Patchwork Underground

Ok, so I’m pretty much vegan these days.

BUT I have a serious weakness for leather.

RANT ALERT. Seriously, it’s no secret that I’m not into killing and/or mistreating our animal friends. I think the way the meat industry works in this day and age is straight up sick and wrong.

Now, if I were starving out in the woods would I rather die than kill and eat an animal? Certainly not.

Here’s what a lot of folks don’t understand: The whole starving-in-the-woods situation is totally different than choosing to pay someone to raise mistreated animals only to kill them for you so you can eat meat and not think about or deal with the animal you are consuming. As a consumer, it’s impossible to honor the animal when you are totally removed from its life and death. This store-bought disconnect is just so sad for the animal AND the meat eater.

Oh yeah - and that’s not even including the whole host of nasty environmental issues that arise from the unnecessary over-population and over-concentration of certain “livestock” on our planet.

Anyway, it’s for these reasons that I never buy new leather. I usually get it second hand. Politics aside, it is a superior material in a lot of ways and I figure it’s better not to waste it once its already been created. (Yes – people do see me wearing it and no - they don’t know that it’s recycled and, yes, this theoretically does encourage other people in their consumption of meat/leather products. No comment. Don’t really know what to do about it.)

My one request: Please, if you’re going to use this pattern, DON’T use brand new leather that you bought anonymously from the store. Find it, recycle it, hunt it and tan it yourself -whatever. Just be connected to and ok with where it came from. Or, heck, use the fake stuff. =)

Finally! The Tutorial!

Stuff you’ll need:

Medium-sized scraps of leather
Leather punch
Scissors

Step 1: Stand in front of a mirror with your leather. Hold the biggest piece up to your torso and decide which side is up. Often times the extreme edges of the hide will be the most interesting-looking and the least desirable to serious leatherworkers because of the (neato) inconsistencies. I used one of these edges for the bottom of my top.

Step 2: Cut a flattened triangular yoke from a smaller scrap. Make the top and the bottom about an inch longer than you’d like the finished product to be. You will be folding these edges over.

Step 3: Make a leather thong. No, not the underwear kind. A leather thong is a piece of leather “thread” that you use to sew pieces of leather together. The good news is you don’t need to buy this separately because you can make it yourself from a scrap of leather! Basically, you cut the scrap into a circle and start cutting it into a spiral shape – eventually ending up with a long strip of leather. I found a very nifty picture of this process on PaleoPlanet:

Stretch the cord out once you’re done cutting. Leather is very stretchy (especially in small pieces) and if you don’t stretch it out ahead of time, it’ll stretch out by itself. If it does this after you’ve sewn with it, all your seams will gap open. Bad.

Step 3: Now you’re ready to attach the yoke to the body of your top. I had to cut a straight line into the top of my halter where I wanted my yoke to be attached so that the seam would be a straight one. Once you have that worked out, fold the bottom edge of your yoke up (to the right side). Place the folded-over edge on top of the top edge of the body of your top. (I said top three times!) Use your hole punch to pre-punch the holes you are going to be sewing into to attach the yoke to the body.

I used a fancy embroidery stitch to give the top some pizzazz. It’s a modified lazy daisy stitch. I found good tutorials for this stitch here and here.

(Tip: If you’re having difficulty pushing the thong through your pre-punched holes, you can use your scissors to shape the end of your thong into a point. This can help smooth things along.)

Step 4: Make another leather thong for the halter part. Fold the top edge of yoke back (to the wrong side) over your halter thong, creating an encasement for it. I used a simple slip stitch to secure this part of my halter. You can see the pattern in this picture:

Step 5: Secure the back ties. I used a natural hole in the hide as one of my securement points. You can do this or punch a hole yourself in either side. Using another leather thong, fold the thong in half and push the fold through one of the holes about half way. Take the tail ends of your thong and poke them through the loop that should be sticking out of the hole. Pull the ends tight. Repeat for the other side.

ALL DONE!! Each one of these will look different depending on the hide you use, the shape you cut it, the length you choose for the bodice, etc. The possibilities are endless!

Let me know how it goes for you if you decide to give this a try. =)

I’m back from Oregon Country Fair and WE HAVE A WINNER!

Congratulations, commenter number 14 — Aileen Rickie-Adams!

Now you’re wondering…. So what the heck what that thing, anyway? Remember I had folks take guesses at what this thing was?

Well, Cassie F. guessed right!!!!!

It’s the funkiest hairpin lace loom in the entire world. I just had to try hairpin lace one night and I whipped up a workable loom with stuff I had in the junk drawer. It works…but it ain’t pretty! Don’t know what hairpin lace is? It’s a neat-o variation on crochet done with a crochet hook and a “hairpin.”

