Emma Lulu - Four Generations of Needlewomen

Oxford Fiber Arts Festival - Linda Weghorst Opening Talk

2011-12-20T09:29:00.014-06:00

The second Oxford Fiber Arts Festival is scheduled for January 20-22, 2012. Opening lecture Friday evening will be given by Linda Weghorst on "African Kente Cloth Weaving." Ms. Weghorst, a fiber artist, weaver and educator, visited Ghana, Africa in 2009 to study the artists and art of Kente cloth weavers. Samples of the cloth and other native crafts will be on view after the talk and slide show. Lecture is at 6:30 p.m.

Ms. Weghorst will also teach a Handwoven Jewelry workshop during the fiber festival, on Saturday, January 21 from 10-4. Pin loom weaving will be used to create elegant, one-of-a-kind pins and neckpieces. Trained as a professional artist at Ball State University and the Art Institute of Chicago (MFA, Fiber Arts), Ms. Weghorst has exhibited her work and taught workshops throughout the United States. Her tapestries have been commissioned for a wide range of public architectural settings, including corporate, government, university and religious institutions.

Here are two examples of Linda's Woven Jewelry pieces.

Angela Schneider weaves, knits, spins and does just about every textile technique. She teaches for shops and guilds and exhibits in art shows in Memphis and regionally. Angela always has multiple projects in progress and classes on the calendar, and she will be teaching two classes during the Fiber Arts Festival. Below is a photo of Wavy Wedges, a project which takes short-rows to the extreme with a trick of geometry to create a unique 'wavy wedges' scarf.

Knitting is simple, but with a twist that makes it anything but plain. Only basic knitting skill required – cast on, knit and bind off. Creative yarn selection makes the design pop. Supplies: 200 yds worsted-weight yarns: Solid, variegated, two colors or two balls of slow color-migrating yarn. Size 8 needles or size to get a comfortable gauge with selected yarns. This class is scheduled for 2-5 Saturday, January 21.

Angela will also teach Kumihimo Braiding, a traditional craft in many cultures. Braids can be used in many applications, from jewelry to accessories to home décor. Students will work with both hand-held disks and marudai (braiding stools). Everyone will start with a sampler braid and choose a pattern for a small project – bracelet or keychain. All supplies will be provided in a kit. This class is designed for ages 10 - adult, and will be held Saturday, January 21 from 9-12.

Below is a photo of two pieces, a bracelet and a necklace that I made after taking Angela's class. The necklace (choker style, with end caps at the back) was made with specialty yarns.

For more information and to register for Handwoven Jewelry, Wavy Wedges, Kumihimo and many other classes, contact Knit 1 Oxford at 662-238-2829.

There will be lots of make and take for kids at the festival, including finger knitting, yarn bombing, and God's Eye, below.

More animals at the festival! This year our vendors are bringing alpaca, pygora goats, angora rabbit, and a llama! Here is a photo of a baby alpaca I took at Cathy's ranch a year ago.

Lulu's Hats

2011-11-30T17:34:00.012-06:00

My mother, Lulu, had a pretty good wardrobe of hats the last decade or so of her life. We invited people to take one of her hats at a reception we held in her honor after she passed away, and several people took a hat to remember Lulu by.

Here is Lulu in a hat that I now wear.

And here is a photo of Lulu, wearing a cute little pink number, sitting on Tom's bike in 2003. She looks very cute, like she is really ready to take off on that thing! There is a funny story behind this photo. I can send extra photos if requested.

Lately I have been building up my wardrobe of hats, having inherited Lulu's thinning hair genes. This past summer, on my drive up north, I stopped in Granville, Ohio and took a felt hat making class with Gail Maraman of Windy Crest Designs - click here. Gail is an artist in felt, and teaches classes in the history, culture, nature, and art of feltmaking, as well as the techniques for making traditional felt, nuno felt, watercolor felt, and needle felt.

I got a good start on my hat and finished it when I got home a month later. I did some more felting on the hat and realized it had shrunk more around the circumference, but the crown was a little tall. After I had needle felted yarn embellishment to the hat, to reduce the height of the hat I pinned folds into it, then starched and steamed it. After it had dried, folds intact, I then added a few beads and sequins. A buttonhole stitch was embroidered all around the edge of the brim. I like the way it turned out! Next year, on my way up north, I'm going to take more classes with Gail!

Crazy Quilted Beret - Crazy Quilting for the Improvisationally Challenged!

2011-11-30T16:33:00.019-06:00

I love berets and have wanted to try crazy quilting for a long time. The front of the velvet beret:

The crazy quilting part of the beret:

Starting with a vintage Vogue pattern, 9094, which I purchased a long time ago for $2! I made it up several years ago, in wool. It was a tiny bit too small, so I enlarged the pattern, using my printer, up to 105% of original.

I divided the top of the beret pattern into four sections. It seemed less frightening to create a crazy patchwork when I broke it into several sections. I then drew and colored in a patchwork design in each quarter section, lapping some of the pieces over into the next quarter so it wouldn’t look quite so contrived. I know this defeats the improvisational nature of crazy patchwork, but improvisation is not a strong point of mine. (I enjoy being inside the box, it’s cozy and comfortable in there!)

The patchwork design was traced onto a loosely woven background fabric and then onto lightweight fusible interfacing:

Cut the pieces of the interfacing and lightly fuse them to the back of velvet scraps. Trim around the interfacing, leaving 1/8” extra all around. I don’t cut all the pieces at once, it could get difficult to figure out where they fit into the crazy patchwork puzzle.

Pin the cut pieces to the background fabric, overlapping over each other by 1/8":

Machine baste the patchwork pieces to the background fabric, using a long zigzag stitch, and attaching each piece to its neighbors. Here it is with the zigzag basting completed:

I used Sulky invisible thread for the machine basting. It would be impossible to match the thread to the fabric pieces, and the invisible Sulky worked very well in my sewing machine, with invisible thread on the top and a cotton/poly thread in the bobbin. I also used Sulky invisible for attaching the beads after the embroidery was completed. Some sewers do not like to use this product, but I use it often and have a good trick for making it a little less frustrating. Because the thread slips out of the needle very easily, I tie a surgeon’s knot right at the needle. This holds the slippery thread in the needle and it goes through any kind of fabric easily. You have to move the knot up as the thread length gets shorter.

Margot situated herself in my box of embroidery threads and beads. I put them in the box so she wouldn’t knock them off the table! Oh well.

Detail of some of the embroidery stitches:

I love my old Coats & Clark “100 Embroidery Stitches” booklet. It’s the best! It was fun to explore some stitches I had not used in years. You can still find this earlier version of the booklet (and a newer one) on EBay, Amazon, etc., but not for 35¢!

Embroidery don'ts: It was a real challenge to work some of the embroidery on the piece. I don’t think I will do another crazy quilted project using velvet. Too thick (sometimes there were 3 layers of fabric to go through, two of velvet and one background fabric). In some places I had to use pliers to get the needle through the layers! Also, I like to use materials that I have on hand, and I have a small box of embroidery threads collected and partially used over the years. Very neatly organized into colors, a little baggy of reds, another of yellows, etc. Unfortunately, the quality of these old scraps of threads was inconsistent! Only one skein of floss I used was perfect, like gliding the thread through butter. This was a new skein of DMC variegated floss, the gold in the lower left corner. Next time, all new threads!

Next post, finishing the beret.

Crazy Quilted Beret - Putting it Together

2011-11-30T15:45:00.011-06:00

Embroidery and beading complete, trim the excess background fabric:

Check to make sure the finished top is pretty close to the size of the original pattern piece, and trim if necessary:

Measure and trim the pieced bottom of the beret, too:

Pin crown to bottom of beret….

...and stitch all around. Trim seam to about 3/8”:

Lining, pinned, then stitched all around:

After the lining is stitched, place it inside the hat (wrong sides facing), and pin the lining, hat, and a length of ribbon together, and sew all around. The ribbon is pressed to the inside of the hat and tacked down (to the lining) in a few places. I didn’t want to iron on the velvet so decided to tack the ribbon to the hat using beads sewn all around the hat about 1/8 to 1/4" from the edge. On the green section I used green beads, red section / red beads, etc. I like the way it turned out.

Finished crazy quilted beret, from the back. Can’t wait to wear it to tea!!

Embellishing a Hat

2011-11-30T15:13:00.007-06:00

What's wrong with this hat? Did the manufacturer forget to finish it? I don't think so. I purchased this hat in a well known department store (begins with a capital "T"), and the hat is by a famous millinery designer I had not heard of until I saw the magazine advertisements for his line of hats, to be sold at the famous department store starting October 29 for $20 each. Of course, the first time I was in Memphis after October 29 (my small town is not large enough for two famous department stores, only the awful one) I had to go check them out. I bought three, they are really quite nice. I liked the way this one fit, but thought the decoration was a little.....well, young and hip. Which I am not. But I knew I could have fun with it and make it into a hat that I really liked.

I remedied the 'unfinished' nature of the hat by sewing a wide ribbon on the half of the hat that was ribbonless. Then I applied old black lace all around the hat, a narrow ribbon above the lace on one side, and a narrow black trim attached with beads on the other side. I finished it with a large ribbon flower and cockade near the front of the hat, and velvet leaves toward the back to cover the break in the decoration.

I really like the two different, but similar, sides of the hat.

Button Fabric, Sewn Hat

2011-11-30T15:05:00.003-06:00

I'm getting those old patterns out and using them again! Here is a hat I made recently from Simplicity 6650, price $1. I love this button fabric that I got....somewhere. I used it for the big flower on the side of the hat, as well as the lining. This hat was fun to make.

Displaying Special Hats - Decorative Head Mannequins

2011-11-30T14:17:00.013-06:00

I have a couple very special hats, and for these I created a special way to display them. Here is a 1920's cloche, probably given to me by my mother 40 years ago. It is very fragile and cannot be worn. I purchased an inexpensive styrofoam head and painted it with several layers of Gesso; the last one or two layers I added a touch of color by mixing in some acrylic paint. I used a little powder rouge on the cheeks.

The wooden base was painted in a color similar to the hat. I then gave the head a necklace, using some antique beaded trim. The ribbon ornament, looking sort of like a bowtie, was made using Candace Kling's wonderful book, The Artful Ribbon.

