I've been interested in cake decorating since I was kid, yet I've never learned how to do it. My cakes tend to be pretty plain, with only icing sugar dusted over them or some basic frosting slathered on. If I did have the skills, I'd love to make a Day of the Dead cake like this.
It's the work of Leslie Vigil, and it took me an embarrassingly long time to realize those aren't real flowers. I love the colours here, the embroidered look, and just the overall design. If I ever did make a cake anywhere near this beautiful, I don't think I could let anyone touch it, which kind of defeats the purpose, don't you think?
It's probably for the best I don't have cake decorating skills. Then again, did I mention that Leslie offers classes?
What are you inspired by right now? Share in the comments...
(Links take you to all available stores. Blood Magic and Tooth & Claw are free on most sites. Love Lies Bleeding and Bleeding Heart are also available in paperback.)
Artist unknown. Please share if you know who made this!
When I saw this needlepoint of Howl's secret garden (Howl's Moving Castle), I fell in love. The subject, the colours, and the work that went into it all sparked my imagination. It doesn't hurt that I've recently learned how to do this kind of embroidery, and now I want to embroider everything :) I don't know who the artist is, but if you see this-- you did an amazing job! (Needlepoint spotted on Pinterest.)
Here's a screenshot of Howl's garden. I think the embroidery is actually prettier than the original...
What are you inspired by right now? Share in the comments...
(Links take you to all available stores. Blood Magic and Tooth & Claw are free on most sites. Love Lies Bleeding and Bleeding Heart are also available in paperback.)
Saturday was International Cat Day (to mark the occasion, I posted about caring for your cat's claws), so cats are a little more on my mind than usual.
I love this brooch-- not only is it handmade and adorable, but it shares a great message. I've never met a black cat that wasn't a total sweetheart. If you're loved by a black cat, you are lucky indeed.
This particular brooch is no longer available, but the design is credited to Sojung Kim McCarthy. Unfortunately, the person who made the brooch seems to have disappeared, so if you know who they are, please let me know.
What do you think of black cats? Share in the comments...
A while back I posted about crocheting a cowl with dollar store yarn. If you remember, that whole project came about because I'd found a single skein of unlabelled yarn in a colour I loved (also at the dollar store). Before I did anything with the mystery yarn, I decided to experiment with some other yarn first. The experiment went pretty well, so I decided to go ahead and replicate it with the mystery yarn (which turned out to be "Knit It!" Cable Knitting Yarn in 100% polyester).
Well, I finally completed a second cowl in the dreamy colour that happens to match a hat and mitts I already had. Yay! Not in time for winter, but hey, it'll be winter again soon enough.
By the way, I don't know why these photos are so washed out. The yarn looks vaguely grey, but it's actually a lovely aqua colour.
I used the same pattern again for this cowl. It's meant to be striped, but I didn't want a second colour this time. I just switched up with stitches as I went to get a striped texture instead.
I also used the right size hook this time.
It ended up narrower at one end again. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong (probably multiple things, and that's what I get for being self taught). If anyone has any tips or suggestions, please leave them in the comments...
It's a cowl! (And this photo shows the colour a little better.)
In the end, this cowl fits a little better and is less stiff than the last one. I think that's probably because I used the correct hook (and maybe because I didn't cut or alternate yarns? I just crocheted along, switching stitches when the pattern said to, without starting a new row.) I'm really happy with it and look forward to wearing it when the weather is right.
I still think dollar store yarn is a good choice for newbies or those of us with more amateur skills (and/or budgets). I've noticed the selection doesn't tend to be great, though. If there's ever a really nice colour, it's guaranteed they'll have only one skein of it. At most they seem to carry only three or four skeins of basic (browns, greys) colours. And they never re-stock. So if you want to use dollar store yarn, stick with smaller projects and get all the yarn you need right away. That, or be prepared to drive around to all the stores in your area to get the amount you need.
