easter baskets

one more quick little easter project, made with vintage circular doilies. soak the doilies in water and wring them out (they should still be humid), then dunk them into elmer's glue. make sure the glue completely drenches the doilie, then wring out and stretch over a round upside-down tupperware container. when dry (takes about a night), carefully pry the bowl loose using a knife blade. happy easter!

easter eggs - part 5

one last one for the road, and then i will retire my glue gun for a while. for this one, pick out the smallest mother of pearl buttons you can find, glue them on blown-out egg, starting at the top and work your way down. a retro-vintage egg that works well with this retro-vintage bunny egg cup.

easter eggs - part 4

and now for a pop-art interpretation of easter eggs: perler eggs - again with the glue gun - and a newspaper nest. the perler beads add quite a bit to the circumference of the eggs, so they won't fit in a regular egg cup. hence the nest.

easter eggs - part 3

it's amazing what you can glue gun to an egg once you get started. i have now moved onto yarn, strié yarn to be exact, which makes for the fun striped effect here. start at the top of the egg, and work your way down.

easter eggs - part 2

this is really a variation on the rhinestone eggs from a few days ago, except now i've used sequins, also attached with a glue-gun. note that the red vintage egg cup is in the shape of a duck (or goose?)... any fowl will do I guess. the background is a cotton batik-style print.

easter eggs - part 1

over the next few days, i will post some ideas for easter egg crafts. i am starting with this blinged out number. very simple: blow out the egg, clean and dry the shell and cover the entire surface with small rhinestones from the craft store, using a hot glue gun. i love the contrast between these jeweled eggs and a rustic bird's nest. the latter was purchased at a floral supplies store. do not steal an actual nest from a bird, that would be bad karma.

stetson

last week, i went to the yearly silent auction, organized by the pta of ozzy's school. i bid on and won this amazing stetson cap. who knew stetson was so cool! i'm ashamed to say i really only thought of stetson as the "cowboy hat people". boy was i wrong. i want to sleep in this cap, it's that good. it is super soft, and has earflaps that fold out when you need some extra warmth. so of course, louise and i had to do a photo shoot...

egg hats

it's still chilly out, so those soft boiled eggs you made for breakfast need a hat! cut the foot off a baby sock, do a small running stitch along the edge, cinch and secure with a few extra stitches. use same thread to attach a mini pom pom, made with the smallest size of the clover pom pom maker. bon appetit!

happy st patrick's day!

in honor of st patrick's day: a green craft (though this could really be any color). these bobby pins are decorated with fabric yoyos, made from vintage silk ties. carefully open up tie with a seam ripper and iron flat. for each yoyo, cut a circle that is about twice a large as you want the final yoyo to be. fold over the edges slightly and do a running stitch all around the edge (make sure there is a thick knot at the beginning). cinch the stitched thread (and fabric) and flatten the yoyo in place. attach to the bobby pin with a dab of hot glue. for the best results, use bobby pins with a gluing pad.

ribbons

easter is coming, so of course my thoughts turn to bunnies, chicks, eggs and ... ribbons! the sheer bunny ribbon was a brimfield find, the second one came from my grandmother's stash of notions. here's hoping the groundhog was right and we can enjoy springtime soon.

cuff bracelets

my colleague recently gave me a stash of old textiles swatches: just large enough to recycle into these embellished cuff bracelets. i sewed two rectangles together (the longer side being one inch longer than the circumference of your wrist), leaving one short side open. turn inside out, iron flat and hand sew opening shut. then stitch all around the edges. now comes the fun part: sew on sequins, beads, buttons.... whatever strikes your fancy. i followed the stripes of my textile pattern, but free from is good too. sew two or three snaps on to close.

bugs - i think alber elbaz was in my head

imagine my surprise and delight when i saw the first images of the lanvin fall 2013 ready-to-wear collection (via style-.com): alber elbaz loves bugs and beetles as much as i do! remember fred the beetle i made two summers ago? seriously though: this is one of the most beautiful and creative collections i have seen in a long time, just utterly inspiring. then again, neither one of us are that original: elsa schiaparelli's celluloid bug necklace was created in the 1930's, image from "fashion - the century of the designer 1900-1999" by charlotte seeling (konemann, 1999).

spool knitting

when my grandmother passed away last summer, i was given her sewing and knitting supplies, which i treasure greatly. among them was this little guy, he brought me right back to my childhood. it's a spool knitter, we called this "punniken" in my native flemish. i spent hours doing this as a child, making enough knitted rope to sew into placemats, toys, what have you. check out the spool-knitted rug below from "make it yourself - the complete step-by-step library of needlework and crafts" volume 3, published by columbia house in 1973. usually the spool knitters come in a mushroom shape, more recent additions in my collection also include a bee.

delft blue necklace

inspired by the blue-and-white delft style dinnerware i photographed a while ago, i toyed with the idea to make "soft" trompe l'oeil jewelry. this necklace is made up of several oversize beads, each is made from a rectangle of print fabric (some by suzanne tucker home), cinched at both sides and filled with batting. i strung bottle caps in between, you can easily making a hole in the middle of each by hammering a big nail into them.

pom pom

i recently made a major discovery: the clover pom pom maker. it changed my life... craft-wise that is. this clever gizmo seriously cuts down the time and hassle to make a pom pom. so now, when i crochet a scarf (see second pic), i can quickly use up all my remnants to make a pom pom scarf as well (see first pic). the clover is available is different sizes, and there's even a heart shaped one too!