Here is another special head mannequin. This time I strung beads and pinned them to the styrofoam (in case I need them later for another project!)

Here is a most special hat, one my mother wore in the 1940's. She loved this hat and kept it all those years. When she gave it to me I tried it on, and it was very small! I made this special head mannequin and put it on it, and it fit perfectly and made the hat look just right. Once again, the head and base were painted, with a necklace attached. The scarab pin my father brought home from Africa, where he was stationed in WWII.

A photo of Lulu wearing the hat, and my father, in his Army Air Corps uniform. My mother told me a sad story was behind the photograph, as they were attending the funeral of a college friend of my father. He was a training to be a pilot in the Army Air Corps, and died in a plane crash. I cannot imagine living during WWII, but my mother told us many interesting (and sometimes sad) stories about the experience. They sacrificed a lot for us.

My house is very dusty. I devised a way to keep dust off some of textiles. I use the many MANY vintage hankies I have collected over the years. When a guest stays in this room, I remove the hankies. It's easier to shake the dust from a hanky than it is a hat.

Mollie Makes Kits - Make a Little Fascinator!

2011-09-16T21:20:00.014-05:00

There is a new craft magazine on the market, Mollie Makes, from the UK. I found the first issue a few months ago at my favorite Memphis bookstore. But then I had trouble finding the second and third issues, and it was purely by luck that I found them. So, I decided to subscribe. It is a little expensive, to have it shipped from England, but well worth it! A new issue arrives in my mail box every month, and a small craft kit is included with each issue! Too cute.

Issue #4 had a kit which included 3 small pieces of felt, about 2' of cording, and 2 buttons. It was for making a necklace, but I decided I should make something quite different, a tiny fascinator!

The base for the hat is heavy cardboard (a little heaver than a cereal box, but not corrugated cardboard). I covered the top of the hat base with 1/2 of one of the felt pieces in the kit. The sides of the hat base are covered with a vintage tape I had in my stash.

The pieces of felt in the kit were kind of small, so I had to figure out how to make dimensional flowers from such small pieces. I tried it on scrap felt first. For flower #1 I thought maybe I could make a 'rose' by cutting the felt in a spiral, and running a gathering stitch along the inside spiral edge. The gathering stitch is about 1/4".

Flower #2 was cut from the same piece of felt I used to cover the top of the cardboard base, so I only had enough left for about a 3 1/2" circle. Snip the edges all around. Run a gathering thread around the middle, pull up the gathers, and fold the flower in half, kind of off-set.

Flower #3. Cut 2 strips of petal shapes. Run a gathering thread along the base, placing the stitches so each petal will fold in half at the base, giving the petals a slightly cupped shape.

Glue flowers to hat. I use Beacon Fabri-Tac for gluing fabric to fabric.

Back view of hat. I used the little buttons that came with the kit to decorate the back of the fascinator and to tie the elastic used to hold the hat in place. I poked holes in the sides of the hat and threaded the elastic through to the inside of the hat where it is held in place with a knot. I even used the 2' of cording to add an inch or so of macrame over the elastic band.

J-E-L-L-O !!

2011-06-21T18:31:00.011-05:00

I love to collect old recipe booklets, especially ones with beautiful color drawings. When we lived in Rochester there was an exhibit of watercolor drawings from the Jello Museum in Le Roy, NY, where Jello was invented! So we got to see some of the original drawings that are in the Jello booklets I have collected. Many early magazine and advertising illustrators were women, someone should write a book about this subject.

I like the price on the cover of this booklet.

Isn't Jello wonderful the way you can see through it?

I never could unmold it successfully....

Paradise Pudding looks divine!

I used to make a Jello 'Sunshine Salad' when Kathy was young. It consisted of orange jello, crushed pineapple, and grated carrots. Although pretty much a desert, it was a way of getting nutritious carrots into the diet! I haven't made it in a long time. It's time to revisit the Sunshine Salad...

The MOULI Salad Maker!

2011-06-21T18:02:00.010-05:00

I have been considering the purchase of a food processor, so I could start making Sunshine Salad again. (Grating carrots with a hand grater is a dangerous occupation for me.) I had to go up to New Albany recently to pick up a repaired ring. When there I always like to visit a couple of consignment/jumble shops. At the first one I found the most amazing little gadget, probably from the 1950's, in it's original box, the MOULI Salad Maker. For $8 I thought I could afford to take it home and try it.

Starting with fresh carrots from the Farmers' Market, wash, scrub, trim ends. Set up the Salad Maker and give it a whirl. I chose the medium shredder disc, slipped it in, attached the handle, and grated several carrots in no time. It takes a little elbow grease to hold the paddle down.

Grated carrots, a few grapes cut in half, and Jello quick-cooling......

In the 'frig' for an hour or so...........

Pls. note on the lower shelf a product my mother loved, and which will make the Sunshine Salad taste even more delicious....Cool Whip!

The MOULI Salad Maker with the other four blades:

The finest blade can be used to shave ice! More possibilities.

I just happend to borrow this little recipe book from the library, and there are many interesting recipes for shaved ice deserts!

Pretty Stuffed Peppers

2011-06-09T17:29:00.006-05:00

We love to eat. And when we eat out with friends, what do we talk about? Food!! Farmers' markets are everywhere now, thank goodness. During the summer months we get close to overdosing on vegetables, if that is possible. Very few trips to the supermarket are needed, as we can buy most ingredients at our Farmers' Market.

Peppers are so pretty, the Bosts always have a colorful variety of them. For this dish, all the ingredients were found at the Farmers' Market: peppers, cherry tomatoes, herbed goat cheese, and whole wheat bread.

Preboil the peppers until slightly tender. Cube slices of whole wheat bread and brush lightly with olive oil and toss with fresh or dry herbs. Bake the croutons until crisp. Toss croutons, goat cheese, cherry tomatoes and more herbs in a large bowl. Stuff the peppers with the mixture. Bake for approximately 1/2 hour. Mmmm, so delicious.

The flowers also came from the Farmers' Market.

A Button Display

2011-06-07T14:38:00.008-05:00

Some buttons are just too pretty to be used on clothing, stored in a closet. I wanted a way to display some of the buttons I have collected, mostly new buttons, some vintage and antique. Here they are hanging from the 'Forget-Me-Not' shelf in my studio, in honor of my sister, who loves forget-me-nots. The doll is holding a photo of Carolyn taken a long time ago, at Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Lenox. She is shrugging her shoulders in the photo, as if to say, "Don't forget to take me home with you!"

To display the buttons I tore a strip of canvas fabric, glued a little piece of cardboard to the back, made two holes with an awl, and strung a ribbon through the holes. Each button was either sewn to the canvas, or the shank was pushed through the fabric and held in place with a piece of toothpick.

Love the Hana-Ami Flower Loom!

2011-05-27T23:53:00.013-05:00

I love all the cute notions that Clover designs for knitting, crochet, sewing, quilting, etc. I recently discovered the Hana-Ami Flower loom and I love, love, LOVE it! Firstly, it is just adorable how they managed to package six different loom sizes in one compact kit! And the flowers are so sweet, on a pin, as a hair ornament, etc.

Here is a pin I made with mohair and boucle yarns. The pompom in the middle was made on another clever Clover tool, the tiniest pompom maker!

To make the flower into a pin, simply glue felt to the back (I used two layers) and attach a pin back.

I originally found the Hana-Ami loom because I was looking for small weaving looms. I did an internet search for small looms, and this wonderful website came up that is all about flower looms, past and present, with lots of instructions for lots of different flower designs.

Weaving on the loom takes a long time, simple flowers are much faster!

I'm not weaving in all those ends......glue is my friend.

Another pin with beads in the center:

I tried using a sparkly yarn, but the flower is kind of floppy (attached to a headband):

The beautiful hollyhocks outside my studio door:

I went to a wine and wind evening at the knitting shop. About 15 ladies, and one gentlemen, spent two hours playing with the Hana-Ami looms. There were a lot of good suggestions for using them: decorate flip flops (use plastic cording, or plastic raffia), baby blanket & sweater, use to decorate gift packages, school colors, wind two or more colors at a time.

'Yarn Bombing' Headbands

2011-05-27T23:08:00.012-05:00

The knit shop owner did some yarn bombing with the kids at the Boys & Girls Club and asked me to help with it. I came up with the idea of 'yarn bombing' headbands and adding a little yarn flower, pom-pom or other decoration.

The kids really liked it, the little ones and the older girls too. Even a couple boys made headbands, for their girlfriends of course.

They are quick and easy to make. We used fabric covered head bands, which I found at the dollar store (six in a pack for one whole dollar). First thing I do is drop the ball of yarn on the floor (a basket would work too). Take the yarn tail and hold it down with your thumb at one end of the headband. Start wrapping the yarn, and wrap over the tail. When you get to the other end, thread the yarn onto a tapestry needle and go back under several wraps. You can also just use glue, which we did at the B&G Club for speed.

To add a little interest to the band, go back over it with the yarn in both directions, making large cross-stitches, as on the band below.

The yarn flowers were made with the Hana-Ami flower loom from Clover. The headband below was wrapped in a vintage ribbon, with mohair flowers made on the Hana-Ami loom.

Some firemen were visiting the B&G Club, and one of them made a pretty headband for his wife! The others watched but weren't game for crafting a headband. They were good sports, though!

You can wrap all kinds of yarns around the headbands, and I have experimented with using different yarns in the Hana-Ami loom too. Here is a ribbon type yarn.

Lastly, a pretty rick rack using the flower loom.

Beaded Button Brooches

2011-05-16T18:40:00.011-05:00

We did the first part of a two-part beaded button brooch workshop at my EGA chapter Saturday. I think it went pretty well. If anyone has any questions or anything, please e-mail or call me.

Here is a brooch I made out of a keyhole I found at a flea market in France three years ago. I made the pin in the same way I make the beaded button brooches. I miniaturized a photo of Lulu taken at Elizabeth Park Rose Garden in Hartford, about 90+ years ago. When my sister and I went to France last year, Lulu went with us in the form of a pin!

Here are a couple diagrams for some of the beaded edgings I have used on my beaded button brooches. There are many more diagrams on my Flickr photostream. Students can click on the picture of the cat above to go to the Flickr pages. There is a set called "Directions and Diagrams" that have all the beaded edgings I have created, plus the 3-page handout of directions. You should be able to enlarge and print them.

