November 2011

Sewing books: Fresh Quilting + 123 Sew

by kath_red on November 7, 2011

in Reviews, Sewing+Fabric

November: Month of books at Whipup.net

1, 2, 3 Sew: Build Your Skills with 33 Simple Sewing Projects by Ellen Luckett Baker, published by Chronicle books.

When I say I love Chronicle books, it’s not because they are also the publishers of my two quilt books – its because they do quality, beautiful, practical books: pattern sleeve, spiral binding, lovely photos, pleasing design – and well edited too. Ellen Luckett Baker’s book is a Chronicle book and has all these great qualities, plus what she brings to the table – which is well made, well designed, thoughtful and lovely sewn projects.

In this book Ellen has gone back to basics to introduce the new to sewing crafter some basic skills which can then be built upon in a series of three projects gradually increasing in difficulty level – great concept and well achieved! For example – pillows – begin with a basic scrappy straight sewn design and learn about an overlapping pillow finish. Move on to blind hem applique and buttonholes and then learn about reverse applique and making a hook and loop fastener – all while making a series of three pillows. Tote bags are another great example – begin by learning about squared corners, then add in a divider and then learn about drawstring closures and French seams. Brilliant.

Project excerpt: You can make the mouse pincushion using this video tutorial.
Ps. Ellen is multi-talented and has just released a line of fabric with Moda. Congratulations Ellen!

Fresh Quilting: Fearless Color, Design, and Inspiration By Malka Dubrawsky, published by Interweave Press (December 7, 2010).

Malka Dubrawsky and Interweave books – what an amazing combination – one of my favourite improv quilters and one of my favourite book publishers all rolled up together: Malka’s stunning colourful designs, combined with Interweave’s attention to detail – love it – and the book delivers!

Malka’s quilts and patchwork designs are all about colour and pattern. She dyes and over-dyes her own fabric and combines these in eclectic and clashing and fun ways that are part gypsy and part country but the final result is completely modern! Her stitching may be a bit wonky at times and her corners may not meet up perfectly – but for me that not only adds to the charm of these improv quilts but also the accessibility of her style – she all about fearless quilting and sewing – just getting in there and doing it. Her fearless style embraces flaws but also discovers new methods, exciting colour combinations and fantastic designs.

PS. You can purchase Malka’s beautiful creations in her Etsy shop.

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Little Bits Quilting Book: Blog tour

by kath_red on November 7, 2011

in Little Bits Quilting Bee

I am super excited to be able to properly introduce my new book (published by Chronicle books) to you. Little Bits Quilting Bee has been a long time coming, but oh I am so very proud of this book. It was an incredible labor of love – mixing my interest in art and design, gorgeous fabrics and interesting pattern, short cut methods, the art of quilting and the traditional work and crafts of women.

For my stop on the tour I thought I would show you some close up shots of the quilting on the quilts. I taught myself how to free-style quilt using a medium art quilting machine for these quilts – and I had such a ball doing it. The quilts for the book shown below were all quilted by me at home on my medium arm machine, which I bought second hand and set up in my lounge room.

I quilted the quilts using a few different styles – different stippling styles, leaf designs, scribble and pebbles too – depending upon the quilt and what I thought it needed. Sometimes I quilted around applique to make the applique stand up and sometimes I quilted over it to make it blend it. I discuss the different methods and reasons for each design in the book as well as giving some tips on how to do it on your home machine.

I quilted all the quilts in the book except for one – the gorgeous hand quilted Pop Wreath (quilt top hand sewn by Fiona Leche) was hand quilted in Tennessee by a mother daughter team of Amish quilters. Isn’t it just stunning! (Don’t panic – this quilt can easily be machine appliqued and machine quilted too.)

The blog tour schedule is below – and hosting me and my book on this blog tour are some of my favourite quilters and crafters – thank you everyone – I will be posting updates during the next two weeks.

