Talk Crafty To Me Just another WordPress weblog

In honor of Earth Day, I thought I’d tell you all about this great book from Betz White, Sewing Green: 25 Projects Made With Re-purposed & Organic Materials. In the book Betz talks about choosing organically produced fibers, and reusing things you already have such as cutting up unwanted garments, and saving packing materials. What better way to help make a positive impact on our planet, not to mention engage your creativity and save money!

The 25 cute projects are beautifully photographed and include full-sized pattern pieces, making them super easy to follow. But Sewing Green is not just a project book, it contains a lot of great tips on thrifting and how to avoid some of the pit falls as well as featuring other crafters who bring an eco-friendly approach to their work. Sewing Green hopes to inspire you to choose sustainable or recycled materials for your future projects.

Pattern Bee has a a free printable pattern for this cute little lamb plushy. He can be made in whatever fabric inspires you, and there’s even instructions on how to make a felt version.

Check out the Flickr Pool for more inspiration.

- Lambkin Pattern

I hope you enjoyed this week’s round up of adorable Easter crafts. Now go and get busy creating, you’ve only got a week left!

What better way to use up all your fabric scraps than by making your own basket of fabric eggs. Download the pattern and follow the step-by-step instructions over at Retro-Mama, and you’ll have yourself a carton full in no time.

- Fabric Egg Instructions

Tomorrow: Knitted Eggs

Now that your sewing machine is in tip-top form, thanks to the spring cleaning tutorial, why not make yourself a super cute spring handbag. Head on over to the Etsy Bag Maker’s Pool on Flickr for some inspiration, or if you prefer to use a pattern, here are some links to some of my favs:

1. The Ruthie Clutch – By Anna Maria Horner
2. Marlo Bloom Handbag – By Heather Bailey
3. Buttercup Bag *free pattern* – By Rae

There’s a fantastic tutorial over at sew mama sew for a handbag made from a fat quarter. So simple and easy you can make one to match every outfit.

For those of you who aren’t quilters or don’t know what a ‘Fat Quarter’ is here’s the basics.

Most quilt-weight cotton is 44″ doubled over on a bolt. A yard is 36″, which means that a regular quarter-yard ends up being one long skinny piece measuring 9″x44″.

For a fat quarter, you typically cut half a yard from the bolt and then cut along the fold leaving you with two pieces measuring 18″x22″. Or one full yard cut into quarters.

Basically a fat quarter offers you more flexibility, especially when dealing with large prints. Many shops sell pre-cut fat quarters with coordinating solids making them super easy to work with. If you haven’t previously worked with fat quarters, once you do you’ll start seeing the endless possibilities for them.

For those of you in Calgary, just a reminder that Uppercase Gallery is presenting Stitch, a celebration of all things stitched / sewn / knitted / crocheted & embroidered. This is a one-day only and includes works from many local and Canadian craftsters.

Thursday, March 5
5pm – 9pm

UPPERCASE
#204, 100 – 7th Ave SW
Calgary AB Canada T2P0W4
info@uppercasegallery.ca
403-283-5318

These beautiful handbags were created by Zelaya Design, a family run business in El Salvador. Their line of clothing, handbags and accessories are made from biodegradable and renewable materials, such as cotton, vegetable dyes and upcycled fabrics, wood and leather.

They take their inspiration from traditional Salvadoran culture, nature and contemporary life, with an emphasis fair trade values.

To view their entire collection visit www.zelayadesign.com/

Jenny Ryan’s new book definitely lives up to the title. The projects are absolutely adorable. I love her fabric choices and they way she mixes vintage with modern, patterns with solids, plus a little bit of Japanese fabric thrown in for fun.

The 30 projects are divided among four themes: Pretties (small wearables), Totables (assorted bags and totes), Nest (home decor projects), Kid Stuff (onsies, bibs, toys), and Crafties (supply holders and tools). All of which are perfect for beginners. Beautiful photography and loads of tips all in a super friendly tone. At the back of the book you’ll find patterns and templates for all of the cut-out embellishments as well as a supplier list for hard-to-find items.

These whimsical projects are bound to inspire even the most seasoned crafter.

Buy it at amazon.com or Chapters.ca

What better way to brighten a rainy Sunday afternoon than by making yourself a new pincushion. Ok so it’s not exactly rainy and cold where I am, but it is in most of the world, so I thought I’d try and spread a little sunshine to the rest of you.

Here are some links to a couple of adorable free pincushion patterns: Wild Flower by Anna Maria Horner & Square Deal by Heather Bailey. Or for $12.95 US, you can purchase a book of fruit inspired pincushions and have yourself a virtual fruit salad of pincushions (they also make really cute ornaments).

Also be sure to check out the pincushion flickr group for some more inspiration.

This video has been out for quite a while but I recently came across it again and wanted to post it here. Every time I watch it I am totally inspired. The video was shot using stop motion animation and the entire set was made out of yarn, wool, buttons and fabric. The walls, the furniture, the instruments, the recording equipment, even the camera were all knit, sewn or crocheted together.

For more information on the video check out this article.