craftlog: May 2004 Archives

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May 26, 2004

fabric flower

I bought a skirt for my sister for her birthday, but I also wanted to make something. I got it at Anthropologie, and they also had these cute fabric flowers, for $28! So I made this fabric flower to match the skirt with some fabric scrabs and the extra button that came with it. The top 2 layers are both made the same way. Cut a strip of ribbon (top layer) or fabric (middle layer). For the ribbon, I also cut one edge so it would fray. Starting with the top layer, with matching thread, make a knot in one end and sew big long stitches along one edge. Pull the thread to gather the fabric. (This is roughly the ribbon-flower-making technique on Carol Duvall the other day, although mine didn't really look like hers.) Mess with it until you like it. Then continue sewing big long stitches along the edge of the second layer. Gather it and fiddle with it until you like it. Sew through the center of both of the layers a couple of times to secure them. The bottom layer is a piece of ultrasuede, but felt would look nice too. I cut it into a vaguely flowery shape. Also, find a nice button and a safety pin. Right after I finished it, I noticed the Kerry button sitting on my dining room table and realized that I should've scavanged that, but oh well. Sew through the bottom layer, catch the safety pin, and sew back through all the layers and through the button. Go back and forth through the layers until the button and the safety pin are pretty secure. Knot off the thread and fringe the edges if you want. I'm not sure I like the filmy ribbon I used on this one, but it matched so well that I had to use it. I'm going make myself one in yellows and oranges and put it on my bike.

Posted under Sewing/Fabric Crafts at 09:38 PM | Comments (1)

Martha Withdrawel

I used to watch Martha every day on TV. Sure, I'd fastforward over most of it, but there were almost always segments and ideas and especially projects worth watching. Reading the blurbs on her web page is a poor substitute. God help me, I've started watching the Carol Duvall Show. It's really not my taste at all. Even the stuff I fastforwarded over on Martha is better than the parts that I can bear to watch on the Carol Duvall Show. She did have some cutesy ribbon flowers I may try, though. If I can get a crafting idea just once a week, I'll probably keep watching.

Posted under Martha at 12:05 AM | Comments (0)

May 23, 2004

buttons ideas

A couple of posts with buttons caught my eye lately. We used to have a big button jar when I was little that could occupy me forever. I'm slowly building up a cache myself, but not enough to make these. There's a cute button purse off Craftgrrl, and here's an awesome buttons cuff from Craftster. They recommend the Dollar Store for buttons. I'll have to check next time I'm around one.

Wasn't there an article about button crafts in Martha a while back? Aha, May 2003. I really need to post my Giant Martha Index some day. It's very useful. From her website, some of my favorites:

Posted under Inspiration at 11:28 PM | Comments (0)

May 21, 2004

more Koolaid dyeing

Oh, another Koolaid dyeing guide. It even has a color chart. I looked for some cheap wool at Walmart the other day, but to no avail. Looks like I've got to hit the real yarn store again.

Posted under Crafty Links at 10:30 PM | Comments (0)

May 18, 2004

Knitting Books Roundup

Time for a rundown of all the knitting books I've been looking through lately. I even broke down and bought one for my mom for a (late) mother's day gift. I had originally planned to get her Erika Knight's Simple Knits with a Twist, but once I actually found a copy and looked through it, I wasn't so enthused. The twist-y ones were sometimes a little too strange, and the less twist-y ones were much like patterns in her other books. From the wall of books at the knitting store, I finally decided on Simple Knits for Sophisticated Living by Barbara Albright. It has a really cute felted purse, some neat trivets, a bathmitt set, and felted mice that I want to make. One funny thing is that I liked a lot of the patterns in it, but, with only a few exceptions, the colors were totally not my taste.

Recent library finds: Weekend Knitting by Melanie Falick, the source of the ubiquitous flower washcloth, as well as tiny sweater egg cosies, a nice simple shawl, a stripy felted zipper bag, and some other nice ones. I love itsy bitsy tiny things, so I'll almost certainly try a little sweater.