Don't forget to get my books! I promise I write better than I crochet (links below)...
Where do you go for decent quality, affordable yarn? Share in the comments...
(Links take you to all available stores. Books marked * are free everywhere other than Amazon. Love Lies Bleeding and Bleeding Heart are also available in paperback.)
Not long ago, I was struck by unexpected inspiration: I needed to make a cross stitch piece featuring house hippos.
If you're a Canadian of a certain age, house hippos are a cultural touchstone; if you're not, you might be a little confused. House hippos were born in 1999:
En francais:
Cute, right? The lesson may not have stuck, but house hippos sure did. Without a house hippo pattern available (at least, not one I could find), I came up with my vision. Then I went looking for patterns to put together.
I didn't really record the details (sorry). I got a hoop that I thought would be a good size, grabbed the aida cloth that seemed like the right one, picked thread colours that seemed appropriate, and found patterns that worked with what I had.
The hippo took longer than I expected. It's a pretty simple design, but there's a surprising amount of detail in it.
The lettering really scared me; I was so worried about it being off center. It's not perfect, but I'm happy with how it turned out.
The red I used for "Caution!" caused me some consternation. I thought I already had the right shade on hand, but it turned out I didn't. It needed a special trip to the store to get the perfect shade of Canadian flag red (DMC 321), and it's not even showing up properly in the picture! This is what it really looks like (or as close as you can get on a screen):
And now for the real stress. The French writing.
The French lines involved longer words/phrases and several wide letters to try to fit in. Paranoid about running out of space, I narrowed the writing on "Attention!" I probably should've left it alone, but by the time I realized that, it was too late to change it.
My original plan was to put a maple leaf on either side of the hippo. Then I realized the French and English parts are equal-- it made no sense to have two large maple leaves and one small fleur de lys. As proud as I was of my freehand mini fleur de lys, it had to go.
For a second I thought about adding a tiny maple leaf to balance out the tiny fleur de lys, but I didn't want it getting too busy.
The final design! I'm happy with how it turned out, especially the fleur de lys, which not only ended up the right size, but is also a pretty good representation in both colour and style of Quebec's fleur de lys (my home province).
I also like to sign my needlepoints. It's always in a hidden spot, but I choose to believe some future needlework enthusiast will notice one of them and start an epic journey to find all the pieces of the mysterious "ASB."
This was actually my first time backing an embroidery hoop with felt. I used this video for the instructions. You can see in the picture above that my "fringe" of aida cloth looks messy and is also too wide. I ended up re-doing it, because it really shows through on the front.
I think that's better (at least there's less excess fabric). By the way, I know people pride themselves on the neatness of the backs of their embroidery pieces. That's great for them, but I can't be bothered. I do needlework to relax and for the love of creating-- I don't need the stress of making sure the back (that no one will see!) looks as good as the front.
I really enjoyed sewing the felt into place. I also enjoy sewing knit/crochet parts together too, which a lot of people seem to hate, so I think I just enjoy hand stitching. The felt isn't completely flat, because (despite my best efforts) it was a tiny bit too big. But it's not so bad that I needed to re-do it.
All done!
Now to get some mini hippos to leave around the house...
As a bonus, I had enough aida left to make a bookmark!
Anyone familiar with A Series of Unfortunate Events should recognize the quote :)
(Links take you to all available stores. Love Lies Bleeding and Bleeding Heart are also available in paperback.)
What projects are you working on lately? If you do needlepoint, do you care what the backs look like? Did you grow up with house hippos? Share in the comments...
Not too long ago, I was checking out Dollarama's craft section when I found what seemed like a treasure: a soft, seemingly decent quality, chunky ball of yarn in a colour I loved. The only problem was that there was just one, and it didn't have a label. Sigh.