I found this hairpin lace pic from Ladylinoleum’s blog, Monster Crochet. You can read more about her (more dignified) hairpin lace adventures here.

So yeah….don’t expect a tutorial from me on how to make my janky hairpin lace loom, because I made it the dumbest way possible. I did find some good ideas about how to make smarter-looking ones here and here, though. The second one actually uses glue sticks. Sweet.

Thanks for making this giveaway a success, folks! Keep an eye out for more on the way. Later this week? The promised recycled leather tutorial!

Xoxoxo
Erin

I’m excited to announce that I’m teaching a Handsewing Basics Workshop at Oregon Country Fair (OCF) this year! You’re invited!  Here’s the flyer I made:

For those of you who don’t know, OCF is an awesome three-day festival in the woods of Veneta, OR outside of Eugene.  This year is the 40th anniversary of Fair!

It’s hard to describe the Fair to people who have never been.  It’s NOT a COUNTY fair, it’s “country fair.”  It is the major Oregon hippie event of the year.

I believe OCF keeps its name non-exciting-sounding because they don’t want any more people coming.  It’s a non-profit and the festival sells out every year so they don’t need any more publicity.  In fact, the Fair doesn’t advertise at all outside of Lane County, which is why people who aren’t from Oregon generally don’t know about it.

I’m from CA originally and there is nothing even close to this event there.  OCF is huge - there must be over 10 stages of world-class music, vaudeville, acrobatics, clowns, magicians, etc.  There’s tons of amazing food, crafts, costumes and art.  You walk around on dirt paths (barefoot and naked if you want!) underneath an ancient grove of yew trees next to a river called the Long Tom.  Fair looks like how the shire would look if the hobbits took acid, made a TON of friends and decided to have a parade.  It’s totally overwhelming and mind-boggling and FUN FUN FUN!

My handsewing workshop will be on Friday, July 10th at 5pm at the Community House in Community Village.  If you’re planning on going to OCF, this will be a fun opportunity to sit down, get out of the heat and the crowds, have some quiet sewing time and maybe even learn something.  Materials will be provided and beginners are very much welcome.  Come join me if you can!

Also, don’t forget about my Crafty Giveaway.  You still have until the 15th to enter!

-Erin

P.S.  You can also visit me at the Grower’s Market Fruit Booth in Community Village.  I’ll be there from 9-11am for a nice Saturday morning shift.  I’ll be cutting up organic watermelon and selling yummy nuts and dried fruit with friends!

P.P.S. Those “Peach Potty” flags you find all over Fair?  I helped make ‘em!  Don’t steal them, please!  Many volunteer hours went into them and we want to reuse them for next year.

I’m back from camping and it’s giveaway time!!!!!

The lucky winner will get all this awesome stuff shipped to them for free.

You get all this crafty craziness:

• A giant spool of vintage tri-lace
• A mini-journal hand block-printed and hand-bound by yours truly
• A felt flower headscarf (also made by me….you can see more of them at my etsy store)
• The latest issue of Stitch Magazine (SUUUUPER CUTE stuff in here…also an article by me about how to make a Biker Wrap Skirt)

To enter, comment on this post and tell me what you think this contraption I made last week might be used for (hint: it’s something crafty….)

Don’t worry, you don’t have to guess right to win. Have fun with it - you just have to comment on this post. The winner’s comment will be chosen using a random number generator on Wednesday, July 15th.

Alright. Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines.

GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!

It’s 100 degrees in Portland right now.  I swear.  I’m melting.  And not in a good way.  So what do I do?  Oh, you know, lock myself in my sewing room, turn on the iron full blast and bake away.  But tomorrow?

CAMPING in this thing! ———->

I’m going to the Bald Knob Fire Lookout for 4th of July weekend with my friends Lara and Spencer and their twins, River and Rosemary!  Last time I attempted to camp at Bald Knob, there was a propane leak and we had to stay down in the less awesome tent camping zones.  That’s so not as cool as camping up in an old rickety tower.  You can read about last year’s adventures here.

But before I go, I wanted to give you a sneak peek at my upcoming giveaway goodies:

The lucky winner’s gonna get a big old spool of vintage lace, a handprinted mini-journal, a felt flower headscarf and the latest issue of Stitch magazine.  Ooooo-ooooo.

I decided to wait until I get back to open up the giveaway so keep an eye out come Monday or Tuesday.  Or, better yet, join my mailing list so you’ll never miss another giveaway again.

Other upcoming delights include tutorials for basic recycled leatherworking skills + instructions for making this recycled leather halter top:

AND a tutorial for this adorable retro checkerboard pillow:

So much cuteness, so little time.  Wish me luck on my camping trip!  Lions and tigers and bears, oh my.

Craft on!

Erin