The button below was the second one I made after learning the technique from a Bead & Button article. (My technique is pretty different, and all the edgings I use were created by me.) The buttons are called "calicos" and were made in the mid-19th century. There is a nice article about them in Bead & Button magazine online.

Here is a beautiful reproduction Czech glass button:

Library Craft Circle - Pin Weaving Workshop

2011-03-14T16:38:00.014-05:00

Pin weaving is a simple way of creating a small woven piece without the use of a loom. It is weft faced weaving, that is, the warp thread will not show on the finished design. A design is created on graph paper and taped to a piece of foam core board. Pins are placed at the top and bottom of the design. A strong warp thread (waxed linen) is wrapped taughtly around each pin in a continuous motion. Weaving of the weft thread is done with a tapestry needle. Weft threads can be nearly any fiber, but for small pieces embroidery floss and pearl cotton work very well.

Here are a few websites to see examples of pin weaving for inspiration. Needleweaver.com has many examples of needle woven necklaces! Click on each artist to see more photos of their work. Most of these designs are more elaborate than a beginner would start with, but there are lots of ideas if you wish to continue with pin weaving. There are also lessons on this site; I did not follow these directions so they differ from mine.

An earlier article in Threads Magazine featured needle woven fabric inserted onto purse fronts. Very lovely, they are woven with heavier threads.

SIMPLE (and fun!) HOMEWORK BEFORE WORKSHOP: To start your design, you will need graph paper, 5 squares per inch. You can find graph paper on-line through Needlepointers.com.

This needlepoint website has a page listing places on the internet where you can find free graph paper. I used the second link listed and was directed to a site that lets you create all kinds of graph paper. There is a form on which you specify the number of squares per inch, it should be 5 squares per inch, or less.

When you have printed your graph paper, decide how large or small you would like your woven piece to be. On your graph paper draw borders around an even number of squares to accommodate your design. Do this several times on the page. Ten or 12 squares is a good size to start with. For my finished piece, above, I blocked off 10 squares. Here are my sketches (you should be able to enlarge the sketch by clicking on it):

You will be placing pins at the top and bottom of your design. At the top of each sketch, I like to number and make dots where the pins will be inserted later. If there are ten boxes, there will be 11 pins. So I number the dots like so:

5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 - 0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5

Repeat at the bottom of the box. However, the pins at the bottom will be inserted between the vertical lines of the graph paper, therefore, only 10 pins will be used. I also number these dots, omitting the zero.

In the boxes you have drawn, make several sketches. You are not confined to the box shape; as you can see on my sketches -- and ones on the Needleweavers.com site listed above -- I sometimes went outside the border. It is simply easier, for a first project, not to go too wild.

Color in the sketches you like, and add beads to the sketch. Helen Banes, in her book “Beads & Threads,” says that beads are a focal point for the design, that is something to keep in mind when placing the beads.

The “don’t do like I did” section! On my first piece I changed colors at the top and bottom edges:

Not a good idea. When the piece comes off the board the sections will not stay together (just at these top and bottom edges). I realized this would happen before I removed the pins. It was easy to fix, though, so that could be an option if you really want color changes at the top and bottom. Here is how I fixed it. With the finished piece still attached to the board, I removed the first pin on the top right and wove a new length of weft thread through each of the warp loops at the top, removing each pin as I came to it, and adding a bead between each loop. This held the top edge together and also added a decorative row of beads. Repeat at the bottom.

Supplies for class which I will provide
(kit cost approx. $5):

Foam core board, 1/2 inch thick
Tapestry needles, small to large
Pins
Waxed linen for warp

Supplies students should bring to class:

Graph paper (please see website above to print your own graph paper) PLUS bring your finished sketches
Embroidery floss or pearl cotton
Beads (with large holes preferred)

Things you will need to finish your project, probably after class:

Beacon Fabric-Tac
Ultrasuede for backing
Pinback (to make a brooch), or beads & beading thread (to make a necklace)

All the supplies students are to bring to class are available in Oxford. Wal-Mart has a good selection of beads, including ones with large holes (please look at the hole size before you buy), and other jewelry making supplies. The Fabric Center has a good selection of embroidery floss and also Beacon Fabric-Tac.

Here are some glass beads I picked up at Wal-Mart which have holes large enough to pull 2 warp threads through:

Please bring your finished sketches, beads and embroidery floss to the workshop on March 28, at 6:00. If you have any questions, please call me (number in phone book).

Craftea - Vintage Valentine Making

2011-02-08T10:07:00.008-06:00

A couple years ago I had my little Craftea group of friends over for an afternoon of Valentine making.

I spread out all my supplies -- doilies, stickers, photocopies of old trading and postcards, stick-on alphabets, tissue paper, sequins, buttons, poems, glue sticks, cardstock, etc. After showing the group a Valentine I had previously made, they went to town creating their own 'vintage' Valentines.

In the next post is a description of the process of making a reproduction of an old, pop-up Valentine.

Jan with her card:

Elaine's colorful card:

Helene is pleased with her creation:

Wendy sent her Valentine to her mother, who loved it and said it reminded her of making Valentines as a child with her grandmother.

Vintage Valentine Crafts

2011-02-07T16:14:00.020-06:00

Here is my handmade reproduction pop-up Valentine on the little shelf, and underneath is a cool picture frame I found at a large craft store chain. It holds six 4x6" photos and works well for changing out my collection of old postcards and trading cards with the seasons. The cards just slip right in and out.

Instructions for making a repro vintage Valentine. Take an 8 1/2 x 11" piece of scrap paper and fold in half down the middle (top to bottom) and once again along the lower third of the paper. Draw a swirly line on the right, from top to bottom. Cut out through both thicknesses and the left and right sides will match. This is your template.

Crush two pieces of decorative tissue paper (larger than your template) in a ball, then flatten them out again. Do this twice. With a glue stick, adhere the tissue to a piece of cardstock on both the front and the back. Let dry.

Trace around your template onto the tissue-covered card stock and cut out. Using a bone folder press along the line where the vertical and horizontal parts of your card will meet, about 1/3 from the bottom edge. Fold along the pressed line.

If you wish, attach a paper doily frame to the back of the card. I cut a hole from the center of the doily so the pretty tissue paper on the back side would be visible.

To attach the central photo, old postcard or trading card (photocopied, of course), you need to make a support for it. To do this, take a narrow strip of card stock and score along four lines, depending on how tall and how deep you want your support to be. This one, below, is about 4" tall by 1/2" deep (and 1" wide). Therefore, the original piece of cardstock was approx. 1"x 9".

Basically, you are making a box that does not have sides. The back of the box is glued to the vertical part of the card, and the bottom of the box is gluled to the horizontal part of the card. This enables the card to be folded flat, but the artwork will be raised off the card when the card is opened. A little hard to explain, but I hope the photo helps.

Belore I attached the trading card to the support I glued vintage lace around the four edges of the card.

Banners can be made in all shapes and sizes in Microsoft Word:

Glittered sticky letters are applied to the banner. I used a pin to apply them:
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A second banner, with more sticky letters applied, and photocopied Victorian scrap for the card:

The finished card, with various elements glued to the central pop-up support and elsewhere on the card. I used littly foam sticky dots to give the additional elements dimension.

The underside of the bottom flap contains a poem and more Victorian scrap.

My heart to you is given:

Oh, do give yours to me;
We'll lock them up together,
And throw away the key!
Frederick Saunders)

You can find lots of funny, tender and sweet poems on the internet. Copy and paste them into a Word document in a pretty font. Then tear them and attach to your card.

Come live in my heart and pay no rent. (Samuel Lover)

The back of the card features another poem.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentines Are Everywhere!

2011-02-06T16:20:00.007-06:00

Many years ago I made Valentines from two small red heart doilies. Using embroidery floss I sewed them together with a chain stitch all the way around, but leaving the top open. I sent these to several friends and put tiny things inside like stickers, notes, poems, tissue paper snowflakes, even beads and other tiny objects captured inside small paper hearts.

Here is one of the 'snowflakes' with heart cut-outs.

An old candy box I found in an antique mall for $1 !

A heart shaped sewing kit:

Oxford Fiber Arts Festival

2011-02-04T14:49:00.005-06:00

The First Annual Oxford Fiber Arts Festival was so successful I only had time to take 3 photos! I was at the make & take table most of Saturday. Here is a photo of Audrey with her granddaughter after they finished making a long felted bead. There was a lot of stuff for kids at the festival, which contributed to our success -- make & take, yarn 'bombing', alpacas and angora rabbits.

I took a hand painting sock yarn class on Sunday with Penny of Sky Loom Weavers (one of our vendors who came all the way from Texas). One of my skeins came out pretty good, the one at the bottom of the warping board, which I made with dyes in colors of rust, daffodil, brick red, and magenta, something like that. Not sure about the second skein, on the left in the photograph. I just kind of picked favorite colors and splattered them all over the skein. It will be fun knitting something with both skeins.

Vintage Knitting and Crochet

2011-02-02T13:53:00.006-06:00

The First Annual Oxford Fiber Arts Festival was successful beyond our wildest hopes! Carolyn's opening talk on Friday evening was attended by about 40 - 50 people. At least one person came from as far as Memphis to attend and brought a 1970's crocheted vest to show after the talk, which still fits her very well!

I was so busy all weekend I only took three photos! This one of the table of vintage knitted and crocheted items Carolyn and I set up as a display. Most of the items are from Carolyn's collection, very few from mine.

Many people came up after the talk to tell Carolyn how much they loved it. A few people brought vintage items to share with the audience, including Mary Lou who brought this amazing shadow box of a pair of knit socks which her great, great, great, great grandmother made in the first half of the 18th century. Mary Lou said that her ancestor sheared, carded, spun and knit the socks to enter in a fair, and she knew exactly how many stitches were in the socks! Her photograph is also in the shadow box, and some of the extra yarn.

Alpacas at Oxford (MS) Fiber Arts Festival

2011-01-11T13:35:00.008-06:00

Cathy Stauffer, of Coldwater Alpaca Ranch, will bring two of her adorable alpacas to the First Annual Oxford Fiber Arts Festival, January 21 - 23. Here are two of them enjoying the recent snow 'event' in North Mississippi.

