I think I may be late to the "Artisan bread in 5 minutes a day" party.... The master recipe is available free online, so go forth and experiment if you haven't already!
August 8, 2010
Jumping on the breadwagon
I think I may be late to the "Artisan bread in 5 minutes a day" party.... The master recipe is available free online, so go forth and experiment if you haven't already!
August 1, 2010
Reversible cycling cap
UPDATE: Pattern updated 02/10/10
Please scroll down for details.
Please scroll down for details.
This reversible cycling cap was intended ad a gift, and as you can see it's a bit big for me! I scored the tweed material for next to nothing at my local op-shop, and the plastic in the brim (which allows it to flick upward like a traditional cycling cap) came from a display folder's cover. No that is not a real fingerstache tattoo, and the brooch is from Dog Daisy.
I got the idea from Panda Face's original pattern on flickr, which has some interesting comments and links to photos. Dude craft's video tutorial and PDF pattern were also a great help. The pattern is for a non-reversible cap and his brim is more like a baseball-cap. Unlike Panda Face's pattern, which needs some adjusting to get the proportions right, Dude Craft's is correctly proportioned and ready to print. It helped me create my own pattern using the more traditional brim as per Panda Face's pattern.
With their permission, I am releasing the pattern under an attribution, share-alike creative commons license, which means you are allowed to modify and redistribute the pattern as long as you do so under the same license and give credit.
UPDATE: After feedback from the recipient, I have modified the pattern to make the brim a little skinnier and the hat a little shorter. The files below have been updated, and the old versions are still available too. I have also removed the non-commercial clause from the creative commons license.
This pattern makes a cap with roughly a 62cm (24.4") circumference.
If you want to edit the pattern directly in Inkscape or an equivalent program, here is the original design file:
One day I plan to write up a proper tutorial on how to make the cap reversible and adjust the pattern size for different heads.
The basic idea is that you cut out 8 cap pieces and 2 brim pieces. You sew up the middle seam of each cap piece, then sew the cap pieces together in pairs. Next, grab two double cap pieces and join them. Check size against your head, adjust seams in as necessary. Repeat with the two remaining double cap pieces.
Next, take the two brim pieces and sew them together. Insert the plastic piece, sew around the edge of the brim (through the plastic) to keep in it place and sew the opening shut. Finally, put the two cap pieces together (right sides facing) and sandwich the brim piece between the two. Sew around the edge, leaving an opening at the back through which you then pull the cap right-side-out.
Fold under the sides of the opening and put some elastic in if you like. To finish it off, top-stitch all the way around the bottom of the cap, thus closing the opening and making sure both sides of the cap sit correctly.
July 28, 2010
Bearded man ATC
My honours thesis is due in under three months, so expect a lot of procrastination crafting!This afternoon, in between readings on survey-based experimental research via the web, I whipped up a Frankie Magazine ATC for a Send Something letter. Isn't the picture of the bearded guy awesome? It's made by the lovely lady over at the handmade romance blog.
I definitely need to carve a rubber stamp for the back of ATCs... could be a bit fiddly though!
Related post: Magazine collage ATCs
July 25, 2010
Stamp carving with Brown Owls
I hadn't been to a Brown Owls meeting in such a long time, so it was great to be back and crafting with other people again.
This month's activity was stamp carving, and there are some great tutorials listed for it if you're interested. I'd been a little disheartened by my attempt to carve lino, but carving erasers was a much nicer experience!
It's nice to be able to give it a go, ink it, and then make adjustments. For instance, I had to get rid of a bit in the corner of the robo-postbox one. Also, don't forget to reverse things like writing if you are drawing directly on to the stamp... that's how I ended up with an exclamation mark before the envelope!
These are the sketches I worked from... and I'd love to think up some more. These will be great for stamping envelopes with. Check out the meet's stamping round-up for some great inspiration!
This month's activity was stamp carving, and there are some great tutorials listed for it if you're interested. I'd been a little disheartened by my attempt to carve lino, but carving erasers was a much nicer experience!It's nice to be able to give it a go, ink it, and then make adjustments. For instance, I had to get rid of a bit in the corner of the robo-postbox one. Also, don't forget to reverse things like writing if you are drawing directly on to the stamp... that's how I ended up with an exclamation mark before the envelope!
These are the sketches I worked from... and I'd love to think up some more. These will be great for stamping envelopes with. Check out the meet's stamping round-up for some great inspiration!
July 23, 2010
Vegan snickerdoodles
These are just delicious. Crunchy on the outside and a touch chewy on the inside. The perfect pick-me-up! I got the recipe from Vegan Yum Yum's book, the same one I got the apple strudel recipe from. Having a vegan housemate is certainly a good excuse to do some fun baking...The recipe is over on the Vegan Yum Yum blog and for you aussies, I used nuttelex for the margarine and Ogran's "No egg".
