Piles of goodies in Jaipur

In Jaipur we were treated to piles of gorgeous things that the shop owner pulled out to show us whilst we drank tea. The above are silk bed covers. The photo below is Indian patchwork made up from pieces of old clothes. 

Block printing in Jaipur

Woodblock printing is a technique used on fabric and paper throughout Asia. Jaipur is particularly famous for it. This being so when our taxi driver offered to take us to a 'textiles place' I had to say yes. I was really glad I did as it turned out to be a shop with a small studio attached showing the different techniques used.

So many blocks!

The technique involves dipping a carved wooden block into dye and then pressing it onto fabric (or paper).

Above you can see some table-cloths in the process of being made. These are waiting for the next layer.

Here the worker is applying the next layer of block.

The pads where the colour is applied (above).

They also showed us one quick run of the process.

The bit where it got washed in salt water and changed from red to green was pretty magical.

This was a great technique to see being done in person. It made me itch to block print my own fabric!

A red-riding hood box case for a Galaxy Ace

A month or so ago I accidently destroyed my mobile phone. This was my old, reliable, Nokia that cost £7 and could do nothing fancier than send text messages and make calls. Oh, it also had a torch. On the night of Diwali I left it next to a bottle of water. The condensation from this bottle then formed a pool around my poor phone. It's battery was completely destroyed. 

Old phone and new phone

So I was forced to buy a new one. I had been sneaking covetous looks at my boyfriend's smart phone so bought one similar, but an older model (I don't need to go overboard with the fanciness). As I had a new phone I needed a new case (old phone didn't even have a case so unconcerned for it's well-being I was).

I pulled out the pelmet vilene, bondaweb, fabric scraps and embroidery thread and started to make a case.

Measuring

Checking for size

Pieces waiting for assembly

Ta da!

It is ever-so-slightly too big. Blast! And I did so much measuring. I think the problem was that I gave a seam allowance which I didn't need because I sewed the pieces up using blanket stitch. It is fine for it's purpose though.

A souvenir of Bangalore

I've been working fairly slowly the last few weeks on a new project. I want to make souvenir postcards of places I travel to so as I'm currently living in Bangalore I started there.

I used different materials and techniques to make it. The background is painted with fabric water colour dye and finished with pastels. The main body of the rickshaw is appliquéd onto the background. I stuck it down with bondaweb and stitched it down. The details are added in running stitch with embroidery thread. 

The front and back have pelmet vilene in-between them to make the whole postcard stiff.

I embroidered the back to make it more postcard-like.

Easy to make felt baby shoes

I was reading A Beautiful Mess (really awesome blog) the other week and found this amazing post about DIY moccasins for children.

The author Katie had adapted the idea from Purl Bee's pattern for felt baby shoes.

Awwwwww! It's at times like this that I wish I had children to make things for. Not to be deterred I decided to make some anyway. The pattern is super easy! I made the above shoes in above 30 mins - and that includes faffing time.

They're not quite finished as I don't have any elastic and as you can see the fabric pen hasn't faded yet. But.... I was so excited I just wanted to share this awesome new project.

I Spy: Ben Venom and heavy metal quilts

Ben Venom. Image from http://benvenom.blogspot.co.uk/

I was reading this list of male crafters when I spied Ben Venom. He makes the most amazing quilts made out of old heavy metal t-shirts. Apparently he tours around the U.S. with them. I love his designs and the up-cycling involved. Amazing!

Don't break my heart

A friend of mine was going in for heart surgery. She asked for cheesy and bad-taste songs. I sent her as many as I could think of and then made her the above. The background and heart are felt. I made the words by painting onto calico with fabric paint.