Cathy will also have for sale at her booth: yarn, roving, raw fiber, batts, hand knit items, soap, lotion and other bath products, plus her best-selling dryer balls. What is a dryer ball? I had not heard of these, but Cathy says they are an all-natural alternative to dryer sheets. They contain no chemicals and are reusable, making them an eco-friendly product. Several in the dryer help to speed the drying process by lifting and separating clothes. They reduce static and soften the fabric. And they are pretty!

See blog posts below for information about workshops, lectures, Make & Take, etc. at the First Annual Oxford Fiber Arts Festival, Jan. 21 - 23 at the Powerhouse Community Art Center.

Oxford (MS) Fiber Arts Festival - Workshops

2011-01-02T11:53:00.011-06:00

Several workshops will be offered during the Fiber Festival (please see post below for more info about the festival).

Fiber Artist Carolyn Webb, of Tucson AZ, will offer the following workshops:

Felted Clutch - Saturday, Jan. 22, 1-3 p.m.

In this 2-hour workshop, you will learn how to make a small felted envelope purse using wet felting techniques. You will create your fabric by blending colored roving and yarn, which can then be further embellished using yarn embroidery, beads and buttons.

Previous experience not required. $35, plus the cost of materials - available on site during the Festival.

Nuno-Felted Scarf - Sunday, Jan. 23, 1-4 p.m.

In this 3-hour workshop you will learn a unique art form - nuno-felting - to design your own silk scarf. Nuno is a wet felting technique which combines silk chiffon with wool roving and hand-dyed mohair locks to create a beautiful, one-of-a-kind embellished silk scarf.

Previous experience not required. $60. Fee includes white silk scarf and hand-dyed mohair locks. Wool roving to be purchased at the Festival.

See examples of Carolyn's fiber art by clicking on the box in the upper right of this page.

Penny Barnette, of Sky Loom Weavers in Cat Springs TX, will offer the following workshop:

Hand Painting Sock Yarn - Sunday, Jan. 23, 1-4 p.m.

In this 3-hr workshop you will create your own individual sock yarn - in your favorite colors. Learn techniques for dyeing as well as setting the color, and go home with yarn to knit a perfect pair of socks.

Previous experience not required. $40, includes all materials to make your project, including one skein of wool/bamboo blend superwash sock yarn. Additional skeins available for purchase.

All workshop participants should bring a couple old bath towels, small scissors and thin plastic gloves (if allergic to soaps and/or dyes). Wear clothing that you won't mind getting wet or stained with dye, and be sure to wear comfortable shoes as you will be standing for most of the workshop sessions.

To sign up for the workshops, please e-mail or call Knit 1 Oxford, 662-238-2829, or knit1oxford@gmail.com.

Oxford (MS) Fiber Arts Festival - "Vintage Knitting & Crochet" Opening Talk

2011-01-02T11:07:00.008-06:00

The First Annual Oxford (MS) Fiber Arts Festival will be held January 21 - 23, 2011, at the Powerhouse Community Arts Center on University at 14th Street. Vendors, demonstrations, workshops, an opening talk by fiber artist Carolyn Webb, make & take for kids, alpacas, and much more will happen during the three day festival.

Admission is free and open to the public. Event hours are:

Friday, January 21, 5-9 p.m.

Saturday, January 22, 10-4 p.m.

Sunday, January 23, 1-4 p.m.

Featured in the Vendors' Market will be hand crafted items such as yarns, knitted and woven apparel and linens, soaps, lotions, jewelry and baskets. Supplies and tools for fiber artists will include yarns, roving, batts, skein winders, drop spindle kits, spinning wheels, rug hooking and punch needle resources, hand-carved and turned tools for knitters, crocheters, weavers, spinner, beadworkers, and much more.

Children will feel welcome at the event -- not only will there be live alpaca, but special kid friendly crafts including macrame, felted bead making and yarn bombing will be offered on Saturday.

Saturday and Sunday workshops offered will be:

Felted Clutch

Nuno Felted Scarf

Hand Painting Sock Yarn

(Please see above post for description of workshops)

The opening lecture, "Vintage Knitting and Crochet," will be a Powerpoint talk by Carolyn Webb of Tucson, AZ. The free talk, at 6:00 p.m., will feature many physical examples of vintage knitted and crocheted apparel, patterns, booklets and books. The public is invited to bring vintage items to show after the talk. A reception will be held after the talk at 7 p.m.

Please see other posts for more information about the Fiber Arts Festival.

Lulu's Christmas Corsage

2010-12-22T17:46:00.008-06:00

I should be wrapping packages, or putting up the fake tree, but I didn't feel like it today. I was thinking about my mother and how she always wore a Christmas corsage. She was good at arranging greens and table decorations, maybe she created the corsages herself. They were usually made with holly leaves, red berries, maybe some evergreen twig, and little white bells that looked like sugared Easter eggs. I wish I could find those bells today! Lulu always looked cheerful and upbeat during the holidays.

So instead of doing something practical today, I made a Christmas corsage! Not quite like the ones Lulu wore, which I wish I could reproduce, but it was fun to be in my studio and I like the whimsical finished product. Did I go to far? There is a lot of stuff in it -- pine cones and seed pods, tiny bells, leaves and a vintage red blossom, paper rose, stamens, feathers, even cats whiskers! (I knew I was saving them for something.)

To make the little bird I glued birch bark to card stock, and when it was dry I used my "Martha" craft punch to stamp out the bird.

I really like the cats whiskers.

Morning Glories by Studio Door

2010-12-14T18:59:00.005-06:00

I planted morning glories in two large planters on each side of my studio doors. They climbed up the strings and down, over the doors, and up and down the opposite side. There was much foliage, but no blossoms! It was so hot and dry this summer, they baked in the afternoon sun. I watered them like crazy. Then this fall, after most of the foliage was gone, the morning glories started to bloom, and there was no stopping them! They bloomed until I pulled them out two weeks ago to string Christmas lights around the studio doors.

Some of the blooms drooped down in front of the door. Here is Charlie wearing a live morning glory blossom behind his ear.

Fooling around with Photoshop Elements

2010-12-10T17:46:00.005-06:00

When we were home in September we went up to the farm to visit John and Linda. Wow, their gardens are so beautiful, flower and vegetable! The next day we met them on Mt. Greylock (?) and Linda had picked a bunch of beautiful raspberries for us. I remember going up to the farm 40 years ago to pick berries in Mary's big, productive berry patch. Mmmm.

In Linda's garden I took a photograph of these phlox with part of an old machine sitting on a rock. It was a nice juxtaposition. When I came home I had HUGE problems with my old computer, and eventually decided to get a new one. Now I have to learn all new programs and software. It isn't easy. Since this photo didn't turn out so hot, I thought I would fool around with it in PSE. Wow, you can do a lot of fun things with a photo in this program.

Various "effects" I tried were: watercolor, sprayed strokes, Pointilist, mezotint, and grainy- speckled. I think I like watercolor (first one) and grainy-speckled (last one).

Autumn Arrangement

2010-12-09T18:11:00.005-06:00

It isn't really much of an arrangment. Charlie brings home the flowers and I just kind of plop them in an appropriate size vase.

Charlie likes going to the Farmers' Market on Saturday mornings and buys delicious local produce, preserves and baked goods in season. Sometimes he brings flowers home for me too! This bouquet, picked in October, had several stemmed okra pods in it! That I had never seen in a bouquet, but they looked very pretty. And it sure beats eating the stuff!

The "Regrettable List"

2010-08-06T15:52:00.005-05:00

Carolyn and I found a wonderful needlework shop in Lyon, France! The owner has designed most, if not all, of the needlework patterns and kits in the shop. There was a very cute embroidered wall piece, sort of a reminder board of things to do.

Later I mentioned something I thought should go on my "life list." Then Carolyn and I got to talking about how trendy "life lists" are. We decided that we would each make a craft project with the theme being "regrettable list." That is, it would include some of those things that, when you get to the end of your life and you haven't done them, you're gonna regret it!

So, here is my craft project. (I don't think Carolyn has started her's yet, but she has an idea for designing something in felt.)

I covered a glass jar (peanut butter!) with blue tissue paper. I found a picture of an old clock in a magazine and copied it on my copier. The lettering on the jar was all done on my computer, in Microsoft Word. I have an old version of Word, probably the newer ones do even more. There is a button you can click on called "Word Art," and you can fool around with your text in lots of ways. The font is "Emma Script" which I found on the internet. It used to be featured in Mary Englebreit's magazine. You have to pay for it, it's not one of the free fonts.

The neck of the jar was embellished with beads and little birds I bought a long time ago (I never throw any potential craft material away).

Each plastic straw has a flag at the top. The flags say things like: "piano, records, letters, hammock" and lots of other things I don't think I have time to do, or haven't got around to doing yet. So, every day (hopefully!) I will pick a straw out of the jar, and whatever the flag says I will go do that for 15 minutes! Afterall, 15 minutes of piano playing is better than none at all.

I thought about using narrow dowels instead of straws, but the straws were faster. Painted dowels would be cute, with the flags glued on.

The flags were also made on the computer, in Word. I simply cut the top of the straw and inserted the flag.

Clark's O.N.T. Thread Cabinet

2010-07-14T14:51:00.014-05:00

The studio is my new house is almost finished, and it is looking very adorable! (I still have to paint some trim and decorative shelves; can't figure out why Charlie doesn't want to do that for me.)

I recently traded with a friend who had a Clark's O.N.T. Spool Cotton cabinet stored in her old house. After a little cleaning and finishing, it was as good as new, when it might have resided in the sewing corner of a small town general store somewhere. (Like H. D. Reynolds General Merchandise, the store we depended on growing up in Cheshire, Massachusetts.)

Here is the Clark's O.N.T. (what did that stand for? - click here) cabinet as you walk in the front, double French doors of my studio. Beyond the thread cabinet is my always messy work table, so the cabinet has a dual function of covering up my messy work space, as least from the front door.

The top of the cabinet lifts up to reveal a shallow storage space. I wonder what this space was used for -- patterns? advertising? I used the space to dispay some of my collection of antique sewing notions. Carolyn gave me the cute little Hoover vacuum measuring tape!

It's so nice not to have my thread stored in several cigar boxes, by color. It was a pain to thread up the sewing machine when I had to dig around for threads and matching bobbins. Now they are all in one place, what a luxury! I have already used my sewing machine two times!

