Weekend Busy-ness

Well it's a chilly Monday morning and I began the day by stopping by our new neighborhood doughnut shop called Hole. There is perhaps nothing more satisfying to this pregnant lady than a fresh doughnut, still warm eaten hungrily in the cold morning. Daily I am reminded of how lucky I am to live where I live and sometimes I daydream about taking my daughter to all these cool places. Asheville has a lot going for it, especially its support small local businesses and creative pursuits.

It has been a busy weekend. We drove to Ikea on Saturday to buy baby stuff. the nearest store is in Charlotte - two hours drive away. I grew up going to Ikea in Britain, our family love it so it was pretty exciting to get to go. The stores are all laid out the same way so I immediately felt at home as soon as I walked in. My husband kept remarking on the lack of staff and when we got to the area where you actually pick up the furniture he asked 'Do we get somebody?'. I have to say, I found this quite funny. The whole point of Ikea is you do it yourself, that's one of the ways they keep prices down. We totally nailed it and got everything we needed. Not that it wasn't pretty exhausting.

Some of you may raise your eyebrows at our buying mass-produced items when this blog is all about handmade, but we are on a budget, plus we have already bought lots of local items so my conscience is clear.

Last week was spent doing lots of research on blogging, books on crafts etc. and I have learned a great deal from the blog Fabulous Blogging. I am also beginning to realize that the game has changed drastically since I started this blog five years ago and I have to accept that my learning curve is going to be steep. When everyone jumped on the blogging bandwagon it was all about posting as often as possible, using keywords for SEO etc. Now it's about quality and understanding how all the social platforms work. There's been a lot of decluttering of my various social networking sites, but I think it will pay off in the long run.
Now all I need to do is find the time get some projects done to share with you all and to use for the book!

Book Review - Zakka Sewing: 25 Japanese Projects for the Household

If I remember correctly, this was one of the first books to come out in English about Zakka.
Often with sewing books, you tend to find some obvious projects (totes, etc.) some ingenius ones and some odd ones that seem to be about doing a project for the sake of it. This book definitely has, what seems on the surface to be a mix of these. However when I read about the projects in more detail I was charmed by the snippets of Japanese culture and how it influenced the projects. For example, there's a piece about how people in Japan like to cover their paperback books with a sleeve to keep them clean and private. True it has a tote project but I think the real beauty of this book is that in presenting these ideas, it also teaches the reader about the ethos behind Zakka. I am fascinated by Japanese culture so find it really interesting.
I also loved the esthetic, so fresh and contemporary. It's well organized and I found the directions clear, with useful illustrations.

Creating a Handmade Childhood: Log Cabin Pillow

I am so pleased to get another nursery project finished! It's getting harder and harder to get on the floor to measure and cut fabric these days. I actually did the design for this pillow over a year and a half ago then stuffed it in a draw.  It's funny to think that one day it was to end up as an accessory for a nursery. 

Log cabin is the pattern and it's a lovely one to try, especially if you are new to quilting. You don't need a template or even a rotary cutter. Here are some good resources on doing log cabin from about.com. The pink fabric with cocktail olives is one of my own designs, and you can by the fabric at Spoonflower.com, it's called 'Cocktail'

Repurposed Flour Sack Laundry Bags

This project is so easy and requires so little skill, I am not even sure I can call it a craft project. Yet it is the simplest ideas that are often the best. These laundry bags are the perfect size for baby clothes and because they hang up save you much needed space.

I have a love of vintage flour sacks, the designs are usually fun and random, I mean look at the ones below. I bought these at a local vintage store for $7 each, but you can get them cheaper (and more expensive!) from EBay or Etsy. I personally would never pay more than $10 for one and even then it would have to be a pretty special flour sack!

You also need an embroidery hoop. I used an 8 inch because I happened to have one lying around. You could easily stretch to a 9 or 10 inch.  These sacks were  inches in width.
Ok here's the hard part :)

- get you embroidery hoop and separate the two pieces 

- put the hoop over the sack at the top

- open up the sack and fold a couple inches of the opening over the loop

- play around with how it gathers so that you can see the picture most clearly

- put the outside piece of the embroidery hoop over the opening with the screw at the back

- tighten the loop

I found that the screw sat perfectly on my door hook but you might need to add a loop depending on where you hang the bag.

You may wonder once it's full whether the bag might slide out of the hoop. I checked, it doesn't. The friction of the cotton and wood from the hoop create a nice grip and you just have to make sure you fold enough of the opening over. See below.

