Julia Pelletier lives and works in Barcelona and is a great artist. One of her project(for children) more interesting was this: « Making paper clothes to wear » (in the V&A Dress Collection, London).

“Understanding that a garment is a volume, a three dimentional pattern used as an envelope for the body and building its own garment using all shorts of papers were the aims of the children’s workshop.”

Julia Pelletier vive y trabaja en Barcelona y es una gran artista. Lo demuestra todo su trabajo, y proyectos tan itneresantes como éste: “Fabricar ropa de papel para vestir”(en la galería de trajes V&A, de Londres).

“Una prenda es un volumen, un dibujo de tres dimensiones que usamos para envolvernos. Usando esta idea, cada niño construyó su propia prenda copiando una de la gallería y usando una variedad grande de papeles y celo.”

Carly Schwerdt’s new range of fabrics produced under her label SproutDesigns is simply lovely. A woman of many talents, she runs Nest Studio, a art studio for kids, and she sells her own wares as well. I ran an interview with about her new designs and Nest Studio recently and this is how it went:

When and why did you start Nest Studio?
Nest Studio started as an idea many years ago when I was working for a largish design firm. I had this strong desire to teach art to children, so my then boss sent me to America to live with a lovely family and I taught art in a local elementary school (with no teaching background mind you, only art & design, they were very generous). I fell in love with it and enrolled to study teaching straight away (back home in Australia), I couldn’t believe I was back at University again!

It wasn’t until back in 2003 (coincidentally when Lily was born) that I started feeding that idea to the point of buying the business name. I started testing my ideas with a little stall at the Prospect Markets, then I shared a space to teach art until finally in December 2005 I moved into my own studio space (which happens to have a shop front).

You run two businesses – a design business and an art studio for kids (and Morphe, a soft toy exhibition!). How do you get in enough hours for the day?
That is a very good question! I don’t. I constantly feel like not enough is getting done or that something is being missed (that is usually the housework, we have piles of things that need doing here at home). Gradually over the years with Lily I am learning to have a sense of accomplishment even if one ‘to do’ has been ticked off my never ending list. Funnily enough if something doesn’t get done today, it doesn’t miraculously do itself, so it is always waiting patiently for me. One thing that doesn’t wait patiently is Lily (neither should she) so I actually spend most of my time hanging out with her, she is a trooper… she comes to business meetings with me and hangs out in the ‘art room’. Fortunately when you run your own business, especially one that relates to children, no one minds if there is a child about. She is my constant source of inspiration, Nest Studio would not exist if it were not for Lily. I am slowly learning how to balance everything.

What was the inspiration behind the new line of fabrics for SproutDesign, and what was the impetus to design your own fabric line?
SproutDesign’s range to date are mostly reproductions of a range of children’s textiles designed in the 1970’s by Pamela Walker. I have redrawn them and SproutDesign has updated the colourways and sizing for todays market, plus I have added 2 new designs (the Skipping spot & Skipping boy) to the range. SproutDesign intends to add many new designs to it’s bold and ultra funky range over the years as well as reproduce more of Pam’s golden oldies!

One of my main inspiration for Nest Studio (besides my daughter) is fabric, vintage or new, when I see a great design I just have to make toys or something crafty. I think it was inevitable that I at some stage I got into textile design, I absolutely love it, I am one of those sickening people who say “I am so lucky, I love my job”. I test out all of my textile ideas on my trusty Gocco, in fact I now even teach others how to print up metreage of their own designs to fabric.

What was the design and production process like? Was it difficult designing fabrics for the first time?
The designing stage is a joy however the production side has definitely been a huge learning curve. There is so much to learn, fortunately my background in design for paper translates quite well to textiles, for example they use the same colour system, but I will be the first to admit there has been some trial and error along the way and I know I still have plenty to learn. All of SproutDesign and NestStudio printing on fabric is handmade so I have no idea really about the machine processes, that would be fun to learn.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?
I can see myself doing exactly what I am doing now but I am sure Nest & Sprout will have grown even bigger and brighter. I have what feels like a hundred balls in the air but fortunately I can choose which ones they are now, which ever one I am holding will be a fantastic adventure I am sure. I am working on illustrations for a children’s book and a new pattern book at the moment so maybe they will be complete by then!

What are the challenges in having a crafty business (or businesses, in your case!)?
Keeping a balance and not losing sight of where you want to go as opposed to where you may be side lining to… taking the side road can be good to learn a lesson and test out ideas but never lose sight of your big picture. I am very passionate about children’s visual communication and visual education, so that is my beacon, I will always be heading in that direction. And when things get you down (like people stealing designs & selling them! Grrrr that annoys me) chin up and move on, buy some fabric and make a toy, that always makes me feel better!

