Flower pounding, 'hapa-zome' made famous by India Flint's 2010 book Eco Colour. 

For a first time 5-minute project I'd give it a 10 out of 10, especially if I still had a wee one around the house to wield the hammer. 

Top: false dandelion—Bottom: common tansy 

And to make the pounded print colorfast, am going to brew up a tannin-rich mordant from the leaves of a native Gary Oak tree. Since my leaf pile is about the size of a Volkswagon, I'm in no danger of running out of raw material.

Random rain day stuff

It started with hemming a small quilt/coverlet for a small sofa. 

Rain + Mud + Small Dog = lots of laundry, so I like to have a supply of good lookin' covers for dog's favorite couch. 

I was dissatisfied with my messy looking whip stitch, so went looking through my books for alternative hemming stitches… and discovered a nice, neat and strong version of backstitch. In the book they call it Pin Stitch, or Point Turc. It's a great little stitch, highly recommended.

Well, that led down a rabbit hole of internet searching which involved a labyrinth of heirloom sewing sites, and ending up at punched paper embroidery templates by the hundreds here. So interesting, and puzzling, too, whether they are in the public domain or not. A few patterns have attribution, but many appear to be from books. There's an endearing ugly/cute quality to this kind of thread on paper stitchery. I confess that I enjoy looking at the patterns more than I have a craving to complete the projects. 

Look how pretty… aren't they fun?

Green with…

 

A seasonal bit 'o green spotted around these parts. 

Top, a treasured piece of shamrocky-goodness barkcloth fabric flanked by my new crochet book.

I'm invoking the faint hope clause—buoyed by the hopeful air of the title, that I will finally be able to conquer a tiny little corner of the crochet universe.

Bottom, a lovely Bengali kantha quilt purchased from Katharine Watson on her return from a 2012 trip to India (a very interesting series of posts from her trip… highly recommended reading).

bye bye 2014… HELLO

No glue needed to attach calendar pages—so last year's version can be reused!

A sort-of DIY, an idiot-proof guide to your makin' your own cute calendar. (Hey, if I can do it…)

① Cut the cover off an old book with pretty endpapers, OR, mount a favorite image on a piece of plain book board. (Tip: for free book board, grab an vinyl 3-ring binder and rip the vinyl cover off. This also works with yearbooks, the glossy paper peels off easily.)

② Scavenge a free calendar. Banks and realtors are reliable sources. OR, download here (also the source for owl art from the generous artists supporting My Owl Barn's annual calendar project). How sweet is this image by Flora Chang?

③ Trim the calendar pages down and stick em on with thumbtacks, paper fasteners or mini bulldog clips. 

 I buy my mini bulldog clips at Daiso, but art supply stores and craft stores have them too.

Christmas Crafts book review

I was originally drawn to this book by Kajsa Wikman because of the scandinavian tomtes featured on her blog. But there is much more to glean from this lovely book. Her angels with unruly hair and birds with dangly legs evoke a naive and charming esthetic.  

These graceful bird forms were derived from artwork she and her daughter were working on.

The birds were drawn and coloured, and Kajsa stepped away to check the laundry. On her return— she found that her daughter had added the whimsical legs and beaks to the flock!
There is more Kajsa-of-Helsinki goodness to be had at her blog, Syko. She also has an Etsy shop and fabric designs at Spoonflower.

Spiral basket photo tutorial

Every time I open this bathroom drawer I smile. I think of my sister, Laura, sauntering out of the bathroom after a long soak in the tub, rubbing her hair with a towel, saying "You got any Q-tips? I know you've got lots of BOXES…" Eyebrows raised, sardonic grin on face.

Yeah, well. I like boxes.

But in the name of dialing back the Q-tip box wierdness; I'm making these. Flickr user Hiromi W posted this nice little photo tutorial showing how to turn 4 narrow strips of fabric into a boxy basket. It's sturdy and is a very satisfying mini-project for using up long scraps. However lumpen my first wonky-top-stitched attempt… it is still a useful object, and there will be more made—each lined and topstitched more skilfully than the last. Yes!

