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February 2, 2010

How-To: Velvet Charm Brocade Necklace

How-To Tuesdays

Last week I shared a necklace that I made using some brocade and velvet scraps and simple chains. I love this piece, but I made it in a true creative moment with no camera in hand to capture the steps. Today I've finally got a tutorial to put up. I'm not a jewelry maker, and only have simple tools, so there could be better ways to work, but this is how I put it all together. Simple but gorgeous!

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January 25, 2010

Crinkle Square How-To

I just finished up a lovely, crackly treat for my 9-month-old using this great crinkle square tutorial. It's a fantastic way to use up small scraps of fabric you can't bear to part with and an even better use for old wipes packages! My son loves anything that makes noise and chewing on ribbons is also a favorite, so this is right up his alley. I just wish I'd made it months ago. (Via this great roundup of baby girl tutorials from Luvinthemommyhood, although obviously many of these are just as good for baby boys!)

January 23, 2010

Heather Ross Guest Instructor at Portland's Summer of Making

The Summer of Making returns to Portland's Pacific Northwest College of Art this year, with fabric designer, Heather Ross, as a special guest instructor. Ross will be conducting workshops on how to digitally design fabric, and has teamed up with Spoonflower so students will be able to print yardage after the class. You can read more about the Summer of Making series and register over on their web site.

January 22, 2010

Ann Wood's Bird in Progress

We've blogged about Ann Wood's amazing textile bird creations before (a few times!), but I love getting a glimpse of her process. You get a sense of the structure of the bird as well as the materials before they're transformed! Plus, it's also a gorgeous still life in its own right, a nice reminder of how beautiful many of the materials crafters and artists work with are on their own.

January 14, 2010

Sweet and Easy Handkerchief Bunting

In my quest to find a pretty bandanna for my family's new female puppy (pink! pink! I finally get to dress someone or something in pink!), I stumbled upon a bag of vintage cloth handkerchiefs I'd picked up at estate sales over the years.

As I was tying the very pinkest hanky onto my pup's neck, I realized I could tie them together and create a bunting. I'd been saving them for some inspired project that wouldn't be too feminine in my mostly male household, but over the years all my ideas had been shot down -- "No, dear, you cannot frame them and hang them all over the living room and bedroom." "Well, honey, they don't really work as pillows on the dinosaur and rocket quilts." "Sweetums, I just don't think they'll work as napkins, especially when all the kids really eat are mac'n'cheese and caesar salad."

So obviously, I was thrilled by my "discovery," and decided to take it one step further by ironing the kerchiefs into triangles and then neatly tying them together. I think the results are terrific, and I may even be able to convince my husband to let me hang them in our bedroom. If not, then I'll at least bring them out for birthdays and other special occasions. Finally, something easy to do with one of my stashes of pretty vintage things! Now I just need about 30 more ideas for my other collections.

December 30, 2009

Huge Marimekko Clearance Sale

The semi-annual Marimekko Clearance Sale is happening now through January 15th. There are lots of great fabrics and products on hand so hurry before your favorites sell out. Shop the sale here.

December 4, 2009

Danny Mansmith Trunk Show

If you read our Crafter profile of Danny Mansmith and wanted to take a look at his work in person, here's your chance! (If you live in Chicago, that is.) Fill in the Blank Gallery is having a holiday trunk show featuring Danny's gorgeous patchwork/quilted/embroidered textile pieces as well as the work of two other artists. I'm drooling over this bag!

November 28, 2009

Holiday Gift Tutorial featuring Sierra Dew

While in Hawaii, I've discovered the work of local designer Sierra Dew. She makes really cool fabric prints using stencils. Her work is tropical in nature, but with an edge. Instead of the same old aloha prints, Sierra's art is more urban, with a graffiti influence.

Sierra recently lent her experience as a fabric artist to a simple and crafty holiday gift tutorial by Paula Rath in the Honolulu Advertiser. She shares how to print with handmade stencils onto anything you can find! Try pillows, tote bags, or tea towels. The tutorial even includes downloadable designs by Sierra herself!
Photos by Norman Shapiro

November 21, 2009

Anna Maria Horner's Folksy Flannels

I'm drooling over the new Anna Maria Horner line of flannel printed fabrics called Folksy Flannels. Anna's put together a few bundles in precut stacks that are perfect for upcoming holiday projects.

From the site:

Good Morning & Good Night are the two cozy palettes that make up the 16 piece collection. Printed on your favorite Westminster cotton flannel this warm and wonderful collection is perfect for pajamas, blankets, soft toys and more!

November 8, 2009

How-To: Create Your Own Fabric Design Using Leaves

The folks at Spoonflower show how you don't need Photoshop or other expensive graphic editing programs to create designs for printing on fabric. Their video tutorial walks you through gathering fall leaves and scanning them and editing them with free tools to create a lovely autumn inspired fabric.

November 5, 2009

Screen-printed Bags for the Memories

My grandmother never threw anything away, and kept all of her possessions in pristine order. As a child, this was a little hard to deal with -- don't sit on the bedspread, no shoes on the couch, fold the towel after you dry your hands -- but as an adult I've come to appreciate her fastidious care of her items, some of which I now possess and thoroughly enjoy.

This WWII Army Housewife bag is one of my favorite hand-me-downs. Apparently, it included a sewing kit back when it was issued, and these kits were issued by the Brits and the Swiss as well. Nowadays, this little Army Housewife bag holds my jewelry on overnight trips. And it makes me smile every time I look at it.

When I started to think about making gifts for my family, I decided that I wanted to try and capture that same smile-inducing nostalgia for my relatives. Since we've got a few silkscreen-type machines in the office, I thought I'd beg one friend to make me a design and another friend to show me how to use the Yudu machine (I've used the Gocco printer before, but wanted to try a new device).

I'm loving the results! So much that I've now screen-printed about 12 bags and 8 dish towels, and am wondering if I can get away with giving nothing but self-branded textiles for all my gifts. (And thanks to Daniel and Brookelynn for helping me out, not to mention everyone else who helped with the manual labor in the name of learning!)

October 31, 2009

Plaid Fascinator

You know how when you are supposed to be working on a specific project, like say, sewing your costume for a party? And instead all you want to do is make hair accessories? I was caught in that conundrum today. While the task at hand was a last minute outfit, I instead became inspired, and singularly focused, on a little plaid fascinator made from some costume jewelry, a bit of tulle, and a clip. It's so easy, just choose a fabric scrap, sew some ruffles on, add a pin, and glue the whole thing to a clip. Now if only I can think of a costume to go with my new hair piece! Check out a picture of it on my head after the jump.

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