Craftzine.com blog: May 2007 Archives

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Archives: May 2007

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May 31, 2007

More Fabulous T-Shirt Quilts

The T-shirt quilts keep on coming! This time from one of our own, CRAFT & MAKE's Managing Editor, Shawn Connally.

Shawn writes:

Bruce has boxes and boxes of old tees that he always swore he would make a quilt out of someday. But he can't even sew a button on! So I took matters into my own hands (well, a fabulous quiltmaker's hands), and had one made for him a couple of years ago.

See more photos of the beautiful T-shirt quilt on Shawn's flickr set here - Link.

Multi-colored Custom Yarn Dyeing with Kool Aid

I love Lee Meredith of lethal zine's in depth look into Kool Aid yarn dyeing. She's got a two part series up on her site and also links to a bunch of other resources including the one we love from knitty. Great inspiration, not to mention fantastic eye candy.

Part 1 - Link.
Part 2 - Link.

Crochet Coral Branch

This beautiful crochet coral branch is a pattern for sale by jpolka on etsy. I love that it can be framed as a piece of art. Just $3.50. [ via ] Link.

T-Shirt Quilt

More fun continues with the recycled t-shirt theme!

Kristy writes:

I've noticed the crocheted t-shirt rag rug and the geek shirt patchwork blanket, and I thought I'd throw my old t-shirt craft into the ring. My best girl friends and I were very involved in extracurriculars in college, and one thing everyone knows is that you accumulate a LOT of t-shirts in college. After we graduated, I made the girls quilts out of their very favorite t-shirts from college. I sewed together 13"x13" squares and backed the quilt with fleece with Marshall University emblems from my local craft store. Then, I took the 'easy way out' by quilting it by using square knots where all the squares meet. Link.

Maker Faire: Lion Brand's Hyperbolic Crochet Sea Coral Fantasy

The Lion Brand booth was jam packed both days at the Maker Faire with their how to knit and crochet workshops taught by Shannon Okey and Cecily Keim. One of the things also happening at the booth was the Hyperbolic Crochet Sea Coral Fantasy and Liz of Lion Brand (pictured above) worked with booth visitors to create their own crochet sea life. The project was inspired and developed by the Institute for Figuring and has taken new levels with IFF's Hyperbolic Coral Reef project. When I came up to Liz she was happily crocheting and talking as she was finishing up another piece to add to the ever growing display. It was enchanting and soothing to see all the different sea creatures that we created. Liz also told be about the new Lion Brand Flagship Store that will be opening in NYC this winter 2007-2008. Yay!

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On the flyer Lion Brand was distributing was this background on hyperbolic crochet:

Hyperbolic crochet is the name given to applying a mathematical principle to crochet patterns. A hyperbolic plane expands exponentially from any point on its surface, always curving shapes away from itself. Hyperbolic growth gives rise to the ruffled shapes of coral, kelp, and sea anemone. You can easily crochet a hyperbolic surface by increasing at a constant rate throughout the piece. Crocheting a reef is a great opportunity to try the different yarns and stitches. The variety of textures and shapes will inspire you to expand your crochet boundaries.

Get the free pattern from Lion Brand to make your own Hyperbolic Crochet Sea Coral Fantasy here. - Link.

See more photos of Lion Brand booth at Maker Faire here. - Link.
Photos from Cecily - Link.
Photos from Shannon - Link.

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And leave it to Cecily and Shannon to come up with one of the best crafty Ikea hacks around. They used plastic trash bag holders and layed them flat on the table to hold all the gorgeous Lion Brand yarn! What a great idea for when you're working on a project. No rolling balls of yarn and all your colors will be at your fingertips. Link.

Art Star Craft Bazaar in Philly this Weekend, June 2-3

The Art Star Craft Bazaar will be happening this weekend on Saturday (11-7) and Sunday from (11-5) in Philly at the Liberties Walk 1030-40 N. 2nd Street. There will be over 100 artists and crafters who will be selling their handmade wares as well as crafty demos! Get there early to get one of the 175 gift bags. Thanks Meg for the info! For more details, check out the website. Link.

Geek Crafts

As a comment to my post on crocheting a t-shirt rag rug yesterday, Giaguara showed us her crochet t-shirt rug made from old Apple and geeky t-shirts.

Giaguara writes:

When you have more than one kind of shirt and tones in it, it works best to make it a straight carpet. Use three colors or different yarns on a row, and change the start and end constantly to be random. That way no matter where your yarn starts or ends, it doesn't look too odd. The round thing is harder to do if you try to keep the randomness pattern in it, unless you want to carry 2-3 yarns over while you crochet.

See more photos of her crochet geeky t-shirt rug here. Link.

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The logo remenants from the t-shirts became a patchwork geek blanket. Link.

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She also made cute crochet Nintendo DS lite case and iPod cozies. Link.

See more of Giaguara's cool geek crafts on her LJ blog. - Link.

Interweave Crochet Spring 2007 & Larger Than Life Bag

Is this turning out to be the summer of crochet? I'm savoring the Spring issue of Interweave Crochet that's the first issue with Kim Werker of Crochet Me as the Editor in Chief! There are so many great projects from crochet sweaters, scarfs, adornments, and more! One of the fun projects I'll be working on this summer from the magazine is the Larger-Than-Life bag by Cecily Keim. I saw Cecily tote around this cute and functional bag earlier this year at TNNA. It's got an amazing look to it with a floral granny square pattern. And it's HUGE! You could probably fit everything you need for the day in here from your craft projects, books, and more. If you're interested in making this project, join the Larger Than Life CAL, the Larger Than Life Bag Flickr group or check it out for more inspiration. Some members of the Granny Along are also making this bag.

For more info and table of contents for the Spring issue of Interweave Crochet, visit the Interweave Crochet site here. Link.
Free web projects from Interweave Crochet - Link.

Cocoa Jars

Sunset has the perfect quick gift idea with these cocoa jars. There's recipies for classic cocoa, mexican cocoa, pepermint stick cocoa, and mocha cocoa. Doesn't that just look so sweet? Link.

May 30, 2007

Indie Craft Experience in Atlanta on Saturday, June 2

Coming this Saturday from 11am to 6pm in Atlanta, Indie Craft Experience takes it to the great outdoors at the Centennial Olympic Park (pictured above). It's number 5 for this indie fair and there will be lots happening with 85 booths (105 crafters), workshops by Garth Johnson of Extreme Craft, friends from Alternative Apparel and Scrap Chic Boutique and other Atlanta crafters. There's also a cool clothing swap and live music! To find out more details, check out the Indie Craft Experience web site. Link.

Summer Skirts and Dresses Roundup

Thimble has a great round up of summer skirts and dresses you can sew up like this wrap skirt by Dacia Ray! Link

Build Your Own Tetris Bookshelf

Tetris is popular today. Also on Instructables is odecom5's tutorial on how to build a Tetris style bookshelf or DVD shelf. Link.

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