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!

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.

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!)

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.

My mother-in-law has a stunning antique Crazy Quilt that hangs on the wall in her home. I was visiting there today, and I caught my self inching closer and closer to the quilt, in an attempt to discover all of it's amazing details.

The tiny flower embroidery is so charming.

The discord is the one common thread. The shapes of each patch are just odd. And the colors, prints and textures match by not matching at all. When I look at these patches, I like to think about the special occasion dresses that gave up their velvets and taffetas, and all the well-loved items that went into this quilt.

The only identifying mark, and the only actual literally story reads: Fargo District Epworth League Convention- Ellendale June 30, July 1

There have been some great wrap up posts from the Houston Quilt Market floating around the craft blog circuit. One of my favorites, though, is this behind the scenes look at the production of the Michael Miller booth, which took home the Creativity Booth Award. It's an interesting look into how they went from concept to execution for this charming booth!

I think I might need a tutu for halloween. I'm not quite sure what I want to be yet, but I think that about 10,000 yards of tulle will be incorporated. I found many tutu tutorials on the web, but this massive, ultra colorful, punk rock version is exactly what I was looking for. The designer Emi took great photos, wrote clear instructions and makes it look so easy!

[via cutoutandkeep]

When I was back in junior high and high school, I was a collage addict. My friends and I were always making collages for each other, and I'm lucky enough to still have a few of them around. At the time, I was strictly a paper gal, but since then, I've been toying with the idea of playing with fabric collage. This tutorial from Belle and Burger is the perfect inspiration! Plus, it's a great way to use up fabric scraps.

I'm getting ready to throw a party tonight! As part of my decorations, I've been putting together some simple fabric garlands. I'm using Lion Brand Glitterspun yarn and knotting strips of blue fabric all along it. Each strip is about 3/4 inch wide, and 12 inches long. Because they go together easy without having to pay much attention, I made a ton while I caught up on Project Runway. As I finished each garland, I wound it on a piece of cardboard to keep it from getting tangled before they were hung.

Talk about extreme craft! This gorgeous textile is an 11-foot-long weaving made from spider silk, specifically the golden orb spider of Madagascar. The story of how it was made is fascinating and well worth reading (a few tidbits: the saffron color is the undyed color of the spider silk, the threads have five times the strength of steel by weight, and it took more than one million spiders to make the cloth). The weaving will be on display in the American Museum of Natural History for the next six months, so if you're on the east coast, you should go look! Check out the New York Times article for more details on the history of humans using spider silk and how this particular piece was made. It's an amazing account that lives at the intersection of tradition and technology, science and art, craft and craziness.

Amy Butler announced her new line of fabric, called Love, yesterday. Preview pictures posted to her web site give glimpses of the vibrant floral designs sewn into garments from vintage-inspired western shirts to 70s-style frocks and even modern dresses, beautifully exemplifying the versatility of the fabrics.

Kate Pruitt posted a clever Notebook Lunchbag tutorial on Design*Sponge. She used striped canvas fabric and a sewn red line to replicate the look of notebook paper and then wrote a sweet little message on it in black fabric pen.

Books take a lot of abuse. And when they're school books, they are most often owned by many people over the years. To keep a nice book nice, and to disguise one that's been defaced, you can sew a simple fabric book cover. Plus, textbook cover designs are usually utilitarian at best, and ugly at worst. With this fabric cover, your books will stay protected from the constant ins and outs of lockers and backpacks.

Make this book cover with any durable fabric you like. Choose one that shows your personality, or that matches your backpack and other school supplies. Be smart in class with DIY style and function!

I absolutely love this gorgeous pillow from A Ervilha Cor de Rosa, a fantastic Portuguese craft blog (she often posts both in Portuguese and English, or you can use Google translate). Rosa gets a really soft but lovely contrast from using both right and wrong sides of the jean fabric. Check out the back, too!

Love Momiji is hosting a fun Momiji doll couture contest. Momiji are Japanese message dolls, like the ones shown above, and each one has an opening in its base for a secret message. The contest rules are pretty broad, allowing for maximum creativity. They're looking for one-off, fabric Momiji dolls using a combination of crafty methods: weaving, printing, knitting, embroidery, whatever flavor you choose. Entries will be judged on "overall wow-factor as well as skill and craftsmanship." The deadline is October 30th. The ten finalists will be exhibited at Royal /T in Los Angeles, and the winner will be featured in Selvedge magazine. All the details you need, including templates, are at Love Momiji's contest page. I love this line: "Our aim is to create a catwalk of exquisite Momiji dolls which show off the skill and flair of textile artists around the world."

Kim at True Up has put together a very handy guide to the various digital fabric printing services available online.

I do recommend each of the companies, but each has its own price range, basecloth offerings, printing technology, file requirements, and extra services. I've prepared this free downloadable .pdf that compares all these factors at a glance. Decide what factor(s) are the most important to you and choose the service that fits your needs.

Cathe at Just Something I Made shares these snazzy downloadable remnant wrappers to help organize your fabric stash!

DuhBe offers a great little tutorial on how to make these realistic-looking fabric roses in 5 easy steps. The method involves making strips of fabric, and then clipping and melting the edges over a flame. Love that she has this on her post: "Rather than keep all my secrets to myself, I want to share this method with others. Some crafters will think I'm crazy for sharing my secrets for an item I sell in my Etsy shop, but I believe that sharing information contributes to the creativity of others and that is more important than me selling stuff." Word!

