Hey there, and happy Friday! Liesl is in London this weekend for a short trip, so she wasn’t able to put together her usual weekend links. While Liesl is traveling I thought I’d share some of my recommendations for the weekend.
Although Fashion Revolution Week is now behind us for this year, I enjoyed all of the camaraderie. I was reminded that I really need to get around to mending my favorite pair of jeans that I’ve worn so much that they now have a hole in them. I’d like to try my hand at visible mending, on my jeans using Sashiko stitching like these done by Katrina Rodabaugh. I’ve been following her on Instagram and if you aren’t following her, you should be! She teaches workshops on visible mending, but unfortunately not in my area. So I’m secretly hoping Creativebug will invite her to make some video classes. Oh, and her “Slow Fashion is a Revolution” blog post is a must read!
Speaking of Sashiko I really want to get my hands on this book and find a fun Sashiko design to make something beautiful like Sara did here.
About a year or so ago my daughter started reading the Sew Zoey book series. The books are aimed at girls ages eight to twelve years old and the fourteenth book in the series just came out last month. Here’s the general idea of the whole book series: Zoey’s middle school drops the school uniform and Zoey goes clothes shopping and doesn’t find anything she likes. She then starts designing and sewing her own clothes, starts a sewing blog, opens an Etsy shop… Read all the cute book titles that they came up with.
My daughter recently got this adorable LEGO Friends set which includes a sewing machine, scissors, camera, and laptop! The product description states: “Emma is sewing beautiful hair bows to sell on her e-shop. Check the sewing pattern on her whiteboard and use the sticky notes to add changes or new ideas. Then it’s time to get cutting, but which color will make the nicest bows? Get to work at the sewing machine to help Emma turn her designs into beautiful creations ready to buy—she just needs to take pictures and upload them to her website.” Be sure to watch the cute one minute video. All of this makes me think of the Felt Bows, free pattern and tutorial.
The month of May will bring us the return of the Great British Sewing Bee. The fourth season starts May 5th. (Edited to add: Sorry I spoke too soon, it appears that it has been delayed a little longer so won’t be shown on May 5th as previously planned.) I’m a big fan of the show and can’t wait to watch it. We were thrilled to have Matt Chapple from season three stop by to visit last year. As well as Lauren Guthrie from season one. By the way did you see that she had her first baby this month?!
Interesting Things from around the Web
- Old blues for new shoes. I’m planning to do more hiking, so I’m looking for some good hiking shoes. As I was doing that I came across this article about repurposing jeans before they head to the landfill and using them for footwear. Such a good thing!
- Speaking of feet, I love my socks that I got from Little River Sock Mill. All organic cotton and made in the USA. I highly recommend them.
- Watch a video about an artist who sews ripped clothes for free on San Francisco sidewalks. He’s been “mending for the people” since 2002!
- Here’s a cat alphabet in hand embroidery. How cute is that?
- Ever heard of “Cat Island” in Japan? I thought it would be fun to visit it after I watched this one minute video.
- Edible cutlery! Eat with it, then eat it!
- Hancock Fabrics is going out of business. If you live in the US, now would be a good time to visit to stock up on sewing tools and supplies before we bid adieu.
- Just a friendly reminder that Me Made May starts this weekend. It’s been going on since 2010! Share photos on Instagram of you wearing your handmade garments during May and tag them with #MMMay16.
Happy weekend!
Thanks for mentioning the Sew Zoey books! I’ve put them on my daughter’s Amazon list. Hopefully it will continue to encourage her creativity.
Love the idea for fixing jeans. Thanks Rachel. I love liesls posts but it’s great to hear a fresh view on the world for a change
Thank you for the tip on the Sew Zoey books! Also, my youngest has some of those Emma Lego sets…they’re cute.
And finally, I’ve had that Sashiko books since it’s been released…it is quite lovely. I highly recommend it. A lot of craft books are just fluff, but this one isn’t. The “History” section alone is worth it.