Fabulous Friday Find

The best thing I have found recently was a copy of Lutterloh’s The Golden Rule from 1969. I was buying lots of sewing notions and tools on ebay and it came in a lot of patterns, thread and other such items. It’s a simple red binder, but once I opened it up I knew I had something special.This is a manual of pattern illustrations with the pattern pieces shown in the back with instructions on how to enlarge them to you size (based on only two body measurements). The company is still in business and you can order current designs from them. I have paged through this book numerous times and there is almost nothing that I would not wear. Everything seems to have a timeless quality about it. I am very excited to make something from this book, but there are so many designs to choose from I am having a hard time deciding.
Have any of you hears of Lutterloh’s?

The Jump Start Creativity Tour

The Jump Start Creativity Tour came to Lincoln and had a fun art making event. (Read about The Creativity Tour Here). We made post cards(upper left) and mixed media booklets(center). Everything else it from the inspiration packet that Jess(from Seek Your Course) gave us at the end of the night. I added my other project to the tour sketchbook. It was a fabulous way to spend an evening!
Slightly related, this event was hosted by Signature Bindery/Porridge Papers and I spotted this lovely hand printed sketchbook(designed by Sarah Blacksher, L2 Design Collective) in the store and HAD to have it. It’s printed with a gorgeous copper ink, I love the print so much I am thinking about taking the cover off and framing it.
The moral of this story is: get out and make art! and while you're at it support local artists!!!

Photo Emulsion Screen Printing

One of my favorite thing about new clothing is screen printed fabric labels. For someone who makes clothing it is also a great way to brand your creations that looks very professional and bonus,can’t be cut out. I love the look of screen printing and have tried it with Mod Podge and contact paper, but the photo emulsion method that produces the fine details for labels seemed really intimidating. There is chemicals that have to be properly mixed, special fabric that has to be used, and a special light source to expose the screen with fancy charts and tables to figure out the exact times for the size your a working with. It was overwhelming and seemed like a lot of work for something that was going to be on the inside of a garment.
I had this mini screen clothing label tutorial from LilBlueBoo bookmarked forever and finally just decided to bite the bullet and do it…and it was easy!!! It was quick to use the sun to expose the screens and I didn’t have to spend money on lighting equipment that I wouldn’t use a lot. The lines are so crisp, I can’t wait to use them (waiting for nap time)! I still need to tape the edges, but that won’t take long at all.I used a small one piece box to hold my “sandwich” and it worked perfectly. It was super easy to just flip the lid open to expose and flip back shut to carry inside. I do have a couple of suggestions if you’re going to do this project:

• Make sure that you get a nice even coat of the emulsion. It is hard to get it even, if you absolutely can’t get it even make sure the “excess” is near the edge and not right in the middle where your design will be going. A thick spot will be exposed differently and the emulsion will be harder to remove in that spot spoiling an otherwise good screen.
• Once you uncover your screen to expose it do not move anything thing, no small adjustments, tweaking, or messing around!!! You’ll end up with a blurry design.
• Two transparencies are enough, splurge and go to the office supply store and get them made if your printer sucks. The more layers of transparencies you have the harder it is to keep them all perfectly aligned. Tape them together in more than one place to keep them from shifting.
• Don’t worry about exact times when exposing, when the color has changed it’s ready.

Finishing the project made me feel like a rock star and it has also made me super excited to make some more custom designs, I have plenty of emulsion left. I’m thinking sugar skull “craft of die” totes and t-shirts. Do you have any requests?

Summer Update

We have been having so much fun, I can’t believe that this is my first blog post of June, time is racing by! Our big news is we had some work done on our house and they are finished! I really think you need to see the before and after side by side (to get a better look open this picture up full sized). And this isn’t really the after, it’s the construction is finished, but we still need to paint, hang some trellis, put the new(old) storm door on, and generally cute it up a bit more.
The front looks great, but that’s not the best part:Yep, that’s a brand new gate and a brand new privacy fence. I have wanted a fence since we moved in and now I have it! We are outside all of the time now, we have plans for a garden and a fire pit and who knows what else (we have a really large back yard). Today we’ve had a bike wash, later we’re going to go for a ride and work in the front yard some more. How is you summer going? It is speeding by like ours?