Posts Tagged ‘book’

dolls

A few weeks ago, with kid’s clothes week looming, I did not want to sew.  I really did not want to sew any clothes for my kids, though they did in fact need them (and still do!). Begrudingly I got out my sketchbook to figure out something to sew. The theme of KCW was storybook, so I got some of my favorites off the shelf.

dolls inspired by Ida Pearle // elsie marley

One of which is by a friend of ours, Ida Pearle. Her book, A Child’s Day (affiliate link) is full of gorgeous cut paper collages depicting children acting, dancing, hiding, jumping, and playing their way through every letter of the alphabet. The clothes Ida created for the children in the book are stunning. Both the styles and the prints translate easily into handmade clothes–and they have! Mary Frances from this is marzipan made many outfits for her boys all based on pages from this book. (more…)

happy homemade vol. 2 in english!

happy homemade vol.2

I have been blathering on for years about how much I love the Japanese sewing book Happy Homemade vol. 2.

clothes made from happy homemade vol 2 on elsie marley

All of the clothes pictured above (and below) are made from patterns in this book. Happy Homemade patterns are my go to for pajamas, hoodies, pants, and tops. Without a doubt it is my most used pattern book.

clothes made from happy homemade vol 2 on elsie marley

And now Happy Homemade is in English! Only they renamed it Happy Homemade: Sew Chic Kids. They changed a few other things too (mostly for the best):

remade pattern pages in Happy Homemade

1. the pattern pages don’t induce vertigo

This came as quite a pleasant shock. I had resigned myself to spending a solid 15 minutes finding the pattern I need on the very chaotic Japanese pattern sheet. I actually wrote a whole post about locating your pattern for Cherie’s series on Japanese patterns.  No more! The patterns in the English version are given a generous amount of space. They have also been redrafted to fit American sizes! Every pattern comes in 4 sizes: 2, 4, 6, 8.

Happy Homemade: Sew Chic Kids

2. the measurement are in inches.

This is obviously only exciting for the Americans, because we are ridiculously anti-metric. But there are a lot of us and we do all understand 3/8 of an inch much better than 1 cm. It’s silly, but true.

3. the directions are in english

This is, oddly, not a 100% improvement. The first thing I did when I got the English version was to flip to the bits that had stumped me in the past. After reading them in English, I still didn’t understand what they wanted me to do. Sewing directions are notoriously difficult to comprehend. Sometimes it’s better just to draw pictures. Japanese sewing books have perfected the art of the sewing diagram. Turns out their written directions can be just as confusing as everyone else’s.

That said, the sewing tips, the fabric recommendations, and the general instruction are all so much better than I had ever imagined.

Happy Homemade: Sew Chic Kids

4. the clothes are just as adorable.

One thing they didn’t change: the clothes. They are as simple, stylish, and adorable as they are in the Japanese version. Now if I can make tons of clothes for my kids without being able to read any of the directions, just image what you can do now!

Be sure to put Happy Homemade: Sew Chic Kids on your Christmas wish list, because I’m planning a sew-a-long next year. We could even have a whole Happy Homemade month! February sound good?

 

*I was given a copy of this book to review, but my opinions are, as always, my own.

 

zakka style

zakka style

Rashida (of I heart Linen fame) contacted me a long while back to see if I would contribute to her new book, Zakka Style. Of course I said yes! I remade this project, so I could fix the pattern and change the colors a bit. I never did get around to making and selling these pocket pillowcases, but yay for my laziness because now you can make them!

little pocket pillowcase project

The pattern really is quite easy and makes for a lovely gift. The diamonds are fiddly, I won’t lie, but you could skip them and sew any sort of patchwork your heart desires.  The whole book is filled with simple and clever little things to make. And they are designed by some of my favorite people: Holly, Amanda, Leslie, and a good deal more.

continuous towel with patchwork edging

I actually made two projects for the book, but the second one didn’t make the cut. Remember this towel I made? Well, I reworked that project as well: a little bigger, nicer patchwork, and in linen. This continuous towel doesn’t fit in my bathroom and though it does look kind of nice in my kitchen, I think it would look better in yours.

zakka style giveaway

That’s right, a little giveaway for this Tuesday: Zakka Style and a zakka stylish linen towel. To enter yourselves in this giveaway, I would like it if you’d answer a question for me. How do you read blogs? Do you use google reader, links from facebook, twitter, flickr, pinterest, old fashioned bookmarks, something else entirely? I want elsie marley to be easily accessible to all of you, which is easier if I know how you are all accessing it :)

psst: if the answer is facebook, well wouldn’t you know elsie marley’s got a facebook page.