Felted knits by Beverly Galeskas is awesome. I think I've checked it out twice now. Purses, mittens, a vest, slippers, a really neat felted rug, coasters, trivets, and a whole section on needle felting. I am definitely going to make the oven mitt.

Knitting for the First Time was a huge disappointment, though. I looked through it at the library and didn't even bother to check it out. Too much baby stuff. The stuffed pumpkins are a little bit interesting, but that's about it. Not a good week for "... for the First Time" books here on craftlog.

Posted under Crafty Book/TV Review at 09:13 PM | Comments (0)

May 17, 2004

Japanese sewing box

I got a neat book from the library called Omiyage by Kumiko Sudo. It's all sorts of Japanese sewing projects. There are bags shaped like flowers and animals, pincushions, ornaments, all sorts of stuff. A lot of it is not my taste, but there are a few projects I might make. I tried the Japanese sewing box tonight. It's a little cute fold up box with holders for your supplies and a pincushion on the lid. I used some of the fabric I brought back from Japan, to match my more hefty pincushion.

The box is a cardboard form with fabric glued on it. Fabric covered panels on the inside have little cardboard strips attached. Then the panels get glued to the form. The lid is made similarly, with a pillow of stuffing glued to the top. Unfortunately, the pattern in the book didn't fit together right. If you follow their directions, the inside panels are too big and the lid doesn't fit. Of course I didn't realize this until I'd glued the whole thing together. Luckily, the yes paste I used set slowly, so I was able to peel the panels off and trim them. They don't look quite as pretty as the did before, but at least they fit now. I had to make a whole new, bigger lid, though. Kind of annoying.

Posted under Sewing/Fabric Crafts at 12:17 AM | Comments (4)

May 15, 2004

Marimekko

How I love Marimekko, let me count the ways... Some friends of mine just bought a Marimekko fabric wall hanging, and now I want one. You can look at all the different fabrics (including oilcloth!) at Textile Arts. I'm on the prowl for nice bolts of cloth I could use for desperately needed wall decoration. Martha had a segment on how to display Marimekko fabrics here.

Posted under Wants at 01:51 PM | Comments (2)

May 14, 2004

Origami for the First Time

I generally like the "... for the First Time" crafting series. Origami for the First Time by Soonboke Smith is not one of the best in the series, but it's OK. Most of the projects are just not my taste. It has some kind of cute coasters. The triangular boxes are neat too. I might try those as Christmas tree ornaments. The gallery in the back has some pretty examples of fabric origami quilts.

Posted under Crafty Book/TV Review at 11:04 PM | Comments (0)

May 11, 2004

snap envelope

I was at some store in Cambridge a couple weeks ago that had all sorts of little cool things. For example, there were some little envelopes with snap closures on them. They were really cute. I got a snap setting kit for about $1.50 at Walmart and tried it myself. The envelope is modified from a template I have and cut from some marbled paper I made (see previous post). I like it, but the snaps are too bulky. The snaps on the other ones were thinner.

Posted under Paper Crafts at 11:34 PM | Comments (0)

Resin

Ooooh, I really like the candy and fruit jewelry at Glitterlimes. A while back, someone on Craftster posted about dipping stale gummy bears in polyurathane to make a bracelet. Ah, here's the thread. Off to order some resin...

Posted under Inspiration at 11:01 PM | Comments (0)

May 04, 2004

craft books

Oooh, there are so many craft books I want. Apparently the people behind Get Crafty and Knitty both have books coming out. Erika Knight's got a new knitting book called Simple Knits with a Twist (seen on Creating Me). Word is that the craftster person has a book deal too.

Posted under Wants at 10:59 PM | Comments (0)

more oilcloth

I saw another cute idea for oilcloth at Starbucks, of all places. It was a thermos with a pretty, flowery oilcloth sleeve around it. I wish I could find a picture of it.

Posted under Inspiration at 09:47 PM | Comments (0)