by Caroline Hwang -
she is influenced by quilting, crafts, graphic arts, film and music, and her early memories of her grandmothers crochet and knitting.
website 1
website 2
(link via whimpys one horse town)
Grainne morton - scottish jewellery artist
“Grainne makes compartmental jewellery using bits including old buttons as well as materials like silver, gold and oxidised copper. A lot of her high fashion work - necklaces and bracelets - are made from laminated flowers.” (from dazzle exhibitions)
She begins by collecting obscure and miniature objects which are both formed and found. The found materials can include pressed flowers, old buttons, shells, pebbles, sea glass, printed tin and graphics/print. She complements these with formed elements creating handmade objects such as enamel work, miniature drawings and punched metal shim. These are then grouped into ‘collections’ and housed in handmade boxes. (from craft scotland)
Originally from Northern Ireland, Grainne now has a workshop in Edinburgh … from fashioning jewellery from flowers to trawling antique fairs for one-off items to complete her compartmental jewellery, Grainne is happy making a living doing exactly what she wants.
more images at the scottish gallery
flow gallery
velvet davinci
Flocks
Sheep05006
This summer in a village in Wales, a small flock of sheep was shawn. Each garment in the collection was produced from the wool of just one of these sheep, continuing until the wool was finished.. A project undertaken by contemporary Dutch designer Christien Meindertsma. The garments were exhibited November 2005 at the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum (via reluct) On the flocks website there are some lovely images from old books on ‘how to knit’, ‘how to sheer a sheep’, ‘how to spin wool’ etc.
A new column - titled whipped - for readers comments, ideas, questions and fab links.
first up I have a question about these shoes - Andrea asks:
“I recently was given some wonderful shoes as a gift, sadly they are a nauseating shade of lime green…well, for shoes anyway. I’d love having some crockery this color. These are lovely shoes and very comfortable. Do your readers or the experts who post on the site have any advice for me on how to make these great shoes more wearable? Is dying leather shoes possible?”
Also an amazing link to Helen Amy Murray, a very unique textile artist. Her website is a flash movie and therefore I am unable to post any pics here but I urge everyone to go and check it out - wonderful (also a NYtimes blurb too). Thank you Stephanie from Sum things.
Joelle from Purl Soho, a knit shop in NYC, is opening up a new quilt shop in NYC as well, just up the street from their other store. They would love a review of their store - if anyone lives nearby go and check it out, talk to Joelle and let us know what you think.
Do you have a question? email whipup[at]gmail.com
hopskipjump makes the most adorable dolls and stuffed monkeys and bears - all with gorgeous retro outfits - just love them. (more pretty in pink girls here)
mimi kirchner’s swaddled baby is adorable - just check out that face.
another great tutorial from pinned - for a sock bird - very cute.
craftapalooza’s log cabin cushion is gorgeous.
the small object - wonderful embroidered cushion design.
pyglet whispers has entered fern into the plush you - isn’t she adorable?
treefall design made some doll sized quilted mattresses, inspired by Lauren Child’s princess and the pea, as a swap for wise craft - I am in love - and what a fantastic idea!
I have this picture saved to my desktop. It’s from the (knitters of dent website) of Clara Sedgwick….
When I think of the future of craft, I don’t think about new ways to wield my knitting needles. I think about Clara and the millions of women that have been empowered by craft, as often times it was one of the few ways in which they could showcase their skills or make money if they found themselves widowed.
To me, the future of craft belongs to craft’s past. Each time I pick up my needles or start to stitch, I am strengthened by the fact that women like Clara are behind me and determined to keep their legacies going.
More about the Knitters of Dent here.
Don’t like the look of your cheap plastic tape measure? Wanna pretty it up? Here’s one solution that you can customise and be creative with.
You’ll need:
- Tape measure approximately 2inches (51mm) in diametre
- 1-2 pieces of wool felt approximately 2.5inches in diametre (64mm) - depending on how you choose to decorate your tape measure. (You really do need to use 70-100% wool felt for this to work, “craft” felt will not hold up to being stitched so tightly by hand.)
- A yoyo, made with a starting circle of approximately 5inches (130mm).
- Embroidery thread and a little bit of stuffing for the top of the measure.
OK, you ready?
Grab you measure and the two pieces of fabric you’re going to use to cover it. With your needle and embroidery thread start a nice, tight whip stitch around the edge with the measure wedged in. It’s a little tricky. In the past I have put a little glue tape on the side of the measure with the button on it to keep the felt from moving (you don’t want glue tape both sides as you’ll be stuffing one side). Also note that you want the bottom of the measure to be the side with the button, so don’t put your decorated side on the button side, it can make using the button difficult. You’ll also want to make sure that the tape measure pull is positioned at the beginning of your whip stitching, so that you finish at the pull and don’t enclose it!