In fact, there is so much room in these long drawers that my threads only took up space in three of them. So I put more antique notions in the one empty drawer.

Miss Hickory Doll, Pattern, and Instructions

2010-05-07T15:41:00.012-05:00

When my daughter was young we read, several times!, a wonderful book called Miss Hickory by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey. It was a Newberry award winner in the late 1940's, I think. The story is about an independent minded little doll, made from a hickory nut and applewood twig, who must fend for herself when the dollmaker and her family leave cold New Hampshire and go 'south' to Boston for the winter. Though she is independent and feisty, Miss Hickory learns to gracefully accept help from crow, squirrel, cat and other friends.

It took me 35+ years, but at long last I have created a Miss Hickory Doll! I think she matches pretty well the charming book illustrations by Ruth Gannett and the spirit of the character portrayed by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey.

In the next several posts I will give instructions for making your own Miss Hickory doll. But, you must read the story first!! That will surely influence your characterization of the doll.

Thanks to Salley Mavor for allowing me to present my version of a type of doll she has been making for many years. Salley has illustrated several children's book with her "stumpwork" fabric art, as well as presenting patterns and instructions for her charming little "Wee Folk" dolls.

Miss Hickory - Pattern & Instructions - Part 1

2010-05-07T15:35:00.003-05:00

The doll's skeleton is made from four 6" pipe cleaners (which I find in, cough cough, tobacco and cigar shops; they are also sometimes generous with nice wooden cigar boxes!). One 6" cleaner forms the neck and bodice. A second one forms the two arms. Two more pipe cleaners form Miss Hickory's somewhat tall and lean legs. Measurements are given in the illustration below. (You should be able to click on it to enlarge.)

Loosely form the skeleton following the measurements above. The shoulders to the thighs will be firmly covered with bias tape, which will fill out the bodice and hold the pipe cleaner skeleton together.

Glue (Tacky glue is used on all parts of this project) the end of a long piece of bias tape to the back of the pipe cleaner torso just under the shoulders. Wrap the shoulders and torso with the bias tape, then the upper legs, then the torso again. Cut and glue the end on the back. This bias tape will not show under Miss Hickory's costume.

Hickory nuts come in a variety of shades of brown. I try to match the embroidery floss and bias tape to the color of the hickory nut. (See Part 4 for the hickory nut head, which goes on last, after all the clothes have been fitted and applied.)

Miss Hickory - Pattern & Instructions - Part 2

2010-05-07T15:20:00.007-05:00

Glue end of a long piece of embroidery floss to the back of the bodice. After that dries, spread a small amount of glue on back of neck and wrap the floss up and down the neck (glue holds wraps in place). When you get to the shoulder area, spread a thin layer of glue on the front of the bias tape. This is important to keep the wraps smooth.

After shoulder is finished start wrapping one arm. Wrap all the way to the tip. Bend hand back about ¼” and wrap back up the arm. (See TIP elsewhere in the instructions.)

Remember when you are wrapping that Miss Hickory is made of an applewood twig, so her limbs will be skinny. Extra wrapping is not necessary. Unevenness and bumps, like a twig, are ok too!

Repeat on second arm, wrapping up to the tip, forming hand, and back to the top of arm. Glue floss to back of bodice, wait until it dries, and carry the floss down to the legs, just below the bias tape. (If it is easier for you to work with shorter lengths of embroidery floss – I work with the whole skein – you can wrap the top part of the doll, then with another piece the lower part of the doll.)

Wrap the embroidery floss down one of the legs to the ankle, about 1” from the end, then back up the leg and over to the other leg. Repeat, cut floss, and glue.

To make socks or boots, glue end of a different color of embroidery floss to the back of the lower leg. Start wrapping the new floss ½” above the ankle, over the lower part of the already wrapped leg. This makes it really look like socks or boots. Change the color another time to make the shoes a different color still.

Bend the tip of the covered pipe cleaner back about ½” to form the foot. Wrap back up the foot and lower leg. Put a dab of glue on the back of the leg where the ‘sock’ ends. When glue is dry, cut the extra floss. The lower leg should look something like this:

Miss Hickory - Pattern & Instructions - Part 3

2010-05-07T15:08:00.008-05:00

Clothing for Miss Hickory. For the skirt, take a fabric flower apart. (Daisy-like flowers with many petals seem to work best, fewer petals need a little finessing.) Cut into the center of one of the layers of petals. You will also need to cut the hole bigger, to fit the doll’s waist.

Run a gathering thread at the waist near the edge (approximately 1/8”). Pull up thread, fit slightly below dolls waist, and tie off. Add a little glue there to hold in place. Let dry. Add a second layer of petals in the same way, this time at waist level.

Vest. Lay doll on a piece of paper towel. Draw around the bodice to make a pattern, adding an extra ¼” or more to make it fit around the body. Cut two matching pieces from the paper towel. Try your pattern on the doll, pinning at sides and shoulders. (You can pin it right to the doll, it’s too hard to try to pin the seams together!) You may have to adjust the pattern a couple times to get the fit right. When the fit is correct, cut two matching pieces from good quality felt.

My messy desk:

Embroider a couple flowers on the front of the vest, using one strand of floss and the lazy daisy stitch.

On all the edges that will not be seamed, I make a decorative buttonhole stitch, using one strand of floss. Do this before you sew the front and back together. Sew the shoulders and one side seam together with a small overcast stitch. Put the vest on the doll and sew the remaining side seam while the vest is on the doll.

Next, the head and accessories (hat and shoes).

Miss Hickory - Patterns & Instructions - Part 4

2010-05-07T15:00:00.004-05:00

Miss Hickory’s head, face and accessories. Collect a bunch of hickory nuts. Let them dry in the sun, then peel off the outer shell. I say collect a bunch because they won’t all work. Sometimes you can’t get the outer shell off, or they may be stained, or too fragile.

When you get a good one, make a hole in the bottom with a utility knife, whirling the point around until the hole is big enough. Be careful; if you are working with a child this part should be done by an adult.

The hole may not be perfectly round, or centered. That’s ok, it just needs to be big enough for the pipe cleaner neck to fit. And if it is not centered, the doll’s head can tilt quizzically. Miss Hickory was a curious little doll!

Drop a blob of glue into the hole in the hickory nut, and push neck gently into hole. (Hickory nuts can be quite fragile.) Let dry thoroughly.

Take apart tiny fabric flowers. Apply glue in a ring around head and attach flowers. Let dry thoroughly, then glue some beads into the flower centers. Repeat on tops of shoes.

Maybe I shouldn’t, but I always leave the face painting for last. It seems that the doll tells me what kind of face it should have only after it is completely dressed.

Because hickory nuts are somewhat dark, you will have to apply white paint for the eyes, in an oval. I used an acrylic paint. When dry, the rest of the face painting is done with Micron Pigma Pens, both .005 and 1.0 sizes, in black and colors. Quilt shops and art supply stores usually carry these. Let face dry completely.

Pose Miss Hickory with her book. When you are reading the book to children, you can pass the doll around for them to hold while listening, imagining…..

Altered Book Nature Journal

2010-02-22T15:39:00.007-06:00

In April and May I will be teaching a 4-part workshop on making an 'altered book nature journal' at Strawberry Plains in Holly Springs. Dates for the four classes are April 3 and 17, and May 1 and 15. Here are a few photos of a previous altered book I made.

Some of the techniques we will be learning are: making pockets and tags, windows and 'portholes,' tipping in pages and envelopes, attaching mini books to pages, weaving pages together, masking & painting, etc. We'll do a lot of painting, stamping, stenciling, and pasting.

I have a lot materials and supplies I will bring to the workshops, things like tissue papers, paints, paper punches, rubber stamps, some ephemera.

Class participants should also start gathering bits and pieces -- plain & decorative tissue papers, thin pieces of bark, such as birch, nature photographs and nature magazines, used printer paper (blank on one side). Your book should be a hard cover, and of a good quality paper. Do not choose a very old book.

To visit my Flickr Altered Book Sets click here. And here.

Knitted Camera Cozy

2010-01-25T18:53:00.007-06:00

Well, this blog has been silent for FAR TOO LONG! My fault really - Mom has been ridiculously busy moving and, well, Carolyn always has a full plate. Oh, and my computer died a horrible death, taking many pictures saved on my hard drive with it to the "other side". So, here I am with a new laptop and a little contribution to get my blogging skills warmed back up. Many more fun things to follow.

My parents move had a great perk for me - it allowed me to buy a digital camera! Hurray - thanks Mom and CC. But, of course, it needed a cozy. 'Cuz I can wrap just about anything in yarn :). My yarn drug of choice - Malabrigo - fiber crack. Amazing colors, the softest, softest stuff. I used their Lace baby merino for this project - it was already in my stash. Found a lovely free pattern on Ravelry - thanks Janelle! I think that's enough hyperlinks for one post...

Here's the finished project:

Funny thing: when you make a camera cozy, you can't take a picture of it on your camera. It's a Schrodinger's cat sort of thing. Just trust me when I say it fits perfectly. It's for a Canon SD1200 - I held the yarn double and cast on 28 sts on size 2 needles and increased to 36 sts per the pattern. I switched to size 1 needles for 10 rows of ribbing. Ta-da! Now, to use the camera on my Winter Train Adventure - pictures to be posted on the WEBBLOG next month! Last hyperlink, I swear...

Felt Christmas Stocking Pins

2009-09-10T10:17:00.024-05:00

When our mother, Lulu, was a nursing home resident, our family made friends with many of the other residents, and often their families. Carolyn and I planned special events for the ladies (and a few men!). Each December we gave a holiday tea, with sweets from Molly's Bakery, music, fun and silliness.

For one of the holiday teas I made many of these cute little felt stocking pins. The ladies loved them! I was touched when, at our tea the following year at Christmas, some of the ladies wore their stocking pins from the year before.

The pattern for the stocking pins is below. Trace around the pattern onto doubled felt and cut out. Join the back and front with buttonhole stitch, in a contrasting color of two strands of embroidery floss. Cut a strip of white felt to wrap around the top. Scalloped or pinking shears make a pretty cut. Glue the white felt strip to the stocking using Beacon Fabric-Tac, joining ends of the felt strip at the center back. Glue a 3-hole pin back horizontally on the back of the stocking, on the white strip.

