Monday 21 July 2014

“Must have” gadgets for the fibre artist in your life

Just before Christmas I did a blog posting about two neat tools for mixed media projects and promised that I would do a subsequent post on my favourite tools for fibre related projects. While I don’t fancy myself as a gadget kind of gal I do have a few “must have” gadgets on my Chatelaine that are very useful for quilting, surface design and fibre related projects.

What is a Chatelaine you ask? Historically it was a grouping of small items that a housekeeper or lady of the house (a chatelaine) would have attached at her waist or neck with keys, scissors, hanky or other items useful to her every day needs.  Over the years these have morphed into use as a sewing tool complete with scissors, needle cases etc. Some were made of silver and very elaborate, some quite plain as mine strung on a piece of soutache cord, but never the less just as useful. Google Sewing Chatelaine images and you’ll see quite a variety of them. On a similar note, a Housewife or Hussif were small sewing kits often carried by soldiers in the field to mend their uniforms or sew on loose buttons.

Sliver Gripper Tweezer™ 
The first “must have” comes from my favourite Canadian store Lee Valley ToolsThe tool is the Sliver Gripper Tweezer™ that comes with its own handy clip so that it can be attached to your Chatelaine.

They are invaluable to those who paper piece to get rid of those tiny pieces of paper that just won’t give way; for taking out teeny tiny machine quilting stitches; and if you were my dad, removing slivers. These are modestly priced, well made, and from the US.

Gingher Snips™
My second “must have” are my Gingher Snips™, well worth what I paid for them many years ago ($8), but are still worth the price at $12 - $27 depending on where you live or if you have a coupon.  Just 4” long, sharp and light weight; they have a loop on the top so that they can be strung onto your Chatelaine. I also like that they have no thumb hole and are easy to pull out and return to their topper with one hand.

LoRan Needle Theader™
Lastly is the LoRan Needle Theader™ by Dritz. This threader is much more robust than those with the tiny piece of wire that always pulls out with one good tug. It is not useful for small eyed needles, but great for threading embroidery floss/perle cottons onto a larger eyed needle for hand stitching. Once again, this handy tool can be strung onto your Chatelaine for easy access. These are reasonably priced at about $2.

There is no affiliation to any of these companies – I’m just pleased to share with you the tools of the trade that I find very useful.

What’s your favourite sewing tool of all time for quilting, hand stitching, surface design or fibre arts and why?

Thursday 17 July 2014

The Lost Art of Ribbon Work

Project and close up shots of leaves, bud and flower.
Jan and I just completed the spring session with the Calgary Public Library and presented “The Lost Art of Ribbon Work”. Each participant received a kit, complete with wired ribbon, linen backing and a frame and learned to stitch a simple boat leaf and Jewel Weed flower and put it all together in the frame.

Ribbon flowers have been around for a long time and along with other artistic pursuits, was a skill learned by young women.  In France, one centre of fashion, women could earn a living making these flowers, leaves, rosettes and other ribbon trims sold to design houses and women to embellish hats, gloves, lingerie and headbands.

The 1920’s saw quite a resurgence of the use of these types of decorations.

Republished by Dover Publications in 1986.
Along with this came an interest in The Language of Flowers, where each flower or colour of flower had a particular meaning related to love, death, sorrow or happiness.

We showcased a sample board of other flowers and leaves, which surprisingly are very easy to make, many only requiring a few inches of ribbon and a few stitches to shape and hold them together. The Calgary Public Library has many books in their collection and videos and on line tutorials for making ribbon flowers abound on the internet.

Sample board of ribbon leaves and flowers.
We will be teaching again with the Calgary Public Library this fall, presenting two new projects at 13 libraries throughout the city. 

Registration for these sessions will begin towards the end of August so watch for the new program guide. We hope to see you there.                                                   Jan and Meredith