Yarn Bombing and Craft Spoken Here at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

 The exhibit runs from May 5 – August 12, 2012

To open their Craft Spoken Here Exhibit the Philadelphia Museum of Art had the Lion Brand Yarn Company and fiber artist Jessie Hemmons yarn bomb the facade of the museum. Perelman yarn bombed the building's facade using the yarn company 's most popular colors. the result is a happy explosion of bright colors and large granny squares. 

Lion Brand Yarn Company is the yarn sponsor for the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s new exhibit, “Craft Spoken Here”. This is the museum’s first special exhibition dedicated to crafting. Yesterday, Jessie Hemmons, a Philadelphia fiber artist known as the Philadelphia Yarn bomber, yarnbombed the facade of the museum’s Perelman building using two of Lion Brand Yarn Company’s most popular yarns in bright colors, Hometown USA and Vanna’s Choice.


"Found in urban, suburban and rural environments, knit bombing is a public form of contemporary craft concerning reclamation and personalization of public places. Knit bombing is a fairly new form of street art which entails knitting and crocheting cozies for trees, signs, lampposts and bike racks and varied forms of adornment on public sculpture. Also called yarn bombing, yarn storming, guerrilla knitting, urban knitting, and graffiti knitting, knit bombing is a vibrant and uplifting form of fiber art which made its first appearance in the United States in Houston, Texas in 2005 at the hand of the crafter Magda Sayeg. Sayeg’s inspiration for yarn bombing came in the form of leftover yarn which she knitted to create a cozy for the doorknob of her boutique. The rest is history." (from the museum's site).


You can read more about the exhibit at Handmadeinpa.net, Craft Spoken Here: Artist Jesse Hemmons yarn-bombs the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Watch the yarn bombing in action below.

More at Craft Spoken Here.

Free Quilt Pattern to Help Kids in Hospitals

This is from the site Makeit-Loveit.com
Children in hospitals often times are not allowed to bring personal items of comfort from home to stay with them.  For this reason, the “Downy Touch of Comfort” campaign was born. They have partnered up with “Quilts for Kids” and have organized a way for children’s quilts (within certain specifications) to be gathered and donated to children who have been admitted to hospitals all over the U.S. 


Here is a free quilt pattern you can use to make quilts to brighten the days of these kids.

You don’t even have to purchase the fabric………or even cut it!  You can request a quilt kit here.

Children's Craft Books at the Central Library

The Children's Room at the Central Library has a a wonderful collection of children's books in all subject areas. I went into their stacks to see what I could find in the craft area. I found a collection of craft books from the 1930s forward. Here is a sampling of what I found. Click on the book cover to see more about the book. If you are interested in any of these books make sure you asked a Children's librarian to help you locate them.

Come in and take a look in the Children's Room and don't forget to ask about the Secret Room. This special room houses the George W. Cooper International Doll Collection. In the 1930s, through a doll exchange with schools and organizations in other countries, the students and teachers of #43 School gathered a collection of 180 dolls dressed in traditional clothing. Since its donation to the library in 1940, the collection has grown through individual donations to over 200 dolls.

         

                         

                            

♥ Japanese Craft Books

♥ Japanese Craft Books

Why do the most fabulous publishers disappear? I'm talking about the Japanese publisher Ondori. Ondori published some of the cutest, and prettiest crafting books ever. They published books on crocheting, knitting, needlework, and making stuffed toys. Yes the instructions were in Japanese but the patterns and illustrations were so good they were pretty easy to follow.

Lucky for all of us Ondori books can be found on Ebay, Etsy, and Amazon for reasonable prices. I have some Ondori books that I paid about $20.00 for but a lot depends on the seller and the condition of the book.

I'm not an expert on Japanese craft books but there is something about them that many crafters, needleworkers and sewers love. Aside from being in Japanese, you can tell an Ondori the minute you see it. Ondori craft books books are delightfully cute, beautifully photographed, and the patterns are easy to follow. Many including myself just like to look at them because of the photos. I hope you try some Ondori crafting books, you will enjoy them immensely.


OK, Ondori is no longer publishing but there are some great Japanese publishers who focus on craft. Spurred by the Zakka design movement and the dwindling sales of books and magazines in their country the ever creative Japanese have come up  with "mooks". (cute little publications that are a cross between a magazine and a book).  If you really get obsessed with these you can find many of them through Amazon Japan or YesAsia. (the interface for YesAsia is in English). You'll find a large assortment of craft books on including amigurumi, felt softies, needle felting, sewing projects, and quilting. 


I did some searching and this site, buzzville, offers some helpful hints for tracking down these craft books. She writes about the publishers, how to search and what isbns to look for. She is lucky to own such a wide variety and has a gallery to show you her titles. 


Japanese craft books differ very much from those published here in the states. Besides being in Japanese they don't seem as serious as those published here. Come on most of the time we are making fun stuff so why be so serious about it? And these books are loads of fun to look at. Many patterns in these books are rabbits, cats, cows, all kinds of animals, flowers, little houses, cute figures, etc. This blogger on Crafty Pod, offers the same opinion I do, although the books are in Japanese, the diagrams and the visuals are so good  that it does not seem to matter that we can't read them.


This site has a huge archive of scanned covers of Japanese craft books. Most of the site is in Russian but at the top right is a link for English. Click on one the tabs like embroidery and then scroll to the book. Clicking  More gives you the book info in English. Here is a tutorial if you need more help.


Understanding the terms makes searching a whole lot easier. So here are some terms to search with:


Bunka Shuppan Kyoku: Japanese publisher of craft books


Kawaii: (可愛い is "lovable", "cute", or "adorable" ans is seen in crafting to Kawaii fabrics.(a post on these in the future).


Keito Dama: Japanese knitting magazine from the Let's Knit series


Nihon Vogue: Japanese knitting patterns


Zakka: (from the Japanese 'zak-ka'（雑貨）or 'many things') is a fashion and design movement that has spread through Japan. Anything that brings happiness to your life and improvement to your home is what Zakka is all about. Zakka is about being cute, pretty, and attractive. Zakka is now being applied to contemporary handicrafts.

Some other sites for cuteness

Wee Wonderfuls






Slow Knits





Japan Publications Trading Co.



      

I Heart Crochet





Sweet Sassafras






Molly Chicken







 Craftlog

Vintage Cat Fabric

I'm always looking for vintage cat fabric especially from the 30s-50s. Sometimes I'll come across a Mod print from the 60s that is cute also. Making a dress is hard because there is never enough yardage so I make table runners out of the pieces I'm lucky enough to find. I have a pretty good collection of vintage cat fabric but I'm always looking. If you have any vintage cat fabric images you want to share I'd Love to see them.

Some modern day fabrics I have used that have a Vintage look

 Booster Club Pets On Parade in Petunia by Darlene Zimmerman

 Alexander Henry

Michael Miller Tammis Cats

A fabric from Japan. Cats and fabric from Japan will require a whole new post one day

 Booster Club Pets On Parade by Darlene Zimmerman

 Michael Miller Tammis Cats

Smitten Kittens by Michael Miller Fabric