The miniatures that go into the stocking were found at Michaels, near the scrapbook section of the store. You will find a lot of these little holiday things in the months leading up to Christmas.

Join the various miniatures, plus a leaf or two pulled from a fabric flower, using a small piece of fine guage florist wire. (I glued the florist wire to the back of the tiny wrapped presents).

Put a small amount of polyester stuffing in the stocking, to puff it out a bit. Put some Tacky glue on the pre-wired miniatures and insert in the stocking, behind the stuffing. Let dry, wear your cheerful pin during the holidays! Make 30, host a tea at a nursing home and brighten the holidays for the residents there!

It might be fun to add a little embroidered flower to the toe of the stocking. I didn't do that because I was making a lot at one time.

Here is the pattern for the stocking. You will probably have to enlarge or reduce it on your computer or printer. The dimensions of the stocking are 2 - 3/4" high x 2" wide. If it is helpful, the frame around the pattern is 2 - 7/8" high x 2 - 1/8" wide.

These were fun to make, very colorful.

Enjoy!

Beaded Button Brooch Workshops

2009-09-09T19:14:00.013-05:00

On September 22 and October 10 I'll be doing Beaded Button workshops for RSVP in Oxford and the North Mississippi Fiber Guild in Hernando. The workshop is three hours and participants should be able to finish their embellished button brooch and wear it home!

Here is a sample of one of my beaded button brooches. To see more samples, click on the slide show of beaded buttons (on the right, scroll down).

For RSVP participants, all you need to bring is a 1" or larger button. All other materials are provided. The workshop is from 10:00 to 1:30, so bring a lunch (dessert and drinks provided by RSVP).

(NMFG, please visit the guild Yahoo site for a list of materials to bring, though most supplies will be provided.)

What sort of button works well for this project? Well, just about any kind of button! If you have a button with sentimental value (perhaps it once resided on your mother's winter coat), bring that and wear a memory of your mother on your lapel!

Buttons old, new, plain, fancy, solid color or patterned -- they all work. The vintage button in the upper left of this photo was recently given to me by a friend. I can't wait to make it into a pin. It's so me, the pink gloved hand, holding the big rhinestone! The bottom left button was recently purchased, at M&J Trimming in NYC. The button on the right is from Africa.

Colorful and inexpensive new buttons make good beaded button brooches:

In Oxford you can find pretty and colorful new buttons at the Fabric Center on University. Ellen has a wonderful button selection there. Even Wal-Mart has a good, though smaller, selection of colorful buttons.

Lastly, if you want to spend a lot of money, the glass dragonfly button, below, was purchased at the big bead show in Tucson last February. It cost about $10. I think the "work in progress" button is funny; I found it at M&J Trimming on my recent trip to New York City. The soft pink button in the center is plastic.

Remember, 1" or larger. See you on the 22nd!

Vintage Monogram Forms

2009-07-29T15:03:00.014-05:00

Our parents were in the antique business. One time they bought the basement contents of an old mercantile store in a nearby town. That means my sister and I have a lovely stash of vintage laces, trims, and other "ladies" things. I have many, many paper initials, which women embroidered over to monogram their hankies, lingerie, etc.

Several years ago I repurposed a couple old hankies to make this sweet little purse. What would you put in it? Perhaps....a hanky!! Too fragile to hold much else. I used a very fine machine embroidery thread to hand stitch over the two, small paper initials. (I first tacked them down at the points.) The tatted edging was removed from another hanky and attach to the purse as the front and back were hand sewn together. I used a heavier fabric for the back.

I have paper initials for most of the alphabet (no A, B, M or S, of course!) But I have many, many I's, J's, N's and T's. And if you're name begins with "Y" you are in luck!! I would be happy to share my stash (no charge!). Please contact me for details. You can send an e-mail through the "Contributor" link in the side bar to the right.

In the post below I ask for help in identifying some "mystery" initials!

Mystery Monogram Forms!

2009-07-29T14:33:00.013-05:00

Most of the paper initials I have are pretty straight forward, but a few of them are complete alphabet mysteries to me! Perhaps someone can help identify them.

The first picture, below, shows three letters inside their packaging. I know the letter on the left is "C" and the letter on the right is an "E." But I'm not sure about the one in the middle. Is it a "D?"

In the next photo, the paper container identifies the contents as "I," which I guess it could be. The narrow vertical bar on the left would not be embroidered over, but would be removed after the embroidery was complete.

In the next photo, the paper containers are marked "J" and "N." That is an odd looking "J." Is there a calligrapher out there that can help me identify these paper initials? You can e-mail me by clicking on "Contributors" over on the side bar.

"I" or "T?"
Maybe this will help:

Thanks!!

Links to Free Knitting Patterns

2009-07-29T10:31:00.007-05:00

Knitting Pattern Central is a wonderful site that links to hundreds of free knitting patterns. They are nicely categorized so you can look for something specific. Below is a link to the gloves, mittens and wristlet page: http://knittingpatterncentral.com/directory/mittens_gloves.php

Here is a cute pattern for cable wrist warmers that I found through Knitting Pattern Central: http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/60157AD.html

Vickie Howell has an interesting pattern for wrist warmers that looks like it might be easy: http://vickiehowell.blogspot.com/2007/04/hand-like-hole-free-pattern-of-month.html

And one more pattern I found that I think is very pretty: http://susaninstitches.blogspot.com/2008/03/free-pattern.html

There are many, many more at the Knitting Pattern Central website! Enjoy!

Knitted Wristlets

2009-07-28T00:06:00.001-05:00

Here is a pair of knitted wristlets I made for a friend. The cuff can be turned up and buttoned above the thumb for more warmth. Don't need these much in Tucson!

Blue Felt Vessel

2009-07-27T00:25:00.004-05:00

Here is another felted vessel. This one was felted over a "gertie ball", which is blown up, covered with silk "caps", wool, yarn embellishment, then all is covered with 3 pantyhose tops (pulled over the ball in three directions), and then felted. Very fun! I'll be teaching this at the Telarana Weavers and Spinners Guild in Mesa, Arizona next January. The same technique can be used to make felted hats or bags.

Felted Vessels

2009-07-27T00:13:00.003-05:00

I've been having fun making felted vessels. This one was made over a pool noodle to create the long, narrow shape. I used merino-silk, mohair locks and pencil roving for embellishment.
To obtain the flat bottom, I shaped it over a can of Progresso soup! Whatever is handy!

Eloise's Nuno Felted Shawl

2009-07-22T17:02:00.006-05:00

Eloise sent photos of her dry shawl. They look much better dry! I love the detail photo, it shows the way the felted wool manipulates the texture of the silk scarf. The colors are really pretty.

Is anyone interested in getting together to do some bead embellishment on our nuno felted shawls and shrugs?

Nuno Felted Wet Shawls!

2009-07-16T17:12:00.014-05:00

Once the wool roving starts to felt and push through the silk scarf (after rolling about 600 times), it can be taken off the roll and gently tossed onto the table. Here Mary and Jackie toss the shawls. When the shawl really starts to felt, you can start throwing it more forcefully on the table. A short warm up in the microwave, in a plastic bag, also helps the felting process.

Elizabeth tries on her very wet shawl!

Looks good!

Purples and blues were popular color choices. Here, Eloise tries on her wet shawl.

Mary chose a 'spring palette' for her nuno felted shawl:

Dana models her 'western' themed shawl:

These are my kind of colors! Mary modeling her hot pinks and orange wet shawl:

Eva's finished, but still wet, nuno felted shawl:

Victoria's variegated reds came out beautifully!:

A special thank you to Cathy, who helped to find a location for Carolyn's nuno felting class and who took ALL the photos in class. This photo was taken a week later at Cathy's ranch, and so far it's the only dry shawl we have seen!

They look a lot different when they are dry. The ruching and puckering are more obvious. We can't wait to see all of them dry and embellished with beads, sequins, buttons, etc. Thanks to everyone who came to the workshop, you were really fun to work with!

Nuno Workshop cont'd

2009-06-25T10:06:00.009-05:00

Wool roving holds the mohair locks, ribbons, yarn & thread embellishments in place during the felting process. Eva's shawl is ready for felting.
Dana's artful arrangment of roving and embellishments:
Dana applying warm, soapy water to the felt 'sandwich' of bubble wrap, silk scarf & roving, and a top layer of bridal veil netting to hold the roving and embellishments in place:
After wetting the sandwich with soapy water, it is rolled up slowly and fastened with two nylon stockings. Then the rolling process begins. Roll it 200 times, back and forth. Open and check to see how the felting process is going. Roll it up again, and repeat back and forth rolling another 200 times. Repeat as necessary until you can see that the roving has migrated through to the back side of the silk scarf and the roving on the front has started to shrink and felt. Below, Jackie and Janet rolling, rolling, rolling.......
Janet checks the progress of her nuno felted shawl, below.

Next post.....workshop participants modeling their wet nuno felted shawls!

Carolyn's Nuno Felting Class cont'd

2009-06-24T19:50:00.012-05:00

This much roving!
Applied in thin layers all around the edge of the silk scarf, underneath:
And a second layer over the scarf edge on the top of the scarf:
Use very small wisps of roving to hold down mohair locks and other embellishments.

Workshop participants concentrating.....

Felted Cats by Carolyn and friend Debbi

2009-06-14T22:24:00.010-05:00

Here are two cute cats my friend Debbi and I made while staying at Shady Dell RV Park (vintage trailers) in Bisbee, enjoying the sun in their vintage "shell" chair outside our trailer. Mine, Tootsie, is on the right. Debbi is an expert needlefelter! They are now properly dressed in knitted clothing....

Carolyn's Nuno Felting Workshop

2009-06-14T16:09:00.018-05:00

Carolyn came to Mississippi for a nice long visit in April. I kept her real busy (like she does when I visit her in Tucson!). One day during her visit, Carolyn gave a nuno felting workshop to members of my North Mississippi Fiber Arts Guild, plus some members of the Memphis Guild of Handloom Weavers.

It was a great class and a great group of very agreeable students. There were 11 of us. That's a big class, but everyone was patient, hard working, and knew how to laugh! Thanks all, for a wonderful day, and especially to Carolyn for sharing your knowledge and artistry with us.