I know, I know-- dollar store yarn. The thing is, I'm allergic to animal fibres. I'm also not super familiar with all the alternatives. I do know that cotton doesn't work for every project, and bamboo can be hard to find in stores (and never seems to come in colours I like). So, acrylic is my go-to. Problems with acrylic aside, it's soft and I love working with it. And as someone with fairly amateur knitting/crocheting skills, I appreciate not spending too much on my experiments.
Anyway, I couldn't put that yarn down, so I decided to risk it and figure out something I could make with it. The colour matches a hat and mittens I already have, but I didn't think the yarn would be enough for a scarf, so I decided to see if I could find a pattern for an easy cowl to make.
I also tried finding more of the yarn at a different Dollarama, and ended up finding what looks like the same kind of yarn--but only in two other colours. Since the pattern I found is for a striped cowl, I went ahead and got the other colours (a black and a blue so light it almost looks white). And then I decided to use the new yarn to make a practice cowl first.
Oh, and it turns out the yarn is "Knit It!" Cable Knitting Yarn in 100% polyester (I'm honestly not sure if that's the same as acrylic or not).
So I...
Used the new yarn meant to supplement the original yarn without it
Used knitting yarn in a crochet project
Used the wrong size hook (a 6mm instead of an 8mm) because that was the biggest hook I had, and I didn't feel like getting another one
See why it's better that I don't use really nice yarn? Here's how it went...
The sad beginning (I thought I did something wrong, so I re-did it. It looked the same):
Looking a little better as I added in the second yarn:
Coming along. Look at all those ends that need weaving in (the one thing I hate about crocheting/knitting):
Looking much neater now. It also ended up narrower at the end than when I started out. I have no idea how that happened.
It's cowl shaped!
So, what's the final verdict?
Working with the yarn was fine, mostly. I noticed it kept losing strands as I went. Not a lot, but it does make me wonder how much the cowl will shed over time. The yarn also split (separated from itself) as I was crocheting. It didn't bother me, and doesn't seem to have affected the cowl, but I know that's not generally a good thing.
I really like the feel of the finished cowl-- it's soft and cozy. But it's also stiff. I hope the yarn will "relax" a little after I wash the cowl a couple of times. I also expect it'll pill like crazy.
I think this yarn would make a nice blanket with some good weight to it. But again, the pilling would be a problem (not to mention finding enough yarn to make a blanket in the first place).
Based on my very limited experience with it, I think dollar store yarn (at least this one) is perfectly good for a quick and easy project, like this cowl, or for anyone who wants to hone their skills before investing in better, pricier yarn. Have you tried dollar store yarn? What was your experience with it?
By the way, don't forget to get my books! I promise I write better than I crochet (links below)...
For anyone interested in making their own cowl, here's the (free) pattern I used: Sweet Bee Crochet
(Links take you to all available stores. Books marked * are free everywhere other than Amazon. Love Lies Bleeding and Bleeding Heart are also available in paperback.)
Like so many ideas of dubious merit, this one began on Pinterest. A simple image with an excited caption about making an "easy" tablecloth by sewing bandanas together. So cute! Well...
Okay, so it's not a particularly difficult project but it's not as easy as it seems on the surface. Bandanas, as it turns out, aren't an ideal medium. They're not a uniform size or shape (at least the ones I used weren't), and the fabric isn't the best quality--ridiculously prone to wrinkles and warping. On the other hand, the resulting table cloth really is cute--perfect for a picnic table or other casual setting.
Want to make one? Here's how...
1. Buy bandanas. You can find them pretty cheap at Michaels, but you can find them cheaper elsewhere. I got mine at Bandanas Canada. Yes, this country doesn't have a local store comparable to Mod Cloth or Spoonflower (to my endless chagrin), but we have a dedicated bandana store!
2. Wash bandanas in hot water and dry them in the dryer on the hottest setting. Why? To pre-shrink them and lose some of the excess dye. You need to pre-shrink because otherwise your project will be ruined the first time you wash it. They will also bleed dye, so either keep washing them until the wash water rinses clear, or make sure to buy colours that won't ruin each other when they're washed together (it's probably best to avoid white bandanas in your tablecloth).
