Category Archives: Projects

The Gift That Inkle Saved

16 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by in Design, Projects

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What gift should I give to dear friends celebrating their 7th wedding anniversary? Hmmm… Oh, wait, I know, how about the gift I started making for them 7 years ago for their wedding and never finished!

Here it is ready to be wrapped.

The back.

Why did this pillow take me so long to complete? Because I can embroider, sew basic straight seams, but I can’t sew piping! Sometimes my ideas are bigger than my abilities and I can fake it ’til I make. Not this time.

I had such high hopes for this gift. My friends are bird watchers, so embroidering birds was an obvious theme. The pillow is made of the same color dupioni silk as the dresses that the bridesmaids wore. Perfect, right?

Nope. This project went so wrong.

I ripped it apart, sewed it again, apart, sew, apart, sew, until, out of frustration, I put it in a box and there it stayed. For seven years. I thought of it every year around their anniversary, but my skills had not changed and neither did the state of the pillow.

What the pillow was waiting for was for me to learn how to inkle weave. An inkle band added the perfect finish to what I couldn’t achieve before.

I wove the band with DMC embroidery floss, which gave the band a pretty sheen that matches the silk, then sewed it to the front piece. The design of the pillow is a little different than I initially planned; it was supposed to be a removeable pillow case, but I lost some material taking the piping off again, so it is stitched closed on all sides.

I’m very happy with how it turned out and that it is FINALLY finished. I hope they like it.

Happy anniversary you guys! May you have 7 years times infinity more.

warp, weave, be happy!

Jennifer

Try Your Hand at Inkle Gardening

06 Friday Apr 2012

Posted by in Projects, Tutorials

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How cute are these little carrots?!

With my non-green thumb, these are the only carrots I can grow – besides, I’m not all that crazy about digging in the dirt. I had a blast designing them. Quick and easy, they are a great stash buster, ok, really they didn’t even make a dent in my stash but, I did use yarn that I had on hand. Carrots come in a rainbow of colors, so use the yarn you have!

If you “grow” your own carrots do let me know how they turn out. I’d love to see pictures and if I get enough I will do a garden post!

You will need:

Materials

  • 1”wide inkle band at least 18” long

*(a little wider or narrower is okay) with two shades of orange 10/2 or 8/2 perle cotton, tatting yarn, or needlepoint yarn. 8/2 perle cotton and needlepoint yarn are a bit thick but will work.

*The carrot in the rabbit’s arms is woven using needlepoint yarn and the other two are woven with both 10/2 perle cotton and tatting yarn.

  • green worsted or sport weight yarn
  • cotton or poly stuffing batting
  • woven fusible interfacing
  • straight pins
  • needle and matching thread (forgot to put in picture –oops!)
  • scissors
  • glue (Alene’s tacky)
  • ruler
  • fine felt-tip marker

Equipment

  • sewing machine (very helpful but optional – can be sewn completely by hand)
  • iron
  • ironing board

Have fun!

I hope you enjoyed the first Inkled Pink tutorial! Don’t forget: show me what you come up with – I’d love to see!

warp, weave, be happy!

Shuttles Fly Again

23 Friday Mar 2012

Posted by in Projects, Teaching, Travel

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Weaving shuttles that is, and spinning wheels, knitting needles, crochet hooks, and kumihimo bobbins, too. Last weekend was the Florida Tropical Weaver’s Guild Annual Conference; a three and a half day unbelievably fun weekend filled with over 45 mini-workshops, laughing, chatting, eating, learning, and creating, not necessarily in that order. This was my first time attending the FTWG conference and boy will I be there next year. Are the registration forms ready yet?

I taught my first inkle project class this weekend! “Beyond Belts and Bookmarks” was my inaugural class. What do you do with an inkle band after you weave it other than turn it into a belt or a bookmark? Well, eight lovely ladies allowed me to show them how to make a necklace, wristlet keyfob, and a coaster out of inkle bands. Inkle project samples

Some brought their own bands and others used bands I provided.

Inkle coaster Inkle Necklace

Everyone said they enjoyed the class, and I am so glad, because I had such a great time!  Busy prepping for the class, I only got five hours of sleep in two nights. I was sooo tired, but the excitement and friendly students kept me awake – and lots of coffee.

I also took a kumihimo class from the talented Jennifer Wiles . We learned how to make a kumihimo lariat with beaded tassels.

Inkled Pink Kumihimo Super fun!

The conference was held at the beautiful Lake Yale Baptist Center, in Leesburg, FL. It is such an aesthetically inspiring place. Spanish moss covered trees provide shady viewing spots to take in the lake.

Florida Tropical Weavers Guild Conference Florida Tropical Weavers Guild Conference

Florida Tropical Weavers Guild Conference

I met such wonderful people this weekend and got to spend more time with the ladies from my own guild; I was reminded again what a special community the weaving community is. I can’t wait until next year’s conference!

warp, weave, be happy!

An Inkle Dance of Joy

17 Friday Feb 2012

Posted by in Design, Projects

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Ta-Da! Introducing the project I made with all those inkle bands:

Inkle Bangles!

I am doing my version of the dance of joy right now. If this was a football game my team would definitely be charged with an excessive celebration penalty.

This inkle project has been an idea in my head since October. I could see what I wanted, but wasn’t sure how to create it. I made a few samples that were unsuccessful, but close, then I finally came up with the right process. Yay!

My studio (a.k.a the room where crazy happens) is such a mess right now. The past two weeks have been a crazy dash of conceptualize, weave, create, tweek, repeat. Nothing I used in the create/tweek stages has been put away. I can’t pause the creative process and clean up when I am in the zone. Actually, I don’t ever like to clean, but that’s not the point. Crazy was happening.

The bangles take about 3 hours to make, including weaving time. Not a bad time investment considering what I end up with.

I am SO SO jazzed about how they turned out! It always feels great when something I have envisioned in my mind turns out even better than I hoped. And it is just an added bonus if I can wear it too.

warp, weave, be happy.