Coquette

Crafty DIY Roundup

BurdaStyle features eight new patterns inspired by the roaring 20's. I love this color block dress that features lots of panels and a low waist band. All of the dress patterns look fresh and modern for today's gal. Time to dust off your sewing machine!

My crafty friend Meg Allan Cole shows you how to make this driftwood wall garden that is a beautiful decor piece for your home. Subscribe to her awesome DIY videos on You Tube on her channel, Meg Allan Cole Crafts.

I don't know what it is about summer, but I love making at eating guacamole. Katie Goodman from GoodLifeEats was one of my favorite food contributors when I was editor at CRAFT. She always has great Tex-Mex recipes and her Roasted Salsa Verde Guacamole Recipe is perfect for summer lunches and snacks.

Also a quick alert to Bay Area peeps that the Renegade Craft Fair will be coming to San Francisco on the weekend of July 21-22, 2012 at the Fort Mason Center.

Crafty DIY Roundup

I'm missing the craft community a lot lately and just had a great catch up call with Erica from P.S. I Made This... which made me remember all the fun fashion-related crafty projects I loved to read about. I'm going to try to do a roundup every other week. It's a reminder that fashion is fun and doesn't always have to be bought in a store. I also love food and new recipes so I'll try to include those as well.

I always encounter people who think they aren't crafty but it really just takes one project to make to get you hooked with the crafting bug. Find an easy one to tackle and just give yourself a hour or a few to have fun with it and not worry about the end result. For starters, I love Erica's Knot Rope Necklace (inspiration board here) which is oh so very easy to make and is totally on trend with the rope detail and bright colors. Enjoy making it and wearing it around town while the compliments pour in.

Dip Dye Ombre Ballet Flats by Amiee Santos of Swellmayde, as featured on Unique

Geek Chic iPad Case (sewing project) by Lisa Lam of U-handbag.com from her new book, A Bag for All Reasons, as featured on How About Orange

Cerviche de Vegan by Joseph Shuldiner from the book Pure Vegan, as featured on the Chronicle Books blog.

Book Review: Happy Home by Jennifer Paganelli

Happy Home: Twenty-One Sewing and Craft Projects to Pretty Up Your Home
By Jennifer Paganelli

I often have friends tell me they have a sewing machine and that they want to learn how to sew. My answer to them always is that they need to find the right project and to just start working on it. The more sew, the more you hone your sewing skills. That's why I love this new sewing/craft book, Happy Home: Twenty-One Sewing and Craft Projects to Pretty Up Your Home by Sis Boom Fabrics founder and designer Jennifer Paganelli (published by Chronicle Books). The book features beautiful home and entertaining projects that each have step-by-step instructions. Patterns for the projects are also included in a special envelope in the front of the book.

My good friend Dolin O'Shea of Lulu Bliss contributed to this book with her technical expertise. She assisted Jennifer in the technical pattern writing portion of the book. Dolin is such an amazing crafter and spent over ten years as a pattern designer at the Gap. Trust me, she knows her stuff! (Check out her knitting and crochet patterns.)

What I love about the book is how inspiring the book can be. With Jennifer's colorful Sis Boom fabrics used in the projects, you also get a dose of inspiration on decor and entertaining. As a crafter myself, I really like the detailed the descriptive illustrations are that go along with each project. This is especially helpful for complicated projects like a quilt. I'm a very visual person and love making quilts but I always forget the steps on sewing on the binding. This book has been so helpful in showing the right way to sew around the corners and get that perfect binding fold.

If you are a beginning sewer, some of the projects I recommend are Project No. 1: Rachel's Ruffle Pillow. It's always easy to start with a pillow project because it's a good-sized project that a newbie can easily accomplish. I also love Project No. 8: Laundry Bag, and the Napkins from Project No. 13. These are good starter projects to get your sewing muscles going.

For you bag lovers, you won't want to miss this simple project called Millie's Market Tote. It's just perfect for sewing a little treat for yourself.

If you can't sew but love pretty things, there are quite a few projects where all you need is a hot glue gun. I love the Pretty Box project above and the Pom-Pom Party Poufs below.

Happy Home does a great job of mixing sewing and crafts with plenty of inspiration and color!

If you love the fabric prints of Sis Boom, pick up other great items like this Sis Boom Notecard Book or the Sis Boom Flexi Journal.

So Pretty! Crochet Afternoon

I had an amazing crochet lunch today with my crafty friends: Lorraine and Guinevere from Chronicle Books, as well as our crochet expert Dolin "Crochet" O'Shea from Lulu Bliss. Our inspiration was this new book, So Pretty! Crochet by Amy Palanjian and the crochet ring necklace (pictured below). I had never crocheted with embroidery thread over rings before so this was a fun new technique to try. It was also fun to see newbie crocheters like Guinevere and Lorraine learn the stitches and get excited as they finished a crocheted circle.

