I’ve been earning my living as a designer,  fiber artist, writer, workshop presenter, and other wild and wonderful ways (professional puppeteer included) for more than 35 years.  Over those decades, I have come up with some handy  ways of organizing my work.
When I am working on a new book,
(like I am right now)
I have dozens of projects in the works all at once,
and each of the projects has heaps of iterations.
I make a project over
and over and over,
refining and honing it.
Lots of the versions will simply
get frogged as soon as I recognize
a problem and note what I
have to do to …read more

A tiny bog coat for Albert Einstein?  Say What?
The other day,
on one of my fave lists,
someone posted a link
to Bog Coats.
Bog Coats are an
ancient style of
woven coat that
are rather like
a kimono.
They are made from a
rectangular or square
woven piece of fabric
and are simple to make
but offer endless opportunities for embellishment and exploration.
Because I have been playing with tiny vintage Magic Looms that a friend sent to me, I immediately thought-
Woohoo! I could use the Magic Loom to make a tiny bog coat that would work as a Christmas ornament…….
I knew that I wouldn’t be
able to cut into the fabric
made on the …read more

It’s pumpkin time! If you can’t grow the real thing in your garden, you can make tiny pumpkins that are wonderful little pincushions!
I’ve been making all kinds of pumpkin-ie things in the studio,
and over the next
few days,
you’ll be seeing
more about
that!
Today, I’ll
show you how
I made the tiny cauldron
pumpkin pincushions.
Tomorrow, I’ll show you
how to make the
Jack O’Lantern
pumpkin pincushion.
 
A couple of weeks ago
I found a bag full of
cute miniatures at a
garage sale.
There were 2 little
cauldrons in the bag,
that were perfect for
a photo shoot for some
of my designs. (You’ll be
seeing them soon)
When I was working on  the Goddess of Upcycling Doll, I stuffed …read more

I am a dyed in the wool tea fanatic- I am never without a cuppa tea beside me or in hand.
Recently, I found some delicious tea that comes in silk teabags.
Well… if that isn’t an invitation to upcycle, I don’t know what is!
After all, if I am going to pay for the silk
in those tea bags, I am certainly not
going to waste it!
It’s silk, for goodness sake!
and silk’s precious!
So, now, after I savour my cuppa tea,
I save the bag and turn it into all kinds of  upcycled embellishments.
I used to snip one edge of the teabag open,
but I realized that …read more

As well as weaving with yarn on the potholder loom, you can weave with fabric strips, too.
This is a great way of upcycling old clothing and turning it into something new.
I cut up a sweatshirt  for this project….. the outside was lovely and soft, but the inside was like steel wool.
It just wasn’t wearable, so it was time to upcycle it.
First, clamp the garment to a desk or table, and use a sharp knife to release the lower band from the sweatshirt.
Then cut it into a continuous strip by cutting a narrow section, around and around the band….
And, then, use …read more

A few weeks ago, I was enchanted by finding this adorable little vintage Sunbonnet Sue Needlebook in a second hand store:
Poor little thing… she’s very stained, and rather frayed around the edges.
Even so, she stole my heart, and I knew that I just had to see if I could rescue and re-create her.
If you are wondering what a needle book is, it’s a rather sweet bit of stitchery history.
Needlebooks are small ‘books’ with cloth pages that are alternatives to pin cushions.
Needles are stored in the inner pages of the needlebook.
Her front and back are way out of kilter with each …read more

A couple of months ago, I bought a used leather coat at the second hand store. My plan was to upcycle  it into a new bag.
Well, I haven’t gotten around to making the bag yet,
but I did snip a little flap off the coat
and have used it to make
the perfect accessory
for the Fanciful Flat Fiber Friends Dolls: Shoes.
Doesn’t every doll need the perfect pair of shoes?
Well, Flora did, so I got busy
with my sketch book and graph paper.
I snipped out a half a dozen different versions
of shoes for Flora and her friends.
When I was happy with the pattern, I cut …read more

Here’s the first garment that I have designed and made for the Fanciful Flat Fiber Friend Dolls – an origami kimono.
In this pic, Flora , my FFFF Doll, is modelling the prototype origami kimono that I made from scrap paper.
Once  I was happy with the kimono, I got folding with proper origami paper. I used a 6 inch/15 cm square of origami paper for this kimono. You could easily use a square of decorative paper, or brown paper or wrapping paper or even junk mail!
Fold the piece of paper in half from top to bottom, then open it up, and …read more

Yesterday, I posted a  pattern that I made from a vintage handmade inkle weaving shuttle.
Today, I thought… I should use that pattern to make a shuttle!
Then I remembered that I had a piece of an old ruler from my husband’s Dad in the studio.
I don’t know what he used the other half for, but I am pleased as can be to have this half!
I traced the pattern onto the ruler.
Because I promised my friend, William, that I wouldn’t use power tools until my eye is completely healed, I used simple hand tools.
My eye is really not there yet, so power …read more

When my daughter and her husband moved into their new house, they trimmed a branch that was hanging over the sidewalk.
I brought the branch home and let it dry out for a few months.
I trimmed the small stickie outie bits off….
And carefully sliced pieces off the branch. The pine wood smelled wonderful!
Then drilled holes
Voila! Handmade wooden buttons- they need to be waxed or varnished…
perhaps embellished with a little woodburning or paint first?
Hmmmm….. my son trimmed the apple trees…. perhaps I should make some apple wood buttons…..