Once you’re about an inch from finishing enclosing the measure grab a little stuffing (ie polyfill or craft filling of your choice) and put it between the top side (decorated side) and measure, squish it around to get it even and as puffy as you like or flat, your choice.
Then continue to whip stitch the edges together until you come back around to the pull. Leave the pull sticking out and fasten off your thread.
Now you can also decorate the pull if you like. I use a bit of felt and just slip it through the pull top and fasten it at the end of the pull with embroidery thread.
The one you see below is decorated with a yoyo and a vintage button. However you could decorate your tape measure with buttons, fabric, ribbon, felt beads, embroidery, you’re only as limited as your imagination. Here’s a link to some that I’ve previously made.
Finito. Enjoy!
Fiber Arts podcasts are springing up all over the place! I’ve mentioned some of my favorite knitting podcasts — now here are some for you crocheters, spinners and weavers:
And if you are into quilting, check out these:
sweet georgia - dyes up some wool using chochineal bugs - again beautiful images and instructions.
january one - is spinning some gorgeous colours
fibermania - does some dyeing - ‘the easy way’ - whether easy or not - i love the pots of colours.
click clack - a german knitting blog - gives us a some great colours of wool in small quantities
spinning silk hankies at knitty - zibbibbo is good tried it out with fab results - make sure you click on the picture.
If you’re a crocheter and a blogger you’re probably familiar with Drew, or as he is known far and wide, The Crochet Dude. If you don’t know Drew then you have definitely been missing out. This is a man who is not only immensely talented, but he’s fabulously funny, a brilliant designer, amazingly kind and compassionate, devoting his time and talent to myriad charitable efforts while running his “Dudepire”. Drew has also been one the loudest and most fervent supporters of my creations and my blog since its humble inception and that is pretty darn cool. All truth be told, the blogosphere is a much richer place by virtue of Drew’s presence here and basically, we all could use a little Daily Drew in our lives.
Okay, so I like the guy a little…
And hopefully, after reading the interview below, you will like him too!
Regina: Tell me about your crochet and knit origins.
Drew: I learned to crochet when I was five years old. We had just moved to Lake Tahoe and the winter was particularly heavy that year with drifts over the roof of the house. So I was inside a lot, and most likely surfing on Mom’s last nerve, and before I knew it she had given me a hook and some yarn and I was crocheting. I had been watching her crochet all my life so I knew there was more to it than making a chain snake! It seemed very intuitive and reading patterns became quite easy, even though I was so young. The following winter Mom wanted to make an afghan with swirl shaped motifs and couldn’t figure out the pattern. I’m not sure if she was happy or not that I read the pattern, explained it to her, and then whipped up an example that turned out the first time. Six year olds can be frustrating I’m sure!
Knitting was always an elusive sport. I saw my sister go to town with her aluminum knitting needles and wool (I still hear that clickity-click sound sometimes late at night when it’s dark, cold, and I’m half asleep). Anywho, she whipped up sweaters that me and my brothers could actually wear to school!
It was like magic to me! I still have the gold & avocado green ski sweater that she made for my big brother and wear it every time it gets cold here in Houston.
Last year I decided that knitting couldn’t be so hard since practically everyone I knew was knitting up those furry skinny scarves. I didn’t really have a hankering for a furry skinny scarf, since, well, I’m a dude and all, but I did want to be able to knit nonetheless. I taught myself to knit by looking at various websites and beginner knitting books that promised “there’s nothing to it”, and “look you’re already knitting” and “you can knit entire garments in garter stitch”. This led to my being selected to knit for the
book “Men Who Knit and the Dogs Who Love Them”, which after a few weeks I was then invited to co-author with Annie Modesitt. The book is coming out fall 2006.
Regina: I’m interested to learn how you got involved in the business of crochet and why.
Drew: I had always heard people on Oprah saying “Do what you love and the money will follow” and I love to eat, but that hadn’t turned into a career yet. I had been doing a lot of charity work, crocheting afghan squares for a comfortghan group called Heartmade Blessings, and the other square makers were continually looking for new patterns. I did a little designing and gave the squares patterns to the group and was very happy with the feedback that I received. It was such a great training period for me since nothing was on the line, and the people making the squares were very supportive. Through my charity work I was able to work out the process of writing patterns so that they were clear
and easy to follow.