Ok so leave your answer before Thursday Feb. 23 at 9am and I’ll let the robots do the picking. This giveaway is open to all my lovely readers, no matter where you live. Good luck!

 The giveaway is closed! 

book review: little bits quilting bee by kathreen ricketson

little bits quilting bee

Kathreen Ricketson has come out with a phenomenal new quilting book called Little Bits Quilting Bee. All the quilts in the book are made out of charm squares, jelly rolls, layer cakes, and fat quarters. If you think I’m talking about delicious pastries you are not that far off. Although those are all names for packs of fabrics, sewers ooo and ahh over them like kids in a candy store. I know I have drooled over a jelly roll, but had no reason to buy such a delicacy.

The book is beautiful, the designs are young and graphic, and the directions are thorough. That is practically a given when you pair Kathreen + Chronicle books. But lets get to the fun bit: choosing fabrics. I picked a favorite quilt from each of the four categories in the book and then stood staring in front of the giant wall of fabric that is the internet.

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LAYER CAKE: pre-cut 10 in./25 cm squares that usually come in packs of 40

sunny day mat

I think the sunny day mat is the perfect project to make for your best friend who is finally having a baby. I would love to do it mostly in navy and white (because she will of course know babies love looking at high contrast colors), then play around with some beautiful blue and white hand printed fabrics for the inner circle and all those prairie points!

  1. brushstrokes in teal
  2. blue jars fabric
  3. huts handprinted fabric
  4. organic cotton block printed fabric
  5. weave hand screenprinted fabric

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CHARM SQUARES: packs of pre-cut 5 in/12 cm squares

cloud song

Cloud song is everyone’s favorite quilt from the book. Maybe because it’s gray and cold outside right now, but I think this quilt would be amazing with a blue/gray color scheme. Wouldn’t some liberty of london prints make a lovely sky? Look it there, they sell a charm square pack that is just perfect.

rainy day quilt colors

  1. blues for you fat quarter stack
  2. liberty of london muted palette charm squares
  3. kona shades of gray and charcoal scraps

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FAT QUARTERS:  a quarter of a yard measuring about 18 x 22 in/46 x 56 cm

garnets and gold

I love the Garnets and Gold quilt in the book mostly because I reminds me of my first quilt, but also because it’s so stinking cheery. Done in vintage floral sheets, you couldn’t help but be happy making it–and sleeping under it!

vintage sheets fat quarters

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 JELLY ROLL: pre-cut 2 1/2 in/6cm strips of fabric cut selvage to selvage

step lively

I would love to tone down the rainbowness of this bold quilt with some muted, hand dyed fabric. Actually, while I was looking around the internet for fabrics I found it very difficult to find handmade fabrics made up into packs like this–jelly rolls were by far the hardest to find. If there are any screen printers or other fabric makers out there–here is your niche! Quilters are crazy for fabric. Cra. Zy. And I’m betting they would love make a quilt from your hand printed goodness.

hand dyed jelly rolls

  1. cool fall leaves hand dyed jelly roll
  2. hand dyed cotton jelly roll, AUTUMN

As a little treat I have one book to giveaway! So leave something lovely in the comments and I’ll pick a winner tomorrow evening. Good luck! And follow along on the book tour to see more lovely quilts from Little Bits Quilting Bee.

