Craftmania

I’ve been on a DIY bender over the last three days. Making things is a sort of meditation for me but it’s also becoming an escape. Keeping my hands busy keeps me off the social media and away from the relentless reporting of the apocalypse. I don’t want to think about things some days. I just want to create.

So without further adieu, here are some of the things I a-did. Get it? Adieu is pronounced a-do? Nevermind.

Up top is a little embroidered sachet filled with lavender I harvested from our garden. It is the second one that I made. I mailed the first to my niece, but forgot to put a stamp on the envelope.

Because I have more watches than watch boxes, I like to make my own out of little balsa wood coffins that the sell at Dollarama before Halloween.

 

Speaking of spooky, I made an articulated skeleton brooch out of off brand Shrinky Dink material. I also made some earrings. Note: this is. Y second attempt at the lightning bolts. Most of my first attempts at realizing concepts are unsuccessful. The next project is an excellent example of success through failure.

After making my towel dresses over the summer, I decided I wanted to try my hand at some terry cloth tops. I tried to make some blouses from linen tea towels but the just looked awkward. I had picked up a hand towel with a cool geometric pattern at the same time, hoping I would find another to make a nice absorbent top. Summer turned into fall and that never happened. But on Monday I found a print that was at least the same colour so I stitched them together as a little kimono jacket instead of a top. I am pleased.

September 30th is Orange Shirt Day. This is an annual event to recognize and bring awareness about the terrible legacy of indigenous residential schools. I bought an orange t-shirt when I was in KW but I wanted to be more than just buying something and posting a picture of me wearing it on Instagram. Like I said, making things is meditative for me, and the act of embroidery takes time. It’s kind of like writing lines on a chalkboard, the act itself makes you reflect on the message.

So yeah, I went on a bit of a frenzy. There are even more projects that I started but haven’t finished yet (or didn’t turn out quite the way I envisioned them.