amsterdam

we took a day trip to amsterdam last week. the weather was uncharacteristically gorgeous and i fell in love all over again with this inspiring and amazing town.

belgium - part three

more postcards from the collection of my late great-grandfather and grandmother, these ones focusing on my hometown of antwerp and its harbor, as it used to look some 50+ years ago.

belgium - part two

since i am spending some time at home in belgium right now, and we have a new king and queen - king philippe and queen mathilde - i am feeling a tiny bit patriotic. so i wanted to share these postcards, part of a gorgeous collection by my late great-grandfather and his daughter (my grandmother). my best guess is these date from the 1930's, and were printed from black-and-white photographs, colored in by hand. vive la belgique!

belgium - part one

i am spending some time at home right now - in belgium that is - and i just wanted to share some impressions of "my" belgium. i'm starting with some images of the countryside right outside antwerp, where my parents have created a little slice of heaven, involving a small cottage with a pond, orchard and greenhouse. the home-grown vegetables are delicious!

needles in a haystack

"vintage sewing notions" are one of my favorite ebay searches, though i actually found this gem at the flea market last weekend. so pretty i think i may want to frame this.

tassel bracelet

here's another quick project, made with the recycled t-shirt yarn from haiti, generously donated by keith recker from hand-eye magazine. cut the yarn into 12 equal lengths, string the pieces through the loops of a chain bracelet and tie together. then, thread a gold-colored hex nut onto each end and secure with a knot. voila!

ghost dress

i have an issue with my knees, in that i don't like them. it's nothing personal, i'd just rather not they be exposed. a lot of dresses i buy however - new or vintage - end at or above the knee. in that case, i just make them a few inches longer by sewing on an extra-wide ribbon, a contrasting strip of fabric or - in this case - a piece of lace. i have no idea how these pictures came out so ghostly, maybe my dress is possessed?

tuxedo shirt-dress

i often turn shirts into dresses, and here's another example, using a vintage men's tuxedo shirt from the flea market. i took in the sides first a bit to give it some shape, and then sewed a long rectangle of off-white heavy satin crepe to the bottom. the back was finished with a skinny satin ribbon. i usually wear this with a beat-up brown belt to break up all that white - and because i don't want to look like an off-duty nurse.

cork trivet

here's a fun diy project, that will give you an excuse to hit the bottle. all you need are lots and lots of wine corks - make sure they're all about the same height - and a metal hose clamp. these can be had for just a few dollars in varying sizes at any decent hardware store. just gather the corks in a group and tighten the clamp around them, you will need a screwdriver to do this. cheers!

indigo hair

for the last few years, louise - or rather, me, the resident hairdresser - has dyed the tips of her hair hot pink. this past weekend, she was ready for a change. indigo blue was requested. you ask, we deliver. it's a simple, though lengthy process: make a very low ponytail (everything below the hair elastic will be colored) first bleach out as much of the existing color as possible, using a platinum dye kit from the drugstore. then, i applied a generous dose of atomic hairdye in the color blue velvet. we wrapped the bottom of her ponytail in several layers of aluminum foil and left it on overnight. rinse and wash the next morning. done!

block island decorating

as you know from my previous posts, we have been decorating the block island vacation rental. here is a sneak peek of the living room and dining area. the view from this house is nothing less than spectacular, and it sleeps easily 6-8 people. there are still some weeks available in september/october.... email me if interested.

rhinestone beads

a few months ago, i made a necklace out of polymer clay beads. i had a few leftover beads that were a little burnt, so i decided to make a quick project by covering the damaged beads with craft rhinestones from michaels, using a glue gun. the whole things is strung on a double string of recycled t-shirt yarn, generously donated by keith recker of hand-eye magazine.

t-shirt yarn from haiti

a week ago, my good friend and founder/editor of the amazing hand/eye publication, sent me box of recycled t-shirt yarn from haiti (thank you!). keith knows how to make a crafter happy! i set myself the goal of making a different necklace from each color. here are the first three. the red necklace is a simple crochet chain, onto which shorter crochet chains are tied. i left the ends of the shorter pieces long and tied hex nuts on them. the black one is a crochet chain into which i crocheted keychain hardware. i then inserted six shorter lengths of yarn in each keychain and tied them off to make them look like a tassel. the last one is the simplest: eight lengths of yarn are held together by these gold-colored rings i found in the hardware store, i am sure there is a technical term of these but it's escaping me at the moment.

espadrilles

a quick word about my summer shoe of choice: espadrilles or alpargatas are casually flat shoes originating from the pyrenees. they usually have a canvas or cotton fabric upper and a flexible sole made of rope and/or rubber. fancy espadrilles can be had for $50 and up, but i get a steady supply from my mom (dank u mama!) who buys them in belgium where they can be had for less than $10 in the supermarket! this year's crop yielded some very cool patterned ones. stay cool...

clothing labels

i finally got round to doing something with the collection of weird and cheesy labels i kept from my various tie-projects: the wrap and the hairpins. i simply glued them to a scrap piece of leather, and turned them into a cuff bracelet. it's my homage to the unsung heroes of branding and the complete opposite of the coolest of all labels: the 4 white stitches, indicating the no-logo white cotton tape that makes up the martin margiela label. the award for most original brand goes to madeleine vionnet however, who literally incorporated her thumbprint on her label - and she did so in 1923!

thimble bug

i bought a batch of vintage thimbles at the flea a while ago and - long story short - a thimble bug was born. i think i was an entomologist in a past life.

rice necklace

here's another medium that is great for making jewelry: rice. it provides weight, it is easy to handle, and most importantly, it's cheap. i sewed a "tube" that is about 2.5" wide when flat, using a fabric that was previously tie-dyed in striped pattern. tie off one end of the tube about 5" in, fill with 2 table spoons of rice and then tie off the resulting "bead" using a waxed jute string. repeat until your necklace is the desired length, and make sure it will fit over your head. stitch the remaining ends together and then wrap string over the whole closure. done!

yoko saito

i just picked up the book "japanese quilting piece by piece : 29 stitched projects from yoko saito". i am blown away. yoko saito is a master quilt artist who explores traditional folk themes, but interprets them with a vintage, yet modern feel. some of the projects in the book are a bit daunting, and require a serious dose of patience, as well as major skill with needle and thread. yet, each page is more inspiring than the next, and yoko's color palette especially is so gorgeous: all tonal tea-stained taupes, mushrooms and charcoals. absolutely gorgeous!