this from that
November 24, 2009 at 6:49 pm | In FO, crafts, embroidery, sewing | Leave a Commenti started with this old lightweight cotton sweater that i purchased at some discount store eons ago:
and i turned it into this:
a little progress
October 30, 2009 at 7:23 pm | In FO, WIP, crafts, embroidery, sewing | 1 Commentwe’re back from a lovely trip to california’s central coast, and i’m diving right back into working on my dia de los muertos altar.
i (think i) finished skull #2 (skull #1 is the sequined one, and yeah, that’s done):
i used some dmc satin floss for all except the green – that’s dmc light effects.
and i started skull #3:
i glued and sewed little ribbon roses to the crown. and now i’m going to get back to it so i can put together the rest of the altar tomorrow.
sniff, cough, hack
October 22, 2009 at 2:45 pm | In WIP, crafts, embroidery, sewing | 2 Commentsat the beginning of october, i started putting together what’s going to be a small altar for dia de los muertos, in my craft room.
since i have a limited amount of space, i set up a room divider and covered it with a sheet, and placed it against one wall. in front of that, i covered a couple of plastic bins with a cloth.
and i hung up some papel picado banners that i picked up at the folk tree in pasadena.
i gathered up a bunch of other items to place on the altar, and tried to figure out what was going to be the best way to sew up some skulls that would kind of look like traditional mexican sugar skulls. setting out sugar in our apartment would just be a giant open invitation to the ant colonies in our walls.
and then i got sick. the usual yearly head/chest cold. i’m still working on getting rid of it. inevitably, work on the project has stalled a little.
BUT! i did work on the skull quandary over the weekend.
after a little trial-and-error, i modified a head pattern from one of my doll-making books, and i think it’ll work out just fine.
i made a few of ‘em to try out some different techniques, but i only got around to starting the decorating on one of them.
yup, i busted out the sequins! i ended up removing that bead that i was going to use as the nose, and this one will be all sequins. i’ll try some embroidery on the others, and maybe some painting, or a combo of both, or maybe even embroidery, painting AND sequins. or maybe that’s getting a little too ambitious…
i’ll post more when the altar is done (or as close to done as i can get).
24 may
May 24, 2009 at 10:04 am | In FO, crafts, embroidery | Leave a Comment
i think i’m done embroidering the denim skirt… for now, anyway.
dunno what i’ll do with the rest of the day. make some seitan? do some stenciling? start a new sewing project? the possibilities are pretty much limitless.
23 may
May 23, 2009 at 6:22 pm | In WIP, crafts, embroidery | Leave a Comment
whoops – i skipped a day again. guess i was too busy doing actual crafting! sweeeeet.
so yesterday, i was watching an X-Men marathon and i got all inspired by the opening sequence of the first movie. there was something that got me, something about the shapes of those mutated cells and whatnot. i pulled out my sketchpad and some colored pencils and started drawing some simple shapes.
next thing i know, i’m drawing the shapes on that denim skirt that’s been hanging up in my craftroom for the past two weeks.
then out comes the embroidery floss.
hi, famke janssen!
i worked on it some more today, and tomorrow i’ll figure out whether it’s done or not. but now, it’s time for supper.
felicity number two, and then some
February 18, 2009 at 4:14 pm | In FO, crafts, embroidery, knitting | 4 Commentsfelicity number two is done, this time in black.
i added 7 stitches when i cast on, and used size 7 needles for the entire hat.
i also did some embroidery over the weekend.
i started with this plain wool beret:
and added bias tape around the band so i could actually wear it without having an itchy forehead.
and ears of corn!
off hiatus, back on track!
November 17, 2008 at 5:09 pm | In FO, crafts, embroidery | 12 Commentshowdy, y’all! it’s been a rough couple of months, but i think i’m starting to gain some equilibrium.
remember the work in progress i posted about back in august? well, i finally finished it this weekend.
i used to work for an electronics manufacturing company, back in the days when the aerospace industry was still big in my neck of the woods. i always thought the designs on the PC boards were pretty neat, so i thought i’d try embroidering something along those lines on a dishtowel.
i didn’t want to get too detailed with it — goodness knows i have trouble completing large projects no matter what medium i’m using — so i dumbed down the design just a little bit. i used two different variegated threads, a blue one and a green one.
it’s pretty nerd-worthy, isn’t it? geek crafts are fun. i’m thinking i may have to do more crafting along these lines…
another “what i did this weekend” post
August 24, 2008 at 7:12 pm | In FO, crafts, embroidery, sewing | Leave a Commenton saturday, i picked this stamp out of my small stamp collection:
and i mixed up some acrylic paint and textile medium and rolled the paint onto the stamp with my brayer. then i stamped a new dishtowel and added some embroidery floss and came up with this:
hurrah!
and today, i pulled a different dishtowel out of my kind of large fabric collection and used it (along with a couple pieces of fabric from the stash) to make a new apron.
i do like to wear an apron while i cook, and goodness knows i get the darn things dirty.
it’s nice to have a spare on hand, especially one with such deep pockets.
i’d say a little something about what i cooked this weekend, but i didn’t shoot any photos, and besides, i have an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer to watch before i sleep, and not a lot of time to spare. so g’night!
work in progress
August 17, 2008 at 11:18 am | In WIP, crafts, embroidery | 2 Comments
just started some embroidery.
crawfish first, embroidery later
August 2, 2008 at 2:52 pm | In crafts, embroidery, food | 1 Commentthis weekend, the crawfish are cookin’ in long beach.
i forgot to take a photo of my pile o’ crawfish until i’d started eating. if you’ve ever eaten crawfish, you know it’s a messy activity. i’m pretty sure i didn’t get too much of the spicy crawfish brine on my camera.
and here’s the aftermath:
nom, nom, nom.
bonus festival photo for fans of engrish:
now that my hands are clean and my brine-splattered clothing is soaking in the sink, i can get started on embroidering some (organic cotton!) dish towels i picked up at target.
what i really want to do is a little Arts and Crafts style embroidery likethis or this. i have a book on the subject, and a million more places to look on the internats.
a note from our founder…
hi, i'm shawnee and this is my craftblog.
you may remember me from such crafty gatherings as Felt Club, Bazaar Bizarre (the craft sale and the book) and the Uncommon Threads teevee show.
i'm a desk jockey by day and a craftmonkey the rest of the time.
thanks for stopping by! oh, and don't forget: if you'd like to republish anything i post here, be sure to ask permission first (see the contact page for info).-
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