Virescent

For an event tonight, the organizers requested we bring the flowers- made ones, by hand, please. I sewed mine, and it’s all recycled- made of fabric scraps from various projects, and some beads from a broken necklace. I modified a template for kanzashi, which are Japanese folded fabric or paper flowers worn mostly by Geishas. Here’s the chain of inspiration: I first saw the fabric version on etsy, then found a website with plenty of links to different tutorials for both paper and fabric versions. I adapted the instructions at this site, since I was using a flimsier fabric for the petals. And, voila:

I had a petal base. Basically, I cut triangles of fabric, and folded them twice (so you have two folds at the top, and two loose ends and one fold at the bottom), then sewed a couple of times through the four layers at the bottom of the petal. I stitched each new folded triangle to the same thread, until I had a long chain that, when I held it in a loop, formed a solid flower circle with no obvious blank spaces yearning for its own petal. I then sewed through the circle at the bases once more, to space them a little more neatly.

You can see the “hole” in the middle, where all the petals meet, and it looks a bit uneven. I needed a bud, which I made by stuffing a little square of fabric with some leftovers, and sewing on the beads. I also made a stem by rolling a bit of rectangular cloth and sewing up the sides in a spiral- when it was long enough, I trimmed the top to make a neat circle. By poking the bud through the middle of the hole from the top, and whip stitched the sides of the petal to the top folds of the petals. This allowed me to flatten out the bud over the entirety of the messy middle, and to hold the petals evenly in place around the bud. I then stitched together the mess at the bottom of the flower center- all of the folded bases together with the bud base poking through- then whip stitched the stem over all those to the single fold at the bottom of each petal, to space the bottoms of the petals neatly. The results:

As you can see, I added a few more beads and a little stitching to the bud, and leaves (folded the same way as the petals and sewn to the stem).

If I get a chance, I’d like to try and add some thin wire to the beads, so they poke up perkily- I’m going to dig out some twisty ties after this and see how that works. And the bud looks unfinished, since I’m no good at embroidery (yet). I’d like to finish it with some cool contrasting beads, and I haven’t got any of those. But otherwise, I’m quite happy with it.

I found other instructions for fabric flowers here, through a post at Crafting for a Green World, and they look pretty cool, too. I went with the kanzashi for this project because I liked the more defined petals, and thought they’d look good in larger sizes.

So, one handmade thing finished! I should have a few more over the weekend for you. If you have any questions about my methods, feel free to ask, of course.

Actually they’re not flip-flops, really, they’re nuno-zories. At her blog, Ecosamurai has translated the instructions and posted some in-process pictures of her new-no zories. (Har har! Forgive me.) They’re adorable and so practical! Having just spent way longer than I meant to in a shoe store, I do feel the need to sit down and contemplate life and consumer choices while weaving my own from all those free teeshirts that I no longer have space for. Plus, making a pair of these will isolate you from dirty floors- you’ll never sweep again, or suffer while waiting for someone else to do it first.

Thanks for the post, ecosamurai!

I’m adding it to my list of handmade things to do. And in a couple of days, I promise pictures of what I’ve done so far.

I’ve been inadvertently posting lots on handmade things and crafting in the past few days. It’s on my mind because with work, school, moving, and weekend commitments, I’ve currently got three or four projects started…and left. I am literally itching to continue them. Literally.

My current works in progress:

1) scarf, knit (3/4 inch done) (but I have the supplies and I’ve decided on the pattern and it’s sized right finally, so it’s less lame than it sounds) (still pretty lame, though)

2) quilt, sewn (numerous squares cut. need to learn to “quilt”)

3) Weighted Companion Cube footstool (frame built, fabric almost ready, lots of stuffing and sewing left) (I feel especially bad about the delay on this one, since it’s for the Gentleman Friend’s birthday, which was over a month ago)

That’s all I can think of now, but once I get my fabric scraps out I’m sure I’ll remember- or think of- a few more. Maybe I should block off some time this weekend to get started on a few of those again. Or one. I should pick one, and finish it. Or go back to the Salvation Army to find unravelable sweaters…no! I will pick one. One that I have started.

Clive Thompson at Wired wrote an interesting article on the pull of Doing It Yourself, and how the growing movement to make things may save our souls. Or the world, or at least some money.  I think he’s got a great point.  I’m a mechanical engineer, and instead of ever showing us machines and their workings, our curriculum was 95% math and book-learning.  If it weren’t for a particularly uppity and old-fashioned professor (he walked straight out of 1955, proudly, and insisted on hands-dirty labs) I might never have learned what a pump looked like, or seen one work.  When I talk to older engineers, I’m ashamed of my total lack of knowledge on useful things, and the rest of my shop and home-ecless generation probably feels (should feel) the same way.  Unless, of course, they were smart enough to learn it on their own.  Knowledge is pitched as books and computers now, and that’s not going to be very helpful when the apocalypse comes.  I’m hedging my bets by learning a few actual skills, so I don’t get eaten first…

What do you think- books and computer simulations vs knowing how and what to weld?  Do we have time to know the “old” skills and learn the new ones?   Will the new wave of DIY-building robots from toasters translate into an intellectual renaissance?

