to celebrate issue 9 of mixtape zine, mixtape are giving away 5 copies to some lucky whipup readers. Please leave a comment here telling us your favorite music lyric or quote from a book. 48 hours to enter – goodluck!
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May 2009
Eco Craft: Recycle Recraft Restyle
Eco craft, refashioning, upcycling, recycling – this is the really exciting thing about crafting – you have a chance to re-use materials and not waste a thing – “one man’s rubbish is another man’s raw materials”…
This book shows us some ingenious and unusual methods and projects – how to transform trash into useful household objects.
Projects include a recycled sweater rug – knitted using sweaters that have been cut into inch wide strips. Using a six-pack plastic holder to make a screen (just a bit of ironing to shape and flatten the plastic) – it is surprisingly pretty! Papier mache bowls, wood mosaic planter and a CD case towel rack.
I quite liked the coffee bag and duct tape tote for something really quite cool and original. The bamboo trays are also very cool – sustainable bamboo is a eco friendly product and easily purchased from most gardening shops if you don’t happen to have some growing nearby.
There are lots of projects and lots of ingenious uses for these materials – inner tyres, plastic takeaway containers, plastic shopping bags – ironed into fabric which can then be sewn into all sorts of things, tin cans and jars and even paper bags get turned into lighting – but two of my favourite projects are – first a suitcase ottoman and second a wood and knitted clothes hanger.
There is so much in this book for the recycling fiend – lots of fun – not all the projects are exactly practical – but so many good ideas.
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There are some really lovely free quilt patterns available online for those who are looking to try something new. Many of these free patterns are published by quilt fabric manufacturers to publicise their fabric collections.
(image is a detail from Blue Moon – details below)
some of my favourites include:
Salt Water Taffy by and Everything But The Kitchen SinkRJR Fabrics
Patterns by funquilts
Quiltville string quilt (comes with tutorial)
I also really like red letter day and blue moon from Andover fabrics (lots more quilt patterns here too)
wonky star tutorial from the silly boodilly
Good folks zigzag quilt and Wildwood both available at Free Spirit
Sparks baby quilt by Alissa
Hexagon colour wheel mini quilt by JoAnne
simply basics and colour beat from Robert Kaufman website
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Jhoanna offers this sweet little bear pattern. Whilst you’re there check out the rest of her work, her softies ROCK. Link.
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Weekends are already so hectic here, with kids sport and activities taking up the whole of Saturday morning – school working bees or cleaning the house filling in the remainder of Saturday – which leaves only Sunday to get anything done – gardening, mending, general household maintenance – when is a girl supposes to craft?
Anyway just received the latest mixtape zine in the mail – and there is a little article from me in there about crafting with kids – love the cover and there is a handy little pullout calendar too. Also Ina sent me this link to Melanie Falick books – where Larissa – author of the fab book knitalong is organising a charity knitting event.
Here is the lowdown of the good stuff from this past week at whipup:
I loved this mother helping out her artist son : and these knitted corset chair covers are fantastic – there is a pattern too : contributor Kelly sent in this article on an easy way to make your own fabric labels : craftzine shares how to organise your families activities : mrXstitch – is my blog of the week : and the marble champ quilt pattern has got to be my pattern of the week.
Just for fun: Ann Wood shares her horse making technique : mmm homemade body scrub – good enough to eat : and something to eat – homemade pasta : crochet a merfish necklace.
recycle with flair: candy wrapper belt: sleeves to capris so clever.
babies: tie motif bib – very cute : puzzle patches bib is fantastic : make a sitting cat or bunny softie .
just because you need it: patchwork button pouch : laptop sleeve : patchwork lampshade : book review – sew what bags! : sew a placemat zipper pouch
Well I am off to enjoy the last sunshine of May and sneak in some weekend sewing – happy crafty weekend!
Did you miss last weeks roundup? get them all here or subscribe to this weekly newsletter via email here – if you already subscribe why not forward this email to a crafty friend you think may enjoy it.
Get the whole blogging tips series here.
Follow us on twitter: whipup: @whipup and Nicole: @craftapalooza
Ps. feel free to send in letters, ideas and links to whipup[at]gmail.com
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Well winter is just around the corner and I have a mountain of crafty projects I want to do and some that are already on the go.
