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.
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...
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!
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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!
the talented heather moore (aka skinny laminx) probably qualifies as a bonafide etsy celebrity. she's an illustrator and designer from south africa and she sells gorgeous tea towels and pillows in her etsy store. her illustrations have a real retro feel to them, but they're really contemporary at the same time i wish she'd do a limited edition line of fabrics!
one of my favourite fabric producers has to be the finnish company marimekko. they have been around since the 1950's and have always been known for their bold and graphic prints. i can't think of many other companies who have been around for more than half a decade and still rock it!
more proof that this crafting craze is becoming huge are these wonderful pillows marcel wanders made for b&b italia. reminds me i bought this cute japanese book about quilting with a sewing machine...
it's not often you are truly impressed with a new company. once in a while you'll see some that make cool stuff, sometimes they'll have a special philosophy, but bholu seems to have it all. the company was started by australian designer jodie fried who designs all the products herself, but she employs ladies from the western gujarat region in india to hand embroider them. not for cheap labor, but to support these women so they can gain (financial) independence. what is also quite cool is that the children's products were made with drawings gujarati children made. cute idea to begin with, but even more when you realise that these kids would normally be working and have little time for things like drawing. the result is beautiful things made out of wool felt and silk embroidery that have a soul. it doesn't get much better than that!
just came across these cuties from otchi-potchi on etsy. i think i've seen a japanese craft book that has patterns for fabric booties, but somehow they look difficult to make! if making them will not be an option i might have to buy a pair of these to wear on the colder days, when flip-flops are not an option. this from the girl who'll wear a pair of flip-flops with socks around the house...
i saw the link to emily eibel's stitched works of art on design*sponge this evening. i had wondered before if it would be possible to machine stitch pictures on a regular sewing machine, but it looks quite difficult. of course i don't know how emily makes her pictures, but that's how i imagine it would be done. a really cool use of this technique i think!
i suppose everybody knows the uglydolls, but did you also know they do 2 foot (±60 cm) versions? how cool is that? i remember the first time i was in new york with my sister, years and years ago, she picked one up and since then i must have seen them everywhere i've travelled to. you see loads of lookalikes nowadays, but they still stand their ground!
these amazing bunnies are the work of dawn, who's a self proclaimed plush-a-holic. i'm not sure if that's a condition you have to go to a support group for, but her plushies sure look dangerous. it must be the combination of the eyes, the graphic patterns of the fabric and the strong shape. she sells her gorgeous creatures in her etsy store and although there are always enough bunnies to buy i always seem to lust most after the ones that are already sold. i guess i'll have to look more often!
a while ago i did a post about zakka and since then i've been seeing zakka everywhere i look. on monday i ordered some japanese fabrics from superbuzzy and i saw that they sell supercute shinzi katoh bags. i found the illustrations so charming i went looking for more and found the shinzi katoh website. it starts with: "in this site, we have the most famous zakka designer shinzi katoh's wonderful world." and a wonderful world it is! you can find all kinds of items like bags (also featured on do something pretty this week), water bottles, softies, t-shirts, fabric and buttons. i fell in love with the buttons, but i found out since that they are sold in sets of 2 single buttons, not a whole bottle. i'll wait till i really need them before i buy any, it's a pitty to just have them laying around... look like the cute softies are kits you have to sew yourself, but i'm not a 100% sure.