Below are photos of Carolyn's "trunk show" before class. In the next post.....hard at work students and their finished (though still wet) nuno felted shawls.

Above and below, Carolyn models one of her nuno felted shrugs, front, back, and detail.

Below, Mary models a shrug.

Eva is a natural born model! Here, modeling Carolyn's nuno felted cocoon jacket. Plus a detail of the jacket.

Below, Thea's shows the versatility of a nuno scarf. Driving to class, on a cool April morning, the driver window in the van would not go up. We pulled one of Carolyn's scarves out of the back, wrapped it around my head and shoulders, and I was cozy all the way to the workshop (50 miles!).

More photos in the next posts of students designing, rolling, more rolling, trying on wet shawls, etc.

Not the same old katcha-counter...

2009-05-17T13:34:00.020-05:00

I actually love katcha-counters. Something about the satisfying sound - katcha - as you press the counter at the end of every row. A few days ago my friend Andrea mentioned that she wanted to try making a beaded counter, but didn't have the supplies or the know-how. I told her I had a box of beading supplies that weren't getting much use, and I had made a few beaded bracelets so I could offer a little bit of know-how!

Understanding exactly what my friend wanted to try and make took a bit of exploring on the web. Once I realized what she wanted to make I was excited to make one for myself too. It seemed that making a chain of jump rings large enough to slip onto your needle was the basic premise, and then you could embellish to your heart's content!

I took a trip into the city to get supplies. I was headed to Beads World on Broadway, but wandered into another great store, Bead Empire at 39th and Avenue of the Americas. Both stores have great inventory and customer service. I didn't realize there was this whole "beading district" within the Fashion District - there were several other beading stores within this 2 block radius! At Bead Empire I purchased the jump rings, crimp beads, and drop bead posts I thought we would need. Just as I was getting ready to leave I happened to glance at a wall that had spools of already-made chain on it and saw this:

Tah-dah! Suddenly this seemed like a MUCH better idea. I bought all the other bits and pieces anyways - you can never have too many crafting supplies :).

Here are a couple of pictures of the embellishment I made to attach to the end of the chain - it looks like it might be heavy, but all of these beads were actually quite light-weight. These are just stacked onto a drop bead post (I think that is what you call it!) with a couple of small spacer beads here and there.

The mathematical mechanics of the counter are simple - the chain is 20 rings long - 10 small and 10 large. Depending on the size needle that you are using, you simply slip a ring between two stitches, and as you are knitting you simply move to the next ring down on the chain each time you pass over it as you knit. So that will get you through 10 rows. And what if you need to count more than 10 rows? That's where this bit comes in:

For the first 10 rows you would leave this off of the chain. When you get to the 11th row, you attach this counter using the lobster clasp onto the 1st large or small ring - whichever size you AREN'T using to fit your needles. Then you start counting your next set of 10 rows. Here's a picture of the counter showing knitting at row 11.

And here is a picture of the counter showing knitting at row 14.

You would leave the lobster clasp embellishment in place attached to the 1st ring for 10 rows, and then bump it down to the next large or small ring (depending on which size DOESN'T fit your needles). With this method you should be able to count to 100 rows. Actually, I guess 110...

This part still needs a little bit of work. I wanted the lobster clasp to be easy to open and close so I used a large size, but the clasp is a bit too heavy. I think a medium clasp will be fine, I just didn't have one in my beading supplies. When I get down to the Bead District again I will pick one up. One parting artistic shot - all taken with my cell phone cam, btw!

I always seem to need a food reward for my projects - hmmm. That explains a lot. Anywho, today I made Almond Poppyseed Bread. Delish!

More AFIC

2009-05-11T22:21:00.015-05:00

Here are some of the amazing dolls that were on exhibit at Artistic Figures in Cloth:

This is another doll by my teacher, Allison Marano. This one is called "Tarin." Please visit Allison's website to see more of her figures. They seem to capture perfectly a moment in the fleeting life of a fairy, pixie, or elf.

Below are two dolls by another instructor, Susan Barmore, "Joeie" and "Treesa."

Both Allison and Susan were instructors at AFIC. It is very hard to choose which class to take! Susan's 'folk art' figures and dolls are really different, and beautifully painted in a primitive/modern kind of way.

Inez Brasch was standing next to her figure, "Morrigan," when I stopped to look at it. Her name rang a bell with me immediately. I remembered seeing a doll grouping at the last doll conference I attended, more than ten years ago, with her name attached to it. Inez explained to me that Morrigan is an Irish folklore figure who takes care of the dead. It is hard to see it in this small picture, but Morrigan has a very beautiful, serene face. There are better photos on Inez's Picture Trail.

Artistic Figures in Cloth

2009-05-11T12:27:00.021-05:00

Allison Marano, "Grapevine Girls"

I recently attended the Artistic Figures in Cloth doll conference in Columbus, Ohio. I haven't been to a lot of doll conferences, but this has to be one of the best ones. Cindy Sieving and her staff were so well organized about all parts of the conference -- workshops, exhibits, vendor's, opening banquet, hotel accommodations, etc. Even the food was delicious! -- lots of fresh vegetables, fruits, etc. It was great fun, and I took a wonderful workshop with Allison Marano of Faewyck Studios in Erie, PA. We learned how to make the tiniest, graceful fingers, and many other great techniques.

The opening banquet was a lot of fun (even tho' our table was the last to go up to the buffet, no chocolate dessert left!). We worked on round-robin doll pins for each person to wear during the conference, with only 7 minutes to add something to each doll as it moved around the table! There were some amazing hats worn, as the theme of the evening was "Hats & Heels." When I get the CD from the conference I will post a couple photos of the hats.

My roommates, Pat & Mary Ellen, were super. I was happy to learn that they weren't night owls, but I think we all had a little trouble sleeping because you get really excited and energized being surrounded by so much talent! We had little mini workshops in our room, Mary Ellen showed me how to make fabric beads, and Pat makes interesting cording out of artistic wire.

I brought some Pin Poppet kits to the conference. Wasn't sure any would sell, as the design is kind of traditional, and sweet, and contemporary doll makers are creating some pretty wild and innovative designs these days. But I did well and almost sold out of my kits and Pin Poppet patterns. I used to teach the design in workshops, and provided a kit for my students, but I am retiring the kits for good and will only make a few Pin Poppets to order or for guild raffles, etc.

This Navajo Pin Poppet was made for one of the raffle baskets at my sister's guild fashion show a couple years ago. And the one below was made for a friend's daughter's school raffle.

The little (3 1/2") pincushion doll has a needlecase inside, and the doll comes apart at the waist. A good place to store those precious, specialty needles.

Here I am painting the faces on almost sixty little doll heads. Phew!

Fresh Flowers for Your Lapel!

2009-05-09T16:50:00.016-05:00

I love the idea of wearing a little nosegay of violets or violas in the springtime. Here is a cute way to keep them fresh for a few hours longer. You know those tiny glass vials that you get free perfume samples in at the department store cosmetic counter? You have to ask for them, the sales staff never seem to offer them without a request!

The first step is to select some lace trims, ribbons and buttons to cover the glass vial. Using Fabri-Tac glue, adhere a piece of lace to the top and bottom edges of the vial. Let dry a few minutes.

Next, with the same glue, adhere a pin back to the vial. I use a pin back that is almost as long as the vial is tall. Let this dry an hour or so. Glue the narrow ribbons you have chosen to the vial, with ribbon ends overlapping in the back, over the pin back. This will help to secure the pin back to the vial.

The bottom ribbon will probably have to be trimmed as it won't fit over the pin back (the pin back is almost, but not quite, as long as the vial).

Embellish with trim, or a button. On the example above I glued a piece of silk ribbon flower trim and added a tiny rhinestone. On the example below I tied a little pearl button with embroidery thread.

Something has to be added behind the decorated vial, otherwise the pin wants to flop to the side when you wear it. To fix this problem you can either add a ribbon or lace bow (glue it over the pin back) or make a felt leaf to attach to the pin. I used a fusible adhesive to attach buckram to the back of the felt, to give it body. The leaf is a tulip poplar, which I hand sketched from an illustration on the internet. Transfer the sketch to the back of the buckram/felt sandwich and cut it out. I painted the edge of the leaf with fabric paint. It is hard to see, but I also painted lines, using a Micron Brush marker, on the felt to resemble the veining on the tulip poplar leaf.

Cut two holes in the leaf to push the pin back through. This was a bit of a challenge. Make sure it is going to fit before you apply the glue.

Instead of sketching a leaf, you can always go outside and find a leaf that is the right size and shape and simply trace around it onto the buckram. Here is a redbud leaf that I picked today.

I think I got these little fabric flowers to put in the pin/mini vase at Paper Source in Porter Square, but you can find them in other places too. Or, you could pick some fresh violets or other tiny flowers, and wear them on your lapel for a fresh and friendly spring greeting. To fill the little vial with water, use a pipette, or one of those little coffee stirrer straws.

I wore my fascinator at the Artistic Figurers in Cloth banquet, and got a prize for it, in the "Vintage Chic" category!

Fascinator, Part 4 - The Dolls

2009-04-03T12:07:00.017-05:00

"Lulu's Garden" Fascinator with Flowers, Arbor, & Garden Visitors

Lulu always had such wonderful flower gardens. I remember, in early Spring, just laying on the ground in front of the flower beds, taking in the heavily scented hyacinths. We also had three large lilac bushes around our house. And mock orange! Perfume filled the air!

But I digress. The theme for the hat, "Lulu's Garden," necessitated little people enjoying the garden. So I made little dolls to sit and walk through the garden, sort of representing my sister and me.

The dolls were made with 32 ga. florist's wire, but next time I would use Artistic Wire. I had fits trying to get the bead 'hands' and 'feet' onto the florist wire because the thread kept bunching up, even after applying Tacky Glue to the ends. This wouldn't be the case with Artistic Wire, and it also comes in lots of wonderful bright colors, and several gauges. I have used florist wire in making other tiny dolls and it works very well, especially when you are wrapping with thread to build up the anatomy (example below).

(Directions for this tiny doll in a future post.) But for the above dolls, to place on the hat, I kept the design very simple. Here is a diagram for assembling the doll:

And for the skirt, which is just a piece of painted buckram (the skirt on the second doll is a piece of pleated ribbon):

Detail of the hat and doll with pleated skirt. Oops, I think I already included this photo in my last post. Here it is again!