Monday, November 7 – The Long Thread
Tuesday, November 8 – Craft Nectar & Comfort Stitching
Wednesday, November 9 – luvinthemommyhood & Elsie Marley
Thursday, November 10 – True Up
Friday, November 11 – House on Hill Road & Craftypod

Monday, November 14 – Handmade by Alissa & Hello My Name Is Heather
Tuesday, November 15 – West Coast Crafty & Foxy Art Studio
Wednesday, November 16 – Patch Andi & The Last Piece
Thursday, November 17 – In Color Order & Pink Chalk Studio & Duo Fiberworks
Friday, November 18 – Kristin La Flamme & Camp Follower Bags & Quilts

Monday, November 21 – Quilt Dad & JCasa *handmade
Tuesday, November 22 – Pat Sloan & Pleasant Home

 

EVENTS: For those in Canberra Australia - I will be launching the book and showing some of the quilts at Paperchain independent bookstore in Manuka on Thursday 17 November (5.45pm) – all welcome (rsvp to info[@]paperchainbookstore.com.au)

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Book: The Art-Full Tree

by KateG on November 6, 2011

in Fibre+Needlework, Historic Craft, Holidays, Paper+Mixed Media, Reviews, Sewing+Fabric

November (and a little bit into December) is book month at Whipup.net

The Art-Full Tree; ornaments to make.  Jan Gilliam and Christina Westenberger.  The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2011.

If your thoughts are turning to decorating your tree this year, you might like to have a look at The Art-Full Tree, which is inspired by objects in the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum.

The book begins with a quick history of the museum, that was started by Abby Aldrich Rockerfeller who started collecting and exhibiting folk art in the 1920’s, at a time when common crafts and amateur arts were not highly valued.  She left her collection to the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and this collection forms the core of the current Folk Art Museum in Willamsburg, Virginia.

The museum has had a long and treasured tradition of decorating a holiday tree every year with ornaments made by staff, volunteers and guests of the museum.  Some of these ornaments are inspired by items in the collection, and others are based on the skills of each contributor.

The Art-Full Tree presents 33 ornament projects that have been inspired by some of the most popular items in the museum collection.  The book is an interesting combination of museum catalogue, inspiration notebook, project instructions and stitch guide and template sections.

Each project features the original artwork, with a short history of the item and some information on the artist or style of art.  There is a very detailed materials list, and step by step instructions and photographs on making each ornament.

There is a wide range of crafting techniques used in the creation of the ornament projects, including needlepoint, paper craft, punch needle embroidery, foil work, metal punching, painting and collage.  My favourite ornaments are Recycled-Card star (inspired by a compass design quilt), Scherenscnitte Birds (inspired by a cutwork picture), and Aluminium Butterfly (inspired by a metal weathervane).

I really like the process of taking a formal artwork in a formal setting, that is meaningful to the people around it, and appropriating all or part of the work to inspire the creation of anther objet, in this case tree ornaments.  I feel that readers of The Art-Full Tree will be inspired to look around them, in their local museums, public spaces, or around their own treasured and meaningful objects, and to create ornaments for their own family trees that are small and perfect reminders of things that they love.

To win a copy of The Art-Full Tree, please leave a comment on this review.  The comments will be open for 72 hours, and a winner will be selected at random.  Good luck!  Congratulations to Becky!

About the reviewer: Kate is a busy mother of four with many craft projects on the go, including, but not limited to, crochet, knitting, sewing, dyeing, paper making, spinning, felting and bookbinding. Kate has challenges in the areas of finishing things, saying no and craft supplies storage. She also has a very very patient and tolerant husband.

DISCLOSURE: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation PROVIDED WHIPUP.NET REVIEWER KATE WITH A FREE REVIEW COPY.

 

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Guest blogger series | The joy of the knitting machine

by contributor on November 5, 2011

in Community, Guest blog series2 2011, knitting+crochet+yarn

Tegan Rose & Lara Cameron run the textile design and print studio, Ink & Spindle, located in inner city Melbourne. Their focus is on sustainable, ethical & local production.

Thanks Kathreen for asking us to guest blog today! Very exciting.

Lara & I had a chat about what we should write about & decided that if you wanted to read about us, you could do so on our blog or Facebook page. So instead I’m going to tell you about a fun, non-Ink & Spindle thing that has been happening after hours here in the studio this year!

Knitting. Machine Knitting to be precise!

And we have the raddest machine knitting crew around…

Backstory: My mum taught me how to hand knit when I was very little. We lived on a property in South West Victoria, with no TV, far away from anything or anyone that wasn’t a cow or sheep, so I spent my childhood following my parents around, probably loudly complaining about being bored. As a consequence of that I learned how to do a lot of odd things. From catching yabbies with my bare hands, to making candlestick holders on a lathe, to knitting. Not that knitting is particularly odd. Though it was maybe 1990 and I was around 6 years old. I have no idea what other 6 year olds were doing in 1990, but they were probably having an ace time playing Guess Who or Hungry Hungry Hippo (I always wanted, never had, those games – deprived child, I know), probably not hanging out in the garden with knitting needles.

