Craft Gossip

Tutorial: Winter hat and scarf from a sweater

anneweaver — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:51:20 +0000

Heather from My Frugal Family shares a cool idea for using an old sweater to make a new winter hat and scarf. This is a great project for sweaters that have holes in them that make them unwearable, but are otherwise in good shape. Go to the tutorial.

[photo from My Frugal Family]

[tags]sewing, tutorial, sweater, refashion, hat, scarf, winter[/tags]

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Lark Books to publish Twelve by Twelve

scarlettburroughs — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:36:37 +0000

The Twelve by Twelve artists got some exciting news today. Lark Books will be publishing a book about their Collaborative Art Quilt Project. Congratulations!

Go here for details.

[tags]Art quilts, Lark Books, Collaborative quilting[/tags]

Tutorial: Turkey placecard holders or pincushions

anneweaver — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:55:29 +0000

Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood of Craft Sanity shares a tutorial for a fun turkey-shaped placecard for your Thanksgiving table. It’s based off of a pincushion pattern, so after Thanksgiving is all over you can send your guests home with a turkey-shaped pincushion. (Or you can keep them all for yourself and have a little hoarde of turkeys on your sewing table.) Go to the…

New Products From Pieces Of Me

Shellie — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:52:35 +0000

Scrabble Earrings, Charm Bracelets and Keychains new at Pieces Of Me Pendants.

Charms, Earrings and Keychains are made from wooden Scrabble® tiles (approx. ¾” square), decoupaged with graphic images that are sealed with a high gloss non-toxic finish. Your charms, earrings and key chains can all be turned into necklace pendants.

Each item will be gift packaged in a bag (colors vary) making…

Bread Cornucopia

meaghan mountford — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:07:37 +0000

Make your own gorgeous cornucopia from bread with these how-tos from Chica and Jo. Found via One Pretty Thing.

[tags]bread, cornucopia, Thanksgiving[/tags]

Herbal Mouthwash Recipes

Jessica Dougherty — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:00:39 +0000

Sarah Powell of Lilith’s Apothecary shares two recipes for herbal mouthwash that will help you to maintain healthy gums. You can purchase Sarah’s products here.

Tutorial: Easy Peasy Whrrly Twirly Skirt

anneweaver — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:52:03 +0000

Carrie from This Mama Makes Stuff rounds out her week of tutorials with instructions for making this Easy Peasy Whrrly Twirly Skirt for little girls. Get the tute.

[photo from This Mama Makes Stuff]

[tags]sewing, tutorial, easy, twirly, skirt, girls[/tags]

Freebie: Copic Marker Color Chart

Heather — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:37:44 +0000

image by C J Vogt

There are so many colors of Copic markers available it can be hard to keep track of what you have so C J Vogt of the Craft Junkies blog is offering a free down load of two Copic marker charts to help you more easily organize your markers and see what their true colors are. What…

Tutorial: Lace-trimmed silk scarf

anneweaver — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:32:23 +0000

CraftStylish shows how to make this scarf with lace edging at the bottoms. The silk will be soooo soft against your skin, and a pretty contrast with a tweedy winter coat. Go to the tutorial.

[photo from CraftStylish]

[tags]sewing, tutorial, lace, trimmed, edged, scarf[/tags]

New Etsy Shop!

Terrye — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:01:50 +0000

I love announcing new shops! Here’s one:

We are Urban knitfits- based in Portland Maine. We make cozy wool fashion accessories and items for the home. We love to work with eco wool, and about 80% of our projects are made with Peruvian eco wool!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/urbanknitfits

Needle-Felted Polar Bear from Martha Stewart

Linda Lanese — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:44:52 +0000

This little Polar Bear take a small amount of white roving, felting needles and pipe cleaner. This is the cutest little bears to hang on a nature tree or a gift topper. These little Bears will be delightful around the holidays. A pictorial tutorial is available on Martha’s web site. Enjoy this project and show us the results. This incredibly…

Recycle VHS tapes into pretty flowers or Christmas present bows

stefaniegirard — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:36:51 +0000

These cute flowers are made with VHS tape! How cool is that? Well when I saw this I thought that these would make great recycled bows from holiday gifts. Pop on over to CraftStylish for a ton of ideas on recycling a VHS tape and here for the flower tutorial. Just make sure you don’t recycle your wedding video:)

[tags]recycle VHS tapes…

Fabric intarsia: Felt-inlay patchwork

Denise Felton — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:01:02 +0000

I’m enthralled. It never occurred to me that it’s possible to create inlay with fabric — much as woodcrafters do with veneer. And yet this needlework technique has been around at least since the 14th century! Crafting with wool felt is at a fever pitch right now, and here’s another perfect application for this luxurious fabric. Needleprint blog tells us a…

Michaels’ Handmade Holiday Contest

Francine Clouden — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:56:10 +0000

Michaels, North America’s largest arts and crafts specialty retailer, launched its first ever “Handmade Holiday Contest” on November 1, and will be awarding two $100 gift cards awarded every week through December 20. Customers can upload photos of their handmade gifts at Michaels.com, and website visitors can rate their favorite entries online. Two grand prize winners will be selected –…

Tatting tip: When a ring won’t close

Denise Felton — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:45:47 +0000

If you’re frustrated by a tatted ring that refuses to close, TATBit Tats has the answer. See her tip.

