new york state of mind

we're off to a short vacation. this time to one of my favourite cities in the world: new york. and then after christmas we're flying to the uk to spend new years' with family and friends. i hope you all have a great time, whatever holiday you celibrate. see you next year!

holidays are coming

sinterklaas has left for spain again, so that means christmas is just around the corner! oromono has some suitable seasonal gifts. i know that egg mercantile in amsterdam sells oromono, but i'm not sure if they have the christmas range available. isn't it just a nice idea to spruce up a scarf like this?

feltilicious part 2

a couple more things by branch. too good to pass up!

feltilicious!

loads of sites i come across have giftguides on now and whenever i see something nice on them made of felt it seems to be from branch! branch is all about sustainable living and of course fits right in that category. i love the felt pebbles and i think i'm going to try to make them myself. when i did my felt workshop there was a lady who said she had made felted pebbles using an actual pebble which she cleaned and then covered in wool roving. the rest of the felting process was pretty much as usual: use warm water and a fatty (olive) soap and rub till all the fibers merge.

fabulous felt pouches

i was hunting the internet for christmas and hanukkah gifts this evening, since i'm always panicking at the last moment and i thought i'd get a head start this year. i decided to start with etsy, because it's a wonderful place for unique presents. anyway, it was there that i came across the seriously cool products by working class heroes. they make pouches made of felt and leather for laptops, ipods, sun glasses and more. and they'll even do custom sleeves if you send them the dimensions of your laptop.

abc buttons

this is one of those ideas i wish i would have thought of myself. so simple, but pure genius at the same time. they are called abc buttons and they come with 9 holes in each button, giving you the possibility to form letters in them! great for kids' clothing, but also to make little statements on your own clothes. each of the 2 buttons per pack is made out of dark brown horn and has a diameter of 0.8" (2 cm), comes with the patented 9 hole pattern, a needle and three colours of thread. it comes with a font too, so it'll be extra easy to find the best way to make the letters you choose. the only problem i can see is that if you want to use them for a shirt or coat you'd have to buy about 3 packs and at €9 that would be a bit expensive. so hopefully they'll come out with some bigger packages too.

clever mugs

strictly speaking this has little to nothing to do with crafts, but i still wanted to share these with you. the tea code mugs have cuffs with a button on them and come in 4 different versions. clever, because the cuff gives the mug a double layer so you don't burn your hands when you hold the mug. and also clever because the button gives you something to tie your tea bag too. great gift option for the sewing entusiast in your circle of friends or family?

not your grandmother's sewing machine

if you think about it, sewing machines haven't changed much over the years. they became electric and some have fancy stitches, but the machine itself pretty much stayed the same. the belOga concept (it's hasn't been picked up for production yet) was designed by Kristine Brückner and takes it a step further. apart from it looking different it comes with a big touch screen and the display lets you preview stiches before the needle hits the fabric. it even automatically conducts the thread through the machine, clever eh? looks like a winner to me!

and we're back in the room

it took me a while, but after a long absense i'm back again! i've not been sitting still, i've been sewing and i've done a felt workshop a couple of weeks ago. i can really recommend making your own felt, it's as much a therapeutic as creative thing to do. in februari there will be a follow up where we'll be making a seamless bag. i'll keep you posted on it. for other people who live in the rotterdam area: you might want to check out atelier het narrenschip yourself. ok, back to the actual post: these poufs by flocks have done the rounds on the blog circuit, but i found them to good to pass up on. they're the brainchild of christien meindertsma and made from hand felted yarn from kyrgyzstan. together with a knitter, spinners and a graphic designer she uses these beautiful yarns to create poufs, knitted rugs and cute cardigans.

holiday!

finally a much-needed vacation is starting tomorrow. the trip wil be to siena in tuscany, so hopefully i'll return full of energy and inspiration (and pizza, of course). see you all in a couple of weeks!

knitting for psychos

this is one of the funniest things i've seen in a while, knitted softies that are sure to make any kid cry! i was sent the link to this off the slightly warped website, but there is no mention on who made these and why. all i know is that i would love to have the bunny!

rapture and wright

wow, i can't believe it has been more than a week since my last post! lots of things going on here, so time flew by. i'll be going on holiday in a week, so i better get my ass in motion now. aaaaanyway, i came across some beautiful fabric by rapture and wright, an english company that specialises in hand printed wallpaper and fabrics. in their own words their products are 100% british, using skills that are rapidly disappearing in the uk.

praha

as i was browsing through the archives of one of my new favourite blogs six and a half stitches i came across a link for praha, a japanese company who make hand-made felt products. lovely designed flower corsages, hair pins, bookmarks, bags, purses and they even make a cute little mini bowling set. fuck it dude, let's go bowling...

feltastic

another wonderful example of designers doing cool things with felt are these products from studio nynker based in soest in the netherlands. all the products (cap, bottle cooler, bag and tea cozy) are made from flat pieces of felt and by clever pattern making and sewing it together it gets its shape. speaking of sewing: i finished my skirt! it will make its premiere this thursday when i'll be wearing it to my sewing class. i'm really pleased with how it turned out, i'll post some pictures soon. next project will be a jacket which i bought a black quilted fabric for with stitched circles in green and for the lining the same colour green as the stitching. get on a sewing machine, it's so much fun!

volksfaden

for some reason there aren't a lot of contemporary fabric shops to be found around on mainland europe. most of the really nice stuff seems to come from japan and the us and are difficult to get here. enter volksfaden: some very cute fabrics by the likes of amy butler and moda that are excellent for quilting. based in berlin (one of my favourite european cities) linda gaylord, who used the be a dancer and teacher, runs this online shop where she sells the fabrics she likes to work with herself. apart from the fabrics sold by the meter she also sells little bags of scrap fabric that are really useful to the starting quilter. you might also want to check out the quilts, aprons and bags she makes, they are gorgeous!