appreciation

one of the greatest lessons i am learning from this process of developing a craft is that every step should be observed and relished. to wash and iron and block and dye and measure and read and read again. all these things before my scissors even enter the scene.

i appreciate having a willing model at the ready.


i appreciate washing materials by hand. good materials. linen and cottons. i am glad that i have finally come to realize the difference between cheap and quality. i appreciate my husband for tutoring me all these years in this regard.

i appreciate what shauna over at gluten-free girl (i'm too lazy for hyperlinks but check the sidebar over at my regular blog) has to say about taking photographs of her food. that it is a way of paying homage, of being aware. i take pictures of my fabric with that in mind.


i appreciate the light green tinge that my hands have today from dying the canvas for my sling. i noticed it when i was on my way to work this afternoon. there is a secret delight in being marked by your art+craft. the stray hair with dried clay, the paint under your nails. reminders of a self too distracted in the act of creation to worry over personal appearance.

some w.i.p.s

the (blurry) results of my quick craft from yesterday. i envision some more earrings and a necklace on the horizon.

i'm in the process of making a few baby sets for some new wee ones to this world. the set includes a quilted patchwork bib, a pair of reversible booties, and a knitted burp cloth. i will also add a pair of earrings for the mamas.



to keep them all together, i'm going to borrow an idea from Tennen Seikatsu, one of my favorite magazines.

this little drawstring bag should be hold the sets quite nicely. i'll use the same material i used for the patchwork on the bib for the little stripe that holds the drawstring.

and speaking of mothers, next sunday is the calendar date for mother's day. i am making lotta's oven mitt and an apron of my own design using canvas and these three printed fabrics for my mom and mother-in-law.

for nico and myself, i have plans for a sling. i'll dye the canvas and use the tracy porter duck canvas for the interior.

and after visiting joann's, i decided to poke my head into michael's next door to check out the much touted martha line. it is very nice and well-packaged and there are some things i will keep in mind. i went ahead a bought the alphabet cards to put up on sebastian's wall. he picked out these rad stickers. i like the robot especially.

and just some additions to my growing stockpile. more of the alexander henry pink fabric plus some super colorful cotton that reminds my of a polyester blouse my grandmother once wore, in a good way.

next time, i hope to be back with some finished projects to share.
xo

quick craft

this makes me so pleased. it took less than two minutes to put these together. no pliers used.
it almost satisfies the crafting urge for today.
almost.
i came back to report that i finished three more pairs within 15 minutes, all done with nico snoozing on my left arm and sebastian playing in the bath. this could easily become addictive.