Archive for the ‘Sewing’ Category
Posted by Katherine Sharpe to Craft and Home + Garden and Sewing on
25 February 2010, with 3 comments so far.
I learned a new word at the New York Gift Fair a couple of weeks back. The word is kantha, and it refers to a quilting technique practiced in the Bengal region of India, by which used cotton saris—which are, in themselves, giant pieces of flat, patterned fabric—are fused together in layers, using a simple running stitch, to create blankets and other useful items.
I noticed a few vendors exhibitors featuring kantha or kantha-like items, but the most impressive examples came from Jeanette Farrier’s booth. Her kantha throws and baby blankets are made by women who work out of their homes in two villages in West Bengal. The throws consist of five layers of discarded saris stitched together. The juxtaposed colors and patterns are hapy-making, and the pieces really stood apart because of their heavenly softness, cotton being one of those fabrics that seems to keep getting better with use: think of the broken-in effect of your favorite old shirt, in blanket form.
Which gets me thinking…kantha quilt made of old tee shirts, anyone?
[Image credit]
Posted in Craft, Home + Garden, Sewing | 3 Comments »
Posted by Alexa Fornoff to Craft and Materials and Sewing on
24 February 2010, with 1 comment so far.
If you’re like me, you have a sprightly pair of rain boots and a blah pair of snow boots. I’ve been trying to inject some color into this dreary season by wearing the brighter (but less equipped to handle the cold) rubber wellies. Thanks to Tanna of Alaska Crafter, I can now make boot liners of my very own! Pull out an old cozy sweater and fire up the sewing machine—the sleeves become socks in this ingenious reuse. Click here for the full tutorial with pictures.
(via Recyclart)
Posted in Craft, Materials, Sewing | 1 Comment »
Posted by Alexa Fornoff to Craft and Design and Fashion + Style and Holidays and Materials and Sewing on
12 February 2010, with 1 comment so far.
Don’t fret, you can make these darling bloomers yourself thanks to Sarai of Sweet Sassafras! Download the free pattern here, scrounge up a yard of fabric, some elastic, and ribbons and get to sewing. In only a couple hours, you can have romantic, handmade underpinnings of your very own.
Posted in Craft, Design, Fashion + Style, Holidays, Materials, Sewing | 1 Comment »
Posted by Alexa Fornoff to Design and Environment and Events and Fashion + Style and Materials and Sewing on
11 February 2010, with no comments so far.
The date is set, so pencil it in: March 19th marks Swap-o-Rama-Rama Chicago’s repurposed textiles fashion show. re:MAKE has three different categories (K-12 student designers, college/pre-professional, and professional) highlighting DIY collections that use at least 50% reused material. Even if your garments have never graced a catwalk before, you are more then welcome to submit your designs, with a chance to support worthy beneficiaries and get a little exposure while you’re at it.
Check out this video for more details.
Posted in Design, Environment, Events, Fashion + Style, Materials, Sewing | No Comments »
Posted by Amy Palanjian to Craft and Sewing on
3 February 2010, with no comments so far.
I’m a quilter so when we did the story on Denyse Schmidt’s house in our Dec/Jan issue, I couldn’t wait to make the pillow project. Over the holidays, I was in NYC so I stopped into Purl Patchwork and chose my fabric and got busy soon after returning. I didn’t exactly follow our directions (since part of the point was to improv) but I did like the lines on the front, so I took that idea and made it my own.
My pillows:
Denyse’s pillows:
I posted a step-by-step tutorial on my blog if you want to see how they came together.
Posted in Craft, Sewing | No Comments »
Posted by Alexa Fornoff to Craft and Design and Holidays and Materials and Sewing on
1 February 2010, with 1 comment so far.
At $120 a piece, these are a bit pricey…but for the guy who has everything, a tie made from cassette tape could be just the thing this Valentine’s Day. From Alyce Santoro and Julio Cesar, click here to buy.
(via Recyclart and Supermarket)
Posted in Craft, Design, Holidays, Materials, Sewing | 1 Comment »
Posted by Alexa Fornoff to Art and Craft and Design and Materials and Sewing on
26 January 2010, with 3 comments so far.
While perusing Recyclart, I became instantly fascinated by these buttons. Made from recycled PET bottles, they retain a handmade feel while still being strikingly modern. Maybe it’s the translucence? Either way, they definitely add a little something extra to blah henleys. Available at Tertium Non’s Etsy shop, or your nearest grocery store.
