The Norfolk Craft Mafia is extremely excited to announce their first annual holiday arts & crafts bazaar: Handmade Parade!. They are now accepting applications for vendors and sponsors. When and where: Masonic Temple, 7001 Granby St. Norfolk, Virginia 23505 || Saturday, November 10, 2007 10am – 5pm.

Poppy talk has announced a new project – Poppytalk Handmade! Jan is now calling for Submissions for her new online street market. Just like a real street/flea market, indie makers of all kinds will be able to rent a virtual table at Poppytalk Handmade for an opening date of early October/07 (just in time for the christmas season)! The market will feature products that Jan personally loves – each piece handpicked by Jan (who has a great design sense and excellent taste). More info here.

Whiptips craft advice column for readers to ask questions or offer advice by leaving comments. Whiptips archive here. Questions to whiptips@gmail.com.

Katie wrote in asking for advice on fabric purchase.

I’m interested in finding out where people who are making clothing are purchasing their fabrics. I have very few actual stores near me, and those there are stock largely quilting fabrics (if that’s what I wanted, I would have a bajillion places to buy it) and things like wacky novelty print flannels.

I’m specifically interested in making baby clothes (pregnant with our first child), and some adult basics (priority heavily on the baby side – I don’t care too much about making clothes for me), so essentially knits, jerseys, and really soft fabrics for the baby are what I’m after. Organic cottons that are soft enough for a baby would also be great. I’ve looked online and the prices are not so hot from what I’ve found, and the selections aren’t fantastic either.

Any tips would be great!

Team Sampler has been working on a new initiative to encourage their subscribers to repurpose their Sampler boxes.

To help promote the contest my daughter and I gave re-purposing the sampler box a go at home. It was a bit of a joint effort – and turned out to be a simple compartment box to organise small treasures and bits of stuff. For more repurposed boxes check out flickr

If you have received one of the sampler boxes then you can enter the repurpose your box contest – the prize is a FREE one month subscription to the Sampler. Send your entries to Marie[@]Homeofthesampler[.]com

So here’s the question: Are crafters who are making things for their family and friends that are not to be sold obligated to respect copyrights on designs the same way profit-driven manufacturers are? Before you answer, think about it from one designer’s perspective.

My husband and I design and make quilts for a living. It takes a long time to develop each design, not to mention all of the years of education that went into learning how to design. As is the case with any designer, we need these designs to pay for our mortgage, health insurance, groceries and deposits to our daughter’s college fund. Each design is worth thousands of dollars to us in potential royalty payments and commissions. Once we let someone copy a design, we have no control over who sees it and what happens to it. These designs have very real monetary value to us so we have copyrighted them. In our minds inspiration and color combinations are free for the taking but designs should be protected.

Soon after we started our company it became clear that hobby quilters liked our designs and wanted to reproduce them. We didn’t want anyone else to reproduce the designs for the quilts we made for our clients because we wanted to have some designs that would be made only by us. It’s kind of like a chef who wouldn’t want to publish every single recipe she develops. We want to keep some things exclusive to our studio. So we decided to design new patterns that would be available to hobby quilters who wanted to purchase patterns. We published two books with patterns, developed our own pattern line and often sell the rights to some of our designs to American Patchwork & Quilting Magazine so they can be reproduced by hobby quilters who want to make contemporary quilts.

A year ago a quilt that we made and sold to a collector appeared on the cover of a design magazine. The magazine credited us as the designers of the quilt. Since then we’ve had hundreds of calls from people who want to make that quilt and others that have appeared in magazine spreads that have featured our work. This leaves us in the awkward position of having to tell people that these patterns are not available for reproduction. The person always explains that they will not be selling the quilt, only making it for themselves or someone else. Their reasoning seems to be that if they are not receiving money from copying one of our patterns that there would be no loss incurred by us, which is not the case. Each person who asks assumes that they are the only one who is asking and thus it shouldn’t be a big deal to just let them copy a design, just for them, just this once.