So as you can probably already tell, I have a little trouble staying on topic at the best of times… ok – KNITTING! You see, I could decide on, plan and begin a project no worries. But finish one? Rarely. I have very distinct memories of my step-dad telling me – throughout my childhood, probably every time I picked up my needles – that I needed a knitting machine. I had no idea what one was, but he would describe one to me and tell me how his mum had one when he was little and used to knit all his clothes on it. And how great they are. And how I’d absolutely LOVE one.

But it was all just a bit too abstract and complicated for my brain to get a handle on without ever actually seeing one in action. But I always remembered about the mythical, amazing knitting machine.

So last October, when my lovely friend Suzie said she had just aquired a knitting machine and it was totally awesome, my immediate response was: FIND ME ONE TOO. So she did.

Less than 2 weeks later I was sitting in the home of the President of the Machine Knitters Association of Victoria, having a lesson on how to clean, care for and (thankfully!) use my new, highly confusing, complicated, beautiful and retro looking Singer 888 from 1960-something. I excitedly called my step-dad on my way home and told him it may have taken 20 years, but guess what I just bought? Hilariously, he couldn’t remember ever telling me I needed one.

But yay! It was fair to say my new machine was totally overwhelming, and also super exciting. Mostly overwhelming. I could make scarves – because they’re rectangle. But I needed lessons. Pronto.

The cool thing was, that Suzie dove head first in to the land of MK’ing and got involved in different groups like the Brunswick Novices Group and the Aussie Machine Knitters – Suzie was also experimenting like crazy with yarns and talking to people who had been knitting forever and generally doing all kinds of really awesome stuff… but best of all, through her our little crew of newbie MK’ers (who also needed lessons, pronto) developed and Suzie organised us a semester of classes with the hugely knowledgable Angela. [You can read about Sooz's machine knitting journey on a previous whipup.net guest post here. ed.]

Lara and I quickly volunteered our studio to host the classes, as we have a big long table perfect for the machines & really love that we can share our studio space with other creative and like-minded people within the Melbourne/handcrafted/local community.

We spent the next 6 months learning, practicing, making mistakes, doing homework (my step-dad scored himself a very unattractive birthday beanie which, I have it on good authority, he loves) then our beginner classes came to an end…

Have to say I felt quite bereft when our monthly Friday night MK classes stopped! (Yes, Friday night. I had to laugh when I turned down invites from my 20-something friends to all kinds of ace gigs/parties/bars because I was much too busy… attending knitting class.)

Again Suzie came to the rescue. Now we had learned just how to use our machines, we wanted to learn more about technique and garment construction. Suzie got us Brianna. Brianna has an amazing knowledge of machine knitted garment construction and generally I think is pretty brilliant at all things textile related.

Brianna spent the whole day yesterday teaching the crew all kinds of nifty tips and tricks, not just how to knit a super cool cardi. Which, yes, I am totally wearing today. That’s how great knitting machines are – in one day, even learning a new thing (so we were really slow) and we all have a spanky new cardigan.

To conclude: My step-dad was right. They really ARE awesome. Go get yourself a knitting machine and someone to teach you how to use it – build your own crew of MK newbies and a wardrobe of handmade garments!

xx Teegs

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Guest blogger series | How to paint a wall mural

by contributor on November 4, 2011

in Guest blog series2 2011, Home+Decor

The ladies at The Polka-Dot Umbrella love DIY projects.  They blog about adventures with sewing, quilting, decorating, thrifting, entertaining their kids, cooking and baking, and giving new life to old furniture. Each member of the team has a different style and perspective, but they all share in their love for making and creating!    

I am Erica, and I am one of the five ladies who blog over at The Polka-Dot Umbrella  I am a slow decorator.  My husband and I bought our first home around three years ago, and I am just barely getting around to decorating the master bedroom.  I finally decided what colors and style I wanted to go with.  When I refinished a hand-me-down dresser in February in a gorgeous blue color,  I knew I wanted to bring more blue into the room, and since my husband is an awesome artist, we (well actually I) decided to do a hand drawn wall mural. When we first moved in we painted all of the walls tan, except for one wall in the master bedroom that we painted dark brown. I knew this would be the perfect wall to add something to.

This is what we did:

There are a few ways we tried to paint this huge wall mural.  The first technique we tried was to use a projector to project the image on the wall.  We wanted to make sure this idea would work, so we just started with the area to the right of the window.  We were afraid of not getting straight lines, so my husband had the great idea of using painters tape.

