This craft project was really inspired by James. Our conversation went something like this:
Violet: I have all this string, what should I do with it?
James: *inappropriate suggestion not fit for the internet*
Violet: -_-‘ I meant a craft project!
James: That could be considered a craft project…
Violet: What about something for around the home?
James: How about some kind of nautical home accessories? Like to hold flowers or candles or something?
Violet: Holding candles in flammable string might not be a great idea but sure let’s see how that goes!
This was the pile of string I was trying to be inspired by:
Now if this had been a particularly lazy day I would have said “I know, I’ll make a scale model of the flying spaghetti monster. Oh look, I’m done!”… but I wanted something slightly more challenging. I thought of doing something bathroom-ish because that’s where nautical rope themed things seem to end up but it really didn’t fit how I wanted my bathroom to end up looking. In the end I settled on a basic container which could be used for pretty much whatever.
The process is extremely simple:
Get string, make a spiral out of the string and hot glue as you go.
The finished base:
Once you have the base make a spiral going up. If you’re concerned it’s not looking straight you can put a cup or something in the middle to hold the shape better while you glue.
I did two strands at once because my rope was all tangly.
Done. Yep that’s it.
And once finished the only problem was that it still really didn’t go with anything in our house XD
But if your house is more this kind of theme, it’s an extremely quick project to do!
You could hold pens in it or something?
And to please James here’s what it looks like with a candle. Very pretty but also very flammable and, you know, probably melty because of the hot glue so I don’t suggest doing this at all!
Almost 3 years ago now on Twitter Miss Esme and the Laneway asked me if I had any ideas on how to store belts in a more organised way. At the time I didn’t own any belts but I do actually remember these things XD
So 3 years later here we are hahaha!
Living in an apartment with very limited storage space means having to find ways to display things as well as store them neatly. I collect scarves and now I have a decent collection of belts to my name as well so it was time to do something useful with them rather than hiding them in a drawer which could be used for better things.
The solution: commandeer a suit pants clothes hanger and arrange the belts and scarves in one easy to hang area!
The belts are looped through the top 2 tiers with the decorations pointing out. This means they can be easily removed and put back without disturbing the others on the rack. The long parts hang at the back so they are hidden.
The scarves have two rows as well but because there are more of them I hang the least used ones on top and most used on bottom. There’s another row below it to use when I collect more too. Let the scarf obsession continue! They too can be removed easily without disturbing the others.
Previous to this solution I’ve tried out many other ways to store them including making a hanger rack but none of them worked so generally the belts would just end up dumped on the end of my clothes rack.
… or more realistically on a pile on the floor 😉
This solution is much prettier but more importantly it’s practical too which is really what the Home Sweet Home project is all about! One more thing done, only the rest of the house to go haha!
It’s funny, making the little changes like this seems to inspire me a lot more than making the big changes. I’m sure that will change when I get to the really big stuff like the couches but these things keep me happy in the mean time!
I am asked very often to do absolute beginners tutorials on things like sewing, crochet and knitting. I definitely want to do all of these in the long run but they are posts which take quite a bit of time to put together as they require a lot more instruction than regular tutorials.
Considering how long it’s taken me to get to this point I thought I would point you guys to some links which might be useful in the mean time. Many of these are quite popular sites but hopefully they can be a good start ^_^
Free Vintage Crochet Lots of patterns but as the title says, all from vintage magazines and books. This site is full of annoying pop up ads but some of the patterns are worth it because it can be hard to actually find vintage styles like this any more.
Coats & Clark I’m pretty sure this is another yarn company but their section of free projects is pretty good.
Lionbrand Heaps of free crochet patterns here too. They also have a handy thing which converts the crochet patterns to knitting and vice versa.
Lionbrand, Glossary of Terms Used
One of the bigger yarn companies (though I don’t think you can get it in Aus!) has easy to follow instructions.
Websites with free knitting patterns…
Knitting Pattern Central Same as the crochet version of this site there are heaps and heaps of free patterns divided by type.
Vogue Knitting Vogue has had a knitting version/sections for as long as I can remember. The patterns are quite varied and worth a look but you need to sign u to download them.
Nerdy Knitting Exactly what the title says, a collection of nerdy themed knitting projects. It’s on Livejournal so you may need and account to view I’m not sure.
Knitty Magazine Knitty is an online magazine full of tutorials and patterns. All of the previous patterns and issues are online too and it’s totally worth trawling through them because there are some real gems. There’s a bit of everything from regular shawls and cardigans to crazy stuff like knitted wigs for Halloween.
Lionbrand Heaps of free knitting patterns here too. They also have a handy thing which converts the knitting patterns to crochet and vice versa.
Sewing:
Learn to sew…
Free Needle Lots of basic beginners tutorials as well as covering the basic pattern making concepts.
Sew Stitch Learn Basic techniques including ruffles, bows and zippers. Lots of good information with clear photos. Good information on sewing machines and the technicalities about it.
Cyber Seams Information about sewing by hand, Very important skill because machines aren’t always available or appropriate.
About.com – Sewing Again, hate the layout but there are some good beginners tips here.
Websites with free sewing patterns…
Simplicity Patterns One of the largest pattern companies, they also offer many free tutorials and patterns on their website. There are tutorials on sewing techniques as well as actual free patterns.
