creativity | Recent Entries

Do you make crafts? Do you like to look at crafts? Would you like to get (or give) advice about crafts? All crafts are welcome. Share photos, stories about projects in progress, and connect with other crafty folks.

You are welcome to make your own posts, and this community will also do a monthly call for people to share what they are working on, or what they've seen which may be inspiring them. Images of projects old or new, completed or in progress are welcome, as are questions, tutorials and advice.

If you have any questions, ask them here!

reishka

x-posted to my own journal (directions on how to DIY this beauty for yourself are also there)

The glue will take another 24 hours or so to fully cure, but at this point I have a functional, hanging, necklace board. This is so much nicer than having my necklaces hang off the corner of my mirror. Besides getting tangled it just looked janky. SO. Photos, ho!

( Read more... )

corrvin

So, I knitted this for a friend, and it's going out in the mail Monday. In a contrast to my usual organizational skills, I managed to remember to take the pictures, in the daytime, BEFORE putting the hat in the envelope.

Note to future self: a single hat fits very well in a 9" by 12" envelope for mailing, as long as it's not a 10" wide beret.

Pattern: None, really. Knitted top-down and increased 16 stitches every 3rd round.
Needle size: 5
Yarn: Jojoland Melody (the tan/brown color)
Twice Tweed (the cream color, does not stretch, like knitting with Sugar-N-Cream, but wool)
The purple and green/brown stripes are some Kool-Aid dyed Lion Fisherman's Wool.

( pictures! )

I have about 3 other things on the needles, and maybe if it gets down below 100 this week I will have the motivation to knit on them.

reishka

X-posted to my journal.

I've been making a baby quilt for one of my old high-school era friends. She's about to exit the army and she's pregnant, and since I don't live near her I thought that this would be something nice that I could do for her. Photos after the jump!

( Read more... )

This kind of quilting is hard for me. I'm much better at geometric/traditional quilt blocks. This applique is much more organic and free-form, and I'm not very good at it. I don't feel like I have the creative talent for this type of art... but I do have to admit, for a first attempt I'm happy with how it turned out!

And now.. a preview of my next quilt, for my mother!

( Read more... )

Current Mood: happy
Current Location: home

mushbubbles

I've had an old sweater from Goodwill lying around and I've literally NEVER worn it. I realized the only reason I kept it was because I LOVE the fabric. So I decided to make something out of it.

I made this cute purse by hand (my sewing machine's tension is off and I can't for the life of me figure out how to fix it) and it didn't take long at all!

( My first attempt at a cute purse :) Rather large pictures. )

corrvin

While not my first knitted socks, these are my first complete pair in sock yarn. (I've made a pair in worsted, and a single in sock yarn.)

( cut for pic )

reishka

Cross-posted to my own journal.

So, since I apparently love to make my life complicated, I'm working on two crochet throws, a baby quilt, and a spring quilt. Add in school, finals, final projects... I'm amazed I have time to work on anything! The good news is I'm finished with all my final projects, and my last final is Monday. Tuesday I have to present a project... and them I'm home free! I'm going to have so much free time I'm not going to know what to do with myself.

Some OTHER good news is that I'm already putting that free time to good use! I finished my spring quilt! It's the size of a baby blanket, as I've found it's the PERFECT size for a throw. It also seems to fit a twin-sized bed pretty well. It's great for those spring nights where it's still a little bit nippy outside -- I'm glad I finished this while there were still nights to use it!

This is the first quilt where I hand-stitched the binding. I never like the way that machine-bound binding looked when trying to get both sides bound in the same run. So, I machine-stitched the back side, and then flipped it over the edge of he quilt and ladder-stitched the front. It took me about four hours, but I think it makes for a much nicer look overall. It's probably something I'll continue to do on future quilts. Also: I want to give mad props to the hubby and his mom for suggesting that I quilt in the diagonal on the coloured squares. It really made the design pop!

So, without further ado... some pictures! :)

( Read more... )

Current Mood: satisfied

weaverbird

I'm new to working with wire - most of my stuff is beadweaving - and they say the only way to get competent is to practice, so I made this necklace as a practice piece for making wrapped loops.

click for a bigger picture

I used 24 ga dead soft copper wire, and miscellaneous cobalt glass beads I've had around for years - three different batches, none of which were enough to make anything by themselves. And it did the trick - my wrapped-loop skills, which started off pretty shaky, are much better now! *g*

fadedwings

I haven't posted here before but since I'm trying to be a bit more active in the communities here during 3w4dw I thought that I'd finally post.

Here are a few things I've made recently...

a tiny envelope wallet for a bit of cash and my ID along with a cozy for my iPod touch...

and an art quilt as a gift for my mom...

6x6 inches

(you can see bigger versions by clicking on the photos)

Current Mood: tired

lysdexia

Can't believe that this scarf represents about six months of my life in terms of creative work. Stretched out it's between twelve and fifteen feet long and mostly knitted in garter stitch with acrylic yarns.

( Doctor Who fans, I think you'll enjoy this )

Next project, ballet slippers!

EDIT: Fixed image link, added one more, hopefully.

Current Mood: artistic

reishka

I finally got those silly kanzashi/fabric flowers to work! With a combination of thread and glue, I came up with a method that got the job done. That, and using ribbon instead of starched fabric expedited the process, so I'm so happy~ I wore it in my hair without it falling apart -- only time will tell how sturdy it actually is, but I have high hopes. :) And now that I have this down, I can try my hand at more complex ones...

