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When you receive your laser cut wool (in my case, from Ponoko), the first thing you’ll likely notice is the smell.  It makes sense if you think about it — wool is a kind of hair, lasers cut by burning, therefore the perfume of burnt hair.  Mmmmmm.

Lean in close and take a deep whiff.

So what can you do about this?  It obviously won’t do to ship to your customer (or use in your own project) as-is.  Follow along as I clean up the most recent order of mustaches for my fleece neckwarmers.  Your project will be different, but here’s what works for me…

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Ponoko is an awesome service that lets you design your own items to be laser cut and delivered to your door. I’ve been using them to cut mustaches for mustache neckwarmers, and I’ve got a few more projects I’m working on but haven’t uploaded for production. They have a marketplace where you can sell what you’ve designed, but since this project has so much additional assembly, that wouldn’t work. So how long does it take to get your goodies into your hands? Their shipping FAQ states:

The ‘average’ order is custom made and delivered within about 2 weeks, give or take a few days.

It turns out that’s not too far off the mark. Keep reading for the timeline of my most recent order.

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For the fall of 2010 I’ve got some awesome new designs, now featuring hardcore handlebars. The neckwarmer is still the same, but you can now get mustaches in thick wool felt or leather. These are laser cut for extra futuristic awesomeness. See pictures in the gallery below, or visit my etsy shop.With the introduction of these new styles, I’ll be phasing out the most intricate of the fleece mustaches because they were such a pain in the rear to make.

I can’t really grow too good of a mustache.  Certainly not one like these.  So a few months ago I came across an idea I’d written down: “Scarf with mustaches/faces on it, to line up when you wrap around your own. Or maybe a fleece neckwarmer with just one face.”

I’d recently started sewing, and this seemed like a project I could tackle.  I took apart a neckwarmer I already had to see how it was put together, consulted with a couple of friends who are far better at sewing than I am, and promptly began turning out some trainwrecks.

Eventually, things started to come together.  I optimized the process so I could make one in less than the 3 hours each it took to make the first few. I put a few on Etsy and got a good response, even a few requests for custom designs.

I’m really excited to find that other people have the same sense of humor and fashion (although I use that term loosely) as I do.  My dream at the moment is to be able to chase after a random stranger I see on the streets, yelling “Hey!  I made that!”  The odds are getting better and better every day.

About the Neckwarmers

The neckwarmer is made from two pieces of fleece: one color called “camel” (how appealing!) and one “charcoal.”  A single piece would be a lot easier, but I think the look is really made by the way it angles along the jawline and mimics the shape of the face.  It’s double-layered, and because the two layers are only attached at the seam it can be “rolled” to place the mustache in a different location in relation to the top of the neckwarmer.

The mustaches are also made from fleece.  Usually three layers, stitched around the edges.  The extra layers give the ‘stache some volume and rigidity, so that the handlebars will stand out appropriately.  They’re attached to the neckwarmer down the middle and partway across the top, so that the ends are free to pop out.