Oh, and don’t drive yourself crazy looking for a unclosed ring in the image. The picture is up there just because the tatting is gorgeous, not because it’s flawed!

Free pattern: Prick-and-stitch wreath

Denise Felton — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:36:49 +0000

DJ of Prick and Stitch Is My Craft is highlighting this lovely holiday card stitched by reader Capricorn. The prick-and-stitch pattern for the motif is free. Capricorn made it her own by replacing the stitched berries with flatback gems and adding a peel-off greeting and edging. So pretty — and quick to make! Get the pattern.

Inspiration: Rachel Loves Bob

Denise Felton — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:19:22 +0000

The dimensional embroidery of Rachel Loves Bob is totally swoonable! Silhouettes formed of buttons, with vintage beads tucked here and there to fill in. Just lovely. See the Etsy shop.

And many thanks to Penguin & Fish for pointing out this charming art.

Tutorials: Four SRE stitches

Denise Felton — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:07:24 +0000

Hifa of Craft Patterns and Tutorials has posted tutorials for some of her favorite silk-ribbon embroidery techniques: feather stitch, gathered ribbon rose, loop stitch, and fly stitch. See the tutes. And watch her blog — she says more tutes are coming!

Great Cakes Soapworks – Christmas Splendor

Jessica Dougherty — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:00:19 +0000

I was shocked to see Santa Claus at the mall last weekend, but the truth is people are already thinking about the fast-approaching holidays. If you are amongst the group of early planners, take note of Great Cakes Soapworks’ Christmas Splendor soaps. The soaps, available in dark green and gold glitter, will be available Friday, December 4. Pre-order through their website.

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Tutorial: Fence stitching

Denise Felton — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:56:05 +0000

kakariki of Radical Cross Stitch has joined “the realestate4ransom prankster campaign against the rampant land speculation plaguing Melbourne’s suburbs.” Thus, she is sharing a tutorial for a bit of gentle vandalistic protest: fence stitching. Yes, you can “cross-stitch” an image on any chain-link fence. Ordinances or conscience may prevent you from fence stitching on others’ property, but you can always stitch your own…

Giveaway: June at Noon patterns

Denise Felton — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:46:45 +0000

Gretchen of June at Noon is giving away two original, adorable Matryoshka-doll embroidery patterns. Go to her blog post to enter before 10:00 p.m. (Eastern USA time), November 24. The winner will be announced November 25.

Tips for sewing with laminated cotton

anneweaver — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:55:36 +0000

As fabric manufacturers are expanding the kinds of fabrics they’re selling, laminated cotton is becoming more widely available (and in some gorgeous prints, too!). The polyurethane coating means that you’ll need to handle it differently than a 100% cotton quilting fabric.

Kathy from Pink Chalk Fabrics shares some tips for sewing with laminated cotton. Get the tips.

[photo from Pink Chalk Studio]

[tags]sewing, tips, laminated, cotton[/tags]

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Vote on Green week at S.Y.T.Y.C.

anneweaver — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:41:04 +0000

Week 3’s theme at So You Think You’re Crafty is green. These girls have done it again with a page full of cool projects! Go check out all the cool green-themed crafts at S.Y.T.Y.C. and vote for your favorite.

[photo from So You Think You're Crafty]

[tags]sewing, crafts, challenge, green[/tags]

Tutorial: Recover an umbrella

anneweaver — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:14:59 +0000

Nothing makes me happier on a gray, rainy day than bright, happy colors. So why are umbrellas mostly so boring? That can change with this article at Threads Magazine. They show you how you can recover your umbrella. It’s an advanced project, but it will take your umbrella from drab to fab! Go to the tutorial.

[photo from Threads Magazine]

[tags]sewing, tutorial, umbrella,…

Tutorial: Stripy apron project

anneweaver — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:08:24 +0000

Craftzine has the how-to for this stripy apron. It’s an excerpt from The Sewing Bible by Ruth Singer. Go to the tutorial.

[photo from Craftzine]

[tags]sewing, tutorial, stripy, apron, The Sewing Bible, Ruth Singer[/tags]