baskets

easter is coming soon, so of course my thoughts turned to baskets. these are a fun way to use up textiles scraps: wrap 3/4 inch wide strips around a thick nylon rope - the kind you find at a home depot or lowe's - securing with a glue gun as you go. i used a fabric that was pre-patchworked, which makes for the colorful, multi-pattern effect. once you have made a good length (you need at least 2 to 3 yards), start coiling the rope tightly, again securing with a glue gun. the beginning is the hardest part: i used jute twine to secure the first fold and to sew the first coils together. after that, the glue gun works just fine. once you have made a circle large enough for the base of the basket, put the base onto a turned-over tupperware container. keep coiling and gluing, following the shape of the container. of course you can just stay with the flat circle, in which case you end up with some cool-looking coasters and trivets.

craft gone wrong - part 2

these gems are taken from "crochet techniques & projects - a sunset book" by lane publishing company 1975. i don't really know what to say about this, other than i am quite dumbfounded.
what on earth? who in their right mind? why?

t-shirt hat

this is a quick craft to make from a t-shirt that has gotten too small - i used a size 5T for mine. cut off the bottom of the shirt, from armpit to armpit. you can use the top part and sleeves to make tassels. gather the top edge with a running stitch, cinch and sew together. use a button-making kit to make a button covered in a remnant of the same t-shirt fabric. fold over the bottom edge of the shirt and sew into place, leaving a small opening to insert a wide elastic band. done!

meow

it is remarkable how many stray socks you end with in a family of four. here's a fun way to recycle them: cut off the feet so you end up with a cylindrical piece of knit. do a small up-and-down stitch all around the unfinished edge. cinch the whole thing together & secure with a few more stitches. fill the sock up with rice. more rice = fatter cat. flatten the top of the sock and close with a simple stitch. to mark the ears, do a little up and down stitch on either side. hot glue two buttons on the face and stitch 2 pieces of twine underneath the eyes. done!

these cats were inspired by my favorite cartoon cat character totoro.

off the chain

i've always liked the hip hop culture's appropriation of the classic chain necklace. i love how they exaggerated scale and size of what was originally one of the most bourgeois items of jewelry. so i thought it wold be fun to make a textile version. i took short lengths of heavy-duty nylon rope - the kind you buy at home-depot or lowe's - and glued them into a loop using a glue gun. i then taped some heavy-duty tape around the seam for extra strength. then I wrapped half inch wide strips of a gold colored silk around this loop, again securing with a glue gun. this makes the first link of the chain. for the additional links, repeat the process, but make sure you "link" them together before gluing.

cold weather fashion

here's a fashion accessory i would love to bring back: the muff, preferably in fur, lined with heavy satin and finished with ribbons and tassels. utterly useless these days, since we mostly do require the use of at least one hand when outdoors. still, it lends such an elegant silhouette as these examples illustrate.

pillow talk

last year, i bought a large lot of half-finished embroidery projects at the flea market. i love incorporating these into various craft/sewing projects. last night, i went through the entire stash and found this gem. i assumed this was meant to be a pillow cover, possibly a placemat. i love pillows with witty quotes and this one takes the cake. in addition, it seems this is an entirely home-made project (not from a kit) which makes it even more precious.

peter pan collar

peter pan collars are so gamine: they remind me of audrey hepburn, prim and proper uniforms, french couture, vintage sewing notions (a favorite ebay-search of mine).... i could go on. this linen red-white checkerboard collar was a flea market find. i sewed on the mother of pearl buttons for extra weight and attached the shoelaces, also weighted down with buttons, for closure.

blue and white

for pure inspiration: this wonderful blue and white pottery from ebay. a great and affordable way to set a mix-and-match table.

happy valentine's day!

viking style

it's probably the ice and snow we're surrounded with right now, but i'm really feeling a primal approach to fashion: fur and metals. viking style! louise is wearing a vintage silver fur stole and a flea market chainmail necklace with hundreds of spiky talons.

the holy grail of cat books

you know how every design aficionado is pining for a copy of "i married adventure" by osa johnson? well, this is the cat lover's equivalent. "walter chandoha's book of kittens and cats" was first published in 1963 by random house, and quickly became a classic in the field of animal photography. the black-and-white photography is simple, unpretentious, and absolutely delightful. a must for any cat lover! although apparently long out of print, i was able to score a copy for $2 at a brooklyn yard sale, money well spent.

tassel necklace

it seems i wasn't quite done with my tassel obsession yet. i have now started making mini-tassels from an old striped t-shirt, its fabric was very stretchy which made the tassels curl up like little blossoms. i added them to a wooden bead necklace, another lei variation.
ps: the top that serves as a background is by joe fresh.... love that joe fresh!

craft gone wrong

over the years, i have collected many vintage craft books and magazines and i have found a treasure trove of inspiration in them. but every once in a while, things take a turn down a weird and bizarre road. introducing a new segment on this blog: craft gone wrong... see example below from "macramé accessories" by dona z. meilach (1972, crown publishers, inc.). i mean: i know it was the seventies, but really?

scrap bracelets

these are so easy to make, and look best when worn in multiples: take a 1 inch-wide scrap strip of textile (a thin silk or cotton works best), twist it onto itself and run a zigzag stitch over it with the sewing machine. fold over one end into a loop and secure with a waxed jute twine. keep wrapping that same twine over the bracelet, and over a short length of bathroom chain (place twine between each ball of the chain). when you get to the other end, string a glass bead on twine and secure tightly. done!

textile lei

yes, i know it's not summer, and i'm not living in hawaii (wishful thinking). but there was a segment on cbs sunday morning last weekend about the making of flower leis. i got inspired and made one from textile scraps instead: more permanent and affordable, though less fragrant. very easy to do: make a bead necklace - mine are vintage wooden girl scout beads - and tie little textile strips in between with a single knot. simple cotton quilt fabrics seem to work well, i left the selvedge on the strips as i loved the little touch of white at the edges.