Reverse applique on ‘Big Bang Theory’ shirt

Sonoma County crafters, who else has visited The Legacy near downtown Sebastopol? It’s a great thrift-consignment shop that features crafting supplies.

Came away from my first visit to The Legacy with some great floral-patterned fabric, which I used to create a reverse applique for my “Big Bang Theory” T-shirt.

(Yes, even something as awesome as this shirt, depicting “Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock,” can become even more awesome through the marvel of customization.)

Best of all, the “fabric” was a no-longer-used cushion cover — thereby diverting something for repurposing that may otherwise have had no further use.

The Legacy is located at 789 Gravenstein Highway South. The merchandise has been donated, and it’s run by volunteers for the Sebastopol Area Senior Center.

Green-herringbone jacket and hat

Here are a couple of my recent sewing projects, out of a beautiful green herringbone flannel. The jacket is from an old McCalls pattern, #7799, enhanced with a layered applique that I made from repurposed garments.

The newsboy hat is a rare monochromatic creation. I usually combine various colors, textures and patterns when I sew these hats, but I needed a hat in a plain neutral color — and for me, “neutral” is dark green. It’ll easily go with the many other shades of green that dominate my wardrobe.

Do-it-yourself public art studio

To celebrate the resumption of Saturday bus services, we caught Rogue Valley Transit’s Route 10 from Ashland into Medford, then spent a few hours on-foot. During our ramblings, we discovered The Artist in You, a do-it-yourself creative space fronting E. McAndrews Road on the block between Poplar Drive and Biddle Road. (The studio is in Bear Creek Plaza with its address listed as 1110 Biddle Road.) I love the idea of a walk-in public art studio, and The Artist in You provides ceramic shapes, paintbrushes and a broad range of colors. Once people finish their projects, the projects are kiln-fired for later pick-up. Here we are with our mug, painted with a design that features our sweet cat Starfire.

Also posted to Librarian on a Bicycle

‘101 Socks’

I love making socks and even as I explore other knitting techniques, I have a feeling that socks are a project I’ll return to again and again. For this reason, 101 Socks (Schiffer Publishing, 2015) was a natural addition to my wish list.

This book is full of ideas and designs for a variety of socks, created through various techniques: double-pointed and circular knitting needles, crochet and the addi® Express mini-knitting machine.

I’d explored various approaches to making socks and came away from this book with ideas for techniques I would still like to try.

Bags from give-away materials

Each of these bags is one-of-a-kind and these two are the only two like them there are. Anywhere. In the world. I made them out of repurposed materials. The handles were strips of wool fabric, the decorative panels came from chair upholstery and the body fabric bore evidence of pleating — possibly curtains or a skirt. I feel good that this bag “closes the loop” by salvaging valuable materials and giving them new life.

Library ‘makerspaces’ inspire manufacturing

With their investment in machines like 3-D printers, public libraries are becoming “one-stop shop[s] for manufacturing in the digital age." That’s according to Justin Lynch writing for the Pacific Standard.

‘Hattitude’: Cap in orange, green, blue and brown

I assembled various fabrics, in orange, green, blue and brown, into a spectacular hat. I love the way these fabrics work together, most re-purposed from other garments. Old pants, a skirt and fabric cut from a dress to make it “bicycle-friendly.” (’Cause at the risk of digression, a short dress over pants is much easier to ride in than a long dress that might tangle in the chain.) The blue-stripe comes from a sash that was very loose weave — just threads held together at intervals — so I stitched it onto another fabric to give it greater durability. Same thing with the green lace.

I want to decorate that knitted T-shirt

A knitted update to the classic baseball T-shirt appeared in my Facebook timeline, linking to a pattern from designer Ysolda Teague on Ravelry. Imagine the charted-design possibilities for the T-shirt’s front panel! The Sharrow design perhaps? Or maybe ... Social sharing credit goes to Erin Duffy, pattern editor at Shibui Knits (my knitting instructor at The Web-sters in Ashland, Oregon).

Starfire ‘helps’ assemble sewing pattern

Of course, Starfire was going to sit on print-outs of my Etsy sewing pattern download. On this Caturday morning, my sweet sewing helper is essential to pattern assembly.

Book bags from shirts and other materials

Repurposed shirts and other materials find new life as decorative book bags. They’re great as a planet-friendly alternative to throw-away gift wrapping paper and could as easily hold a digital reader or tablet as they could hold a traditional printed book. Appliqued onto the bag in front is the international symbol of the library.

Neon socks with short-row-heels

With my sock explorations to-date, I’d used the heel-flap-and-turn technique taught by Ann Budd in her book Getting Started Knitting Socks (Interweave, 2007).

With this latest pair of socks, I decided to attempt the short-row heel technique.

‘Teen Crafternoon’: Poetry mural collages

Source of image: Ashland Teen Library on Facebook

I’m looking forward to another “Teen Crafternoon” activity, noon to 2:30 p.m. Saturday in the teen area, Ashland public library, 410 Siskiyou Blvd. This time, participants will use magazines, books and art to create poetry mural collages. Ashland Teen Library has posted some photos to inspire our creative ideas.

Cat stuffie from repurposed sweater and socks

This little cat-like creature came home with me after spending an enjoyable “Teen Crafternoon” in the teen department, Ashland branch library. I constructed the cat’s body from a repurposed sweater and fashioned it a couple changes of clothing from the legs of socks. Watch for regular teen activities during the school year and during Jackson County Library Services’ summer reading program.

‘Teen Crafternoon’: We’re making ‘sock creatures’

Source of image: Ashland Teen Library on Facebook

Check out all the colors and patterns in these socks and now imagine the possibilities: making “sock creatures” during “Teen Crafternoon,” noon to 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Ashland library, 410 Siskiyou Blvd. I’m looking forward to it.

Crocheted cat ears hat with fabric liner and ties

I spent “Caturday” adding a fabric liner and ties to my fabulous cat ears hat, originally crocheted from Kelley Freeman’s pattern on RamenNeedles.com.

And as there often is with my favorite projects, there’s a story attached.

Hand-made books during ‘Teen Crafternoon’

Having been exposed to the rewarding task of library book repair, I’ve long wanted to try hand-bookbinding. I got the opportunity during “Teen Crafternoon” with the Ashland library teen department.

Season’s Greetings

“It’s lovely weather for a bike ride together with you.”

Socks knit in teal stripes

Winter break finds me more than halfway through my latest pair of hand-knit socks, once again worked from Getting Started Knitting Socks by Ann Budd. This pair combines Ella Rae Classic Superwash in dark and light teal blue stripes.

Cross-posted to Ravelry

Blogs by library professionals

Cartoon avatar puts me in good standing among library bloggers

Comic avatars seem to be a frequent practice among public and school library bloggers that I examined for an assignment this week in LIBT 210, School Library/Media Center Operations. So with my Bitstrips comic avatar, I fit right in with the writers of these four blogs.

Hattitude: Earflap cap with brim from sweater

Teen Crafternoon on Monday with the Ashland library Teen Department presented a perfect opportunity to make a cap with earflaps from two repurposed sweaters.