Tag Archives: projects

Where Have I Been Lately?

18 Sunday Jan 2015

Posted by in Inspiration, Projects

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Well, hello! If this is your first time visiting Inkled Pink, greetings and welcome, I am pleased you stopped by. Or, if I am honored enough to have you as a returning visitor, thank you for coming back!

I have been away for a while, as life has provided me with a few joyful and very energetic distractions.the boys

These two keep me busy and on my toes. Which, amazingly, does not provide much time to weave, or write. However, inkling is never far from my thoughts. Nor are ideas on what to do with those lovely bands.

I see things that give me inspiration for projects all the time and my idea notebook is full of projects just waiting to be created and shared.inkle project inspiration book.

It is my goal to begin posting again soon! I miss it way too much to not do it for much longer.  So, stay tuned and be sure to sign-up for updates by following the blog , liking the Inkled Pink facebook page, or signing up for email notification.

Until then…

warp, weave, be happy!

~Jennifer

Do You Have Any Change?

18 Monday Mar 2013

Posted by in Projects

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What do you give as a thank you gift to people for opening their home and welcoming you for a week and treating you like family. Simple. Give them something from the heart made with the hands. Inkle band change purse pick-up

Yup, I made change purses with the bands from my last post. I’ve actually wanted to do an inkle change purse since I first learned how to weave inkle. The original idea and inspiration came from a great tutorial on Curious Weaver. My purses ended up being slightly different than her lovely purse, however. I sewed my bands vertically to minimize the amount of cutting and joined them by hand to be able to hide the join stitches.Inkle band change purse joining 2 Inkle band change purse joining

I used a blanket stitch to close the side seams.Inkle band change purse blanket stitch seam

The purses are lined with cotton batik, which in hindsight I should have cut on the bias to allow for give inside the purse.

Inkle band change purse batik lining 2 Inkle band change purse batik lining

My assembly method more closely follows the tutorial from U-Handbag. Both tutorials miter the corners to give a flat bottom and use a glue-in frame. My purse frames are the sew-in type, stitched with nylon beading cord (think fishing line).

Inkle band change purse sew-in frame

The first purse ended up being a tricky little project at times. There were some lessons learned:
-Very fuzzy yarn is not good for inkle weaving. You WILL end up cutting it out.
-Darker, thicker, contrasting yarn is a good idea for doing pick-up weaving when you are sleepy- easier on the eyes.
-Once you get the rhythm of pick-up it goes faster than you think it will. It can take a while to get a rhythm.
-Measuring accurately prevents a lot of headaches.
-The trick to sew-in purse frames: the needle needs to be inserted at an angle.

Now that I know what the heck I’m doing, I’ll definitely be making one of these again for myself. The bottom of my pocketbook is always full of change that I can never seem to find when I’m ready to pay for something…

I have one more gift to make, which hopefully, I’ll be able to get to this week, between the diaper changes and feedings of one and the potty training of the other. Stay tuned.

warp, weave, be happy!

~Jennifer

Inkle + Origami

22 Sunday Apr 2012

Posted by in Projects

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One of the first crafts I learned as a child was origami. I have enjoyed it for many years and thought it would be interesting to pair origami and inkle weaving. Yup, inkle origami. Probably two words not often said together, let alone done together. To commemorate Earth Day, I decided to try my hand at making origami goldfish.

Inkle Origami Goldfish

I have a few origami books, but the best and easiest instructions I found were in a wonderful post on the blog Nan: Now and Next. I folded these paper goldfish using her directions.

Even if you don’t want to make origami goldfish, her post is more than worth reading. It is also a touching post in honor of her Grammy. I’m going to try that Dr. Pepper float, and I don’t even like Dr. Pepper!

Inkle Goldfish meet Paper Goldfish

To make the goldfish I sewed together 4 pieces of a 1″ wide band cut 4″ long to make a 4”x4” square; using a zigzag stitch to join the selvedges, then sewed a straight stitch across the fringe edges (very short stitch length to catch the all the ends).

Next, I saturated the square with spray starch and ironed it to make it stiff, but still foldable. Each time I made another fold I added spray starch then ironed. Tip: If you spary over wax or parchment paper, you can dip the folds in the overspary caught by the paper so you don’t waste your starch.

The eyes are french knots stitched with needlepoint floss. Fish have blue eyes, right?

The only modification I made to Nan’s pattern was to the tail. Instead of cutting the tail I just folded it up and pulled it back a little to make it stand. I didn’t want to cut the bands and have fraying.

Do they look like origami fish or am I just wanting them to? I’ve been looking at them way too long.

warp, weave, be happy!

~Jennifer

An Earth Bit:

To quote my son’s book, Little Helpers, “When I turn off the faucet while brushing my teeth there is more water for the fish in the rivers.” My inkle goldfish are not suiting up to go for a swim in the river, but we are teaching our son to conserve water for the fish that do and for all of us who depend on accessible clean water. Here is a list of 100 Ways to Conserve Water.

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!