CRAFT ACTION:
Firstly I am going to make a pair of knickers from gemma’s pattern
Speaking of making underwear, Amy Karol makes the most rockin‘ under garments and I just purchased her latest mailorder and will endeavour to do issue 9′s mailout and also issue 10 which is all about paper cutting. Issue 9 of mixtapezine features the colourful Tina Tarnoff who is a paper cut artist amongst other things.
I got my latest copy of the sweetest little zine called Crafty Leftovers - it is one very, very special zine.
Blog of the week : Myrtle & Eunice
COMMUNITY:
I am off to RRR on Monday morning to talk to the grapevine chicks about mixtape. In our first ever issue Kylie wrote an article on the community cup. The community cup is a footy match between broadcasters and musicians, and has become an iconic Melbourne event and a celebration of the city’s vibrant musical and community broadcasting cultures. And it’s all for a good cause!!
I run a fortnightly stitching night at my local fabric store and Nichola has just started a monthly Burda get together at the new Tessuti store that has opened here in Flinders Lane. We all know how popular Brown Owls are and I’d like to know about your sewing group. I am getting some things together for an article for mixtape.
Please email me and tell me about your art/craft/stitching /knitting group:
submissions.mixtapezineATgmailDOTcom
Issue 9 has a couple of articles about community spirit – craftivism and Handmade Help. I’ve just watched collectors and they had a segment about peeps that are collecting tea cups to deliver to fire victims, I love that.
MUSIC/SCREEN:
We bought a digital set top box a few weeks ago and man am I loving ABC2. Spectacle, Elvis Costello with … is on as I am writing this, GOOD STUFF!!
The little lady and I went and saw Yo Gabba Gabba today here in Melbourne at the Palais Theatre. It was all I hoped it would be except for the fact that I was hoping the guest muso was going to be Chris Cheney and instead we got Robert Mills…
Have a great weekend! and don’t forget that Issue 9 is now available for sale.
Also the winner of our very first weekly giveaway will be announced here on the mixtape blog tomorrow morning and the next giveaway will start from Monday June 1.
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I’m a huge fan of Ann Wood’s work and her horses are just stunning. She shares a pattern and technique in this tutorial. Link.
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About the designer: Kelly is a jacquard textile designer in North Carolina. She designs fabric for the Contract and Hospitality Markets by day and sew quilts and bags by night. She hopes to build enough inventory to sell her quilts and bags and is developing patterns for the same as well. Find her online here
I have developed this method for designing and printing my own, laundry-safe labels for quilts and handbags. Since these are laundry-safe, the labels could be used for apparel as well.
You will need:
Computer with software to lay out the type you want and a printer
Freezer paper or full-page sticker paper
Iron
Prepared For Dying fabric (PFD) this is ESSENTIAL!
1. Design your label, include any info you wish – you can do this in a text based program such as Word or an image based program such as photoshop. Set this info up as a “text box”.
2. Copy and paste as desired on your 8.5″ x 11″ page layout. Don’t forget to give yourself room to cut apart and to add seam allowance to attach to your item to cloth.
3. Cut a piece of the PFD fabric to 8.5″ x 11″. Attach to either the full-page sticker, or a 8.5″ x 11″ piece of Freezer Paper. I used the sticker paper for this.
4. Print this page (I have a Lexmark P4350 ink jet printer). I use the regular ink that I have in the printer.
5.Allow to dry completely.
6. After completely dry, remove sticker paper (or freezer paper) backing.
7. Heat set ink with a hot (cotton setting) iron.
8. Cut and attach to your item! I apply double-sided fusible to the back, folding over edge to catch with the fusible. Then remove backing paper and fuse to the item, I then whip-stitch for a nice, smooth edge – or you could machine stitch around it too if you like.
9. This creates a label that is wash-proof. This photo shows my label on a quilt after laundering.
Any comments or questions are welcome.
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“What do you do with a broken crochet needle [hook] and a manic mother?” Artist Kevin Chin has enlisted his mum to crochet a giant structure to fill the main gallery in his new exhibition Ruined – showing at Kings ARI (Melbourne) opens on Friday 5th June, 6 – 8pm, and runs till 27th June.
The exhibition explores themes of cultural belonging and security, and indeed 400 loving hours of crochet later, what a mother will do for her children.
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