With gift-giving holidays less than two months away, it’s time to start planning what presents you might want to sew. If you have the perfect project in mind, but just can’t find the right fabric, you may just want to design your own. Creating your own material couldn’t be easier with several sites devoted to custom printing:
Spoonflower is probably one of the best known sites on the web – not can you see your designs printed on a variety of cottons, sateen, rayon, and interlock knits, but you have the opportunity to win 5 yards of your design if you enter one of their weekly design contests!
If you’re looking for more than just cottons to print on, check out Fabric on Demand. This website will place your design on ‘classic cottons’, duck, fleece, micro-denier suede, Lycra, and polyester satins.
Have a luxurious gift in mind and requires a one-of-a-kind silk print? Try KaramKraft. This site uses reactive dyes not pigments which means that they can print on any fabric including silks and wools.
If you live outside of the United States and are looking for a fabric design site, be sure to stop by Bonbonkakku. Just like Spoonflower, this Finnish company holds contests where you can win yardage of your material!
Halloween is over and as you’re slowly emerging from your sugar coma you are no doubt wondering, “What will I do this this year’s costume?” After countless hours slaving over a sewing machine only to have your design worn for a few precious hours, it feels such a shame to have to store your hard work into the back of a closet. So how can you recycle your costume? This article demonstrates 8 different ways (from places to donate your duds to links to reconstructing parts of your design) you can keep your costume alive for years to come.
If you live in one of the many parts of the United States hit by the cold snap this weekend, you may have realized that winter is right around the corner. For me this means putting aside the capri and skirt patterns (because I’d rather go for the warmth of a good pair of wool pants than a cute skirt once the snow falls) and sewing up some cool weather gear. One of the first things on my list? Accessories – especially this hat from jessyratfink. Not only does it work as a kitschy chapeau but could double as a Max (from Where The Wild Things Are) costume. I also considered sewing up my own Snuggie\Slanket – yes, I was that cold.
October is already here which means it’s time for me to kick my Halloween sewing into high gear. If you’re planning on stitching up a few costumes this season, why not check out a few contests that you can enter your handmade creations into:
Probably one of the most unforgettable costumes I’ve ever seen was entered into last year’s DIY Halloween Costume Contest by Craftster. Think you can top that? Be sure to try your hand in their 2009 challenge.
I don’t know about everyone else, but I miss watching sewing programs on t.v. Ever since HGTV and DIY networks cut the crafting\sewing part of their lineup there hasn’t been much to watch unless you’re fortunate enough to have some that run on your local PBS station. However, with the internet and a resurgence in sewing I’ve found a few resources that let me get my fix. The first is Sew On which has a number of videos to play (ranging from how to make your own boxers to sweatshirt makeovers) from their ‘daily line up’. They also have several other features to the site including a ‘community’ and ‘patterns’ section, however neither of these have been working properly for several weeks (if not longer). The second site is Quilting Arts TV, programing not only directed to quilters, but also those interested in mixed media, home decor and accessories, and learning new stitch techniques. A number of sewing personalities also have started websites with posted videos including Sandra Betzina, Nancy Zieman, and Christopher Nejman. Anyone know of any more?
The trend of going green is hard to ignore. Between the big factories, poor wages and the inefficient shipping, we all know that the culture and concept of disposable clothing just has to disappear. Take a look at America, in 2007 alone the country as a whole sent over 11.9 MILLION TONS of clothing to the landfills! Everyone reading this already has the right idea, handmade items not only fit better but also tell stories, and are cherished by those for whom they are made making them less disposable and therefore better for the environment.
Check out this WIRED article by Randy Alfred on the first sewing machine patent that was filed by Elias Howe today – 163 years ago.
An earlier inventor in France, Barthelemy Thimonnier, patented a simple hand-stitch machine in 1830, but had to flee for his live after 200 tailors rioted, “destroying 80 sewing machines and throwing the pieces out the windows.” Another inventor, Walter Hunt, was afraid of the massive unemployment of seamstresses and did not pursue his ideas, as well.
Read here how this lovely invention went on quite an adventurous path before it became a mass product affordable for you today!
Ever wonder how a sewing machine works? We found this really cool animation that shows you exactly what is “going on under the hood” so to speak.
September marks National Sewing Month – a declaration started in 1982 by then-President Ronald Regan. The National Sewing Month website, along with the American Sewing Guild, encourages sewers, new and old alike, to celebrate the month by putting to work their sewing machine. They are also challenging everyone Reuse, Remake, Restyle a garment into a new, eco-friendly project. This contest runs until September 30, 2009 with 3 winners taking home a prize package filled with notions, tools, fabrics and more! So what are you waiting for? Get out there and celebrate a whole month devoted to your craft!
It doesn’t matter if you sew, knit, bake, or partake in any other form of crafting, there’s always some sort of contest or giveaway for your hobby to be found on the internet. The question is, “How do you find them?” The Starving Crafter is your answer. Not only are there links to the latest competitions, but also information on places to sell your works, crafting social networks, and magazines that are looking for submissions. Starving Crafter looks to be a relatively new site with lots of room to grow, but it’s a great resource for fun links and a starting off point to finding others with similar interests!
Of course we all know that thread is an important tool for sewing, but did you know that 100% cotton thread can have cosmetic uses? As I was surfing the web the other night I came across this article that discussed the increased popularity in the ancient art of threading. Intrigued, I searched around to find out more information and discovered that the concept is simple, thin cotton threads are twisted around a follicle and then pulled, removing the unwanted hair – similar to tweezing. If you’re interested in seeing threading in action, be sure to check out this video (the ‘action’ starts at 2:00), of course, if you’re really interested in trying it out for yourself, this tutorial on eHow will teach you how. Personally, I’m going to stick with keeping my thread in my machine.
The word “Trashion” originally was used to describe couture, almost costume-like, designs created from repuprosed materials. However, with green sewing becoming more common, “trashion” has become more wearable. A great example of how far salvaged sewing has come, check out this video by CraftSanity on the Recycled Runway event at the Urban Institute of Contemporary Designs (and Jennifer’s entry, The ‘Headliner’ Newspaper Dress). [photo via CraftSanity]
While fashion and street style blogs are nothing new to the internet, most tend to concentrate on trendy clothing for ‘Generation Y’. What about style for ‘Baby Boomers’ and beyond? That’s where Advanced Style comes in. Their tag line, “Proof from the wizened and silver-haired set that personal style advances with age” describes their site perfectly, showing the wild, wacky, contemporary, and even traditional looks sported by our aging population. Not only is it a fun read, but gave me a glimpse into my future!
The word “kanzashi” is used to describe hair ornaments that are worn in traditional Japanese hairstyles (while Kanzashi Tsumami is the art of folding silk fabrics into flower pins for the hair). However, a new book by Diane Gilleland, Kanzashi in Bloom covers hair pins and more! Included in the book are 20 projects for transforming fabric squares into earrings, drawer knobs, and embellishments for a variety of projects. Diane also shows you how you can take the simple flower design and transform it into something completely different…. like a butterfly!
Find out more about this book, read the blog, follow the blog tour, and check out a gallery of designs by reading the official site.
“Green” sewing has become increasingly more popular thanks to books such as Betz White’s Sewing Green
. A number of sewing websites have also popped up on the internet as well, including Pamoyo. Not only do they blog about “Green Fashion”, but they also have a section devoted to…. Patterns! Just like BurdaStyle, these are open source designs! Unfortunately, there’s only one available at the moment, but here’s hoping there will be more in coming months!
