Tag: handmade

Sweater pillow

~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 1 Comment

chair+pillow

Accidentally put your favorite wool sweater in the dryer? Don’t shed a tear—you may not be able to wear it anymore, but your living room will be better for it! I made this funky argyle pillow cover from one that used to fit the fiancé (oops).

Supplies:
•sweater
•pillow form that’s the same width as sweater
•straight pins
•sewing machine (a serger would be better, but if you sew over your seams twice you should be good to go!)

Step 1: Turn the sweater inside out. Lay flat and pin the sweater’s front and back together at the shoulders and neck.

Step 2: Break out the sewing machine and continue the existing side seams up to the top of the shoulders.

Step 3: Measure the height of your pillow form and mark that length from the bottom of the sweater. Sew straight across (perpendicular to your other seams) at the mark. Cut off extra material above the seam and on either side (the sleeves).

Step 4: Sew about 1/3 of the way in from each side along the bottom of the sweater.

Step 5: Turn the square inside out, stuff pillow form inside.

Step 6: Hand sew the remaining opening and viola! There’s a snappy new pillow in your home!

P.S. That’s my new chair from Iconi Interiors!

Give Back

~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 1 Comment

Today I am proud to feature artists who are creating beautiful work and using it to give back to their communities. In the last 18 months, the demand for charity and non-profit services has increased while those giving to these services has declined dramatically. Kudos to those who still manage to set a little aside for those less fortunate.

Erin of Undefined Village will donate all proceeds (about 80% of purchase price) from her “Homeless” print to a non-profit animal shelter in an effort to help curb the overcrowding of these facilities.

Erin of Reul Iuil gives the proceeds from everything in her shop to various charities. Purchasing the baby blanket above benefits St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital and the entire cost of the scarf below goes to Book Aid International. Erin says she has always enjoyed crafting for family and friends and she wanted to find a way to spread the goodwill.

Last but not least, in my non-letterpress etsy shop, a number of prints benefit Project Liberia. Bulleh Bablitch-Norkeh, a Liberian who moved to Wisconsin in her teens, began Project Liberia as a personal project to help her relatives and others living in a country torn apart by 14 years of civil war. Project Liberia is now a growing non-profit dedicated to enabling Liberians to improve their own lives and the lives of their families through a variety of projects including building a community center, beginning a micro-loan program and cleaning the litter of war from the streets.

Bablitch-Norkeh is currently on her third trip to Liberia, distributing clothing to orphanages, soccer equipment (a way to keep kids busy in a productive way and keep them out of trouble) and overseeing the final stages of the community center.

Yoga Goat

~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 1 Comment

Silly name; great work. That just about sums up Yoga Goat pottery. Working out of her hard-earned shop in Vermont, Amanda throws beautiful pieces covered with her own unique illustrations. Drawn with a reverse-slip method in which she covers the entire piece in the color, then carves away the background, leaving the design in underglaze as well as a slight relief.

Grand Array give away winner announcement to come later today — stay tuned!

Gold & Citrus

~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

I just got my  latest Harper’s Bazaar (thank you, address forwarding). The pages were filled with fantastic metallic pieces that are heavier for fall. Then I came back to my computer and logged on to etsy to see — what else? — fashion-forward gold necklaces!

Gold & Citrus is the online storefront for Sara Rossbach from San Francisco. I love the way “Mandarin” (above) has a shape similar to the ever-present bib necklaces but is lighter and full of movement.

Of her work, Sara says, “If I had to pick one word that my jewelry is about, or inspired by, I would say versatility. For some of the pieces this means that it can be worn with anything from jeans and a t-shirt to a cocktail dress, while others take the concept of versatility even a step further and can be worn in multiple positions. My “scarf necklaces” [above], can be worn at least 4 different ways. You can drape them, toss one end over your shoulder, tie them, knot them… whatever! It’s all about options, and being creative.”