Summer crafting season
Having thrown off the shackles of teaching duties for another year, I am going into my summer crafting mode. This can take many forms. One summer, it involved kanzashi flowers. Another summer, newspaper/charcoal/acrylic mixed media pieces. But this June, my first basic foray involved painting a multitude of Ikea frames black in order to create a framed-photo-collage on a large bare wall in the house... done. Now I am trying my hand at a bit o'sewing (hand-sewing, because sewing machines and I have never seen eye-to-eye... haha.). So below, you see a baby hat. Made out of an old t-shirt I have not worn in about four years. I have SO MANY old t-shirts, and it turns out there is a fabulous book and website all about turning those shirts into awesomeness.

First of all, isn't my model fabulous? He squeezed me in just before his evening meal of peas. Second of all, what infant doesn't look freakin' adorable in a top-knot hat? Only ugly ones, of course. They don't look cute in anything. Anyone out there with a cute baby want one? If so, what kinds of colors? Feel free to send me a shirt you would like to recycle.Let the crafting begin. I can fit it in during naps!


3 Comments:
Ooh, Charles wants one! Sadly, we routinely donate our old t-shirts and are blissfully free of drawer-overcrowding.
I have often wished I was as crafty as you apparently are. My friend Mer even subscribed me to the magazine "Craft" for a year - it was sheer awesomeness, and you should look for it sometime. I'd dig you out a back issue, but I'm selfishly hoping that I can work up to some of the crazy things they had in there.
Alas, I use my "talents" on woodworking and painting. I recently refinished a bedset (post coming soon) and repainted my kitchen for the second time. I am actively seeking a chest of drawers to refinish, and I cook and garden. Perhaps that is enough, no?
9:14 PM
I am digging all the craftiness. I have been meaning to clean out our drawers and I'm SURE there are some gems in there for me to send your way. I can be sorta crafty when I want to be but am notoriously go hog wild crazy on one kind of craft (oil panting?) and then abandoning it when I tire of it. My one constant craft... and you're going to think I'm nuts here... is making potholders out of wool (not nylon) loops on a loom, like you make as a kid. They really are the BEST potholders and they last forever. To try to make it a bit more adultish I've dyed my own wool to make a wider array of colors to choose from, as well as dabbled in more intricate design patterns.
Hardly what I'd call impressive, but I suppose it's a craft. I also have a love-hate relationship with my sewing machine, mostly because my mother is my tutor but is also God's gift to sewing and I could just NEVER be that good.
On a side-note I particularly love the sculptures done by this woman, using hundreds of broken colored pencils:
http://www.jennifermaestre.com/
Oh, and Amelia I would LOVE to hire you for a large wood refinishing project... my antique dining set, complete with table, six chairs, buffet, and two corner hutches. Whaddya say? : )
9:54 PM
Does crafting count as nesting? I have finished a few craft projects lately. And one was so cute and easy that I went out and bought more fabric to make some more. I've been sewing (with a machine), but I'm not the precise type. I eyeball it where necessary, don't use pins, and work on things that are achievable within a few hours. I've also made some progress on Claire's baby book. I'm impressed that you will sew by hand. I just don't have the patience...
By the way, my word is "unpap", is that like not going to have your annual?
1:52 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home