Art & Craft Ideas, How to Tutorials, Handmade Gift
Pin It : Quick Christmas Gift. This cute woolen ear warmer is a quick sewing project that will can be completed within half hour or so. It’s one of those crafts/DIY projects that you’ll inspire you to make a couple, so give some away and make one for yourself. This Winter, keep your ears warm. [...]
: a unique quilting pattern. Quilting may sound kind of tame, however, with Alisa Burke, quilting changes tack and sails the winds of adventure! Look what she did…. Step-by-step Fabric Painting, Sewing & Quilting Instructions 1. Hand stamp & hand print your own fabric. That is: make your own stamps with foam [...]
Pin It I love wandering through Anthropologie. Do you? The creative input of a visit is like flipping through 17 lifestyle magazines and half a dozen groovy design books, all at the same time. Yes, I was lucky to spend quite a bit of time in the Anthropologie shop in Santa Monica, LA as [...]
Pin It: First set of wonderful photos of stunning and outlandish Halloween costumes. Hollywood does it. Even the major was in a terrific cowboy costume. Kid-friendly photos here, despite the many sexy outfits there, at…. … one of the world’s largest Halloween celebrations: the 2011 West Hollywood Halloween Costume Carnival on Santa Monica Boulevard in [...]
I have this thing for recycling cable sweaters. I’m sure you all seen this recycled wool sweater lamp, which I just adore. It just looks so warm and cosy. Now, here’s a DIY tutorial to make yourself a matching rug for that chair near the window. Direct recycling aka very-eco-green designer Diane Durkes pulled this [...]
Let’s plan ahead. This Thanksgiving I would like to have a number of people over for dinner. As this is a bit daunting to me, I usually like to have all the small details, such as the artsy & crafty decorative elements as well as the main dish to be made well ahead of time. [...]
For readers in bed, there’s a solution….. a place to put your glasses and your book, when your night stand is full… or if you wish to keep things uncluttered. Anyhow, I think these pockets are so so handy for lip balm, clean socks for freezing feet, … as well as anything romantic. Click here [...]
Love this skirt: So Fall, so girly, so back-to-school. Best of all: easy to make, while sophisticated. Enjoy this free sewing pattern and step-by-step instructions which you can find here at sewmamasew.com
Back to school is this great ‘season’ to get back organized, not only in aspects of school life, but also in other areas. For this reason, to me, Fall is one of those time that it’s extremely useful to create a bunch of new bags, of different shapes and sizes in matching fabrics so that [...]
School bags are one of the most essential school supplies out there. And from personal experience as someone who studied for many years, it is a really good investment to have a couple of different style bags laying around: one for light days, one for heavy book days, one for gym, one for personal items, [...]
Time to celebrate going Back-to-School with flirty gifts that create smiles on the first day of school and help continue friendships. Fun Fashion Friendship Gifts that are Easy to Make Sure, there is the good-old classic friendship bracelet (click link to learn how to make it). But let’s go beyond the simple ‘threaded thingy’, [...]
This is a re-post of my prior French pillows article. Readers wrote that the article link hadn’t been working for them, so I’m showing the French Pillows ideas (w link to pillow sewing tutorial) again for you. BTW. If you have enjoyed this 2 weeks worth of showcasing contemporary French interior design, decorating and craft [...]
A fun project to do with kids: We recycled an old zipper into a darling butterfly brooch. Step by Step Instructions on How to Make a Zipper Butterfly 1. Sniff through old cloths or recycled textile supplies to find a 22 cm long zipper. Pick a color you want, or if you [...]
These fun fruity lunch and picnic bags are insulated and zippered. Fun design ideas, Found in Paris. Each bag can hold a few sandwiches and a small drink. Picnic Bag As big as two giant tomatoes, holds everything for a picnic of 2 (or 3). Matching DIY [...]
Those of you interested in ‘new age’ type DIY/Crafty projects, sure have seen my Zafu meditation pillow pattern. The prior version was in a simple, calm misty forest green; the pillow well-designed; the pattern illustrated and detailed. Yesterday, just off the Champs d’Elysee, Paris, I spotted a ‘happy’ version of this zafu pillow. All this [...]