A series of ironically mundane events has led me to designing for yarn companies. It’s exciting to get a box of yarn in the mail with a design idea scribbled on a sheet of paper and a deadline that seems impossible. I love that rush of looking at the yarn, visualizing the final item and then crocheting like a madman to get it done in time, working out the kinks as I go. I love it!
I decided to self-publish my first patterns with Lulu.com to become familiar with the process. Now when someone wants one of my patterns they can go online and download it, or order it in print, and I’m pretty much free to work on my next designs. It’s such a great relationship to have with the people that like my designs. I have several more pattern booklets that I’m developing right now and should be released within the next few months.
Regina: What do you enjoy about the design process?
Drew: The best part of designing for me is imagining the possibilities of crochet. Where can it go next? Has it been there before? How can I learn from the incredible fiber artists of my generation and take that knowledge into unfamiliar territory? Crochet and knit themselves are incredible opportunities for creativity and artistic expression.
Regina: What is your favorite item to design and why?
Drew: At the beginning of my career my main focus was on developing afghan squares, first for charity, then for the 2006 Crochet Pattern-a-day Calendar for Accord Publishing. They asked for 28 new patterns (plus a joining method) and they needed it yesterday. It was all I thought about for weeks and weeks. The editor of the calendar emailed me and said, “you really should get into garment design, you’d be very good”. I was amazed that she saw that in me, and I didn’t hesitate to shift my thoughts immediately to how I could represent crochet in the garment design arena and still push the boundaries of where crochet had gone before.
Dude Stats:
Drew Emborsky, aka The Crochet Dude, studied fine art at Kendall College of Art & Design in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is a national member of the Crochet Guild of America where he received a Masters in Crochet certificate. His publications can be found here and many of his designs are included in the 2006 Crochet Pattern-A-Day. Watch for his new book “Men Who Knit and the Dogs Who Love Them” to be released by Lark Books in the Fall 2006. Drew resides in Houston, Texas with his two cats Chandler & Cleocatra.
Related Links:
Blog:
Site:
Publications:
Gear:
Heartmade Blessings:
Annie Modesitt:
Accord Publishing:
Lark Books:
Crochet Guild of America:
Yarn magazine - a new knitting mag out of Adelaide, Australia, has their second issue out - website is yet to be updated - but the cover looks delish.
maker faire - (via hobby princess) April 22-23 California (anyone out there going?) check out the maker faire news at MAKE for info on what will be there.
Stitchcraft on oxygen (via MAKE) - has anyone seen the show?
Flash your stash - April 1st - sign up info
article on hip crafting by the crafty chica (via MAKE again - thanks make - you are great!)
Sock festival in Tasmania (thanks little snoring for the info) entries close march 10 - prizes for all ages.
adorable booties at rubber sol she crocheted a pair of all star booties.
peacock feather shawl by sweet georgia is amazing. I love this blog - lots of beautiful clear images, instructions and advice on knitting, dyeing, spinning and all things yarn related.
check out (if you haven’t already) yarn harlots amazing knitting olympics submission. 
And her olympic whiplash is pretty cool too - “It turns out that the whiplash from knitting a very traditional colourwork sweater on 3mm needles in sixteen days is an absolutely irresistible urge to knit a brand spanking new garter stitch scarf on big needles.”
I love knitting iris’ february socks.
lemony lemonades icecream hat is pretty cool - complete with instructions.
yarnstorm knits up another beautiful jellybean cushion - i just love these.
the most adorable baby and baby hat imaginable at snake surly.
I’ve noticed many folks out there are taking on making log cabin pillows. And this is thrilling. It’s a traditional design that lends itself so well to originality and invention.
The log cabin quilt design has been around since the 19th century. I was originally inspired to make log cabin pillows when I got ahold of a Japanese craft book in which there was an entire section on log cabin quilts and pillows. I was completely taken with the bold colors and non-traditional use of color and fabric in the book. I never took a class on making the log cabin design or even read a book. In fact, the book from which I got the idea is in Japanese, so I couldn’t have read it if I wanted to! Case in point: until recently, I didn’t even know that traditional log cabin quilts and pillows use the placement of light and dark fabrics on opposite corners to create depth and dimension.
I’ve gotten several emails lately from folks asking for tips on making their own “unique” log cabin pillows. Here are a few pointers for making your pillows look gorgeous:
The most important idea is to have fun and enjoy the experience of playing with fabrics. Joy is at the heart of quilting.
It’s great to see something well-loved. I love the idea that objects have secret lives we somehow project on them, and over time their history becomes apparent physically. The object becomes a record, and is filled with ‘meaning’ and magic. As we make things, we can also imagine how (hopefully) usage will mark them.
