Fun with Felt!

Remember that big box of felt binding pieces we were so excited about?


First, we assembled our supplies: scissors, a few pins, and glue. Pendleton wool felt binding is 1" wide, but we cut the strips to 1/2 inch wide so we'd get more mileage out of them.

We started off with some big coils. The one on the left is just wool felt binding; the one on the right is felt binding and some of our wooly worms coiled together. Aren't they cute? We think they'd make great coasters, or a hot pad/trivet. Of course, they're also just fun to play with. Maybe you could use coils of different sizes as building blocks, and create a soft, fuzzy city.

And if you're feeling ambitious, you can start with a small coil and keep building until you have a Monster Mat! Right now, this is the right size to serve as trivet for a big pot or serving bowl... or maybe be a mat for one foot at a time. Hang it up, and it's art! (We plan to keep building onto it, and see what we end up with. It could get quite massive!)

Then we strung tiny coils on embroidery thread, with buttons for spacers. Don't they look like little candies, maybe saltwater taffy? It was tempting to take the individual mini-coils and wrap them in cellophane so they truly look like a bowl of candies.

The Pendleton Woolen Mill Store sells 1" wool felt binding for $1 per yard in a rainbow of colors... in case you want to get creative and make a coiled masterpiece of your own!

It's Coming... the Woolen Mill Store's Fall Fabric Sale

September is National Sewing Month... and time to stock up on fantastic Pendleton wool fabric during our Annual Fall Fabric Sale!

For the entire month of September, our more than 300 rolls of fabric will be available at a 25% discount! Our tables of pre-cut fabric will be piled high with treasures... and discounted up to 75% off!

We only do this twice a year: the last two weeks of March and the entire month of September. Some of our fabrics are only available in limited quantities, so if there's something you've had your eye on, now is a great time to bring home the Pendleton fabric of your dreams!

Why Wool is Awesome #2 - Flexibility

Wool has so many amazing properties, it's hard to decide on which one to cheer about. Today, it's flexibility.

Are you ready for some incredible numbers? Wool will bend up to 20,000 times before breaking. Compare that to cotton, which can bend up to 3,200 times before breaking. That delicate silk can bend up to 1,800 times before breaking.

A flexible fiber is a survivor -- it can resist tearing and other abuses from regular wear. We love hearing stories from customers who bought their first piece of Pendleton clothing years or decades ago... and it's still in beautiful condition today. Wool fabric is made to last.

(Statistics taken from Julie Parker's fabulous All About Wool book. We have them here at the Woolen Mill Store, if you want to take a look -- it's fantastic!)

Craft and Sewing Books On Sale Now!

We all need a little inspiration from time to time. Craft and sewing books are a great way to spark the creative spirit!

The Pendleton Woolen Mill Store has a fantastic selection of books to help you brush up on the basics, stretch your skills, or inspire you to new creative heights. Knitting, weaving, needle felting, sewing, decorating... the possibilities are endless.

We've got books for crafters at all ages and skill levels... introduce yourself, a friend, or a crafty kid to a ton of new ideas. Books are a great way to help break you out of a creative rut -- you'll find new perspectives on familiar techniques, and projects to build on.

Try setting up a craft book exchange with a few creative friends -- every month or so, swap books and try your hand at a fun new art form. It's also a good chance to share supplies! (Can one ever have too many craft supplies? Never!)

Right now, more than two dozen fantastic craft and sewing books are on sale for 25% off the marked price.

Visit the Pendleton Woolen Mill Store at 8500 SE McLoughlin Blvd. in Portland, or call 866-865-9285 to start shopping for great deals on craft and sewing books.

Truck Report 8/27/2010

Good morning, Woolfans! It's Friday morning, and that means it's time for the weekly Truck Report. Every Thursday evening, the truck comes from our Pacific Northwest mills, bringing us delightful surprises.




This week, the truck brought us 150 pounds of fuzzy selvage ($3 per pound) in some of the best colors we've seen in months!

If you can't get to the store in person, you are welcome to order selvage (and other repurposable mill by-products, fabric, and anything else we have in the store) by phone. Call us toll-free 866-865-9285 to place an order. Selvage (and other scrap) orders are limited to thirty pounds.

Felt and Serendipity

A few months ago, a link to a fantasticly swirly felt mat showed up on our Facebook page. (The project was done by the amazing ladies at Martha Stewart's Crafts Department.) Ever since then, we've been wanting to try a felt mat of our own -- we have wool felt binding in a rainbow of colors here at the store. Plus, we've got wooly worms galore (long strips of blanket-weight wool), and those could work, too. They're already the right size and shape!


Exploring Martha Stewart's site further, we came across an adorable trivet shaped like a tree stump -- another wonderful, fun use for strips of felt! Our fingers were itching to make a few felt projects.



And that's where the serendipity comes in. We get a weekly delivery of scraps from our mill in Washougal, Washington. With the latest shipment came a big box of felt binding scraps left over from making blankets and pillows and other Pendleton items.


Grab the scissors and a bottle of glue... it's time to play! We'll post pictures soon!

Daily Deals at the Woolen Mill Store

Every day is a great day to shop at the Pendleton Woolen Mill Store! But this summer, we've got special deals only available on certain days.

Every Wednesday is Rockin' Rust Wednesday! Any rust colored Rock Art fabric is available at 50% off.

Every Friday is Black Flannel Friday! Solid black flannel is just $10 per yard (a 50% savings) on Fridays.

