Have you ever wondered what crochet chain to work in at the beginning of your crochet chain? This video will show you what chain to work in and why the first chain will not work.
Crochet Geek
Crochet Geek – Free Instructions and Patterns
Hey, want to play show and tell? Here’s what I did with my Christmas vacation! I thought I’d show you my beading progress as I go, since this dress will probably take me a long time to make. This hand beading stuff is intense work, right?
Remember when I wrote about being inspired by the Alambama Chanin books? Well, this project has been in the works ever since. The dress pattern and stencil are taken from Alabama Studio Style and Alabama Stitch Book, respectively. This is the left side panel of the princess seam dress:
As I suspected it would be, the biggest challenge was tailoring the Alabama aesthetic to work with my personal style. I made about a million little samples on swatches trying out the different techniques, which generally include a lot of applique. In the end, the applique never looked quite right to me and so I decided to do a completely beaded look. (I took beading advice from Kenneth D. King’s excellent Designer Bead Embroidery.) I used the stencil to make the pattern and transferred it to my fabric (a lime green wool knit) with a silver Sharpie. You can still see the Sharpie marks on the areas I haven’t beaded, but they’ll be completely covered by the time I’m through with them!
I plan to bead at least one other panel, the adjoining side back panel. I’ll probably make a bunch of construction changes to the Alabama Chanin instructions, like adding a silk organza backing for stability (I tried doing that before I beaded, but the layers kept shifting and bunching, oy). It’ll be more finished looking than the book projects as well, without the unfinished hem and all that jazz that never looks quite right when I do it! It will probably also need a crinoline and a matching belt, don’t you think?
I’m heading to Palm Springs at the end of this month (to guest teach at one of Heather Ross’s Weekend Sewing Workshops, yay!) so I’m looking forward to having more travel time to work on this. Though planning and sampling this project was initially frustrating, I’ve really enjoyed the process of hand beading. So relaxing! Plus, it’s nice to have a portable sewing project. Goodness knows lugging a Bernina about with you and holing up in your hotel room with it is hardly socially acceptable!
Do you have projects you like to take with you on the road?
Gertie’s New Blog for Better Sewing
This Work Never Ends, by Jenny Hart 2002
I received an email today asking about this piece and its meaning. If you’ll indulge my laziness, here is what I said in an interview with My Love For You Is a Stampede of Horses:
One of my very favorite pieces of yours is “This Work, Never Ends.” It reminds me of samplers I have inherited from my Great aunt. Can you tell us a little bit about your motivation and inspiration behind that piece?
I made that piece for myself. It was two rectangular doilies, and I stitched “this work” on one and “never ends” on the other. They sat for a long time on the back of my armchair where I used to do a lot of embroidering. It was kind of a message with multiple meanings to myself about how work is never done no matter how you try, and also how embroidery lives on forever and grows and changes.
Link to full interview
2) http://ommazinhandmade.blogspot.com/
3) http://www.etsy.com/shop/speckledfrogcrochet
5) http://www.etsy.com/shop/CarmenBee
6) http://www.etsy.com/shop/CrochetImpressions?ref=pr_shop
7) http://mysweetsomethings.blogspot.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/hitomihutzell
Music: Kevin MacLeod
http://incompetech.com
The Art of Crochet by Teresa
Art of Crochet by Teresa – Free Instructions and Patterns
i have two items that must be shipped today overnight in order to make it on time. They are projects that will be included in the new concepts that we are developing for The Crochet Dude Collection at Simplicity for 2011. I’m still kind of shocked at just how tight the deadlines are and how many moving parts are included in getting just one product ready for the store. There are a LOT of cooks in this kitchen now – but luckily I get to do the funnest stuff. I’m just saying.
Seriously. When was the line crossed from “I can’t believe I’m getting paid for this!” to “I’m not getting paid enough.”
When did you go from having one boss at a nine-to-five job to having 15 bosses scattered across the country?
(c)2005-2010 Drew Emborsky, aka The Crochet Dude(r) All rights reserved.
The Crochet Dude
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The Art of Crochet by Teresa
Learn to Crochet – Free Instructions and Patterns
knithappensva: The internet is out @ the shop. Verizon is “aware of the issue & is working on it.” Phones still work, though!
Twitter / knithappensva
knithappensva: Blogged (shop) about the end of an era: http://tinyurl.com/2cz3sfc. Doing okay, just doing lots of prep work for the sale.
Twitter / knithappensva
Lauren DiCioccio has been doing new work, “sewn news”. For someone as indifferent to football as I am, I think the football images are by far my favorites.
Link (via WhatTheCool -thanks, tonivanb!)
Previously on EAA: Lauren DiCioccio
