Pam Knott over at Mad Creek Designs stocks these fabulous feed bags, seed bags, and gunny sacks in all sorts of different patterns. Growing up in Iowa, she remembers her grandmother’s vanity bench covered with one, the kitchen curtains made from a pair of them, a table cloth, and an apron her grandmother wore until it was threadbare. The Mad Creek Designs shop has a ton of these vintage goodies cleaned, opened up, and ready to sew!...
Sari is a traditional Indian garment, and it’s really flexible! It’s essentially a large piece of fabric – usually from five to 10 yards long and three to four feet wide. There are hundreds of ways to wrap a sari, making it extremely versatile. Usually made of silk, you can also find cotton sari if you hunt a little bit. The fabric is just gorgeous – intricate prints in bold colors and metallic shades....
Melanie O’Brien loves fabric, and I’m already loving her new Etsy shop: Modern Organic Fabrics. Let’s take a peek inside! At the moment, she’s stocking fabrics from My Happy Garden by Michelle Engel Bencsko for Cloud9 Organic. Melanie says: I just love the fresh colors and sweet prints on this line! All of the Happy Garden fabrics meet the Global Organic Textile Standard. Cloud9 also does all its printing using OEKO-TEX certified, solvent-free dyes....
I’d thought I would take a look back over the past year and round up all the great fabric finds for your easy reading pleasure. We discussed why there aren’t more men in organic and sustainable fibers, pondered why bamboo, isn’t so fabulous, and jumped up and down over the prospect that Spoonflower was considering offering organic cotton. We also reviewed what mainstream stores offer in the way of organic and earth friendly textiles, swore that fabric made from cassette tapes, was not an April fools joke, and learned how to dye fabric with a recipe for natural, non-toxic dye....
Whether or not you’re as obsessed with fall crafts as we are, I hope that you’ll find fall nature crafts for kids to delight you in the following list of our favorite projects. 18 Fall Nature Crafts for Kids 1. acorn bells. This is a great kid craft, and the perfect pick for a kid to make as party favors, or for a group of kids to make together. 2....
You have a lot of fabric. How do you store it? An eco-friendly fabric storage system needs to allow you to be organized. If you know what you have and where it is, then it’s easier to own only what you need and use, and to pass on the rest to another place where it will be useful. Most of all, however, an eco-friendly fabric storage system needs to allow you to be organized without placing extra burdens on the environment....
Rather than hit up the big box store, you can use your crafty skills to upcycle yourself some cute home decor items! Next» Make a T-Shirt Throw Pillow
The resuable tote bag gained popularity with the eco movement. They were something utilarian, a way to conserve resources and stop using the disposable paper and plastic bags featured at stores. Now they have become a fashion statement, a beautiful new medium for atists and crafters to express themselves with, becoming functionable art. Author Jitesh Patel has found a wide variety of artists, crafters and designers and is showcasing their work in The Tote Bag....
How brilliant is this? Crafter Mandy Younce sent me some photos of these purses she and her husband designed. Each one was custom made using Formica samples and vintage fabric. Mandy used to work in a lumber yard and hated witnessing the quantities of raw materials going to waste. Who knew that lumber yards tossed more than just wood scraps! She started collecting Formica countertop samples and turned them into awesome purses....
We are all familiar with tiny paper cranes and jumping frogs in the world of origami.These popular characters often require a specialized paper that is thin and square. However, if you think outside the box, then you can make a box, along with many other useful items. The following video shows you how to create an amazing flower shaped CD holder by tracing around the disc. You will need something a bit bigger than copy paper....
Here are some of my favorite holiday crafts that I’ve spotted: This Christmas table display found at Better Homes and Gardens is bright and cheerful and so easy to make. You take Christmas bulb ornaments and place them in a square glass vessel then tie with a ribbon. Voila! Very pretty and pretty easy. Also possibly very green. I know I have ribbon, extra Christmas ball ornaments and maybe even a glass dish lying around somewhere....
Last week I bought an adorable plant stand at a garage sale. I stared at it sitting in my living room and thought, “Those curved feet are just too cute! I wish I could make it into a table.” So, I transformed it into a table! Of course, garage sales aren’t the only places where you can find your plant stand for this project. If getting up early to shop yard sales on the weekend isn’t your thing, you can also shop online for gently used supplies like these....
Recycle those Scrabble tiles and make clever and quirky coasters. A set would make a great Father’s day or house warming gift. Supplies: 16 Scrabble tiles (makes one coaster) Xacto or Utility Knife Ruler E-6000 Gun 4” x 4” piece of thin cork that can be cut with an Xacto Knife* Paper towel Here’s how to make your Scrabble coasters: The coaster will be four tiles wide and four tiles high....
Scissors A plate that can fit in the seat of your chair. I found my plate at a thrift store. How To Do It: Remove the broken parts from the seat of the chair. Mine had a cane seat, so I just cut the entire piece out with scissors. Place your plate in the seat of your chair. It should sit perfectly inside. Now you just have to add an adorable plant on top of your plate and you’re ready for spring!...
Honing is an important part of keeping your knives super sharp. Here’s how to hone a knife and the difference between honing and sharpening. Is your favorite knife not cutting like it should? Maybe you used it to slice up some corks to make a wine cork pirate ship, and since then it’s been a little bit….wonky? Chances are you need to hone that sucker! Until recently, I had no idea how to hone a knife or that sharpening was different from honing....
If your pup tears through stuffies like mine does, chances are you have a box of shame like this, too. Well, pull that sucker out, because you can use that old stuffing to make a whole new dog toy! I mean, you wouldn’t use it for any other projects, because it’s kind of gross, right? But why not shove it into a new toy for your pup? I’m calling this toy semi-indestructible, because I’m sure that given enough time and inclination, Jenna will eviscerate it....
It turns out that the end of the mini quilt block rabbit trail is a set of quilt-as-you-go rainbow quilted greeting cards! These quilted greeting cards have a whopping two additional steps over my quilted postcards, so they’re still a terrifically quick and easy way to do some scrap-busting of your sewing stash. You should also already either have a mini quilt block in mind OR know how to do the quilt-as-you-go method–here are a ton of mini quilt blocks to pick from, and here’s how to quilt as you go!...
I’m happy to report that Friends of Socktopus found a viable alternative. Handmade from recycled sweaters, these adorable soft toys are an imaginative use of an abundantly unwanted article of clothing. In their shop, you’ll also find sweater monkeys and owls, alligators…even kits to make your own. Be sure to sign up for the “I’m a Friend oF Socktopus!” Sweepstakes on their website, and you’ll be entered to win a Deluxe Socktopus or your very own....
Her second favorite activity? Hanging out at the library or a bookstore, looking for more good books to read! For her most recent birthday, I wanted to give my kid an experience gift that would allow me to spend time with her doing her two favorite activities. I chose nine independent bookstores, most of which we haven’t ever been to before (gasp!), that are in driving distance of our house....
That ceramic pitcher that I scored off the “free” pile on the side of the road is sure sturdy and would be awesome for lemonade out on the deck, but WOW is it ugly. That melamine platter that got re-gifted to me would be perfect for summer backyard parties… but it’s got a big picture of Santa Claus on it. What can you do with serving ware that could go great together but doesn’t match and also super ugly?...