Seven days a week, we have seven tables overflowing with pre-cut fabric at discounts starting at 25% off. So even if you miss Rockin' Rust Wednesday or Black Flannel Friday, you'll still find fantastic deals on Pendleton's famous worsteds, flannels, Eco-Wise Wool, and jacquards. And you can shop 24 hours a day at our Ebay store!

Inquiring Minds Want to Know: Multitasking

When you're crafting, are you singleminded, or do you like to multitask? How many projects are you working on right now?

And hey, if you're looking to get more projects started (or finished!), we've got a store full of inspiration just waiting for you...

Truck Report 8/20/2010

Every week that the mills are open, we get a delivery of scraps on Thursday afternoon. On Friday mornings, we put out the treasures that the truck delivered. We don't know what the truck is going to bring us until it gets here.

Look for the Truck Report every Friday morning so you'll be the first to know what the Pendleton truck brought to the Woolen Mill Store!

Here's what the Pendleton truck brought this week:

• A small amount of pattern room cuttings -- lots of gorgeous patterns and colors!


• Blanket header pieces ($2 per pound)
  
• Wooly worms in a variety of colors ($0.50 per pound)


• More than 250 pounds of fuzzy selvage ($3 per pound)
  

And don't forget: every Friday is Black Flannel Friday! Solid black Pendleton wool flannel by the yard is 50% off -- but only on Fridays.

Ready to shop? The Pendleton Woolen Mill Store is open Monday - Saturday, 10am-5:30pm and Sundays 11am-4pm. You can place an order by phone during our business hours (866) 865-9285 or shop in our Ebay store 24 hours a day!

Show Us the Wild West in You and Win a Trip to the 2011 Pendleton Round-Up

Pendleton is sponsoring a contest for our Facebook fans. We want to get you in the spirit of the rodeo, so take a look back at some of our favorite photos from past Round-Ups. Then get our your camera, put on your boots and rodeo best, and enter to win.

Learn more

Enter the contest (you have to be a Facebook member to enter)

FAQ: Legendary, Heritage, Beaver State?

One of the questions we hear often at the Pendleton Woolen Mill Store is about the labels on the blankets. What's the difference between a Heritage blanket and a Legendary blanket? What does Beaver State mean?

Pendleton Heritage blankets are reproductions of blanket designs from the Pendleton archive. So if you have a favorite design from days gone by, it may someday make a reappearance as a Heritage blanket!

Pendleton Legendary blankets honor Native American symbols, traditions, and beliefs. Each blanket comes with a special label telling the story behind the design.

The Beaver State label refers to the long relationship between Native Americans and Pendleton Woolen Mills. Tribes living near the mill in Pendleton, Oregon purchased robes and shawls... a relationship that has lasted for over 100 years. This label is reserved for Pendleton's Native-inspired robes, shawls, and saddle blankets.

The Truck Report is Coming!

Starting Friday, August 20th, we'll have a new weekly feature on the Pendleton Woolen Mill Store blog: the Truck Report.

Every Thursday afternoon, the Pendleton delivery truck shows up with scrap from our mills. It may be full of fuzzy selvage for crochet, it may have wooly worms, it may have large blanket header pieces -- we don't know what we're getting until the truck shows up.

On Friday mornings, we'll be posting the Truck Report to give you an idea of what delights the Pendleton truck delivered. Make the Woolen Mill Store blog a regular part of your Friday morning reading, and you'll be the first to know what we've got!

Why Wool is Awesome #1 - Resilience

Wool is a pretty amazing fabric... if you sit down and think about it, there are at least a hundred different reasons why wool is just awesome!

One thing we love about wool is its resilience. Crush it, fold it, cram it into a suitcase and it will stretch itself back to its original size and shape. This is largely because wool is crimped (naturally wavy, in other words, but crimped is fun to say). Along with other features like elasticity and flexibility, resilience helps wool bounce back into shape. It keeps wool carpets springy, and fabrics wrinkle-free.

Stick around for more reasons why wool is awesome... We've got a ton of 'em.

Pendleton ColorPlay Wool on Sale

25% off all Pendleton ColorPlay Carded Wool
& Wool Yarns

Just in time for your Felted, Woven & Knitted Fall Craft Projects.
Our ColorPlay Carded Wool & Yarn felts up quickly and beautifully to make gorgeous purses, hats, critters or anything else you can imagine!
Knit it, crochet it, weave it, felt it, wet felt it & enjoy it at this special price.

Win a Complete Set of National Park Blankets!

Lights... Camera.... ACTION!

Win Pendleton Park Blankets
We are giving away a set of 7 National Park Blankets to the winner of our 
“Why We Love the National Parks” video contest.

TO ENTER:

Create a short video about why you love the National Parks.

You might include a story or photos of your favorite park, you can sing about it, or even shoot your video in the park. To be eligible to win you have to show a Pendleton Park Blanket (or picture of a Park Blanket) in the video. (You can print this from our website.) You do not need to mention the blankets, just talk about the National Park experience.

Post your video on YouTube and be sure to add a tag for “Pendleton Park Blankets.”

Post a link to your video on the Pendleton Blankets & Home Facebook page.
This is how we will know you have entered the contest.

Send the link to all your friends.

The post with the most hits on YouTube on November 1, 2010 wins!

See all the blankets or print the page here

A few additional rules:
We reserve the right to remove objectionable content. Keep it in good taste and in the sprit of the National Parks.
Pendleton employees and their families are not eligible to win. But we are happy to see your entries.
By entering you are giving Pendleton Woolen Mills permission to use your video.

Fun Needle Felting Project