Lolita Handbook patterns I know a lot of you are into Lolita styles so I’ve included some links here. Many of these can be modified into other styles including Hime Gyaru with a few changes. This link gives some basic sewing advice and a couple of tutorials.
Avant Gauche Sewing Another Lolita link, this is a collection of commercial patterns which could be used for Lolita styled clothing.
Burda Style Another big commercial pattern maker, Burda have a section where you can submit your own patterns as well. You can see lots of other people’s tutorials.
Thread Banger Youtube channel which has some interesting sewing and diy ideas.
Freeneeedle A collection of links to various blogs which have sewing and diy tutorials. It can be a bit of a gamble clicking as there are no preview images but there are so many patterns you could spend hours doing it.
Inspiration and communities:
Craftster Massive crafting forums. Everyone is very friendly and all crafts are welcome. I always mean to post more on my account here and never have time to ;_;
Ravelry Knitting community! Invite only but signing up only takes a few minutes so it’s worth it. There are heaps of free and paid patterns as well as a massive library of yarns. You can also keep track of all of your projects and how far complete you are.
Pinterest If you’re on here you should totally add me! Anyway, you can find pretty much any craft imaginable as well as keep track of future projects you want to do.
CraftGawker Similar to Pinterest though they moderate all submissions so only the prettiest things get in. Again you can save favorites and click through to the full tutorial etc. Lots of pretty eye candy and full of tutorials.
Etsy This is the place to go for supplies and to buy other people’s crafts for sale. If you ever decide you want to sell your work this is a good place to start. Remember to check whether patterns you use are available for commercial use though. For example mine are available for personal use only so you can’t sell products made from my patterns.
Deviantart This is another community for artists, the Artisian Crafts section is huge and there are lots of knitting/sewing/crochet groups. If you’re into cosplay there are lots of groups and tutorials too.
So hopefully they are useful and will keep you going for a little while longer!
If you have any awesome sites of suggestions just let me know in the comments and I’ll add them. I’m considering maybe putting together a bigger list of tutorials so if you guys have written any you can submit them. What do you think? Would that be useful?
So a while ago I did a tutorial on how to make removable iphone covers so you could easily switch up designs on a daily basis… then I never got around to making any other designs! Well today I finally made another one. This one is much more simple and classic looking than my usual tastes so it’s perfect for times when it’s not appropriate to have crazy styles… like corporate business meetings.
Still very girly but not too over the top!
You need:
The kind of iphone case these fit in
A base made of cardboard or plastic to make the template from
A random craft today, I’ve been making handbag charms!
I really love the one I have from Amaranth Opulent on the right and I wanted some different ones to put on all of my bags!
When I do stuff like this I pretty much just grab everything together out of my craft area and move them around until I can find things that match. It’s very scientific 😉
I made this one a while ago and then added a Bergamot charm to it recently too.
It looks pretty cute on the bag!
+10 awesome points if you can guess where the charm came from!
Today’s craft is a wire bird cage. I haven’t been able to log in to Pinterest the last few weeks without seeing someone’s version of this. It seems to have seeped into my brain because now I can’t think about anything other than making different types of bird cages and finding different uses for them!
Now that I’ve made one I want to experiment with painting them different colours, doing different sizes and using different gauges of wire for different more ornate designs.
Most of the ones I’ve seen require soldering of some sort which I wasn’t prepared to do so I made mine using 2 gauges of wire, a large for the main parts and a thin jewellery wire for the joins.
You can pretty much see how it’s made without needing a tutorial but I’m already here… and I’ve already got all these photos… so let’s just do it anyway ;)You need:
Thick-ish wire for the main structure
Thin-ish wire for the joins
Wire cutters
Pliers for bending everything (my sore fingers really advise you to use pliers)
Something to get a perfect circle shape from, I used a bottle of Bio Oil
Start by making a circle of thick wire and use a some small wire to wrap the ends securely. If you’re worried about how sharp they are you can wrap further around to cover edges or even completely around the circle for an interesting finish.
Make two of these.
Now make 3 curved pieces which have long legs, these will be the tall parts of the cage. They don’t need to be perfect because you’re going to be bending them a lot to perfect the shape. Make sure to cut the legs quite long so you have room to bend and loop the ends. More is better than less!
Put them together like this and tie the tops of all of them together with the thin wire to keep them steady while you work. You can make this more decorative later.
Slide the first loop where you want the half way point of the cage to be.
And then slide the bottom on too.
Don’t worry if it won’t stay up for now, we’ll fix it a bit later.
Bend the legs out so they sit evenly.
Once I was sure it was even I added a decorative loop at the top to make it a bit more secure and to prevent everything from sliding around.
Now bend the ends of the legs into loops so they hook around the bottom circle. Once you’re done you can slide the half way circle back up and bend the inside wires so they are bowed out. Their curve will hold the circle in place. If you find this isn’t secure enough you can add some more small gauge wire loops to hold it in place.
All finished! You could make mini ones for jewellery or larger ones as decorative house hold things. This one is an odd size so it’s a little bit pointless XD
I’m thinking of making some big ones to hang off our roof next. Maybe a cluster of them painted pink or white would look really pretty with candles inside!
Illustrator. Strong tea, knitting, watercolours, and making a video game called Moonlight in Garland. Living with her adorable husband Jimmy, fluffy puppy Miss Lottie and Bergamot Bunny in Melbourne, Australia.