July 16, 2010
Constance bunny from tollipop
Just the other day, I had the surreal experience of visiting tollipop and seeing my name staring back at me... I'd won the Constance bunny giveaway!
Here's Constance bunny, next to Clementine. I do hope that cup of tea is for me. There are so many lovely prints & originals available from the tollipop etsy shop.
It's so cute, I immediately wanted to make a little stuffed Constance bunny toy. I sketched a quick design or two, and we'll see if I find the time/energy to whip it up!
If you're quick, there's another tollipop giveway going at the moment! So head on over if you'd like a wee original for yourself. Especially if you like bunnies and icecream...
Here's Constance bunny, next to Clementine. I do hope that cup of tea is for me. There are so many lovely prints & originals available from the tollipop etsy shop.
It's so cute, I immediately wanted to make a little stuffed Constance bunny toy. I sketched a quick design or two, and we'll see if I find the time/energy to whip it up!
If you're quick, there's another tollipop giveway going at the moment! So head on over if you'd like a wee original for yourself. Especially if you like bunnies and icecream...
July 12, 2010
The envelope project
I'm a late comer to the Envelope project over at Meet me at Mike´s. I was motivated to join in the fun after seeing the envelopes that Anna Bartlett and Ingela Parrhenius sent in. The idea is that the decorated envelopes will be displayed in Pip's shop, and then one participant will be drawn at random and will receive the contents of all the envelopes. You can see the full set of photos over at flickr. If you want to join in, make sure your envelope arrives before the 2nd of August!
Here's a sneak peak of the contents of my envelope. On the left is a sweet gocco print of a bowerbird from Stellar Baby. On the right are two bookmarks - one is from a Colombian book shop (it says "reading is the key") and the other is from New Caledonia.Related posts:
July 6, 2010
Cute as a button.... cuff-link!
I am not posting because I've found a great new tutorial, nor do I have something something I've made to share with you... It's just that these cuff-links make me happy! I bought this shirt from an op-shop recently and didn't realise until I got home that it required cuff-links.
Fortuitous, then, that I dropped by Shop handmade for some retail therapy, and found these cuties by Lilypad Designs.
June 27, 2010
Birds and bears on bags, oh my!
Spurred on by the 6th International Morsbagging Sunday and a request to donate bags for a "rubbish and bag free" primary school fête in Melbourne, I whipped up 11 Morsbags last Sunday. Two of these were stencilled...
This bag was decidedly plain and brown, so I decided it needed jazzing up with some birds sitting around on a wire. Which I made into a branch on the spur of the moment by branching one end and making the second one a little curvy.
Of course, once finished, I realised it looked a little silly. Talk about the world's strongest, skinniest branch!
Also, I recommend properly ironing down the freezer paper stencil and always painting away from the edges. Otherwise you end up with blobs like those you can see in the close-up above. But remember... it's a branch! Saved!
The next Morsbag was cute on its own, made from a thrifted cushion cover. The polka-dots reminded me of snow flakes, so I decided a polar bear would be a nice addition.
Even though I've bought coloured screen painting ink, I still end up working predominantly in black and white.
And just to finish up, here's a picture of a stencilled Morsbag I made a little while ago from an old sheet. I have a lot more of this fabric, and I hope each one will each have a stencilled picture to distract people from the pattern!
This bag was decidedly plain and brown, so I decided it needed jazzing up with some birds sitting around on a wire. Which I made into a branch on the spur of the moment by branching one end and making the second one a little curvy.Of course, once finished, I realised it looked a little silly. Talk about the world's strongest, skinniest branch!
Also, I recommend properly ironing down the freezer paper stencil and always painting away from the edges. Otherwise you end up with blobs like those you can see in the close-up above. But remember... it's a branch! Saved!
{source: Dr Case}
The inspiration for this stencil came from the above picture, snapped by Justin Case in Barcelona. I have a lot of my own pictures of street art that I've taken around the world which I also love to draw inspiration from.
The next Morsbag was cute on its own, made from a thrifted cushion cover. The polka-dots reminded me of snow flakes, so I decided a polar bear would be a nice addition.
Even though I've bought coloured screen painting ink, I still end up working predominantly in black and white.
And just to finish up, here's a picture of a stencilled Morsbag I made a little while ago from an old sheet. I have a lot more of this fabric, and I hope each one will each have a stencilled picture to distract people from the pattern!
June 23, 2010
Modified hand-me-down
Before ............................. After
Inspired by New Dress A Day, I modified this hand-me-down into something more suited to my style. Excuse the awful mirror shots! I obviously need to rope a friend into taking photos (or modelling) for me.
First thing I did was get rid of the floaty skirty bit and hem it. I have one shirt like that already and it always sits a bit awkwardly on me.
Next I removed the straps because the shirt was a few sizes too small and the sides were up in my armpits. Instead of cutting and hemming the front, I just folded it down and secured it with some tiny stitches. It stays up, but I have enough material left over to make some straps later, if I choose.Hurry up, Summer!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