I really hope that this photo was taken after a really big clean up and that this is not how it is all the time. Because if that was the case - there really is no hope for me after all - but at least now I ‘get’ how she can turn out such beautifully designed and made objects. Go and admire the rest of the photos of Heather Studio.

Jenny Vorwaller, founder of Queenthings, was kind enough to recently do an interview about Chapter One of her new line of jewelry.

Your photos are all so beautiful, and the flow of your first Chapter in the collection is sublime! Please tell us more about telling stories.

With my own personal jewelry collection, I found that each piece I owned told a story; from travels, gifts that I had received from special people in my life, heirlooms, and so on. I wanted my work to have the same meaning and I also wanted to create some room for me to grow as a designer. So the whole idea for creating chapters and stories for my collections came to me as a way to help me focus. Though I’ve seen artists create wonders being fed with just one source, I felt too confined to limit myself with one genre. Being an avid reader, somehow the idea of each collection that I put out being a story made sense. It has a beginning (the concept) a middle (the creating) and a happy ending (others enjoying what I put out there.) With painting, most ideas seem to communicate more strongly when worked as a series, and I see “stories” being told in fashion all the time, why not in jewelry?

You recently made a huge move to South America. Can you tell us a little bit more about your new surroundings?

I step out of my home here and into a new world. Everyday I am in awe at this beautiful world, the places yet undiscovered, how people live and their way of life. Travel truly transforms. Picture old ornate architecture, lively fruit and vegetable stands, panaderias (tasty bakeries), antique cars, miles and miles of beautiful beaches, a rich political past that is deeply sad at times, wonderful artisan feiras, the most tranquil people on earth, the breeze cooling the summer from the rio de la plata…

To read more, click here.

Freespirit Fabrics has released some new additions to Heather Ross’ Lightning Bugs and Other Mysteries line. There are dogs, old VW-esque buses, and wildflowers, plus stripes and dots in new colorways. It’s a motley collection altogether, but (I think) that’s a good thing!

Related: Sewzanne’s Fabrics has an in-depth and inspiring video interview with Ms. Ross.

Not a craft blog exactly, but a blog of inspiration and fun. Andrea of Hula seventy is a crafty chic, with a great eye for design, she is vibrant and fun and I love reading her blog.

In an earnest effort to further hone my procrastination skills, I took to photocopying photobooth strips. obviously so that I could make the subjects look like circus clown slash drag queens. … this little habit first appeared in my college days– when hours of heavy reading and many, many research papers were required of me. but this doodling, it was so much more fun. and such a deep sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.

One of my very favourite blogs. Always inspirational. Love the spirit and enjoyment of family and life. The wonderful photography, crafting, colour and fun is wonderful.

Me, in Christmas denial? Nope.

The lovely Amelia has posted a freebie. Lovely cabled sock pattern knitted in lovely Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino and the pattern’s written for circ’s or magic loop. Nice work.

Oh, OK, darn it. Christmas content.

Have you seen Liesl’s mitten ornament pattern and tutorial? And Anna Maria’s very sweet owl ornament pattern? Gorgeous.

Advice from Cassi of Bella dia.

“One thing that I’ve learned with sewing is that an iron is your best friend. If something needs hemming or blind stitching I always iron the seam first so I have a nice straight fold to work with. Also when I’m making bags, I just press the heck out of them - it really helps to give it a professional look. Another huge helper is interfacing; I wasn’t familiar with using it when I first started sewing but as I got more experience I could really see what a huge difference it made in my finished pieces. Experiment with a variety of weights and you’ll see how much interfacing can change the appearance of your project and it will also give fragile and thin fabrics the support they need.”

read the rest of this interview with Cassi by Natalie Zee over at Make.

Muerto de Risa is a blog where Risa-from New York- writes about her adventures in Quito. Recently she has travelled to Perú,a different trip: a textil tour!

You can read about her craft trip experience on her blog. All her posts are very interesting, but my favorites are these histories of Simona and Elena, embroidery artists or her visit to the michell alpaca factory.

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Muerto de Risa es un blog donde Risa- de Nueva York- escribe sobre sus aventuras en Quito. Recientemente ha viajado a Perú,un viaje diferente: ¡un tour textil!

La información la encontrarás en su blog. Todos sus post son interesantes, pero especialmente me gustaron los de las bordadoras Simona y Elena; y éste otro de su visita a la fábrica de alpaca Michell.

Knitting iris - a wonderful sock knitter blog. One of the best things about this blog is the photography and the family snippets and the occasional bit on plant dyeing yarn. But what I really love are the colour co-ordinated socks to the season and the natural surrounds.