First we overlapped the tape and covered the area where we wanted the image.  We projected the image onto the wall, then traced the outline with a sharpie.  Finally we used an X-Acto knife to cut out the space that we wanted to paint.  We used left over white paint that we already had on hand.  Here comes the problem with technique number one.  When we pulled the tape off, the paint had run.  We were able to fix it after wards using a white paint pen.


For the rest of the tree, we tried out a second technique.  We did the same thing using the tape, sharpie, and X-Acto knife, the only difference was we used white spray paint.  We were afraid it wouldn’t match the first part we had done, but since they aren’t actually touching you can’t tell at all.  The other change was that my husband drew the rest of the tree freehand, because we had to take the projector back.  I actually like his freehand work better than the original.

The final step was to add cute little blue birds.  Yet again using the same technique, my husband drew some birds that we painted the same color blue as my refinished dresser.  I absolutely love how it turned out.  I also love that it was hand drawn by my adorable husband, he truly is amazing.

Thanks Whipup for giving me the chance to share!

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Guest blogger series | Ladybug tutorial

by contributor on November 4, 2011

in Guest blog series2 2011, Toys+Plush, Whip Up Tutorials

Lisa Ramsey Whitesell enjoys being a stay at home mom of 2 girls. Vegetarian cooking, sewing, gardening, and living the “natural way” is her bliss. She shares her lifestyle at her blog and runs an Etsy business where she makes plush and pillows.
materials:
 
steps:
  • 1. Cut out pieces from pattern.
  • 2. Whip stitch the body pieces together.
  • 3. Leave a space open to stuff the ladybug; stuff, then whipstitch closed.
  • 4. Stitch the spots onto the red wings.
  • 5. Whipstitch the wings to the ladybug.
  • 6. Stitch on the antennae.
  • 7. Sew black pupils onto the eyes by using a running stitch. Add a little white “x” for a little sparkle in the eye. You can add a wink to one of the eyes by using a backstitch.
  • 8. Stitch eyes onto the ladybug.

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Guest blogger series | felted milk & juice bottles for pretend play

by contributor on November 3, 2011

in Guest blog series2 2011, knitting+crochet+yarn, Toys+Plush

Katie Startzman blogs at Duo Fiberworks. She writes about simple wood carving, knitting and felting, and is right now obsessed with making sandals and shoes.

Knitting pattern: felted milk & juice bottles for pretend play

I like making small felted toys for my two sons. We’ve been working on adding to our play kitchen by making play food from wood, but I wanted to bring some softness to the space.

These sturdy felted bottles are just the thing for a pretend glass of milk or juice. You can knit up both bottles in an evening, and the pattern includes illustrated directions for how to hand felt, embellish and shape the bottles.

The bottles are knit in the round and require only simple shaping. It’s a great project for beginners because minor mistakes will be unnoticeable after felting. The yarn choice determines the finished size, the juice bottle is knit with a heavy worsted wool and is a bit larger. The bottles are adorned with a simple wool-felt label and the cork stoppers are an old-fashioned touch.

Download the PDF knitting pattern here.

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Books: I am cute dresses + You sew, girl

by kath_red on November 2, 2011

in Reviews, Sewing+Fabric

November is book month at Whipup.net

I Am Cute Dresses: 25 Simple Designs to Sew. By Sato Watanabe, English version published by Interweave Press; Reprint edition (September 13, 2011).

I am happy that Japanese clothing designer Sato Watanabe’s book I Am Cute Dresses is now available in English. The 25 dresses in this book are indeed cute – with sweet names such as I Am Hello Halter, I Am Jumper for Joy, and I Am Shift into Tunic. They are all styled to be filmy, loose, romantic and drapey dresses with simple construction and a few interesting details – perfect for summer cottons and light weight linens.

The dresses are simple to make but not boringly so – practice your skills with the various techniques offered: make peak-a-boo or puff sleeves, stand-up or mandarin collar, shirred pleats on the sleeves or pintucks on the neckline, an asymmetrical tunic or a Kimono cut shift dress. The dresses are designed to be one-size-fits-all – which we know is never true, but with a little measuring you may be able to adjust the patterns to fit your body.

I am just a little bit addicted to this book and will be making a dress a bit later today!

You Sew Girl by Nicole Mallalieu, Published by ABC Books, 2011, is available from the ABC Shop.

Nicole Mallalieu is a beautiful seamstress and designer – she has an online shop where you can find patterns and tools to make her bags and purses – she also makes lovely hats and clothing too!