[Designers] look at how things age… how things are used… how things break. Ultimately trying to fathom how the patina of everyday existence builds upon the objects in our lives. Somehow, this ’social life’ of objects, their wear and tear, breaths life into things that designers only half complete.
From thinking about things.
This is my friend Sinéad, who has her cotton bunny, crocheted by her neighbor. As the evening wears on, she is known to drape it over her neck, and bring it to her nose to smell it, because it smells particularly wonderful. Thanks for letting me post it here, Sínead.
It’s great to think, if you make something by hand, that it could be so treasured as to bear the marks of being held for so long. It flaunts long-wearing in the face of mass-production and consumption. It bears thinking about how our lives and our environs are made meaningless in many ways by a throw-away attitude towards materials and resources. If you’ve been lucky to have the Velveteen Rabbit in your childhood, you can appreciate this quote:
From: The Velveteen Principles | News & Reviews
The Velveteen Rabbit is Margery Williams’ clever and aphoristic nursery story about a toy stuffed rabbit who was suddenly thrust into a world populated by an apparently well-to-do child’s numerous and varied toys. In the 1920’s world of material excess, this book provided popular appeal as it discouraged getting too tied up in a mechanistic, mass produced world and favored instead using one’s unique life experiences to discover the treasure of individuality, meaning and purpose. The Velveteen Rabbit, at great risk to himself, helps the boy endure scarlet fever and discover the value of his life, but is then ordered thrown onto the trash pile by a germophobic physician (the Humanists never have liked technology much!). Just as he is to be consumed by flames, he discovers he is real, and makes a choice to live.
Oh I also found the Velveteen Rabbit story online. Ok, this quote about ‘becoming real’ might make me sob. The skin horse explains:
“”You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”
Of course, there was no reason to throw the velveteen rabbit on the pyre! “With children, items like well-loved stuffed animals that can’t be easily laundered can be tumbled in a hot dryer for ten to fifteen minutes to kill the bugs.” From What’s that bug.
flobberdewotsky - from the Netherlands- a wonderful crazy eclectic collection of handmade unique clothing made out of recycled clothes and materials. I love that with each outfit they tell you what they used to make it. A childs skirt “made out of a pair of orange Cakewalk pants, a cutsie curtain and a retro dress.” Another one is “made out of granny’s embroidered tea-cosy and an orange embroidered tablecloth”, another is “made out of various kitchen calenders. Extremely suitable for children whose parents got engaged in Australia in 1975 and not-at-all-suitable-but-still-way-cool for anyone else.” The skirt pictured above is described as a “ladies skirt made out tirolerdress and retrocurtain.”
Alison Willoughby - textile artist/fashion designer
For Alison, a skirt is more than just a garment –”it is a work of art in it’s own right. Made without darts, they are flat, unaffected, timeless, classic and simple; they are the canvas on which she works. … She experiments with various techniques: moulding and illuminating, screen printing with paper stencils, foiling, mark making, embroidery, hand stitching, ruffling, tailor tacking, cording and cut work with scissors to create sliced, carved, shaved, chiselled and sculpted pieces.”
Do you want to make your own altered re-contructed or de-constructed clothing?
check out this livejournal community
second time cool - book about making clothing from old knitwear - check out the website too with more info on the book.
article on t-shirt surgery
I would love to do a regular post on altered clothing - does anyone out there have an interest in this? - or if you are an ‘expert’ and would like to write a regular post for whipup on this topic email me (see contact page).
project spectrum started up - reds and pinks for the month of march - this stash has me excited - (it belongs to be*mused)
SeekIndie a bunch of indie crafters got together to promote indie website through contests & prizes - the next contest April 17 - May 1 - registration is from March 1 - sounds like fun.
egg cozy swap is closed - but I am keenly looking out for submissions
Helloindi - submission deadline (march 10) for those fab layout spreads is coming up - so get thinking about it or order a subscription
I love this from susan stars (one of the authors of super crafty) has a skirt pattern kit out - complete with groovy fabric, pattern and elastic as well as instructions (I hope). She also has a column on get crafty - the latest post is interesting - all about starting up your own craft circle.
Claire at loobylu has her exhibition up.
Maprons are a go - check out the flickr gallery - not so many this month - and I am as guilty as everyone else. So next months theme looks fun - dolls aprons
This pic of a mapron is by Jennifer at the felt mouse who made it for her dad.
