Category: Modern art

According to the dictionary ‘home•made ‘ means –
.
1. Made or prepared in the home:
2. Made by oneself.
3. Crudely or simply made.

Everyone is doing it, not just the ‘born again’ crafters but even celebrities are getting onto the band wagon of homemade goods. Consequently the websites can run into pages as the homemade list is extremely long.

On the craft side of homemade you can not only get ideas and tutorials online but you can also sell your goods without even needing to leave your home (except when you sell them).

There are also a number of workshops available, some of which I have listed below.

http://www.your-artsdesire.co.uk – art workshops
http://www.coolcrafting.co.uk – inspirational crafting and sewing workshops
http://www.makedomend.com – recycling your own things
http://www.fabricmagic.co.uk – how to use fabric
http://www.savesninesewing.co.uk – how to sew
http://www.cjcardcraft.com – how to make cards
http://www.threadsandpatches.co.uk – how to do patchwork
http://www.thesewingcafe.co.uk – how to sew
http://www.makeanddoworkshops.com – how to recyle
http://www.merchantandmills.com – dress making
http://www.smashingchintz.co.uk – mosaics
http://www.vam.ac.uk – ceramics
http://www.coolcrafting.co.uk – sewing

TRAID is a charity which sells or reworks some one-off pieces of clothes given to them to sell in there shops, TRAIDremade.

TRAID works to make the nations unwanted clothes matter. They divert clothes from landfill at our textile recycling banks, and after hand sorting, resell the best in their legendary TRAID shops. The profits raised support projects fighting inequality and exploitation in the global textile supply chain, and projects establishing environmental sustainability in some of the world’s poorest communities.

Sew Good in 2012 with TRAID for FREE Learn to Sew Good with the fashion recycling charity TRAID at monthly workshops held in their Camden store throughout 2012.
Bring a garment you no longer wear and they will give you the skills you need to fix, alter and revive your wardrobe. These simple techniques help to extend the life of your clothes, and will give you the confidence and knowledge to adjust second hand, charity shop and vintage finds to fit perfectly.
Whether you need to fine tune your skills, get to grips with a sewing machine, or even learn to thread a needle, the Sew Good team will help you find creative avenues for transforming unwanted clothing, into something you’ll love to wear.
Due to Sew Good’s popularity, booking is essential. Please email sewgood@traid.org.uk The workshops take place the second Thursday of every month between 6pm and 9pm at TRAID Camden, 154 Camden High Road, London NW1 0NE. These workshops are free.
12 January // 9 February // 8 March // 12 April // 10 May // 14 June // 12 July // 9 August // 13 September // 11October // 8 November // 13 December

If, like me, you have decided to ‘have a go’ at some sewing projects then you will love this website http://www.feelingstitchy.com

It has lots of patterns and projects on different embroidery patterns for you to try.

If it’s vintage projects and patterns you are interested in then the site to look at is http://www.wesewretro.blogspot.com

This site has vintage patterns, vintage fabric and vintage style.

Another really, really interesting site is a lady who is trying to make a dress, nearly every day, http://www.dressaday.com

As you know I bought a large (400g) ball of wool to keep me busy after my foot surgery and the first thing I knitted was a cushion cover (see above).

I’d originally planned to knit a throw but soon realised that I would get bored of knitting all the squares and decided to try a cushion cover instead.

I have a lovely book which has some lovely patterns for your home called ‘Simple knits for easy living’, by Erika Knight (see above, available from Amazon) which has superb pictures to inspire you and easy to follow patterns.

Of course cushion covers don’t have to be knitted covers, it’s just quite fashionable at the moment. However, ‘cushions’ especially ‘heart shaped’ are just about everywhere.

I bought the small heart shaped one below that says ‘Thanks’ on it for a friend to give her after a party she held. It’s little ones like that which can come in very handy as gifts to people and could be made up of old bits of fabric or even clothes you no longer wear.

There is a brilliant website http://www.cushionsandmore.com/cushion-patterns.html which has patterns and details on every type of cushion you could ever think of, from pin cushions to floor cushions.

I’m definitely going to make some small heart cushions with ‘Thanks’ and ‘Get Well Soon’ and ‘Happy Birthday’ on them as it makes a change from a bunch of flowers and you will always need them.

Why not start a new hobby in 2012 by taking up sewing, vintage style. Not only could you take it up but you could also get your children to take it up as some of the fabulous accessories are creative for children to make as well as grown ups.

A pretty first sewing kit ‘I love Retro’, .www.iloveretro.co.uk is a good start or for Cath Kidson fans ‘Scissors’, http://www.cathkidson.co.uk

Tape Measure http://www.johnlewis.com or a pin cushion that looks like a cupcake by Lauren Denney http://www.laurendenney.com

An electric sewing machine can be bought from BHS for only £50 http://www.bhs.co.uk

Sewing baskets and kits for ‘The Contemporary Home’ from http://www.tchinet.com

Vintage clothing has become popular with many a celebrity including Kate Moss, the Royal Family and Sienna Miller.

Each item tells a story, and these stories define the romance of vintage clothing. For many, this is the main reason for buying the vintage. Also UK now has very few of its own manufacturers, so it’s nice to see clothes with ‘made in the UK’, on the label.

Sadly with the way things are going at the moment, even more UK manufacturers could end up closing. Of course, our labels also decree, ‘fair pay and good conditions for workers’, which is something not guaranteed on goods made in the developing world.

The other almost ‘guarantee’ about a vintage purchase is that the chances are you will not bump into someone else wearing the same outfit.

And of course, the quality of vintage clothing is quite different from the mass produced clothing of today.