Today I have for you beautiful & unique French Bird & Bunny pillows, spotted in the hip-groovy Marais district in Paris. Bird Pillow If you’ve made our ‘bird with umbrella’ pillow, you could make this French bird pillow as a companion. Techniques: To make a pillow like this, however, you must first create the whole [...]
Summer markets, country fairs, flee markets & antique markets are ideal locations to pick up materials to make your own unique bags. This burlap messenger bag is made from a burlap farm animal feed sack, an old belt plus a scrap of off-white demin for lining. This feed sack was found in a US antique [...]
Another great contribution to your beach cottage: starfish, coral, seaweed and fish-shaped bath gloves. Aren’t they both lovely and fun? Depending on the colors in your bathroom, use either pastel or brightly-colored hand towels and the templates below. There’s a fish, starfish and a coral shape. My favorite bath mitten shape is the coral and [...]
These citrus sun bags are perfect to take along for a picnic, garden party, or to the beach. Just stash in your gear and off you go. Particularly the bottle bag makes great party hostess gifts also. To make it into beach bags, I recommend you quadruple the size of either bag. These [...]
Big enough to be either a ‘diaper’- bag and beautiful enough to be an ‘going to town’ or ‘office’- handbag. May I show you this gorgeous, smooth handbag design by real sewing artist Rebeka Lambert. Looking at this bag, you can see Rebeka is a pro. However, with her sewing patterns with multi-page sewing instructions, [...]
We call can take inspiration from Jen over at Scissors and Spatulas, who did this amazing handbag refashioning. Clutch Bag – The Before Shot: A vintage-find clutch handbag. Clutch Bag – The After Shot: An up-to-date Summer clutch that will make creative gals do a double-take. [...]
I just answered an online question, what’s a Fat Quarter, and thought I should respond to it on the blog instead, as you all might be interested also. Fat Quarters are typically used for quilting and patchwork. They are bundles of fabric that are pre-cut to size. ‘What size?’ you might ask? And this is [...]
Going green does not mean boring. It means Stylish! This Recycled Juice Box pattern is the ’living’ proof of how recycling has taken on a whimsical, upcycling, refashion-tangent and that there’s no going back! Great project to make this summer, but you got to start saving your used juice boxes now as you’ll need 20 [...]
Pin It Lazy romantic, that’s the look I’m after for the bedroom this Summer & Fall. I’m sharing my inspiration file with you today, with finds from all over the world, from Anthropology in the US to Lazybones down under. Anthropologie Bedding Inspiration Click these images, so you can see the wonderful smocking / [...]
Would never believe that it was a mere pillowcase just the day before….. These dresses are so .. , so dreamy … ,so easy …, so romantic …., so vintage …, and so simple to make, … it makes me want to chop up two pillow cases and make 2 right away!! Designer: Maya Made [...]
This is a free sewing pattern for a summer bag. Make the bag using the pattern verbatum to take along a outside Sunday brunch, or enlarge the pattern to suit your needs. In the summer months I typically carry more ‘stuff’. This Gringham fabric is just perfect for either a fun ‘carry-all’-kinda bag or a [...]
So, you thought that ribbons were only to decorate the Christmas tree or making simple ribbons bows. Well, in contrast, ribbons have to be one of the more versatile craft materials around that can be used in scrapbooking, fashion sewing, or any other craft, DIY or home decorating project ranging from fun embellishments for handmade [...]
Today we’re all lucky. Guest writer Amanda from SimplyHomemade is featuring a free sewing pattern. Amanda enthusiastically agreed to design a handy-dandy purse organizer for us. We are thrilled, as she’s done a terrific job at illustrating the project step-by-step offering easy-to-follow instructions that we know even a beginning seamstress can work with. The [...]
Bought some darling fabric to sew myself some Spring & Summer outfits. I have to confess: now that the sun back I’m rather playing outside with my plants and don’t feel like sewing much. But I do need some more light weight summer cloths however. This skirt pattern could not be better: an elastic waist [...]
With Amy Butler, it’s always a bit tricky for me to decide why I like her wears so much: is it the gorgeous Amy Butler fabric or is it her design, or both??? Do you face the same, delightful ‘challenge’? Regardless as to why, this picnic blanket is just amazingly gorgeous. And: it’s practical too, [...]
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