Please pardon the crappy cellphone pic.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: Home

reishka

Cross-posted to my own journal

So, I initially was going to only make the bias tape and pin it, and save the stitching for tomorrow. Well, that plan went out the window as I got into a groove and I just plowed through it. For the record: I absolutely hate bias tape. It is probably the only part I hate about quilting -- stitching it to the quilt. Maybe there's some trick, but I ALWAYS seem to 'un-catch' part of it on the back every so often, so then I have to go back, rip out stitches, and stitch again. On this one, I didn't bother to rip out the stitches - the fabric is dark enough that I figure if you go looking THAT close at it, you deserve to find my mistakes... lol.

This quilt would have been a LOT easier if I could have used my darning foot... unfortunately, no matter what I did, I couldn't get the tension right with the thread that I was using. The thread is a metallic silver on the top and black in the bobbin, and the silver gave me nothing but trouble (any tips?). So the ENTIRE QUILT is stitched using a walking foot. It sucked, but it was still easier than stitching it with a regular foot. Even with that, the tension isn't QUITE right in some places. When you look at the back, you can see silver thread poking though in some places. It doesn't bother me a whole lot, but now I know for the future: Metallic threads suck.

So now, without further ado, some photos (behind the cut):
(Please ignore how messy my apartment is. I'm in the middle of moving, so stuff is everywhere right now; also, the colour is correct in the second photo. The first one was taken with a flash, and the colours aren't accurate)

( Read more... )

Current Mood: happy
Current Location: Home
Current Music: T.V.

undyedyarnpire

It has taken more than three months since we began the project, but the blanket is finally completed.

( Read more... )

Crossposted from: http://undyedyarnpire.dreamwidth.org/7321.html

Current Mood: jubilant

corrvin

So I took a break from the camera case I've been sewing for myself and put together a cell phone case for my mom, to go in her purse and keep the phone within reach. I'm going to get a clasp for the loop at the store and mail it to her today.

( pics below cut )

reishka

Cross-posted to my own journal

So, I switched gears a little bit from my usual hodge-podge of crafts (namely, quilting. And I'm still trying to work the kinks out of those stupid fabric flowers... but I'm getting there. Using ribbon instead of fabric seems to help) and crocheted a hat. And now the hubby wants one. And a friend's boyfriend wants one. So it looks like I'll be making hats for the forseeable future. Oh, well. It'll be something to keep my hands busy as the hubbs and I finish watching the Star Trek movies... :) I ended up using a yarn that I'd been saving for awhile. I picked it up sometime last year (I honestly can't remember when) and I wanted to save it for something special. I think it came out looking pretty nice. I snagged the pattern from a friend, who found it here

Pics behind the jump. Please ignore my terribad camera skills!

( Read more... )

Current Mood: amused

corrvin

( I wanted a bag with more pockets. )

corrvin

After 2 years of having a Brother sewing machine that was erratic to the point of being unusable, I took the time to troubleshoot the problem online, and figured out that I needed to buy actual name-brand Brother bobbins.

Having grown up on recipes that specified "Pillsbury brand all-purpose flour" and the like, I had assumed the manual specifying "Our brand bobbins only" was a marketing gimmick. Let me tell you, it's NOT. I spent $3 on new bobbins and my machine works again.

( So! Sew! Here's what I made! )

seryn

I found someone else's project and it inspired me.

If there's a project floating around that gets your creative juices powering the hydraulics of your brain, please share the links!

This is what I found, by Sam Qureshi:

Untangled
Posted on January 18, 2011 by qureshipursuits

Untangled Got tangled earbuds? Here’s a pattern that will eliminate the tangle forever. Happy Knitting!

Sam Qureshi

keep your earbuds from tangling!

Untangled

Current Mood: impressed

undyedyarnpire

This is what I came up with to solve my extreme difficulties with the so-called "easier" method of warping my loom. The "easier" method involves getting really close up, poking the yarn through a tight slot in the heddle, grabbing a loop and walking across the room to the peg, then bringing the yarn loop back and poking it through the tight slot again.You will notice that this requires alternation of a big physical motion with tiny detail work. That generally causes people to ignore ergonomic concerns to maximize efficiency. However if I could cut all the yarns first, then fish them through the heddle, I would take the time to position my tools and equipment optimally for my use.

With that in mind I repurposed a yarn swift, which normally holds the giant loops of yarn one buys from the store because only low-quality yarn is sold in a ready-to-use format, to give me a 100" long yarn path using 9 pegs instead of the regular 4. My method owes something to string art and I feel like I have invented something, even though this is the regular method most people use if they have a real loom. Most people own a specific device called a warping board; many of which cost hundreds of dollars and are difficult to store. Mine comes apart easily and can still be used for its original purpose.

Current Mood: pleased

seryn

It looks like everyone is in the same boat I am, where nothing I do feels creative. Even the food I have made this week has been the same kinds of dishes I always make. Seriously, the sum of my creativity for the week was adding a rubber stamp to a thank you card.

With that in mind, I think we should all challenge ourselves to come up with a creative project. What would you like to make or build? What questions do you have? Are there design issues you would like to address through discussion or do you tend to "wing it"? Feel free to make a whole post or to comment here (which I plan to do).

And thank you to all the new members for subscribing, the poster and commenters for participating, and the lurkers for lurking.

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Make It, Build It, Dream It. Creativity.

Recent Entries

Every Kind of Craft now open!

Necklace Board!

Clever hat title goes here.

Christina's baby quilt

My first purse.

Socks!

Spring Quilt/Throw 2011

Moon and stars necklace

Some recent projects

Doctor Who Scarf

Kanzashi/Fabric flowers

Winter Quilt [Finished]

Group blanket project

I made a phone case!

Crochet! Just because I can

With extra pockets!

Sewed bag, dyed yarn, knitted hat.

Cool project ideas!

Building tools from other tools.

Weekly Ideas Post

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June 2025

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