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Rainy Day Gocco

I had a not-really-sick kid home with me yesterday, so we did some gocco printing for the upcoming ICE holiday show.

When printing on fabric, I use the gocco just to burn the screen, then use the screen just like a mini-silkscreen with fabric ink. I seem to get much more even results this way and may try this method printing on paper as well. Anyway, the top drawing was made by my five-year-old and the jellyfish was made by my seven-year-old. Jellyfish are her current obsession. I think these will get made into zippered pouches, maybe painted too.

We’re also planning to make some jellyfish ornaments. No turtle doves for us, we’ll be celebrating the holidays with chickens and jellyfish. Why not?

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Some Birthday Gifts

Over the weekend, I made some birthday gifts for a sweet four-year-old and decided to embrace the color pink she loves so much. Why fight it? I suspect one day when they are wearing all black we’ll miss the glittery pink costumes.

So I made a pink tutu and a matching one for my five-year-old. Then I made a drawing case embroidered with both my daughters’ designs — the flower on the front and an ice cream cone sewn onto this Moleskine notebook. Both designs were hand-painted by my children. We’ll be selling some of these cases at the Indie Craft Experience next month. The rose fabric is from Heather Ross’ Far Far Away II collection for Kokka.

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DIY Bat Costume

Try making this simple bat costume from a t-shirt and wool felt. More Stellaluna than Batman, this little brown bat is for kids still willing to wear a cute Halloween costume. Unlike my older daughter whose goal is to “scare little kids”. She’s seven, so she still gets scared quite a bit herself.

My five-year-old reluctantly put on this costume and then loved it. Now she wants to do her kindergarten animal research project on fruit bats. First off, we need to research bat sounds. She was hooting in these photos, but I guess bats screech? We’ll find out.

Full instructions and printable mask in my post over at Alpha Mom.

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Hand Drawn Dolls

Turning children’s drawings into sewn artwork has definitely been on my mind lately, so I was intrigued when Sarah from TOUCH sent me a link to this collaboration with German designer Alexa Lixfeld and children from Sri Lanka. The dolls above are designed based on the children’s drawings and sewn under fair trade practices by an organization called Selyn in Sri Lanka. I love the whimsy and playfulness of the dolls with their folk-art feel. The positive impact on the community makes them even better. As my children get older, it’s becoming nearly impossible to focus exclusively on handmade gifts for the holidays, but I’m still making an effort. I think these dolls would make a great addition to any kid’s collection.

“The aim of this project is to promote the growth of the handloom industry and provide a sustainable livelihood to the artisans and their families, as well as bring enjoyment and cheerfulness to children all over the world.  Lixfeld and Selyn are both making an earnest effort to foster ‘the intellectual, social, ethical, moral, spiritual and emotional development of the less fortunate children of Sri Lanka.’  Participants included students of grades one, two and three.”

Visit TOUCH to purchase the dolls or visit the Selyn website to learn more about where the dolls were made.