(via Recyclart and Tertium Non)
Posted in Art, Craft, Design, Materials, Sewing | 3 Comments »
Posted by Alexa Fornoff to Craft and Events and Fashion + Style and Film and Materials and Music and Sewing on
20 January 2010, with 3 comments so far.
If you like craftiness, volunteering, and Chicago, then does Swap-O-Rama-Rama have an opportunity for you! The coordinators are looking for individuals to lead DIY and craft workshops, design silkscreens, strut your stuff on the runway, assist at a sewing station, or just help spread the word. And don’t forget about the perks: all volunteers get free admission and free clothes. The giant clothing swap’s proceeds go to Three Sisters Folk Art School, Chicago Waldorf School, and Swap-O-Rama-Rama, so volunteering helps out more than just the people in attendance.
Check out the next volunteer meeting this Saturday, January 23 at 11 am. Meet the organizers and get any questions answered without feeling pressured to sign up.
Posted in Craft, Events, Fashion + Style, Film, Materials, Music, Sewing | 3 Comments »
Posted by Katherine Sharpe to Craft and Holidays and Sewing on
25 December 2009, with 3 comments so far.
When it comes to Christmas trees, there’s natural, there’s artificial (read: plastic), and now there’s this!
Weaselbunny uploaded this shot of a homemade fleece Christmas tree to Flickr, and noted in the caption:
Here’s a detail of my homemade tree. The branches are fleece – light green on top, dark green on the bottom – stuffed with shredded phone books. The structure is 1/2″ dowels for the branches and a 1 1/4″ dowel covered in felt for the trunk.
In the caption to a shot of the whole tree, the maker explains, “I didn’t want to get a real [tree] because of the mess, and I never liked the fake ones (not to mention not wanting another piece of plastic in my life). I’m thrilled with the way it turned out.”
That makes at least two of us.
File under ‘ideas for next year’…
Posted in Craft, Holidays, Sewing | 3 Comments »
Posted by Amy Palanjian to Craft and Holidays and Sewing on
21 December 2009, with no comments so far.
I recently co-hosted a recycled, repurposed, handmade ornament contest over on Things We Make and I wanted to share the winner with you: Candy’s Mod House Ornaments. These two were part of a collection of tiny houses that swept the contest.
They are made with leftover scraps of hand dyed fabric and peltex, and embellished with stitching. Love! See more details here.
Posted in Craft, Holidays, Sewing | No Comments »
Posted by Amy Palanjian to Craft and Holidays and Sewing on
15 December 2009, with 1 comment so far.
In the holiday spirit of sharing, I thought I’d share a project I just finished with you. It’s a stocking made from a vintage corn feedsack that I pieced together and quilted. Honestly, I wasn’t feeling particularly filled with the holiday spirit until I finished this, but now that I did, I’m so ready to see it filled with treats! As my quilts take forever to finish, it’s particularly thrilling to me that I started and completed this in the span of a few weeks. Read more about the story behind my project (and how I made it for just around $5) here.
Posted in Craft, Holidays, Sewing | 1 Comment »
Posted by Katherine Sharpe to Craft and Food + Entertaining and Sewing on
8 December 2009, with 1 comment so far.
Kristin over at Craft Leftovers has posted a tutorial, with a pattern and everything, explaining how to make a reusable muslin bag for steeping loose tea. Perfect for loose-tea drinkers who want to take their genmai cha (or whatever the brew of choice might be) on the road.
[at Craft Leftovers, via Lifehacker]
Posted in Craft, Food + Entertaining, Sewing | 1 Comment »
Posted by Amy Palanjian to Craft and Fashion + Style and Sewing on
13 November 2009, with 1 comment so far.
These are amazing, though I’d imagine slightly heartbreaking to get a run in them.
Via This is Love Forever, with the original tutorial on Park and Cube inspired by Doo Ri.
Posted in Craft, Fashion + Style, Sewing | 1 Comment »
Posted by Katherine Sharpe to Sewing on
11 November 2009, with no comments so far.
I knew this had to be possible, and now there’s proof. Sarai at Sweet Sassafras found herself in a common situation—her grandmother had passed down a lovely pink cashmere sweater that never fit quite right: it was too baggy, too boxy, too frumpy.
Sarai hazarded an experiment with straight pins and a little beginner-level sewing machine action, and the attempt paid off in a fitted sweater with a new lease on life, and a wooly flower pin made from the scraps.
It’s great to have an excuse not to pass up future tempting but too-big thrift store finds.
The how-to!
Via Curbly.com
Posted in Sewing | No Comments »
Posted by Amy Palanjian to Craft and Sewing on
9 November 2009, with no comments so far.
This darling creation (called spring branch) from Amy Stewart’s Five Trees shop on etsy is just another reason that I am currently obsessing over pincushions.
via Poppytalk Handmade Artists
Posted in Craft, Sewing | No Comments »
