wool, 40% ethic produced FinnSheep wool, 10% nylon) (100g = 238m). Angora wool is 7 x warmer than sheep wool. 

For the decoration and foot parts I used loose ends of StarDustSet made of Novita Tähti yarn (74% wool, 25% polyamidi, 1% polyester) (100g = 200m) and Novita 7 veljestä Lapintaika yarn (75% wool, 24% polyamidi, 1% polyester) (100g = 200m).