Less talk, more craft. One of my summer goals is to make more clothing for myself, so I used this Liberty of London Tana Lawn fabric from Purl Soho (Gray Asami Sayo 1175C) and made this simple blouse. I started in linen with this pattern, but the shape of the center insert and the gathers were just not flattering at all, so I simplified it. It’s still a boxy top, but I think it will work well with a pair of slim capri pants.
Thanks for all of your comments on this post. It is clear that many of you feel passionate about the challenging issues surrounding copyright. During this time of fluent information sharing and the collaborative nature of the online craft community, it is only natural that these issues surface. I respect your opinions about my HandMAYde is Better series this week and while I welcome the debate, I hope that all of you know that as a maker and designer myself, these issues are important to me also. Each of the posts from this week has been updated in response to your concerns.
If you would like to read the full post along with the comments, feel free to read on. I am going to get on with sewing and making things, because I don’t think we are going to find any answers today. What I hope to provide here is a supportive place for inspiration, instruction and resources. Thanks.
Today, Anna Graham from Noodlehead has shared a beautiful pillow that she made, inspired by an Anthropologie version (above left). This project is a great introduction to patchwork and you’ll add piping to the rounded ends, another great skill for new sewers to learn. She shows two versions of the pillow and suggests that you could also add some hand quilting, like the Anthropologie version. Click here to read the full tutorial.
If you haven’t visited Anna’s blog before, you’ll find all kinds of sewing and tutorials. Thanks, Anna!
Update: This post was created by the very nice Meg of Elsie Marley. I asked her to be a part of the DIY series this week using inspiration from stores and catalogs in an effort to show you that you can make anything you see. In light of the controversy surrounding this series, I’ve removed any instructions, but I’d still like to show you her project. I would encourage you to try Meg’s technique here using your own creative ideas.
This project is also inspired by Anthropologie. Meg’s version is on the left and the other version on the right in the image above. The design for Anthropologie was created by girls can tell and is a copyrighted image, of course. Any line drawing would work for this project. I joked to Meg that I should do a vegetarian version with a lump of tofu, but I actually do think that would be kinda cute! Anyway, thanks to Meg for sharing this great idea!
Update: This project was originally created by Brittni Mehlhoff of papernstitch. I asked her to contribute to this DIY series and she obliged with this wonderful tutorial. What she did not realize is that the original Anthropologie version of this necklace is actually a handmade piece created by Fort Standard. So while we hope that you will continue to draw inspiration from the world around you, we would discourage making an exact copy of an artist’s work, even for personal use. Brittni has decided to remove the tutorial to further discourage this. Thanks for your understanding.
This series has apparently created a good deal of controversy, which you can read about here.
_______________________________________
Brittni Mehlhoff is the founder and curator of the art + handmade exhibition site, papernstitch, and is also the editor of a handmade blog by the same name. When not working on papernstitch, she is dreaming up fun little tutorials and crafting projects for her home. You can visit her free diy projects and tutorials section for more than sixty quick and easy projects. And while you are there, you can also sign up to receive free weekly diy projects straight to your inbox.
