I’m delighted to see this great tutorial for learning how to design a simple fabric repeat. It makes designing a complex fabric much less intimidating! Now to see about that spare time… — via CRAFT
Alicia Rosello, a blogger for DMC Spain, posted about her visit to the DMC embroidery floss factory in eastern France. The pictures and information are fascinating. I have to admit, my heart started to race just looking through them. I now officially have a new item added to my Bucket List: Must visit the DMC Embroidery Floss Factory! The post is in Spanish, but is easily translated with a quick visit to Google Translate. Enjoy! — via CRAFT
Brooklyn-based artist, Ashley Stevens, creates stunning pieces of jewellery by casting knit and crochet stitches in silver.
These are solid sterling silver castings of handmade knitting. I knit each model piece to attain my desired shape before it is cast in silver. These are not cut from found fabrics. Many have hand-fabricated elements after they are cast in metal, such as forged ear wires with hinges and clasps and further shaping of the metal. Most are blackened and brushed or polished to accentuate the texture of the knit stitches.
I can imagine these earrings and bracelets would be at the top of any knitter or crochet enthusiast’s gift wish list — via CRAFT
There are few things more adorable than adding a pair of friendly animal ears to an otherwise boring shirt. This tutorial for making an animal ear hood from Tally at I Could Make That comes along just in time for both Halloween costume makers and snuggly hoodie season! Check out her site for the complete instructions.
Now, do you think my cats would be weirded out if I made one for myself? — via CRAFT
The Octopus Double Ring / Brass Knuckles is lasercut from 1/8″ Black Acrylic — via Etsy
Many of us know our way around a crochet hook well enough to create simple projects on the fly, but get completely intimidated when it comes to recording the stitches so we can make the same project again or share the pattern with others. Heidi from Speckless shared her method for creating crochet patterns — from inspiration to charting—on Whip Up, and it really demystifies the process. Now, go forth and create! — via CRAFT
Charlie Harper is one of my favourite artists. His animal lithographs are breath-taking, yet I can’t afford to wallpaper my walls in them as I would like. Apartment Therapy included the above in a round-up of rad cross-stitch patterns, and it’s the perfect way to include such a talented artist into your home’s decor. I love high design cross-stitch patterns! Be sure to check out the other four — via CRAFT
Schuyler Towne, the locksport aficionado who rode the Kickstarter wave to the tune of $87K, has uploaded a 24-part lockpicking course to YouTube — via MAKE
Delfina Delettrez, a designer in Rome, made this beautiful, polished skeletal bracelet — via Boing Boing
Currently on display at Decoratum Galleryin London, the Cylinder Radial Engine Table is made from a US Army Boeing-Stearman PT-13 engine acquired from the Canadian Museum of Flight, Langley, British Columbia. Constructed between 1936 and 1938, the innovative piece features a simple clear glass top so you can see through to the complex engine workings below.
The table can be purchased through Decoratum Gallery for a cool £19,750 — via Design Milk
Debbie Smythe, a textile artist from the UK, makes enormous installations composed of threads strung along pins. Although what you’re seeing may look like a pen and ink drawing, it’s actually just hundreds of pins and narrow threads. Take a look at her web site to see close-in, detailed photos of how she assembles these works — via Neatorama
This rainbow granny square parasol from babukatorium is out-of-control cute. It would be such a cheery way to provide some shade on a sunny walk in the park — via CRAFT
We always love seeing new ways to reuse bicycle tubes, and this door mat is a great example of how versatile and durable of a material they really are — via CRAFT
I love this simple decorative technique from Martha Stewart for jazzing up plain glassware. Of course, the stitcher in me is smitten with the cross-stitch designs, but the same technique could be used for all kinds of designs. See how it’s done over on Martha’s web site — via CRAFT
Astromark created this beautiful half-scale Tardis for his very lucky kitty, Kaylee. I’m very impressed by how precise the copy is, and how hard he worked to ensure that all of the details were just right, from the sign on the door to the the lantern on top. Head over to Tardis Builder to see more photos of the building process! I think the Doctor would be proud — via CRAFT
Kristen McQuillin made a plush kiwa hirsuta lobster, and a pattern so you can, too — via CRAFT
BRRAAAAAIIIIIINNNNNSSSSSSSsssssss…….
It’s a squid… wait, it’s a hat… no, it’s a Squidhat and it wants your brains. But only a little.
Made from snuggly-warm polyester fleece this guy will hug you long into those cold nights. Also makes a wonderful decoration for the couch — via Etsy
Artist Carol Milne creates stunning sculptures of knitted glass. You can see examples of her work and read an article about her process on her web site — via CRAFT
After six months held by the Nazis in a prisoner of war camp, Major Alexis Casdagli was handed a piece of canvas by a fellow inmate. Pinching red and blue thread from a disintegrating pullover belonging to an elderly Cretan general, Casdagli passed the long hours in captivity by painstakingly creating a sampler in cross-stitch. Around decorative swastikas and a banal inscription saying he completed his work in December 1941, the British officer stitched a border of irregular dots and dashes. Over the next four years his work was displayed at the four camps in Germany where he was imprisoned, and his Nazi captors never once deciphered the messages threaded in Morse code: God Save the King
and Fuck Hitler
.
This subversive needling of the Nazis was a form of defiance that Casdagli, who was not freed from prison until 1945, believed was the duty of every PoW. It used to give him pleasure when the Germans were doing their rounds,
says his son, Tony, of his father’s rebellious stitching. It also stopped him going mad. He would say after the war that the Red Cross saved his life but his embroidery saved his sanity,
says Tony. If you sit down and stitch you can forget about other things, and it’s very calming.
Tony should know. The 79-year-old picked up his father’s stitching habit after a lifetime at sea serving in the Royal Navy, and from 6 September two of his pieces will feature in a new exhibition opening at the Victoria and Albert Museum called Power of Making. Tony is thrilled, but the relationship between father, son, needlework and suffering is complex and occasionally ambiguous — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Learn how to crochet up a cute granny ripple pattern over on The Layzy Hobbyhopper — via CRAFT
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