GIVEAWAY CLOSED

 

Wednesday, November 9 – luvinthemommyhood & Elsie Marley
Thursday, November 10 – True Up
Friday, November 11 – House on Hill Road & CraftyPod

Monday, November 14 – Handmade by Alissa & Hello My Name Is Heather
Tuesday, November 15 – West Coast Crafty & Foxy Art Studio
Wednesday, November 16 – Patch Andi & The Last Piece
Thursday, November 17 – In Color Order & Duo Fiberworks
Friday, November 18 – Kristin La Flamme & Camp Follower Bags & Quilts

Monday, November 21 – Quilt Dad
Tuesday, November 22 – Pat Sloan & Pleasant Home

 

 

interview with Abby Glassenberg

cover of the artful bird by abby glassenberg

Fighting one illness after another postponed my stop on the Artful Bird‘s blog tour, we’re finally better and I’m so excited to share my interview with Abby with you. Abby is not only a talented plush artist, but a generous artist as well: she often shares her sketches and mistakes and let’s us in on her creative process on her fantastic blog, While She Naps. Recently, she has been teaching her readers how to think and sew three dimensionally in a series of posts on sewing soft toys.  Abby is a wonderful teacher and makes beautiful soft sculptures, which makes for a pretty fantastic author of a pretty fantastic book.

crow by abby glassenberg

What made you want to make soft sculpture and toys?

I love thinking in three-dimensions.  The challenge of making my sketch come to life as a stuffed fabric toy or sculpture is something I can’t resist.  There are so many options, so many beautiful materials and interesting techniques that make it all come together.  It just makes me happy to sit down and try.  And when it works…man, that’s thrilling.  I feel like I could explore softie making forever and never be done.

How do you choose what kind of birds to make?

Each bird came about in its own unique way.  For instance, I was out on a walk with my kids in this little nature preserve behind our house and found a piece of tree bark. It was a good-sized piece and was totally intact except for a round hole that had clearly been pecked by a woodpecker. I brought the bark home and made a woodpecker to perch on it.

The flamingo was a dare. Could I balance a bird that was leaning over?  Yep.  Fun!

The chick was all about the materials. I thought it would be cool to sew a  bird from fluffy terry cloth.

So each bird has a story to tell about how it came to be.  I just try to be open-minded and not be afraid to accept a challenge.

flamingo from the artful bird

What roll do mistakes play in your process?

Mistakes are part of each and every sewing project and they are hugely important, no matter how aggravating they can be at times.  Each bird pattern started as a prototype.  I drafted the pattern, sewed it up in muslin and then stuffed it to see how it looked.  Then there’s an editing and redrawing process to fix the mistakes in the prototype.  Sometimes the second draft doesn’t quite work either and more editing and redrawing is needed.  I try to constantly remind myself that even if something ends up in the garbage, it is not a waste of time.  I may not be able to totally fix it now, but in a few days or weeks or years the solution will come to me and I’ll try again.

And hey, sometimes I make beautiful mistakes!  The head on the raptor started life as a doll’s head.  I had it all sewn up and stuffed on my desk, but the doll’s body just never materialized.  So I sewed a bird body instead, attached the doll’s head, and voila!  A new bird was born.  And I rather like him, too!

raptor by abby glassenberg

I love how you often use contrasting thread to make your birds. Was that an accident or a conscious design decision?

I think it was an accident the first time it happened, or rather laziness on my part.  My machine is nearly 20 years old. It is a Bernette 330 and the Bernina dealer is really far away from  my house.  As a result, I was lacking in basic supplies for many years. For instance, I only had one bobbin. What a huge pain! One day I had a dark thread wound around it and didn’t want to unwind it to switch threads for a white bird because that would have been a big waste of thread.  I just threw caution to the wind and decided to sew the bird in dark thread. When I had it turned and stuffed I really liked that each seam was visible. I like that you can see the maker’s hand in the finished piece.  After that, contrasting thread became a regular design element in my work.

Do you feel like you’ve given away all your secrets in your book? Or do you have plans for more books?

I had no problem giving away a bunch of my secrets in The Artful Bird.  It is amazing to see people making their own birds now, and I’m thrilled that my techniques can be used and adapted by anyone interested in fabric bird making.  I do have a plan for one more book. It is actually an idea that pre-dates the idea for The Artful Bird.  Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

gallery of bird makers in the artful bird

The profiles of other bird makers at the end of the book is such a lovely and generous thing to do. How did it come about?

I have been inspired for years by the four other fabric bird makers that I feature in the book and I really wanted to include their work so that readers could share in that inspiration.  I was so excited when all four of them agreed to participate. Having a conversation with each of them about their processes for making fabric birds was amazing for me.  It really was a highlight of the eight months that I worked on the manuscript and projects for the book.  I owe each of them a sincere thank you.

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Thank you so much Abby!