// Tutorials // The first of the hand-mades. **First - my ball tutorial was featured on Elle Decor España!
How exciting!) ** Well I'm nothing if not predictable (or is that unpredictable?) - as soon as I get a list together I get distracted by making some other pretty, shiny thing and go off on another craft tangent. In this case I was distracted by the cold. The first sweater became two pairs of pants. 1 pair was made from the body of the sweater using Anna Maria Horner's super cute book - Handmade Beginnings I modified it slightly by only making a single layer instead of a double and cutting down on the seam allowance because of the thickness of the sweater and to increase the room for the cloth diapers. The second pair of pants was made out of the sleeves of the felted sweater. Next I finished weaving in the ends of a pair of super warm stripey baby socks.
I also finished a set of plastic bag holders for a Christmas gift for my Grandma. I thought these turned out cute. Happy Making! Sewing tips roundup. Here is a list of sewing tips, sewing basics and sewing techniques – lots of lovely visual tutorials – do you have any more to add to this list? Nicole has a huge range of sewing tutorials – many related to bag making – like using interfacing , how to quick un-pick zip tips , and bias tape . Make it and love it has a really good tute on curves and clipping seams and more sewing tips too – like gathering , how to cut fabric, casey brown has a guide to sewing tools. 101: Natural Dyeing. 101: Natural Dyeing Everyday plants offer big color.
By Judith Lange Imagine a world with no colored fabric. Look in your closet, at your furniture, at your towels and your curtains. Imagine everyone dressed only in white. Such a drab existence does not suit human beings. Long before Rit came in packets, color was everywhere. History Natural dyeing was a common profession through much of history, and in Europe, the dyers of red cloth were literally in a class by themselves. Cochineal, from a Mexican insect used by the Aztecs, was a major source of income for the Spanish after they conquered Mexico. Basics Mordants: Pump Up the Color Besides natural dyes, mordants were used from very early times. Materials Directions Step 1: Learn the basic dye recipe. 2b. 2d. Variations Mordant some yarn with alum, and some with iron.
Resources My county library has 24 books on natural dyes, with some useful information in all of them. Goli Mohammadi Contact me at goli (at) makermedia (dot) com. Related.