I plan to make a second one so that I can divide light and dark laundry. I will post more ridiculously easy flour sack projects soon!

Conscious Design when Crafting

Here's the problem I have encountered. I love to craft, I love sewing and making things. BUT, my taste does not lend itself to filling my house with loads of fabrics and I don't like a look that is 'homemade'. So how does a person indulge their love of crafting while still making things that will fit into a contemporary aesthetic?
Some things to consider:
- Choose a base color and/or fabric that will add cohesion. For me it was natural colored linen. It is beautifully neutral and I have not found a color that doesn't work well with it. The linen looks clean and minimalist and blends well. Consider some other fabrics: ecru muslin, indigo dyed cotton, white cotton, burlap. When you have chosen, stick to that choice.

While the maple leaf blocks in this quilt are made from quite old-fashioned floral designs, the white cotton gives it a contemporary twist. This quilt could be put in many a modern home and it wouldn't fight with the established decor.

- Complement the base color and/or fabric with carefully added patterns and colors. Not only does this result in a less loud and homemade look, it is very economical. You don't have to go crazy buying yards of gorgeous prints. A fat quarter will go a long way. In fact scour thrift stores for cool fabrics that you can use from old clothes, then use it sparingly to add emphasis.

With these book covers, I added just a few squares of patterned fabric for emphasis. These fabrics came from all over the place, one is an old bed sheet.

- Don't be afraid of blank space. This is common advice in graphic design. You don't have to fill every blank piece of fabric with applique, embroidery and patchwork designs. Sometimes a trim of squares in patterned fabric is all you need or a button or two. Less is more because it doesn't get lost in an assault of busy-ness.

The white background really enhances the origami crane.

- Play with texture. Using different textures is very fashionable right now and is a fun way to incorporate different crafting techniques. Pair chunk knit with a cotton panel in a pillow. Mix different fabrics, but remember go easy.

The two materials here are burlap and cotton. There is no intricate design, the interest comes from the contrasting textures.

- Stick with basic designs if you want to play with colors, sewing techniques etc. Tote bag designs are everywhere these days. They're popular because the designs are simple and therefore easy to execute, but the simplicity gives you a blank canvas on which to experiment with patterns or embellishments. I see a lot of patchwork blocks that are beautifully intricate but I don't enjoy the look because so many different patterns and colors have been used. The more intricate the project the more conscious you need to be of not going crazy with materials.

This messenger back was extremely easy to do and a very simple design which meant I could be bold with fabric. Both fabrics are from old bed sheets.

Window Treatment Solution # 1

Problem: Kitchen window needs a blind. Cheap blinds are ugly.
Solution: Cover blind with fabric.
I used this tutorial: http://jacquelynnesteves.com/featured/fabric-covered-window-shade-tutorial/
I got my fabric here: http://www.kitschfabrics.com/kitsch/Home.html

TV Project 1: Kimono Coasters

Kimono silk is just something I can't resist, it's sexy makes me think of geisha.  It's also awkward to work with, since it is so sheer and thin.  I like to always have a project on the go that I can do while watching TV. So this is my TV project du jour.   

NOTE: The instructions for the rosettes can also be used to make the ones you saw on the boudoir pillow.  Imagine a pillow with kimono silks! Ooh la la, get your Valentine's horny on!

Level: Beginner
Time: 2 hours per coaster
Cost: $2 (approximately
Materials and Tools:
Hexagon template, size: 1 inch per side
Kimono silk scraps (or scraps of cotton quilt weight fabric) in three different patterns in similar colors.
1/2 yard of grey felt
Thread in contrasting color and matching color
Pins
Scrap paper
Needle
Iron
Scissors for fabric
Scissors for paper

- First cut seven hexagons out of scrap paper
- You are going to need one hexagon from one patterned fabric then three each from two additional patterns
- Place your paper hexagon onto the wrong side of your chosen fabric and pin in place
- Cut around the hexagon with a quarter inch seam allowance
- Fold the fabric seam over the paper and tack all the way round with the contrasting thread
- Remove pin
- Do this with all seven hexagons
- The one hexagon cut from a different fabric to the other six is the center of the rosette
- Take this hexagon and a hexagon of another pattern place them with right sides facing each other and sew the seams together with whip stitch
- Continue doing this until you have all six hexagons of alternating pattern sewn to the center one
- Iron your rosette so the seams are nice and sharp
- Remove the paper from the center hexagon and pin to the felt
- Cut out the felt so that the rosette is pinned to smaller piece of felt with some excess fabric around it.
- Remover one paper from an outer hexagon and pin to the fabric with the seam folded under
- Sew the edge with a running stitch
- Do this hexagon by hexagon until all edges are sewn to the felt
- Trim off the excess felt
- Press with iron
- DONE

