Category: crafts

Well this is extremely my jam: A feature on letters made in weaving/embroidery/knitting/etc. from Letterform Archive. It even hits you with etymology right out of the gate!

The word “text” originated from the Latin word “textus,” which means “a weaving” or “a fabric.” In ancient times, textus referred specifically to the process of weaving fabric. Over time, the meaning of the word expanded to include written or printed material, reflecting the idea of words being woven together to create a coherent written work.

Seriously, I love this kind of ephemera. Almost makes me want to try needlepoint again.

I don’t remember how I came across this tutorial for hand knotted bead necklaces but I feel a new hobby coming on.

 

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You can get dyed stone beads pretty cheap to start out:

And then after you practice you can get real gemstones, like an opal kit with RAINBOW THREAD:

Should I maybe catch up on my collages and mark making class, or should I just go for it? It IS the Year of the Dilettante…

I just learned that you can access Creativebug classes through the Salt Lake City Library. Creativebug is a subscription video site where well-known artists/makers teach you different things. I’ve heard about it for years but never bothered to check out pricing until I saw Lisa Congdon had a new month-long “developing your visual vocabulary” class for beginners. Since this is the Year of the Dilettante, I was interested enough to consider $5/month, but now I can get it all for FREE.

There are some big names, too–Lisa Congdon, Anna Maria Horner, Kaffe Fassett… There are so many topics, too: Cake decorating (!),  furniture refinishing and upholstery (!!),  and even bookbinding (!!!).

Creativebug has a nationwide library program so if you’re not local, chances are you can still access everything for free. What a find for us dilettantes!

Another way you can keep buying things is to say you’re starting a new hobby. Like I said in July, I wanted to try bookbinding, so I got some papers and glue and attempted a stab stitch binding. Then I was afraid to break into the case binding kit I bought (and veered back into sewing outdoor gear; too many hobbies).

But then I saw a case binding class was being taught at a local paper place in September so I signed up and learned how to do it live. Reader, there is sewing involved!

Above is sewing the signatures to make a text block. We used a curved needle, which felt primitive and satisfying.

Then you make the cover, which involves the old favorites of cardboard and fancy paper and glue:

And then you glue the text block into the covers and boom! A real book!

The little guy on the left is just a pamphlet stitch practice run, which the class started with to get extra practice on punching holes and sewing with that curved needle.

Will I try my kit for a casebound book on my own next? Yes! Except do I want to buy more supplies for it just because I can? Also yes!

Like I said yesterday, spending an afternoon just playing with paper and glue really took me back to my early teens. Bookbinding is fun! And pretty simple! Like any new hobby, you just have to do it to get good at it and this little stab stitch-bound book already taught me a lot. (Namely that making sure all your holes are lined up is really important, and that every tutorial calls for waxed thread for a reason [because unwaxed embroidery floss tangles too much].)

I had just about everything I needed on hand except glue and a brush, so this was a pretty low-stakes entry to a new craft. I used some fancy wrapping paper and the aforementioned embroidery floss and this tutorial.

I, ahem, did have to go buy glue at the art store and maybe a kit to make a casebound book jumped into my cart at the same time…so that might be the next project for a hot weekend.

Sometimes you just wake up and think, “I bet I could start another hobby.” That’s been me thinking about bookbinding lately. I think it started seeing a blogger-turned-newsletter-sender’s books and being struck by the visible stitching. Then I started googling and there’s so much out there!

More of Jane Brocket’s books (she talks here about the book/quilt crossover)

Casebound books (I am learning terminology!) from Bari Zaki Studio in Chicago, which looks amazing.

Ruth Bleakley’s blog has so much to dig into, including posts with how-to videos (this is “Japanese stab stitch” binding).

And, much like sewing, there are a lot of amateur blogs out there just putting out info, like Molly Brooks and her “Exposed Tape Binding in 140(ish) Easy Steps” tutorial.

The continuing education program here even offers live classes, although they don’t start until November. I bet I could just fold some paper and figure it out before then, right?

I escaped during the workday Tuesday and met our Canadian friend at B. Golden Jewelry School, which I’ve heard about for years but never looked in to. Reader, it was so fun! Our class was an “intro to precious metal clay,” aka a mix of silver dust and binders that acts just like clay.

You roll it out on a texture plate and cut it to shape, then let it dry a little. (If you’re friends with our friend, you can also bring a 3D object and use her silicon mold-making supplies to make a mold of it and then press the clay into that mold.)

Then–the exciting part!–you torch fire it with an acetylene torch (!) to burn away (!!) the organic binders in the clay and sinter the silver dust into a solid.

Then you scrub off the residue from the firing and add patina if you want, and polish it all up:

And then you have JEWELS! That are fine silver, that you MADE! Including a couple casts of a Toby claw that I’m already planning on learning how to add a cap and a bail to:

I haven’t talked about it here but this year I’ve gotten into fine jewelry, which started when I got some of my mom’s to wear. Is jewelry making the next step? Can I afford a gold smithing hobby? It’s probably about the same as a gold collecting hobby…