Things That Break © Wendy Huhn 1999, 54″W x 68″H
Wendy Huhn is a mixed-media textile artist and teacher who uses resist dyeing, electronic image transfering, stenciling, painting, and airbrushing alongside more traditional applique, piecing, and quilting techniques. Her work has a collage-like quality that reminds me of folk retablos and that school of indie comix where cute and sinister meet (cf. the Blab anthologies from Fantagraphics). Oh yeah — some of her stuff is NSFW. You may also notice a recurring theme of retro feminine imagery. It seems she was born with her artistic voice — in the artist statment, she writes:
“As a child I was obsessed with creating my own paper dolls. I would cut and paste together my own creations from magazines. Often using the forbidden Playboy - which I found in dumpsters. To buy commercially made male paper dolls in the late 1950’s was a rarity. I would re-assemble the pieces to create my own paper people. This is how I continue to work scavenging, cutting, pasting, enlarging, reducing and waiting for the work to sing.”
Images from Juju loves Polka dots. more images from her gallery.
Tania recently posted about some felt balls she made - which made me remember seeing these somewhere else and then I started to see them everywhere. Lovely colourful gorgeous and fun.
Posy gets cozy made some :: Joleen made some too :: pauline walsh - textile artist is inspired by river pebbles to make these gorgeous felted balls.
how to make them:
instructions at martha
Booga J also has a great tutorial of felted beads that she made with her kids
home of the sampler has a tutorial
wool festival has instructions with additional embellishments
what to do with them
Make bobbled yarn
decorations
blanket or quilt
pincushion
wallhanging
kitty toy
hello there. mav {maria} here.
i only post on Whip-up about once each month so i thought i’d again introduce myself. i have a little blog and for my day job i work as a graphic designer & letterpress printer. i’ll be posting once each month about paper arts and any other bits of inspiration around those topics. i’m very glad to be a part of this exciting blog!
like all of us who create i love to be inspired. that moment where you see something that makes you heart beat fast … well … who could ask for more!? i have moments like this often enough but certainly more often when i am looking at printed pieces — photographs, magazines, cards, letters and any other bits that i can hold in my hands. if you knit maybe you find inspiration in patters, wool … if you make softies, maybe it’s japanese crafting magazines! i love to find ways to then capture these inspirational moments and scatter them into my every day life so i can again & again feel that beating of the heart.
so i wanted to mention a few ways to bring inspiration into your daily life by using my humble ideas as a jumping off point.
first, if you are like me and are inspired by magazines, then why not tear out bits & pieces from your favorite monthly magazines and make an inspiration wire for your studio, workshop, bedroom, closet door … mine looks like this and is a combination of things like magazine pages, photographs, cards, pieces of artwork, etc:
and what about good old fashioned cork? finding an old cork board or buying cork on a roll is easy. get it up … maybe paint it a lovely shade of your favorite color and start pinning away. the fun thing about cork is it’s easy to change your inspirations in and out. here is a little snip it of mine:
and how about if you have a photograph you took but don’t have time or money to buy a frame. or maybe you just don’t like the clutter of a frame … well just pin it up! find a special little spot on your wall and put together a combination of things that inspire you. maybe you can build it around one of your pieces that is already framed … or like i have here, you can pin it up around little bits of items that are pined up as well.
oh and i also saw this example online … just a small corner to create a desk and inpsiration area. it reminds me that even if you don’t have a ton of space you still might be able to find a corner.
bringing your favorite bits of inspiration into your life can take just a bit of time and a few supplies but really it’s easy. and i can tell you from experience … when i work & live each day around these bits of art that have already brought me such joy, it makes that days that much more joyful and my work that much more connected with me!
see you next month!
have fun creating, mav
In my last post about Family Drawing Time, I mentioned the importance of using quality art supplies with children. I also think it’s very important to encourage the use of ‘alternative’ art materials. When we’re feeling bored with the clay, crayons, and markers these are the three unusual places we look to for inspiration:
The Pantry:A perfect time to clean out any food that isn’t going to get eaten anyway! Think beyond the pasta necklace and head for smooth beans, popcorn, seeds and grains. These can be glued in designs to paper, or made into shakers, or strung on a string.
Nature:There’s no greater source of materials than out in the wide world around us–look for small rocks, leaves, acorns, pinecones and more. The ‘hunt’ becomes an adventure itself. Red Current recently shared her family’s version of this activity.
The Trash:Oh yes, the garbage. Or, perhaps a bit more sanitary–the recycling bins. Take some inspiration from the great recycling artists out there and get creative with the stuff that you (or others) are getting rid of. We keep an art box for the kids full of such random pieces as bottles, newspaper, tubes, and cardboard. With a free imagination, they can turn into anything.
Where do you go for your creative craft materials?
