I like my crafting experiments to be low risk. Dying fabric with natural ingredients fits that bill. I’m not going to accidentally stain my counters, no gloves needed, I can use my regular cookware for most of it. And I don’t need dramatic results or for my fabric to be colorfast. I never wash doll clothes because my samples are not getting played with and if it fades thats ok. There’s really no risk of the dyed fabric coming off … More
Filed under things I didn’t know I needed but are absolutely essential: project bags for cross stitch. I have, for years, had one small tote bag with all my cross stitch stuff in it – a few patterns, small hoops and some pieces of linen. Recently Phoebe and I both got started on projects and it became clear we outgrew sharing the one cross stitch bag, so project bags! Project bags seem like they can get pretty fancy with handles … More
Phoebe and I got a little crazy for Christmas this weekend. We got out the hot glue gun, the “Christmas Craft” bin (which I’ve been steadily transferring over the years from school party supplies to craft store bops and vintage fripperies), some glitter, and went to town.
Here is vintage santa head on a ornament ball riding an ice spear and holding a candy cane.
vintage cotton spun and pipe cleaner elf with a flocked tree on a peppermint sphere.… More
I’m not 100% sure what to call these little christmas fellows. I made them many years ago with unrolled cotton balls standing in for cotton batting. I was surprised they held their shape as long as they did but it’s been long past time to update them.
I redid the first one with wrapped wool roving. I needle felted it just enough to hold in place but I really wanted a smooth wrapped look. I love how it turned out. … More
Now that I have a GIANT bag of crushed walnut shells sitting in my craft room you can expect a lot of pincushion action from me. I came across this folky vintage print while I was digging through my fabric bins and immediately thought pincushion 💡!
So I fussy cut out some squares, well not really fussy bc just squares but it was tricky getting those borders to line up, and I sewed them up into a cube and stuffed … More
I saw the cutest palm sized cloth mice toys and I thought oh, how clever, they made the faces from wood acorns. But no that’s silly they were all cloth and soft and cute, but it stuck in my head, wondering if it would work so I made these little mice. I have a large assortment of wooden peg people, balls and other shapes and one of my favorites are the wood acorns, like these guys (amazon affiliate link)
I … More
I stumbled upon something fun on instagram last week, a tiny pincushion sewing challenge #teenytinypinnieparade, over at tinkerellen. After spending a good hour or so down that rabbit hole of tiny quilted pincushions, leading me to all sorts of wonderful quilting and sewing sites, I ordered some crushed walnut shells from amazon and started plotting. First I tried something a little too ambitious, trying to incorporate this neat trick with a magnetized needleminder button as a tiny teddy bear’s … More
A captivating gang of 24 huggable, lovable creatures to sew—from classics like Margot, a topsy-turvy doll, and the button-jointed teddy bear Bjorn Bjornson, to irresistible Evelyn, a wool felt inchworm decked out in mod glasses and a kerchief, and Koji, a fiercely cute spiked softie monster. There’s something for everyone here—from kids to grown-ups and from beginning sewers to advanced dollmakers. Published by STC Craft, August, 2010.