Some interesting discoveries/Algunos descubrimientos interesantes:

Mis damitas desde Heidelberg. Ana María writes her blog in spanish from Germany; she makes little ladies dolls similar to famous actresses or artists: Rita, Frida, Marylin, Audrey…

Mis damitas desde Heidelberg. Ana María escribe su blog en español desde Alemana; ella hace pequeña muñecas-damitas similares a famosas actrices o artistas: Rita, Frida, Marylin, Audrey…

Chocolate a Chuva. Tania is one of the contributors of the great project: The crafter´s companion. I love her book covers.

Chocolate a Chuva. Tania es una de las contribuidoras del fantáctico proyecto: “The Crafter´s companion”. De su trabajo, lo que más me gusta son sus fundas para libros.

The flowers bag.Other fantastic tutorial from Lolita´s blog.

El bolso de flores. Otro fantástico tutorial del blog de Lolita.

Knitting and crafting in Oslo, Norway. I nearly went to Norway once, I met a boy on a plane and it was really long flight, via Russia, via Turkestan, via about 5 other places and then via Norway. So we talked a lot and I nearly got off there with him but at the last minute I got cold feet. So anyway I have a soft spot for this blog but thats not the only reason I like it. Lots of crafting and lovely patterns.

Sooz is another Aussie craft blog which I love. I can really relate well to her, she has a great down to earth attitude and is a wonderful crafter. She does some great felting and is particularly into making steiner crafts.

Love the recent spate of baby outfits she is working on - Congrats Sooz.

Not a craft blog exactly, but definitely a handmade blog. At Path to freedom, they make their own diesel, their own mud oven, grow their food and try to live a sustainable life. They have such energy and enthusiasm wonder for life. I love this latest invention - the bike blender.

A statement on their blog reads:

Their yard has over 350 varieties of edible and useful plants. The homestead’s productive 1/10 acre organic garden now grows over 6,000 pounds (3 tons) of organic produce annually, providing fresh vegetables and fruit for the family’s vegetarian diet along with a viable income. In addition they have chickens, ducks, goats, brew their own biodiesel (made from waste (free!) vegetable oil) to fuel their car, compost with worms, solar panels provide their electricity needs, a sun and earthen oven is used to cook food in.

My little mochi - a real jem of a craft blog.

Lately she has been doing some halloween crafting with the kids - here is a sample:

Her recent monku monday really hit home - a list of all the things about crafting that really annoy her. Here are some of my faves:

2) Having to re-thread my bobbin when I have just a couple inches of sewing left to do.
7) “Someone” using my good sewing scissors for cutting things other than fabric.
11) Zippers - which really aren’t as hard as I like to think they are, however, I do think they are hard to do well, especially when sewing clothes.

This post has been six months in the making and proves that you never know where life will take you. In this case it took me to a quilting class at Her Majesty’s Prison Wandsworth just outside of London. This experience changed forever how I see quiltmaking and all because I read a post on Whipup! This is the first of two posts on this experience and I hope these posts will encourage Whipup’s readers to think about about crime, punishment and craft in new ways.

How It All Started

Last Spring I read a post on Whipup about Fine Cell Work, the 10-year-old, London-based organization that teaches needlework in nearly 400 prisoners in 22 prisons in England and Scotland. Having written my master’s thesis on the role of gardens as therapeutic and job-training devices in a women’s prison and having been a professional quiltmaker for the past seven years, I was fascinated by their work. We had a business trip planned to London so I emailed them asking if I could be of some help to them during our trip. I thought perhaps that we could donate fabric, teach a class, somehow support them. We decided through a series of emails that Bill and I would meet with the teachers at Fine Cell Works’ offices and that I would attend the Tuesday night quilting class at the men’s prison while Bill stayed at our flat with our daughter.

The Teachers
The best way of telling you about the character of these volunteer teachers and the Fine Cell Work staff would be to say that if I were on a sinking ship in the middle of the ocean, I would want these women in my lifeboat. They’re smart, capable, fun, compassionate and optimistic.

Each goes to a men’s prison once a week to teach prisoners how to make quilts entirely by hand. They also work with the Fine Cell Work staff to sell the needlepoint and applique pillows and quilts at various locations in England. The teachers have differing approaches to the process but they all believe that offering someone who is at the lowest point in their life a chance to make something beautiful is worth their time. They do not ask the prisoners the circumstances of their incarceration beyond “Will you be here a long time?” To them it doesn’t matter. What matters is that the prisoners find the work improves their self-esteem, helps them cope with their situation, calms them as they try to overcome addiction in some cases, and prepares some for the bleak future that awaits many of them when they are released. To a non-crafter this may sound absurd, but to those of us who have experienced the transformative power of making things, it is easy to understand. The teachers report that some prisoners save the money they receive from the sale of their quilts through Fine Cell Work for accomodations upon their release while others send proceeds to their families, who are the unintended victims of their crimes.