I'd love to use this technique to make a slew of flowers to add to a rose umbrella!

Threadbanger has a collection of tips and instructions for making your own natural dyes for fabrics.

More:

Ask CRAFT: Tea-Staining Bed Linens

Project 95, a "worldwide network of independent quilt and fabric shops, e-tailers and design studios who have joined forces to promote shopping independents" has just released the beta version of their searchable database of independent retailers.

One of the things that we've heard over and over again from fabric shoppers is that you want to shop independents, but don't know where to find the shops. So, when The Fabric Shop Network, Inc began the Project 95: Fabric Shoppers Unite Campaign this spring, we made the creation of a searchable database of independent shops a big priority.

Users are encouraged to test the database and give feedback. You can also check the Project 95 web site for information on adding a store to the database.

ModHomeEcTeacher writes:

Why do they call it "oil"cloth? Probably because the recently advertised "real oilcloth" that is all the rage is made from cotton fabric covered with a petroleum based coating.However, genuine oilcloth, the real thing grandma had on her kitchen table was made from cotton duck, canvas or linen that was coated several times with linseed oil to give it a waterproof-ish surface. The fabric could be dyed or printed before the linseed treatment.

Ramona from Pinckard, Ala., wants to give her bed linens a tea-stained look, but doesn't know where to start. There are lots of techniques for getting an antiqued look on fabric, and tea is certainly high on the list. It's natural, cheap, and easy. Your results will depend on your particular combination of circumstances, and always experiment before subjecting your main fabric to the treatment. Here are the different factors responsible for the effect you'll get:

Tea type and strength

Regular black tea will stain your fabric shades of warm brown, but you can experiment with different types to get all sorts of colors. Herbal teas have different types of plant matter in them (seeds, leaves, flowers) that can be interesting and lead to pretty colors. Experiment! Start with a double-strength brewed batch to start, and then adjust based on your experiments. Remember to take the tea's temperature into consideration. Instead of tea, you can try soaking rusty nails for a while to produce a richly colored dye.

Fabric material and orientation while staining

Natural fibers will accept the color more easily than synthetics, which makes us lucky that most sheets are mostly cotton. Start with a light color, like white or a light pastel. You'll need something to put the sheets and tea in, like a big plastic bin or similar. You can use a soda ash fixer after staining like those used in tie-dye to help set the color so it doesn't fade over time.

Application process

If you want an even all-over color, use a big vessel that gives your sheet the room to move, and keep it moving while it's in the bath. You can try bunching the fabric in different places, twisting it, or wrapping it to get tie-dye effects. If the fabric is hanging, tea will pool at the bottom, leading to an all-over gradient. Modeled effects can be achieved by laying the sheet out on a clean plastic drop cloth and puddling tea in different places (best done outside in the yard), applying tea with a sponge, and repeating the dye process with different application types to build up different areas of color. You could even have your kids dance around in the sheet with spray bottles of tea. This is the fun part!

Keep track of all the different variables to produce replicable results, and share with your friends! If you have any tea-staining tips for Ramona, leave them in the comments below!

Photo above is CC-licensed by Flickr user Cathy Cullis

If you have a question for Ask CRAFT, shoot me an email at becky@craftzine.com, or drop us a note on Twitter! We'd love to answer your crafty questions on any topic: technique, projects, crafty culture, or anything else! Each week the answers are here; include your name, where you're from, and your website or blog if you have one!

At my shop, we save pretty much every bit of scrap fabric. We can always find a use for it, whether it's for practice stitching by Sewing 101 students, as furoshiki-style wrapping, or to tie up half-yard cuts of fabric. I've seen a lot of fun fabric jewelry on craft blogs lately, and with so much scrap fabric on hand, I figured it was high time I tried my hand at it. Here's what I came up with.

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If you're in and around NYC this Sunday, check out the Bust Spring Fling Craftacular!

Everything is coming up roses in 2009, BUST Magazine's Spring Fling Craftacular is on its way and is happening in Brooklyn, NY!

Save a dance for us and 50 of the best indie designers and crafters from across the nation at our Spring Fling Craftacular. It gets even better, it’s Garden Party themed!

While shopping, sip on spring-y cocktails and nosh on pierogies, learn about guerilla gardening, how to grow your own food and supporting local farms. Get your groove on with rockin’ DJs, while you curtsey around in dainty white tea-time gloves and twirl around the garden of crafty delights. A $2 admission gets you into the Garden Party, and also gives you a chance to win the BUST spectacular Craftacular raffle featuring a special Singer Quilting machine! BUST is literally growing green and showing you how to host a true Garden Party in style. So be sure to don your gardening gloves, your snazziest straw hat and flirtiest floral skirt, and we’ll see you at the Spring Fling!

The Warsaw is located at 261 Driggs Avenue in Brooklyn NY, not far from the Beford Avenue L stop. BUST Magazine’s Spring Fling Craftacular will take place 12:00 PM – 7:00PM on May 17th. Your entry ticket also gives you a shot at winning a BUST-load of booty in the Craftacular Raffle.

Via PlushYou!