So I finally have gone off the deep end and decided to make my own shoes. I knew it was coming- I repeatedly have taken apart old shoes to see how they were put together, and spent long hours sighing over shoes on the Met website. When I got the chance to take a glued construction flat class from Paige Sorrell I knew I was totally hooked. Recently I was able to take a class from Master Shoemaker Marcell Mrsan it was tough, he was tough, I ended up with bandaids on most of my fingers and a grade of "able to wear at night on a black horse" but I was kinda proud of what I had learned just the same. I plan to tackle another pair of welted shoes- just as soon as I get the bandaids off. Until then check out the feature UrbanThreads did in their blog StitchPunk on my embroidered shoes!
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So, "reality shows" are usually not my thing. I have to admit to watching Project Runway, and my latest favorite- well, I'm not quite sure where it fits in. I have become obsessed with the "Pharaoh" Dr. Zahi Hawass in the History channel series "Chasing Mummies" Sometimes I wonder if they purposefully chose ditzy women for him to yell at or what. I mean if you are going to wet yourself in the Great Pyramid- you probably deserve to get yelled at! When I was a kid I had an obsession with Egypt, and have nursed my eldest child through her own Egypt period. All this Egyptian stuff, got me to thinking about pyramids and I recalled an article in an old threads magazine- many years ago. I had used the instructions they had given for a pyramid bag, to create pyramid boxes for Eldest's 6th birthday party, which had a Egyptian theme. I went back through the magazines and pulled out the instructions, and Voilla! Pyramid bags! I have to thank my fiber arts guild, the Fiber Fanatics, for giving me the idea that they would be great to hold a ball of yarn while you were knitting. Woo hoo- no more escaping balls of yarn scampering across the floor!!
Despite the fact it is still hot as blue blazes, around here its fair time. This has caused Wicked to go into a frenzy of creation. Having only bullied my children into fair entries in the past- I decided it was about time to put my "money where my mouth was" and enter a few things my own self. Besides, I'm tired of seeing crocheted afghans. So I get out the fair book, and realize that may be all there are classes for! *insert wicked cackle here* So I hereby and now make it my mission to do my part to liven up our county fair. I will enter my skull emblazoned bottle sweater in the knitted household items category. I will enter my "Death in the Roses" hoodie in the decorated sweatshirt category. I will enter a necklace made of tiny handmade books in the jewelry category. Yes, you will probably see a bunch of handmade afghans and scrapbooking pages in the fair this year, but I'm betting there will be a few second takes as well. Maybe it will inspire a few young crafters to jump in there and make something cool!
Wicked recently learned to knit- or rather "re-learned" to knit. When she was a small girl she thought she would learn the feminine art of knitting. Unfortunately the knitting instructor chose a rather ugly/grannyish set of house shoes as a first project. First rule of crafting comes into play at this point. IF you do not love what you are making, it is NOT going to get finished. Really, I can procrastinate with the best of them. Fortunately Wicked has a dear friend, who encourages her little whims and when I announced I wanted to knit long arm-warmers, she first knit me a set and then told me I was capable of knitting these as well. So I did, I then proceeded to pilfer aforementioned friend's brand new book on knitting mobius baskets, and knitted a bevy of those. Which brings me to todays project- a bottle cozy. Now Wicked will admit, The Anti-craft will not be everyone's cup of tea, but they have some very edgy ideas for knitting. I decided to decorate my stylish black bottle sweater with a needlefelted skull and crossbones, because I like to needlefelt and I'm too darn lazy to do the duplicate stitch. I could see these being a great father's day gift, but Wicked believe she'll keep this one for herself.
I admit that it is now July and that these aren't real flowers. But all the rain we've been having has Wicked stuck in her Keep. This has lead to a major reorganization, which has led to the discovery of many wonderful scraps of dresses gone by. These are perfect for hats and their trimmings. And today I'm going to share with you how to make velvet pansies! I hope you have fun!
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AuthorWickedStepmother spends most of her time in her castle, and trying to control her minions, to little avail. Archives
June 2015
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