3. Iron. And get used to ironing. It turns out looking at bandanas wrinkles them.
4. For my tablecloth I used nine bandanas in total: three rows of three alternating colours. This size will comfortably cover a picnic table. You can make it bigger if you want to use it on a bigger table or as a picnic blanket, but I wouldn't go too much bigger.
5. Time to sew. Pin right sides together (be careful--it's not easy to tell right and wrong sides apart; at least, not until you've accidentally sewed a right side to a wrong side, at which point you will suddenly clearly see the difference and then have to fix it). I used 1/2" seam allowances and that worked well. Sew three bandanas together to make a row. Repeat two more times (or however many times needed to make enough rows for the size cloth you want). Then sew rows together (pin right sides together first, then sew long edges with a 1/2" seam allowance). When pinning two rows together before sewing, make sure to match seams (where two bandanas have been joined), not the outer edges of the bandanas. Uneven outer edges can be fixed but if the seams don't match up, your patchwork effect will be ruined. Don't forget to keep ironing as you go--wrinkled fabric does not a good result make.
6. Final step: finish the outer edge of your table cloth. I'd been hoping to skip this part since bandanas already have finished edges, but the lack of uniformity of the bandanas meant the outer edge was noticeably uneven. If yours is also uneven, fold under enough of the edge to straighten it out. Iron edge (pin in place if you need to). Sew (I topstitched with a 1/4" seam allowance for this part)--just make sure the needle catches the folded under edge as you go. That's it. Snip any loose threads and iron one more time (don't worry--it'll be wrinkled again before long).
I tried decorating the table with some nice glassware but it didn't look right. I finally realized it was a little too fancy for such a casual cloth. So...
Much better. No real lemons on hand, so I broke out the plastic one. There's nothing quite so hopeless as trying to evoke summer on a grey January day in Canada. I don't think we've seen the sun for a week.
Have extra bandanas left? You could try making pillows (place two bandanas, right sides together, and sew on three sides. Turn right side out. Fill with a pillow form or stuffing. Sew fourth side closed by hand).
You could make a quilt, although I wouldn't put too much work into it, given the quality of the fabric. Still, it could be a fun casual project. The three by three bandana configuration seems like a good size for a double bed (but measure to be sure).
Bandanas cut in half diagonally could be used to make bunting.
Two or three bandanas could be used as the basis for an apron.
Do you have any more ideas on how to use bandanas in crafts? Let me know in the comments.
I'm a bit weird when it comes to crochet. I don't do it regularly like most crocheters (or knitters), but I get sudden urges to try a project. I taught myself to make granny squares when I woke up one day with the desire to make a blanket like the ones my mom and grandmother used to make. A couple of weeks ago I decided I *needed* to crochet some dishcloths. So, what could I do but give in? Crafting--it's a sickness (a fun, relaxing sickness).
I made one cloth out of each colour and had plenty of yarn left over.
Some Notes:
1. The dishcloth patterns I've looked at all call for cotton yarn (although I wonder if bamboo
might also work). They also all seem to use worsted weight yarn.
2. The finished dishcloth does a nice job, but it takes a long time to dry. I need to wring it out really well and drape it over the faucet to encourage it to dry faster. I much prefer a fast-drying dishcloth, so I'm debating whether I want to make more dishcloths in future.
3. The one thing (so far) that these cloths are not good for are serrated knives. The loops keep getting caught on the blades--I'm afraid it'll ruin the cloth over time.
4. If I make any more dishcloths, I'll either wash them a couple of times before using them, or I'll use a natural, unbleached cotton yarn. These ones bleed dye like crazy, turning the dish water blue. So much for cute colours.
5. I found the pattern made very large cloths. Since my preference is for a smaller dishcloth, I crocheted fewer rows than the pattern called for.
