Five years ago, when I saw a photo of my four-month-old grandson, I considered trying to embroider his image using vibrant colors and my favorite stitch: the French knot. I began hesitantly with the eyes, knowing that the final result would only reveal itself once the entire portrait was finished. It turned out beautifully—and I was hooked!

For this hand-embroidered t-shirt, we first made a stencil and applied the drawing using airbrush to sleeves and front. The colors of the drawing and the thread have little contrast. For embroidery we used cotton double-folded thread. The neckline was embroidered on the shirt with the curved cretan switch. (See "The Geometry of hand-sewing" by Natalie Chanin, page 123.) At the bottom, the shirt has no hem, which is often done with embroidered high-end clothes.

In deze blogpost lees je hoe je de Alabama Chanin techniek kunt toepassen bij het upcyclen. 

People who hold a special place in our lives deserve a special greeting card. You don't just send them an e-card or a message. You try to create something personal for them that shows your love and appreciation. Over the years, we've designed many such cards.

Sometimes unfavorable circumstances happen in life that you have no control over, either to you or someone close to you. At those moments your life stands still for a while, but not for long. After all, all you want is to be there to comfort, to encourage.

In this post I’ll show you some tote bags made from fabric scraps and upcycled fabric. Tote bags are strong and durable bags, you will enjoy them for a long time. By using them you avoid the use of throw away plastic bags. The nice thing about it is that you can make them in your own style with the colors, shapes or letters… that you like. 

Who doesn’t want to give an unique gift when a new baby arrives or when a toddler, dear to you, has its birthday!  We all know that the gifts we make ourselves are the most precious ones.  With this consideration in mind, I made this storybook.

Alicia Petresc on unsplash

When I discovered the School of Making, Alabama Chanin books and online classes of Natalie Chanin, I was so inspired! "Natalie Chanin strives to achieve complete sustainability at every stage of the manufacturing process - from materials and processes, to cultural sustainability in the form of preserving hand-sewing skills." (Ref.) 

My greataunts were twins. Two tiny ladies who never married and were loved by all the children.  They were special, their names were Emerence and Prudence, French names. When I went to visit, they always had to touch my clothes and comment on the fabric. If I wore a short skirt, they would pull it down a bit while touching the fabric. They told me that in their youth and adult years, they asked a seamstress to make their coats and dresses.  They had a new coat  every 10 years.  You can imagine how they cherished their wardrobe! Few clothes were hanging there, but handled with delicate care! That’s the happy life they knew, a mindset of contentment.

Photo: Alice Pasqual on Unsplash

Baby clothes are cute, fun to make but quick to be discarded since babies grow so fast. So when asked to make a handmade gift for a baby, I prefered to make something that lasts, like a baby quilt!