To market, to market

Brown things and flowery things around my place today. I am both amused and horrified by how much trouble I am having making a decent pom pom. I've made them with cotton yarn, mohair yarn, and wool. I've used the Clover pom pom maker, the multiple-poms at-once-method, and the cardboard template method. They are not as easy as they look, people! And messy? I'll be breathing mohair dust for days. 

My marginal poms that sorta look more like obese tassels sent me onto tassel research. Lots of interesting reading there, and lovely images, too. But guess what…when you are reading about the history of tassels, you don't get much sewing done. Sewing that I had hoped to finish before a flea/vintage market coming up. Hopefully it'll be a good venue for destashing my big fat collection of cute Christmas stuff. 

Sew… the crafting continues

Sewing kits being for upcoming market.

Photocopy transfer experiment, and a repurposed jeans pouch.

Probably time to stop with the bad puns on blog post headlines. 

I'll keep it zipped from now on.

Try Dye

Bought a little Dover Publications dye book at the thrift store. I do like to read craft books for projects that are way out my reach; much the same as I love to read cookbooks for recipes I know I'll never have the ingredients, or patience for.

When I approach the idea of tackling a dye project; the mysterious rituals, the myriad supplies with weird names, and the multitudes of ways of approaching mordanting, usually stop me dead in my tracks. This time, I wasn't too concerned about color-fastness, so just rinsed and did a vinegar soak and called it a day. It's fun to see the stodgy little doilies and snowflakes emerge a brand new colour.

But India Flint certainly has nothing to worry about.

Red October

Home and garden reds this October… Ukrainian Women's Association cross stitch patterns, 1956.    

A wee red rose started by my sister-in-law, Lori, and finished by me, a nice crafty collaboration.

Lori holding our tiny crop of Quinault strawberries.

Cheticamp ♥

Supplies: Sandpaper (120 or higher) crayons, heavy paper and an iron 

Draw ● Flip ● Press/Transfer  ● FUN!

A very cool technique for drafting a faux-pixel pattern suited to rug hooking or needlework, via this Cape Breton site: 

http://www.workthroughtime.ca/index.php

Under the heading Education Resources, look for Grade 6 lesson plan, Cheticamp Rug Hooking.

Their education links provide a treasure trove of lesson plans and history. The bounty of resources online kinda make me wish I could have another baby, so I could homeschool. 

Kinda.

Rug hooking, and recently, cross stitch have been in my bad crafter repertoire… again, not so much because I do them so very badly, but because my productivity in any particular pursuit is legendarily low.

Cut 'n Paste

Laundress collage at Scrapiteria

Perhaps even more than fabric and stitches—I have a fondness for paper 'n glue. Both processes require sharp objects in their making… I feel even more comfortable with a knife in my hand than with a pair of scissors. And speaking of comfort, there is no other craft on this earth that feels more comfortable and forgiving than combing through paper ephemera, idly contemplating combinations of bits and pieces then quickly gluing them into some semblance of something that limns.

Simple and small

The pleasures of simple weaves, ragballs and clear, dry November days.

Years ago we rented a charming cottage on a waterfront estate. 

My landlady gave me her old rose chintz draperies. How she knew I would want them, I don't recall; but she certainly had my number.  Granny-roses-on-steroids, that pattern was; in the most egregious colour scheme of red, pink and green. I loved them. I cut them into strips, and simple-wove a rustic fabric which I then used to cover the seats of four beloved farmer chairs purchased at auction. They reminded me of Shaker chairs (and how pretty is this Shaker chair tape?)… a primitive oak relief carving on each chair back. (I've always been moderately obsessed with all things Shaker, but that's another post.) 

For now let's just keep it simple. Going to take my primitive, rough and wonky weave off the board, stitch it to a stabilizer and sew up a simple small. A drawstring bag or a tote, an oven mitt or a pillow cover. Simple and small—better than not at all, my crafting credo these days.