The hat does not just sit and stay put on top of the head. Fasten a length of narrow, round elastic at either side of the hat. This elastic is placed on the back of the head, under the hair. You then have to fiddle with the hair next to the hat, so the elastic doesn't show.

I didn't have the guts to wear the hat at my sister's guild fashion show, but I'm pretty sure I will wear it at the Artistic Figures in Cloth opening banquet since the theme is "Hats!" I know those dollmakers will be wearing some pretty far out chapeaux and I'll be in excellent company!

Fascinator, Part 3 - Ribbon Flowers

2009-04-02T14:53:00.037-05:00

I made a stack of ribbon flowers to place on the fascinator -- folded roses, gathered roses, pansies, etc. -- from a variety of ribbons, including sheers & wire edged (both ombre & patterned), picot edged, grosgrain, old seam tape, lace trims, etc. There are also a few small paper flowers on the hat, both vintage and new.

There are a couple favorite books which I use when making ribbon flowers. I especially love Candace Kling's "The Artful Ribbon." Her pansy instructions are superior! Of course I can't reproduce the instructions here, but go to Candace's website to be inspired! She teaches mostly on the west coast, and I was fortunate to take a weekend of classes with her when I lived in San Diego. Candace's book is available through many sources.

Another favorite author is Helen Gibb, who has several books on the subject of ribbon flowers and what to do with them. I used to see her fairly frequently when Carol Duvall was still hosting a craft show on HGTV, and you can still access some directions by going to HGTV and doing a search. Helen uses ribbon flowers to decorate many things besides hats! And she offers the most luscious selection of ribbons on her website; wouldn't it be nice when we find a great supply source to be able to just blow a couple hundred dollars at the snap of a finger?! Sigh.

Here are my directions for making a daisy-like flower, below. I developed my own method for this flower because I wasn't quite satisfied with directions I found, in both new and old books, for making a multi petaled flower.

Make a soft knot about every two inches on a narrow piece of ribbon. Most of the books tell you at this point to run a gathering thread every two inches between the knots, then to pull up the length of the ribbon. For me, this approach makes a somewhat disheveled looking daisy! So, after knotting the length of ribbon, I instead tack each petal individually, between the knots, to a small circle of buckram, making a pretty arrangement as I go along. And if you haven't made enough knots but still have a tail of ribbon hanging, you can add more to round out your perfect daisy.

Here it is, my perfect, bright orange daisy! In a color which I have not seen in nature. One of the best pieces of advice I received in Candace's class was to stop fussing about botany, because ribbon flowers are not intended to duplicate nature. She may have said this to me because I was obsessing about my awkward roses. Practice practice -- I have box of reject flowers!

I wanted my mother, Lulu, to be watching over her garden fascinator, and over me, the creator! Here is how I added my mother to the hat.

I like to print some of my old photographs and scanned emphemera on fabric, for use in crafts. You can purchase prepared fabric sheets for use in your printer, or you can make your own using a high quality cotton which you adhere to freezer paper in order to run it through the printer. Above is a sheet of several photo and emphemera images printed on fabric, including a small photo of Lulu. And the button kit that will be covered with the small photo.

The back of the flower has been covered with a small circle of silk fabric, to hide the buckram. The small photo is cut in a circular shape about 1/2" larger than the button to be covered. Run a gathering thread around the edge of the fabric circle, place it over the button front, and pull up the gathers to make it fit tightly over the button front. Attach the back of the button as directed on the package.

With an awl, make a small hole in the center of the flower. Glue the fabric covered button to the daisy, pushing the shank through all layers. (Later you will run more florist wire through the shank, to attach the daisy to the hat base.) Couch beads around the edge of the covered button.

Glue is very acceptable in this project, though I also did a lot of hand sewing. The glue I use is Fabric-Tac by Beacon. It's messy, but works very well, and was used to attach all the flowers to the hat.

Other things I do with emphemera and photos printed on fabric. Here an ATC, one side is an old calling card enhanced with ribbon embroidery and beads, and the other side is a photograph of my mother and aunts in Elizabeth Park in Hartford, c. 1918, also embellished with beads and lace.

Next installment.....the little dolls (my sister and I in Lulu's garden).

Fascinator, Part 2

2009-04-02T10:32:00.023-05:00

Carolyn, Herb & Thea at the Guild Fashion Show

I did not have the nerve to wear my fascinator to the guild fasion show luncheon, but it was on view at one of the display tables. The fashion show was amazing -- beautiful woven, knitted and felted garments and accessories.

The finished hat, almost (I think it might need a feather, or perhaps a veil?!):

To make a fascinator, start with a hat form (buckram or crinoline), which can be found at fabric stores that have a good bridal section. I used a 5" round form, which I covered with green dupioni silk. To cover the form, cut a circle of the silk a couple inches larger than the form, run a gathering thread around the edge, pull up the threads and fit over the hat form. Sew to the form with a running stitch near the edge of the form, going through all layers. A yellow dupioni silk garden path (below) was then appliqued to the hat base with a running stitch.

The next step was attaching the arbor support to the hat, for which I used 22 ga. florist wire. Wind the center of an 18" piece around a vial of beads, or other small tube. Sew the curved section onto the hat base. You will have two pieces sticking up on each side of the garden path. Sew the front two pieces together at the height desired for the arbor. Now, measure it! I didn't and was sorry when I sewed the back two pieces together and then tried to apply the ribbon trim to the uneven front and back support pieces!

This wild trim, from Tinsel Trading, was glued to the arbor and afterwards the excess was trimmed away:
Note the ribbon flowers, made ahead and waiting to be applied to the hat! More on flowers & dolls for the hat in my next posts. I hear a storm heading this way, so must turn off my computer!

Blocking a Baby Sweater - a few things to avoid

2009-03-21T17:19:00.023-05:00

My latest project, and the most timeliest, is a knitted baby layette for my friend Sarah. The child has arrived, so time is of the essence. I've put a lot of work into it, and need to get it in the mail before Liam outgrows it! I just blocked it the other day and thought I would share a couple of mistakes I made in the blocking process, and suggest ways you might avoid making these same mistakes! Here is the set all blocked:

It includes pants, a cardi and a little vest. All patterns are from a Debbie Bliss book - Essential Baby. The yarn is a Lanett Superwash. Anywho, I blocked the sleeves without measuring each side of the underarm seams to make sure they were the same length. Here is a little sketch to show you what I mean by underarm seam and a picture of what happens if both seams aren't the same length when blocked:

When I folded the sleeve so that the two underarm seams met, the cuff didn't line up. So...the lesson here is to measure everything carefully when you block. This isn't new information - all the knitting books say to do this, but I got lazy and had to reblock the whole sleeve!

My other mistake was also a function of not measuring to make sure the back of the cardigan and the front of the cardigan were the same length from collar to waist. I'm lazy, I admit it! Finishing is the "not fun part" of knitting, and most knitters just want to get it over with as soon as possible. Here's what happened...

This photo shows how the front of the neck, or collar, didn't line up with the back of the neck. Excessively fussy for me to worry about it? Perhaps, but after all the time invested in knitting it I want the finished product to be beautiful!

...and here is how I fixed it:

T-pins are our friends...

While I was pinning the front of the collar to the back of the collar and then reblocking the whole thing (I use a Sunbeam Steam Valet for most of my blocking) it occured to me that with a project as thin as this it would make sense to block identical pieces, such as the two sleeves or the two cardi fronts, together. It saves a step - you pin them one on top of the other and they will come out the same size everytime. Here's an example:

First one cardi front...

...followed by the other one!

I thought this was a bit of a revelation - if it's old news, why didn't you tell me about it :)?

Here is my reward for getting this set blocked. This is from Jamie Oliver's latest cookbook, Jamie at Home. Yum!

Fascinating Hats

2009-03-11T19:13:00.018-05:00

My sister belongs to a wonderful fiber guild in Arizona. There are several small study groups in the guild, and Carolyn is part of a group of women who study and make hats! They are currently studying, and creating, fascinators, a little hat that sits slightly off-center on the front of the head. I was inspired to make one to wear to Carolyn's guild fashion show this coming Saturday. It's a little out there, I'm not sure I'll have the nerve to wear it. But it was fun to make! Here it is:

"Lulu's Garden"

Many ribbon flowers were made to cover the hat. Two tiny dolls (my sister and me) are sitting and walking around the garden, and Lulu looks over us and the garden from the center of an orange daisy-like flower. Our mother always had wonderful flower gardens, rectangular beds in front of the house, a large bed beside the house with lilies, peonies, and many annuals.

The colors of the hat were inspired by a jacket Carolyn found at a Goodwill store when we were up in Massachusetts in December. She generously gave the jacket to me as I wasn't sure I could live without it. The colors in the jacket are warm -- red, orange, yellow, maroon, magenta, green. Here it is hanging from the mailboxes in my studio which hold my art and craft supplies:

I was further inspired when we visited my daughter in New York City. Kathy patiently waited while Carolyn and I went a little crazy in our favorite NYC store, Tinsel Trading. I chose a selection of ribbons and trims in the same color palette as the jacket:

To which I added more hot colors from my own stash:

More later with some tips on making a wild and wacky fascinator!

Creative Women in Our Lives

2009-03-03T13:01:00.004-06:00

My sister, daughter and I dedicate our crafting/living blog to the creative women who have influenced us the most in our lives -- our grandmother, Emma Vania, and our mother and Kathy's grandmother, Louise (Lulu) Vania Webb.

Although we did not meet Emma, we are fortunate to have a few of her embroidered and sewn pieces. Lulu told me that Emma was an excellent seamstress and, as a mother of six children, could take apart clothing from an older child to fashion a new garment for one of the younger siblings. She also made lovely embroideries in a variety of techniques.

Lulu was also a creative stitcher and an excellent knitter. Most importantly, Lulu encouraged all of her children and grandchildren to follow their creative paths through life, and she supported us in that endeavor in so many ways. She was our biggest fan! When the muse was away, I could always count on Lulu for a great idea to get the juices flowing again.

We will be posting photos of Emma's and Lulu's work here, and will share what we have created as well, with patterns and instructions when the design originated with us. We hope our "sketchbook" will inspire us as well as visitors to take a little time every day for the artist within.