Easy Facelift - for a room

I cannot get over how merely switching out cushion covers can change the feel of a room. We have inherited a really great, green leather sofa, but the covers we inherited with it were very dark, old fashioned and basically not very nice. The whole feel was jarring, as we have really tried to keep the room modern and airy. I finally go around to making a cover after a bit of a sewing machine saga (more on that for another post) and love the results. The burlap looks so good but is a little unstable because of the loose weave, my advice is to give yourself a seam allowance of an inch to stop any unraveling and consider lining it with a similar color of cotton because you can sometimes see the white cushion filler with ours.

I am definitely going to use more burlap in future.

Work Station

After over a year of planning and discussing we are finally living in Asheville. Our apartment is tiny but I love it. We are walkable distance from downtown with great views of the city and enough wildlife to make us feel free.

My plan is to find work - a hard task here - and in the mean time work on starting up my craft business again. However I am quickly tiring of pulling all my stuff out and then putting it away again to keep everything tidy. So here is the idea, to turn one closet into a work alcove or station. This closes looks small but is a good five feet wide and a couple of feet deep, enough for a small card table and chair and space to store stuff, it also has a lino floor which makes cleaning up pesky threads and what not easier, and a couple of power sockets - perfect!

Here are the before pictures, can't wait to show you the after!

To Etsy or Not to Etsy?

'Fresh Fun Home' by L1zW

A modern, homely living space full of light and space.

When I first signed up to Etsy I was so excited to find this wonderful site full of creative people. I was inspired to enough to start my own shop - Phyllis B - but was not too successful. There were a number of reasons for this but my overall summary is that Etsy is good for buying, not really for selling. There is even a blog now devoted to problems with Etsy called Etsy Bitch and while I don't always agree with their posts, I think it is important to highlight some issues with the site. That said, after a hiatus of over a year ( I was in Zambia and online shopping is a bit of a pipedream there) I have come back to discover that there have been vast improvements. The site is slick and finally they have made it easier to create treasuries, (though bizarrely there is no code generator to share them). What I sell there again? I doubt it as I still think they are not seller friendly. But I still think it is great for fabulous design inspiration and original items.

Now a big big thank you to Whaleshark Websites that has an awesome HTML generator for treasuries, making this possible.

MidwestFinds $15.00	ThistleTreeVin... $25.00	appetitehome $16.00	roddyandginger $35.00
IngeIVStudio $24.00	elementclaystu... $45.00	BurlapAndBlue $14.00	dbabcock $45.00
summersville $8.50	LoucheLab $20.00	marybethhale $20.00	BurlapAndBlue $27.00
StellaDeer $4.25	TippyTumble $12.00	lunarloungedes... $1100.00	dbabcock $45.00

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.

Soft Stackables

We had quite a bit of foam left over from the chaise longue pad so I decided to cut it into four and cover them with the same chitenge fabric we have been using for the living space. These can be used as scatter pads for extra seating, extra padding on the seats, or to rest your feet on! Because we have a mix and match style to the room, cushions and pads can be moved around as we like for however we want to be comfortable.

The reed mat was an absolute bargain buy, they are used outside a lot here for sitting on, they are really comfortable and I plan to keep this one in here for lounging. I will keep it rolled up when we're not using it though because the room gets so dusty. It's also been useful as a space for cutting out fabric so I don't pick up any of the dust off the floor. It goes really well with the natural fibres of the room and lightens it nicely.

Intelligent Patterning

With so many amazing different patterns and colours of chitenge it is very tempting to go crazy and use as many as possible in a new place like ours. We have so many windows that need curtains and opportunities for upholstering. We have been very careful though, because we don't want an over the top colour scheme. Here we put together the 3 fabrics we are sticking to for the décor of the living space. We think they match nicely and are not too over the top – the yellow print is bright and funky with the 60s style flowers, but it is complimented nicely by the pale aquamarine and gold one. We fell in love with the retro pattern on the black chitenge but have had to use it very carefully – our floors and furniture is quite dark and the print could have looked quite heavy. Instead, I cut the pattern out and used it on ecru curtain fabric so that the design is showcased and not lost against the dark wood of the floor. We have continued to use the ecru fabric as borders to maintain a uniform design.