An intellectual property attorney who is also a quilter once told us that it’s hard for quilters to understand and value the concept of intellectual property. She explained that because so many traditional patterns are in the public domain (not protected by copyrights), most quilters don’t see why all patterns shouldn’t be available to copy as easily as those that are not protected by copyrights. The believe that everything should be up for grabs to hobby quilters and that copyrights should not apply to people who aren’t selling things. Many people think that it’s wrong for a big profit-hungry corporation to knock off a designer but they don’t think there’s any harm in individuals knocking off designers because the individuals aren’t planning on making money from the designs they knock off. What they don’t see though, is that they are taking something from a designer. They are taking ideas and techniques, which are the livelihood of designers. This is less a legal issue to me than an ethical one.

The irony is that if designers let everyone reproduce designs that have not been released as patterns, the designers would have no designs left to sell, so they would no longer have a company, so they could no longer develop the designs that the crafters want to copy. When we ask people not to copy a copyrighted design that we want to keep exclusive to our studio, we’re not trying to be mean, we’re just trying to make a living and support our family. I know that imitation is supposed to be the sincerest form of flattery, but flattery will not pay for my daughter to go to college.

Listography Journal: Your Life in Lists by Lisa Nola (Author), Nathaniel Russell (Illustrator), published by Chronicle Books.

Not just a book but a website too – where you can organise and create your lists for anything and everything you can possibly imagine. You can also search other peoples lists – such as music and books, things to do, quotes and lots lots more. Great for the voyeur in us all or great way to discover new ideas.

The book is an illustrated journal – great subtle water colour illustrations and design features like the rounded corners and heavy paper make it a pleasure to use. List all your favourite things – add to it over time or do it all at once and use it as a marker of where you are at right now.

Chronicle are kindly giving away 5 copies of this book. Winners will be chosen by Chronicle – please leave a comment with a list of your top 5 guilty pleasures. Comments will be closed on Friday and winners chosen, published and contacted the following week.

Here we go…

Birdie mobile. Link.

Butterfly peg dolls. Link.

Cashmere patchwork quilt. Link.

Clay stitch markers. Link, via.

Collapsible fabric bucket. Link.

DIY shrinky dinks. Link, via.

DIY bangles. Link via.

Disappearing 9 patch tutorial. Link.

Father’s day tshirt. Link.

Father’s day monogrammed tie. Link.

Felt baby book. Link.

Inserting magnetic snaps. Link.

Japanese fabric store free patterns. Link.

Oven mitt,

interesting jacket,

baby sling,

zippered pouch,

dog coat,

cape,

hat,

tunic,

fabric flower bowl,

pj’s,

bag,

apron,

baby bib and jumpsuit.

Thanks Lori Kay!

Lazy susan ironing board made from Ikea “Snudda”. Link. Further Ikea hacks over at Ikea Hacker.

Linen tote. Link, via.

Linocut tutorial. Link, via.

Make your own sock blockers from a coat hanger. Link.

Paper trees. Link.

Ragged floor rug. Link.

Recycled doggie cozy. Link.

Self portrait stencils, wow! Link, and at the same blog, list of ways to get images to make into your own stencils. Link.

Hand sewn button loops. Link.

Sew a mousey and his bed. Link.

Its really been quality over quantity this month at whiplash. I think the Zakka theme has stumped many people – but I am glad to see people questioning meaning – Zakka is a style that we in the west have taken to due its surface qualities but the deeper meaning of it all is hidden for those without an understanding of Asian culture and history. In Asian – especially Japan Zakka is a cultural phenomena/fad that is all about a certain style, but it is part of a broader feeling that comes from within their history and religion and philosophy and is ingrained in a way that those of us in the West will never be able to fully ‘grok’ and struggle to really understand.

I have loved all the entries – thank you for taking the time to upload your link and post about your fabu projects.

girl on the rocks -

I struggled with this a bit as I never had a good idea of what zakka really meant. I don’t know that I have figured it out, but I was able to see some common elements in all of the examples. To me they seemed to be simple handmade projects often for a practical use, that are occasionally tastefully embellished. I don’t have a lot of free time this month so I thought that I might be able to add a little embellishment to something. Many of the examples used very natural colors and fabrics…

Hanne from Heaven and Earth

I’ve often seen bloggers using the expression “zakka” and wondered about the meaning. What´s zakka? … I´ve just made this bucket bag out of an ancient piece of heavy homespun found at a lumber room at Samsø a couple of years ago. The lining is a faded red tablecloth. That´s recycling for sure – but I wonder if it qualifies as zakka too?

