4 posts tagged “crafts”
I just got back from my intro class at the workroom, Toronto's first (and only?) sew-by-the-hour work space. It is located on Queen West (West West) in Parkdale, and is basically a fully-equipped sewing room that you can use for whatever kind of project you like. Cutting tables, lots of scissors, fabric, patterns, notions, and of course, state of the art sewing machines. All for $7 an hour. The point of the intro class was to make sure we knew our way around a sewing machine, before they let us loose. We each made an envelope pillow case, I made a couple to match our living room couches. I was mainly interested in getting into sewing so that I could properly line any bags I knit, and to be able to customize table settings and decorations for the party business, but once I saw all the fabrics and patterns, I got all kinds of ambition. What about a new duvet cover and matching throw cushions?? Or something deconstructed/reconstructed from my old clothes? What was great was that the majority of people taking the class were teenagers, who said that they loved clothes, but hated dressing like everyone else. I was thinking how much fun it would have been if it had been a project class, to see what everyone had come up with. It makes me want to take some of their classes, which includes, and I'm not making this up, a class on making your own underwear. But mainly the classes are to make things like bags, toys and quilts. I am going to have to be very strict with myself when it comes to sewing tho; it must be done only as an essential addition to my current pastimes, and not become an entirely new activity unto itself; there are simply not enough hours in the day.
While most of the past weekend was a bummer (Moms Night Out cancelled, day trip to Hamilton snowed in) I did get to the One of a Kind Show and picked up this one of a kind White Rabbit Candy Wrapper belt from Read My Hips:
The leather and buckle are recycled as well. Love it!
It's been a very busy week, so I haven't been able to post about our Halloween preparations, so I'll just put it all in one post. The most important one: ReRe in costume:
The overalls are handmade by a good friend, who will be receiving, in exchange, some knit jeans for her baby-on-the-way (this way they are guaranteed to be finished before the baby grows out of them!). I got the shirt at a second-hand store, and sewed short threads of straw-coloured yarn onto the cuffs. There was a straw hat to match, but ReRe was rather insistent about his khaki cap.
We had a little get together with a few friends on Sunday to have a Halloween party for the kids, but unfortunately the batteries in my camera died, so I have no pics to show for it. I do, however, have a pic of the rice krispie pumpkins I made, with apologies for the bad lighting. I put some orange-coloured sugar in with the marshmallows as I melted them, and they turned the marshmallow goo a rather bright shade of orange. I then dipped the tops in green-coloured sugar. Lots of sugary goodness.
I also tried my hand at a Halloween craft - little cheesecloth-mache ghosts. I had gone to Michael's to get some Halloween decorations, and was mildly appalled by the scale, disposability and tackiness of most of what I saw, and so decided to try to make some decorations at home. I checked out a few sites, including Martha Stewart's Halloween craft site, and found a surprisingly easy project for these little ghosts. The only changes I made were that I used whole pieces of cheesecloth, which I think draped better, and used a very thin flour and water and salt mixture rather than the liquid starch. Here are some pics of the steps leading up, and the final product:
So all in all we had a pretty good Halloween, and I got my crafting fix. I should last me at least until the first of December.
Ya, we've been a little stressed lately, so I found time again this year to go to the One of a Kind Show. And this year, I scored a free pass from Lex's in-laws, the Thorpes, of Thorpe Toys. I love handmade stuff, and they make classic wooden toys. 
For lil'ReRe, for his first Christmas, I got a train with a train whistle built in (is that you, Ger?), and a 
cute little fork lift that really works.
I also got him a bag of little instruments for kids - a bell, a triangle, a shaker, and a couple other wooden noise makers - from Graham Walker.
Then I cruised the food aisles, being completely shameless with the samples. This year I found some chocolate-free truffles made by Confiserie Tessier dit Lavigne Confectionary (yup, I'm allergic to chocolate, if you didn't know), and some cardamon/orange shortbread from Coach House Shortbread. I managed to get away from their booth without also buying the stilton-rosemary or any of the other amazing varieties. Their label actually says "Shortbread may be purchased at the bakery by appointment only." They should also be available only by prescription. If I were Lex, you'd see pics of these food, but my photos just didn't do them justice.
My friend Melinda took me to see the clothes at Frances Felt, where I found a really cute skirt with a ball of yarn and knitting needles on it. Again, I'd show you a photo, but my pics aren't very good.
And for my huzband to give me for Christmas, I bought this Yummy Mummy apron from Domistyles. Really, how did he know?