The “Green Blogs” link to your right popped up a few weeks ago without explanation- it’s a collection of recent headlines from a passel of blogs with ecoleanings, and it’s full of interesting stuff- a few project blogs like mine, but also updates from Grist and some environmental news sites. I am a recent addition to their feed, and I’m looking forward to getting to know the neighbors.

Our new “Craft” link is a dear friend’s etsy shop. If you haven’t run across it before, etsy is a marketplace for independent craftspeople- they sell clothing, jewelry, art, beads, stickers, books, paper- it’s overwhelming. Something for every price range and taste, and a large number of people create their art with found and recycled objects, and it’s got an option to only search items from local artists, for that extra sustainable touch. Shopping for specific items can be daunting, but it’s easy to find beauty with their random browsers. My friend designs jewelry with resin work and vintage beads, and it’s just lovely- she always did have good taste.

Hurrah for the handmade! Why it is so much easier to love something you’ve made, or someone made you, or someone just planned and was proud of and created? Emotional investments in things aren’t supposed to be that wholesome, but there’s a pride in work, and considered action that goes into making things that reminds us of so much more than a teapot. Or an earring. So you can cherish the thing for all the right reasons.

Roll over, solar: some awesome guy in Japan hooked up an aquarium’s electric eel to its Christmas display.

“If we could gather all electric eels from all around the world, we would be able to light up an unimaginably giant Christmas tree,” Minawa told Reuters Television.

Thanks to Minawa, one day I’ll be charging my ceel phone with my slippery friend, “Sparky”- if he can be spared from his work on the unimaginably giant tree.

Ahh, the flimsy plastic grocery bag! Since 1999’s American Beauty, it has been renowned as a symbol of the magic found in everyday litter. Whether dancing along the sidewalk, impaling itself in your favorite oak tree, or choking adorable sea otters, the sight of that mystical, mischievous little petroleum byproduct always fills me with a sense of wonder. Refusing these plastic bags at the grocery store in favor of stronger, longer lasting, and reusable fabric bags is the latest way environmentalists want us to clean up. Poor, maligned flimsy plastic bag. This opinion piece from the NYT catalogs a host of reasons Americans don’t want to give up the bag yet-reusing them as trash bags, not wanting to stop the eager bagger, forgetting their other bags- and makes an uncomfortable point.

Plastic bags are a small part of the picture…But you think, if we can’t change our behavior to deal with this one, we can’t change our behavior to deal with anything.

Other countries around the world are dealing with the grocery bag issue- with more or less success. Apparently Ugandans like their bags as much as we do. Ireland’s government is taxing each bag, leading to a 90% reduction in their use, and Bombay banned them outright in 2001. Some local governments in American have banned the bag, notably in San Francisco, but the vast majority of the country isn’t bound by the hemp rope of hippie rule, so we may forget our own shopping bags at home and use as many of the little non-biodegradable sacks as we please.

Don’t feel too intensely guilty at still taking the bags. You can recycle them after use- most Giant grocery stores in this area have bins to collect them for you. And, if you’re at all artistic, or know anyone who is, it’s a cinch to convert your bags into yarn and crochet them, or make your friend crochet them, into various items. That site has some pretty awesome sea monsters. Be all ironic and crochet your plastic bags into a larger, cooler, better plastic grocery bag. Some helpful tips for working with the plastic yarn are here, as well as link to finished projects and crocheting instructions. I’ve made a few balls of the yarn, and I’m working on crocheting a square that doesn’t look like a triangle. I’ll post pictures when I succeed, or just distribute the wobbly fruits of my labor to loving relatives.

If all that recycling and crocheting sounds like a hassle, though, practice what Reagan preached, and just say no. The baggers may stare, progressive grocery stores may give you a discount, and you’ll need either large pockets or an empty purse, but I promise that soon you’ll wonder why your plastic dvd case in plastic shrink wrap needs that third layer of plastic baggie, and carrying an extra bag into the grocery store will be second nature.

First, a link: this New York Times article details Ikea Hacking, or turning Ikea furniture into either more-bizarre and personal furniture or something else entirely (like a guitar). As the reporter elaborates, such-like highly manufactured materials- whether found or purchased- are now being used by some as the raw material for design and craftiness, which is a nice way to prop up the global economy while also sticking it to the Man.

This also ensures that you’ll love your disposable Ikea furniture for years to come: use ingenuity and tools to make it entirely yours so you’ll love it forever, treat it well, and not want to throw it out. Plus people will be jealous of your neat stuff.