Zakka life Octopus mitt with pattern.

mettatations tutorial for a lovely heat bag.

crafty beats pockets made from a dishcloth – with pattern and instructions.

Do you know the work of Paula Sanz Caballero? Well, finally she have an official website.

¿Conoces el trabajo de Paula Sanz Caballero? Pues bien, finalmente tiene website oficial.

This is a very simple, creative recycling project children love. They are very quick to make and are fun for kids of all ages. The best part is they’re made with bits most of us have around the house. Warning: this does require diving into the recycling bin.

Supplies:
old magazines – toilet paper roll or paper towel roll – white glue – paint brush – scissors – glitter & sequins

Optional: small hole punch or large needle – narrow ribbon (about 12″ or 30cm long)

How to

Cut down the length of the paper roll.

Trim around to make rings in whatever width you like.

If you’d like to add a ribbon, use the small hole punch or a large needle to make holes in both ends of the roll at this stage.

Take magazines and cut out strips of pictures. We used images from the garden sections of home magazines for some background pattern.

Next paint white glue on the back of a magazine strip, wrap and smooth it around the width of the paper ring and continue until it is completely covered.

Cut around individual images for more detail and glue them on. My daughter used roses but any small pictures would work.

Add other bits, we used sequins and glitter but other items can be used like small beads or fake jewels (real ones might be pricey :)

Put another layer of white glue over the top of the bracelet to protect it, avoiding the sequins if you’ve used them.

If adding a ribbon, enlarge the holes as they may have got clogged with glue, thread a ribbon into both ends and tie a bow. Finished!

TIP: If this is all too girly looking for the boys out there try this: Use car, sports or travel magazines, cut out small images or use lettering to spell things out. You can also glue items like small Lego or tiny nuts and bolts. (see the first pic at top)

About the maker:
Joanie was an art director and graphic designer in Northern California for several years before moving to England in 1997. Her move and parenthood prompted a simpler, less hurried lifestyle. She’s now a primary school art teacher, mother of two, freelance designer and regular contributor to children’s magazines. She displays her work and shares ideas on her site ninimakes.

If you would like to contribute a story or tutorial please read our submission guidelines.

Here’s a quick way to make cute daisies from felt.

Supplies

* White and Yellow Felt
* Yellow Floss and a Needle
* Disappearing Ink Pen (or some other marking fabric marker/pencil)
* Two round things to trace: one big one little
* Scissors, and manicure scissors, if you have them

Trace your big round thing on the white felt. I used the cone that came with a pound of yarn. I used a purple disappearing ink marker to trace the circle.

Trace the little circle in the middle of the big circle. I used the cap from an “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” spray bottle. I use the bottle (filled with water) to spray stuff I’m ironing … that’s why it was handy. :)

Cut out around the large circle. Cut from the edge towards the center on the top and bottom side of the circle. Only cut up to the center circle line for these and all the rest of the cuts.

Cut from the edge towards the center on the left and right. Cut between each of the four cuts. You now have eight cuts. Cut between each of the eight cuts. You now have 16 cuts.

I used my cuticle scissors to cut the curve at the top of each petal. I have a pair of manicure scissors just for crafting. They are great for cutting small details in felt. Especially in this case, since the blades are curved.

After I go around the circle cutting the right edge of the petals, I flip the daisy over and cut the other side of the petal. To make the daisy center, trace your small circle on the yellow felt and cut it out.

Attach the yellow circle to the daisy petals with French knots.

Now your daisy is ready to be attached anywhere you’d like. I’m putting mine on a blue crochet handbag.

About the maker:
Alice has kept a craft blog on futuregirl.com since November 2005, but she was passionate about crafting long before that. Currently, Alice is focused on crochet and hand sewing felt, and enjoys creating original designs for both. She contributed several projects to the Anticraft book that comes out November 2007.

photographer: Andrew Merlino

If you would like to contribute a story or tutorial please read our submission guidelines.