Her first book, You sew, girl is interesting and runs like a lesson plan. It begins with a detailed techniques and pattern section where Nicole does a great job of explaining her methods – she includes step-by-step photos going through the techniques she likes to employ (such as interfacing and bias binding). Her patterns tend to be quite precise and she shows us some very neat tricks and tools to get the same level of detail and precision which she achieves. The second main section includes both accessories and bags which all use patterns and interfacing and her precision methods – you will make use of buttons and zippers and all the other techniques you learned about in the previous chapter, you will learn how to really make your homemade bags and purses look super professional.

The third section and the final chapter is where its really at for me – this section completely disregards the previous sections and tells you leave your perfectionism at the door while you make pattern-free clothing – learn how to measure and fit your body and work with stretch fabrics to make some very flattering outfits.

I think this book is very nicely done – I was super impressed with the attention to detail, the lessons, and then the ability to throw all that away to work in a completely different style – I am really looking forward to seeing what Nicole does next!

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Guest blogger series | Little girl circle skirt

by contributor on November 2, 2011

in Fashion, Guest blog series2 2011, Whip Up Tutorials

Kirsten Johnstone is an Architect based in Melbourne, Australia who uses the mediums of built form and interior space to create refined designs. She also uses yarn, fabric and photography to explore her modern aesthetic on a smaller scale. She has an eye for flattering forms that are deceptively simple yet frequently transformable, designs with a distinctive urban edge yet elegantly wearable. Find her online at assemblage.

 

Here is a super sweet linen skirt with top stitched appliqued circles randomly scattered across the skirt. This Tutorial provides instructions for a simple elastic waist skirt for your favourite little girl.

petite pluie d’ete : French for Little Summer Rain, the circles and fabric colours provide fond memories of gentle rain showers to relieve the summer heat.

SIZES: Made to Measure

FABRIC: 1m x 1.3m wide linen, approximately, washed + pressed and 0.2m x 1.0m wide medium weight fusible interfacing

EQUIPMENT

  • Scissors
  • Chalk Pencil
  • 3 x circle templates (or use different size crockery like I did!)
  • Pins
  • Sewing Machine
  • Thread, matching + contrast
  • 25mm wide non-roll elastic
  • Needle, for handsewing

NOTES:

  • Other fabrics would look fantastic but not as ‘summery’ – I think fine pinwale corduroy works brilliantly with the textural contrast but I would suggest keeping it to plain colours ie not using fabric printed with patterns
  • Using this method for circles across the skirt of a tunic dress would be gorgeous.
  • And yes, definitely, a skirt for yourself would be beautiful!
  • I choose to machine wash my skirt on the “handwash” setting to limit fraying although it is certainly a design feature of this skirt.
  • Find the full tutorial and pattern details on this 6 page PDF download.

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Action Pack {Issue 7} Sticks and Stones

by kath_red on November 1, 2011

in Action Pack, Kids Crafts

Issue 7 of Action Pack, is one that is close to my heart – it’s all about the freedom of childhood – sticks and stones are simple ancient tools that can be made into all sorts of things for games and adventures.

This is a printable downloadable e-magazine – with no advertising and only $5 for 30 pages of making, baking and adventure.

Available now

Kids – go wild, experiment, play, cook, taste, imagine, get outside and create cool things with the projects in this book.

We had so much fun making these projects – our slingshot is based on a traditional Navaho design – easy to get started but takes care and practice to become a good shot! We also loved making our ephemeral art pieces and practicing our whittling skills on our recent camping trip.

Welcome back contributors: Lisa Tilse (Australia) and her daughter show us how to make message stones, and Anne Weil (USA) and her three kiddos make a pretzel log cabin and some delicious cinnamon sticks.

Welcome new contributors: Margie Oomen (Canada), Susan Phillips (USA), Katie Startzman (USA) and Joan Gorman (England). Margie paints stone eggs and creates an inuksuk snowglobe, Joan and her daughter Grace make wooden jewellery, Katie and her boys whittle a fork, and Susan and her kids make a nature version of the classic game tic-tac-toe.

The Action Pack Magazines are aimed at the 7-12 age group – however there are projects suitable for older and younger kids too – Painted rocks and the pretzel cabin would be perfect for little ones, and Wooden jewellery and the Braided Sling are perfect for teens and adults too.

Available now

Enjoy
xx
Kathreen

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For more kids craft, creative ideas and activities go to the Action Pack website

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