Sewing Tools Tote

I'm taking a pattern making class at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. 

We had to buy a set of odd-shaped tools, plus an L square which is  24" long x 15" wide.

Last week in class we discussed creating designs for a tote to hold everything.

 I designed mine as a vertical bag with multiple Velcro closure pockets sized to hold the various tools. (The pockets can seal up all the way; I just have the tools poking out in the photo to show what goes where.) 

One pocket needed to hold a small plastic box so I put darts in it.

There is another pocket on the inside for a 9" x 12" sketchbook. My drawing shows the t-shirt and asymmetrical wrap vest I hope to make with my new patterns.

I bought the fabric Thursday night, started sewing last night, and finished it up on Saturday.

The inside of the bag shouldn't be examined too closely because I didn't finish it as well as I could have,

but it will be very functional regardless.

After I finished it, I realized it looks like I turned a pair of striped pants my brother had in the 70's into a bag!! (Though to be fair to Joe, they were various shades of brown stripes, not these circus tent colors.)

Oh well, my tote will be a conversation piece.

Another entry in the hollow bead sweepstakes

Lightweight, fast, and easy...making big hollow beads in angular shapes is easy with print-cut-fold-and-tape PDFs.

Six shapes on five sheets: 3- and 4-sided diamonds, cubes, pillows, pyramids, and 4-sided long cylinders are available for download from this page. (They are free because I did not invent geometry! I just put them on a page you can download and print.) The sheets have one or two shapes on them, and some have more than one size on a sheet.

Carol Simmons and I experimented with shapes and finishing styles on the beads we're modeling below. We made a bunch at a recent retreat and turned them into a temporary necklace. It was dismantled and now we each have an assortment of beads that we'll mix with others. A few of my other experiments are below. 

Go download the templates and let me know how they work for you. I do not guarantee that they are flawless -- hole punch spots may be slightly off so "fold first, punch holes later" and if you find mistakes, let me know. Basic directions are on each sheet. All suggestions and questions are welcome!

This is all four sides of a single bead made with the 4-sided diamond template.

Photos from my recent trip to NYC

I am in love with the cartoonify filter on my phone camera. I made a poster of my favorite pics from my stroll around Manhattan last Thursday morning.

 I kept my finger on the clicker and took a few hundred pictures of the windows and all the things we passed as we walked around. I call it the Andy Warhol* method... make a zillion of something and at least a few will turn out decent. It's fun to look through all your photos after the fact and see what kind of good images you serendipitously caught.

*When you go to the Andy Warhol Museum you see many silkscreened versions of the famous Marilyn poster. The iconic one we all know was  just one of many variations.

Kitchen tip: fast bacon crumbles

I cook an entire pack of bacon at one time. I put it in the pan, chop it with the spatula, and stir it around until it is crispy, and drain it on a paper towel .  Takes about 10 minutes.
(Caveat: I use Oscar Meyer lower sodium turkey bacon, which is delicious by the way. This process may work differently, or not at all, with pork bacon.)

...and presto, 

crispy bacon bits!

Now this is what you call "statement jewelry"

Years ago I saw the movie "La belle et la bête" (Beauty and the Beast, 1946, directed by Jean Cocteau). Belle (Josette Day) wears the most beautiful, asymmetrical pearl brooch/necklace combo. Even in the black and white film the jewels were sparkly and gorgeous. I tried to make something similar year ago but didn't succeed. Beside the necklace itself, the garment under it is a challenge as it would need to be pretty sturdy to hold the weight.
I recently went looking for the image and thought you bead-lovin' people might like to check it out...

Creativity

1999. Grad school. A paper for advertising class.
I chose to write about creativity because I felt like a lot of people think of creativity and artistic ability as the same thing. They also think there's some magic to it rather than understanding that it's a combination of expertise, open minded exploration, and good old hard work and practice. I dug it out of the computer and posted it here if you have any interest. I have to do a speech for Toastmasters and will probably use this as the basis for it.
read the paper