Tag: needle arts

The Happiness of Crafting

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Fifteen some years ago, I purchased this side table for $5.00 because I loved the lines and the bronzed metal drawer pull. And that was that. Whatever grand idea I had never went anywhere, and the table collected dust in the basement.
Cowboy Table_Before www

Last spring, I was quite taken with a block of vintage cowboy fabric, but without an idea of what to do with it, until I remembered the battered $5.00 table in the basement. Hauled up the steps, a quick trip to the hardware store, and…

Table Redo supplies www

ta dah! 
Table Redo After www
A year later and I’m still excited over this table’s transformation. The last project to so affect me were these egg warmers, which I adored to the point of carrying them in my purse for ages, should the 

Egg Warmers www)
conversation turned to the quandary of keeping soft boiled eggs warm.

Oh, had the table fit into that purse.

xxea

Tie One On…an apron, of course!

Handmade by Me! Giveaway

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For the past year, I have been working on a project which explores the American homemaker and her domestic arts. At the core of the project is the needle and thread and a woman’s employment of both to express herself through hand stitchery.

To create something stitch by stitch has never required any special talent nor machinery. In fact, all that’s really necessary is a fair amount of patience and a thimble.

Sewing by hand is relaxing, as well as an immensely satisfying pursuit because you have something material to show for your effort. A woman who sews experiences the glow of pleasure and pride of accomplishment when she can say, “Oh, this? I made it myself.” However, for many of us, the largest issue to expressing ourselves through hand sewing is knowing what to do with that needle and thread. Enter Susan Wasinger, the author of Sewn by Hand.

SewByHand cover

In this, her third book for Lark Crafts, Susan created two dozen projects that test the definition of “unique.” That’s how good her stuff is. And easy, or at least very, very do-able for most of us.

When you flip through Sewn by Hand, like I’ve been doing since it arrived yesterday, it’s really hard to settle on a first project. Should it be the Pretty Potholder with Vintage Smocking? Buttoned-Up Tote with Handmade Buttons? Button-Down Apron made from Recycled Shirts? Or the Personalized Bibs?

To aid the selection process and get one lucky winner threading her needle, Lark Crafts is providing a copy of Sewn by Hand and all the goods necessary to make Susan’s Sewing Kit for On the Move Stitchers!

SewByHand prize

To enter this Handmade by Me! Giveaway, leave a comment here. Deadline for comments is late Friday evening, May 6th. One winner selected by Random Human and posted Sunday, May 8th.

Sewn by Hand is the result of the author’s challenge to herself to see what she could create with nothing but a needle and thread. To create 24 projects, Susan drew on her history of “tender teachings” at the hands of her grandmother, mother and their mothers before them.

History in stitchery is also what I’m anticipating at this week’s Apron Extravaganza. Gallatin is right outside Nashville – if you’re in the neighborhood, do try to attend!

ApronFlyer [640x480] [640x480]

“Not everyone can hold an audience spellbound with music, and not many can paint pictures creditably, but anyone can earn praise for needlework efforts.” Book of Needle Arts, 1943

xxea

Tie One On…an apron, of course!