The teachers gather donated fabrics and designs for new quilters to learn the basics, while prisoners with more advanced skills sometimes work with the teachers to design their own quilts. Sometimes patrons of Fine Cell Work commission a specific design with specific fabrics which are then purchased for the project. Aside from the time with the teachers once a week, prisoners do the needlework in their cells in the evenings after they have finished their prison work. The teachers invest a tremendous amount of time and energy preparing for each prisoner’s needs and are sometimes frustrated that a prisoner is moved to another prison in the middle of a project.

I asked the teachers what motivated them to teach prisoners needlework. They answered that most of the prisoners seemed to have lacked encouragement in their childhoods. After being praised for improving his quilting technique, one prisoner told a teacher, “No one has ever told me that I did anything well before.” The teachers know that the prisoners have committed terrible crimes, but they also believe that people can change. The quilting class is voluntary so only prisoners interested in learning show up.

“Have you ever felt threatened?” I asked the teachers. One teacher said that she feels anxious walking from the entry of the prison to the classroom, but that she never feels any anxiety around the prisoners she is teaching because she knows them so well. Another told a story of being in the prison one evening and hearing a tremendous amount of banging. She could tell that periodically there were a lot of prisoners banging on their cell bars. She thought a riot was about to take place and asked the guard what was going on. The guard explained that there was a World Cup football match being broadcast and that the prisoners were banging on the bars when their team scored a goal. The teachers and staff all laughed at this story but were aware that it could have ended differently.

I’ve added these women to my list of personal heroes. Bill and I gave them each some of our books and fabric, but that doesn’t seem like nearly enough. We’re going to keep in touch, maybe offer to donate some designs if they’re interested. I just know this isn’t the last we’ve seen of each other.

Next post: Part Two - Quilting Class in the Prison

bloody bunny is a really original and quirky craft blog from Germany. There is a quite a big focus on amigurumi (crochet toys), but also sewing and drawing as well, lots of experimentation going on. These crochet bombs are pretty out there (and were mentioned on boing boing recently). It is this sort of weird and cool stuff that keeps me checking in.

This is the month of accessories on Whip Up and, inspired for the kath´s post, here are some of them from spanish and portuguese blogs or craft sites.

Este es el mes de los accesorios en Whip Up e, inspirada por el post de Kath, he buscado algunos complementos en blogs o webs españolas y portuguesas.

Belt with pockets(Além da Conta). Others are the “cartucheira de Lou Lou” or this flower crochet belt.

Cinturón con bolsillo de Além da Conta. Otros ejemplo serían la “cartucheira de Lou Lou” o este otro con flores de crochet.

Origami broches from Amores de Toquio; i like the thousands of thousands Hippyxic´s brooches or the felt version of Koosi.

Broches realizados con la técnica origami de Amores de Toquio; también me gustan los miles y miles de broches de Hippyxic o la versión en fieltro de Koosi.

Necklace from the spanish designer Carolina Machín, Táneke. I love too this delicate heart-shaped pendant (Chicadecanela); the necklace with buttons from lunalunera´s blog or with fabric balls from Ana Romero.

Collar de la diseñadora española Carolina Machín, Táneke. También me parecen preciosos el colgante en forma de corazón de Chica de canela; el de botones del blog Lunalunera o el de bolas de telas de Ana Romero.

Molly from Mommy Coddle wrote in to recommend a designer: Kristen Doran. Kristen makes bags, pounches and softies with fabric she designs herself. It’s gorgeous screen printed fabric, with natural images of plants, and some of my favorite colors from nature: brown, red, green and light blue.

http://www.kristendoran.com

It’s a great solution to a growing problem- fabric designers (like Amy Butler) are not allowing their fabrics to be used on objects to be sold. So while you can buy Amy Butler fabric, you can’t sell the bag you made from it. Thanks for the update from Kelly, who informs us that Amy Butler changed her policy in response from customers. That is great to hear! Best wishes to Amy and her company. :)

Kristen has a better solution: make your own fabric designs. Kristen shares photos of the process- screen printing, on her blog. It’s great to see work that looks so professional done on a small scale, makes it seem possible to do… I bet this will inspire others.

Looks like she’s a bit under the weather, I hope she feels better soon!
- Kristen Doran’s shop
- Kristen Doran’s blog