Here are Instagram photos from us this afternoon. Just seeing them again makes me feel all cozy.

This project was by Victoria of Lavenderfield and you can see a closer view of the necklace above and more beautiful crochet jewelry by Victoria on Amy Palanjian's blog.

I like that I can stash these little plastic circles, embroidery thread, and crochet hook in my bag and crochet a little circle to add to a stash that will eventually turn into this necklace. it's a great gift to make for friends too.

Hermes Jige Clasp - DIY Paper Craft

Four years after their paper Kelly bag craft, Hermès brings us another cute DIY paper craft project again! Make this paper Hermès Jigé Clasp – a cute paper craft clutch that can hold important receipts, papers, special notes or just sit oh so beautifully on your shelf. I love the five colorful designs and there's a plain one you can decorate yourself. All of the instructions are included for each downloadable PDF.

To download, go the Hermes Jige Clasp page for more views of each clutch (front and back).

Here are all the PDFs:

Elephant
Colored Sticks
Bird and Leaves
Biker
Dia de los Muertos
White Jige

p.s. I'll be patiently waiting for their Birkin papercraft to come in another few years!

Related Coquette Posts:
DIY Paper Hermes Kelly Bag

Behind the Scenes of Chanel's Little Black Jacket

A couple of years ago at a special preview event at Chanel for their 2.55 bag exhibit, I was able to sneak away and browse around the upstairs (aka fancy expensive clothes) area of the Chanel boutique. One of the Sales Associates I knew, let me try on some Chanel clothes for fun. I slipped on the famous Little Black Jacket and knew instantly why Chanel is Chanel. The jacket fit perfectly and oh so comfortably. It looked sleek over my watercolored print dress but I knew it would also look stylish over t-shirt and jeans. The $4500 price tag of course made me realize that this kind of luxury isn't for everyone. But like Coco Chanel herself, I'm a crafty one who can sew. The beauty of Chanel jackets is that they are handmade and I hope one day to have a good chunk of time to make a stylish knit black jacket, just for me.

Enjoy this behind the scenes video, The Secrets of the Little Black Jacket by Chanel from fashionista.com's You Tube channel.

Lulu Bliss Patterns

My friend Dolin O'Shea has been an amazing crafty resource for me for almost 15 years. She was a former pattern maker manager for the Gap for over 10 years and brings her fashion expertise and eye for technical detail to her own line of new knitting and crochet patterns under her brand Lulu Bliss and has been featured on CRAFT for her embroidery projects.

Knitting Patterns: Top row - Polka Spot Scarf ($3.95), Bottom row - Trixie Cowl ($3.95)

Crochet Patterns: Middle left - Pealine Scarf ($3.95), Middle - Pirouette Fingerless Gloves ($3.95) Middle right - Pinked Edge Scarf ($3.95)

Here's a photo of her studio from a previous Craft Space feature on CRAFT.

Like Lulu Bliss Patterns on Facebook.

Cardboard Christmas Tree Ornaments

Head on over to Coquette Maman to find out how to make these cardboard Christmas tree ornaments by using all those online shipping boxes you've been getting in the mail. This project is an excerpt from the book, I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas by Anna Getty (published by Chronicle Books).

Visit Coquette Maman to check out the project!

DIY Arm/Wrist Warmers Roundup

It's getting to be that time of year again where hands and arms need some extra warmth, as well as lots of style. This DIY sequin arm warmers project from BurdaStyle is not only super chic, it's also a super easy beginning sewing project. (You can also use a simple knit fabric if you aren't into sequins.)

Over the years, I have come across a lot of great DIY arm/wrist/hand warmer projects. I've rounded up some of my favorites here for you!

Sewing:

Quick and Cozy Fingerless Mitts by Brookelynn Morris on CRAFT (Sewing)

Refashioned Arm Warmers by Hope Meng/Stitch Lounge (Sewing)

Knitting:

Wrist Warmers by Vickie Howell

Gypsy Gauntlets by Lion Brand Yarn (Pattern #: 90617AD)
You will need to register on the site for all the free patterns. Trust me, it's worth it!

Pretty Lace Hand Warmers by Whitney at The Purl Bee

Ribbed Hand Warmers by Whitney at The Purl Bee

Q&A: Jewelry Designer Emily Wheat Maynard of Elva Fields

I've spent many years interviewing inspirational artisans who create beautiful handmade things. It's one of my favorite things to do and I'm bringing in this element more on Coquette this fall. For my first interview, I had the exciting opportunity to talk to jewelry designer Emily Wheat Maynard of Elva Fields. She is the creative genius and business person behind her exquisite Kentucky-based jewelry line. Her pieces are bold, colorful and make the perfect fashion statement!

Elva Fields
http://shop.elvafields.com
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