Creative Sunday

 Amsterdam, crafts  No Responses »
Dec 172012
 

Yesterday was a very crafty day.  I went to a spindle spinning class at Penelope Craft in Amsterdam, taught by the very talented Christopher.  He’s a wizard with a spindle, with any kind of fiber, and can stand there making lace weight perfect singles while talking to us at the same time.  He’s also a professional singer and musician.  Such a talented guy!

Some of the students had done this before, but most of us had not.  It’s much harder than Chris makes it look.  My feeble attempts came out like bulky weight thick/thin singles.  The only fiber that I was really happy with was the pure silk.  It was just easier for me to draft for some reason.  I find that drafting (pulling the fiber out it just the right amount at the right speed) is so difficult to get right.  I know, practice makes perfect.  Chris kept reminding us about how long it took us to get really good at knitting and not to be disappointed in our first 3 hours of spinning.  We all seemed to be perfectionists who want results NOW.  Silly us.

At the same time as this class was going on, Ginni was having a craft market at her studio, DIY Textile School.  I didn’t want to miss it so I ran out of Penelope Craft just at 3pm and headed to the other side of Amsterdam as fast as I could.  I got there in time to buy a necklace of crocheted steel and beads, and a pair of earrings made with vintage beads.  And I had a tiny piece of the most amazing chocolate pecan pie.

If you are in Amsterdam at the weekend before Christmas, I think the Sunday Market at the Westergasfabriek will be pretty amazing.  I won’t be able to make it because I’ll be busy painting our downstairs toilet (more on that later).  But go there if you can.  Happy crafting everyone!

My Own Bird’s Nest

 crafts  1 Response »
Apr 202012
 

Last Wednesday night I went to a one evening class at DIY Textile School to learn how to make something from fabric and “stuff”.  I ended up making a bird’s nest and I have to say I’m darned proud of it.

We had to bring a glass bowl to use as a mold.  We then proceeded to cover it with whatever stuff we wanted, using gel medium to glue it down.

Ginni had lots of stuff on hand we could use to cover our bowls with.  She had bright colored silks and organza fabrics.  Feathers, string, ribbons, wood fibers, etc etc etc.  I was inspired by the small bowl shape and all the natural things on hand to use.  I used wood fibers soaked in water and stretched out, feathers, and plant fibers that looked like stuff birds would love to pick up and carry off to build with.

Here you can see a couple of other projects being worked on.  At the left if are a couple of finished vases made bright colored fabric and fibers.

At the end of the night we wrapped our projects in plastic wrap to take them home to dry.

And when I got home I unwrapped it, but left it still on the bowl form, and hung it upside down on a bottle to dry.

A day later I took it off the glass bowl and it looks like this:

You can see that it’s translucent and all the layers of stuff show up.  Here’s a photo of the inside, looking down into it:

Those white string bits are actually bleached wood bits that were soaked in water first to make them flexible.

It’s still not super hard and sturdy, but I will paint some paver pol on the inside which will make it hard and water tight.  You could actually cover a glass vase using this technique, paint it with paver pol on the inside, and use it as a flower vase.

Here’s a photo of another example the teacher had made.  It’s simple, but really beautiful.

I also learned that you can use this technique to do loads of things.  I now have big plans to transform our small downstairs WC.  It’s covered in ugly white wallpaper and frankly needs a complete remodel.  No money for THAT, but I can cover those walls with fun stuff like paper fish, cloth fish, photos of fish, shells from the beach, rushes from the dunes…… it will be amazing.