Crafting at Work

No I don't do it on the clock. I'm talking about during breaks and random lunches and things like that. Sometimes I just want to keep my hands busy. I'm still trying my hand at sewing. My work still feels like beginner results, but a least I'm seeing results.

My first at work project was a rose. I actually took 3 daisy shaped fabric flowers I made and twisted them into each other to form the rose. The green base and leaf were attempts to cover up some my stitching. That didn't work out so well. I added a little pearl bead in the middle to act as the area to find pollen.

My current project is the cherry blossom. At the moment my test results look like funny shaped stars to me. Better than my initial tests which looked like fabric polygons more than flowers.

New Item!: Flower Clips

I just listed a sweet little set of flower clips. The fabric scrap I used was so small but it was too beautiful not to use for something. Much tinkgering and cursing later I made some classic fabric rose buds. Check it out!

Roses Red Shoe Clip Set
Available on Etsy now for $12.

Wait, I Sew? (Flower Shoe Clips)

I have a lot of female friends. This isn't 'vaguely know them on my Facebook page' sense, but in a 'I see these people quite regularly to hang out' sense. With the holidays/birthdays approaching and me short on money, I decided to venture into a new arts and crafts project, shoe clips.

I searched around for something I like, but nothing to my satisfaction. I mean, does everyone have to make nice shoe clips in the same shape (circles) and material (polyester ribbon)? So here I go again attempting to sate my dead grandmother who could make shawls with dental floss.

For experiments I purchased some Japanese inspired fabric from Kimonomomo and a nifty book on fabric flowers. The fabric was enough to have me experiment, and the book had *gasp* realistic patterns. A bit of cutting and painting and sewing later I came up with my prototype


Here's Mark 1. Instead of leaving the edges raw I tried stiffening the fabric so it doesn't come undone. This left the fabric a bit too stiff. I could only shape it after smashing it in my hand and giving it a good twist. Even then it would lay flat after some time. However I did like how the two pearl beads in the middle turned out. All right, lessons learned. There's plenty of material for Mark 2.

Oh this one turned out nice. Rather than starch the fabric to stiffness I painted the edges with some fabric paint (and some gold glitter for sparkle). I might have been a tad too enthusiastic with the application of the paint. This is much closer to what I had in mind. Not flat pancake petals, but rather layers that can move and fold on their own accord without detracting from its beauty.

I would start on Mark 3 (and hopefully the final test clips) today, but it's my neice's birthday party. Time for some cake and Wii Sports antics!

Wait, I Sew? (A Purple Flower Hair Clip. By Myself)

Yes, I do. Very badly. Traumatic experiences with a grandmother who could literally sew everything while watching soap operas.

One day I convinced myself I want a fabric flower hair clip. After about two days of searching I couldn't find what was envisioned in my head. I found many things too small, too big, too flashy, or just too awful. Of course, all of these things were too expensive. Frustrated, I decided to make this myself.

Materials:

1. Fabric - some cheap fat quarters in batik patterns
   
2. Felt - eco-friendly
   
3. Needles - normal sewing needles and embroidery
   
4. Thread - the fancy embroidery ones and ones with neat gradients
   
5. Large hair clips - surprisingly critical component. I bought hair clips that I knew could keep my fine hair together.
   
6. Button - I found this while looking for the supplies above. It immediately reminded me of one of my grandma's blouses.
   
7. Fabric glue - An adhesive glue with more flexibility than standard tacky glue.

The design took a couple of doodles to get right. I kept forgetting I needed this flower and leaf to fit on my head and the clip that it will be on. I drew out the pattern on the cloth, and made a cloth sandwich (cloth, felt, cloth) on the embroidery hoop. And holy cow I sewed something for purposes other than fixing holes and tears.

I used the embroidery thread to make a border. I am terrible with maintaining consistency in my stitches. I can feel the my grandma's spirit on me to at least attempt to make all of this pretty. I tried, grandma. I don't have decades of practice like you did. But thank you for teaching me to thread a needle and multi-task. Catching up to my TV shows on my DV-R and sewing. Oddly relaxing and helps me focus on the task at hand.


I was indecisive about gluing or sewing on the finished components. I had enough stitches in them to make sewing new stitches very difficult. However the fabric glue is doing very well.

For my first foray into making hair accessories I am happy with the results. Things can only go up from here.

New Item: Chagami Pack, Now with Pressed Flowers

Here is my latest experiment into utilizing my flower press, 5 Oatmeal Sheets with Pressed Flowers

I know people say don't take pictures during sunset, but I like the warm glow it casts on my paper. This is the first real test of pressed flowers on my paper making.

I may have been a bit overenthusiastic with the drying. As you can see in the picture on the right, the paper pulp couldn't "cling" on to some parts of the flower. On the other hand, the "ghosting: dye effect from the flower petals is pretty sweet.

Party All the Time

Still trying to recover from the weekend festivities, folks. My sister and her family moved back up to the Bay Area. After a little coaxing from my mom, I made a 'Welcome Home' banner to greet my sister, brother-in-law, and niece. I made it with some card stock, paint, punched-out shapes of butterflies, my flower hole puncher, ribbon, and a geranium I pressed myself.

On a side note: I have been pressing a lot of flowers lately. Thanks to the magic of the Microfleur and my microwave. Takes a little while to adjust each flower press batch so everything dries flat and even. The first 5 tries had burned bits and warped centers that made me quite unhappy. I've been stockpiling uniquely colored rose petals for another massive project. I need to gauge how well the dried flowers do in my paper making as well. But that would be another time and another blog post.

On the same day, we also celebrated my nephew's 13th birthday. He's no longer a big boy, but a young man. Well, maybe he can still be a boy in my heart. Look at him eating away at that cake. Like it's going to melt in his hands or something.

My niece, however, does not seem to be pleased by the idea of being photographed while eating delicious chocolate cake on a plate bigger than her head. She thinks it's her birthday party. That's fine I still love her, even if she does give me these funny looks.

Rest Well, Old Friend

Sometimes it's hard to let go. Time passes and at some point they just tell you 'Leave me here, I'll be fine. Go on now. Don't worry about me anymore.' You don't want them to go but at the same time you can't bear to see them suffer.

I can't believe I'm saying this about a paint brush.

I've had this student grade sumi brush for about 7 years now. I learned calligraphy with it. I practiced sumi-e with it. Brushes have come and gone but this old brush was the constant in my collection. Now I see signs of its age. The hair doesn't hold ink as it used to. The suppleness is gone. The once strong brush base lost its foundation. The old ink doesn't wash off like it used to.

For some reason, I thought it told me, 'Just one more time,' like in sports movies. The old veteran just wants one more shot before riding into the sunset. It'll have just enough strength for one more piece.

I looked through my sumi-e book for an appropriate figure, and found the chrysanthemum. The chrysanthemum is considered one of the 'Four Gentlemen' of sumi-e, representing fall. When brewed as a tea, the aroma and taste are believed to cure the flu. Chrysanthemums are found in Japan as symbols of the Emperor and the royal line. A dignified way for my old brush to go.

The finished piece is still drying. I will be using the finished picture as part of a larger project.

Oddly enough I want to give the brush a small funeral. In Japan it is believed that certain objects have a spirit (神 pronounced kah-mi). Such spirited objects should be properly revered (not thrown away) lest the spirit comes back to curse you. I'm very sentimental with this brush. A memorial is the least I can do for it.

Rest well, old friend.