on craft and crafting

Now that everybody is an artist i have become interested in the c word and all that's behind the DIY movement. Agreed there are lots of uncool works, but there's a lot of uncool art too. In fact there's a lot of uncool stuff in life !
What interest me the most is the intellectual backbone behind it and periodically i check around blogs and read what's going on.

One of those trips took me to Ulla Maaria's blog and her manifesto which i found thought provoking. Her blog too is worth a more than superficial glance.
As you know you follow a link ,then one link led to another and yet another and i landed in the Burda page. Well, in a nutshell it is a sewing page with free downloadable patterns. There's also a sewpedia, sewing tips and lots of info.
It's comforting to note that although you have to register to be able to download patterns, there's no copyright uptightness and more of a creative commons scene.
For all of you who sew, enjoy!

neki desu

hot august, cool sweets

Japanese food goes with the seasons in taste and looks and confectionery is famous for its seasonal looks. Here is a proposal for the month of August. You can see all the year here
This is July, but click on the link just above the number 7 to get the whole year.

Enjoy!

neki desu

origami, itajime and other common japanese words

The other day i checked Karren Brito's blog and found this interesting post on origami shibori.
i don't have the book she mentions, but i do have an origami book so i figured folds don't care whether they happen on paper or on cloth.
Looked for the book and then devoted 2 days to the exercise of folding and sometimes clamping(itajime) fabric to be dyed.
It is controlled fun as Monica Geller would say.

Made 2 or 3 samples one of them a small silk crepe itajime that is being presently embellished.
Here is one of the finished samples, cotton and the white squares are silk crepe. A lot less baroque this one oi?

neki desu