Another poncho made to order

I’m loving more and more doing special orders…. first because they are all customers coming back, and afterwrads because they know what they want…

I worked with cotton and fantasy yarns, and even cotton seems to be more for summer, this in particular gave me all the sensation of being in winter (and also the weather in Paris, but this is another story…)

So if you are fancy a beautiful and original garment you know that you can have your original one… it took me 10 days to have the yarns, knitting it and sell it…

Pampa weaving tutorial Part II

To start weaving we are going to suppose this is our scheme:

Where each square is formed by four pairs of threads and we can chose how many times to repeat it in order to the design we want (more or less elongated)

The pairs have to be always the same in quantity and take care in the order you put them up and down.

Once we have chosen them we are going to put the stick as a guide and then we are going to make the cross and put the two other sticks.

Now we start to weave!

First we are going to approximate the guide to the first stick and you are going to see there are threads that are over it… here you have to pass another piece (I have another kind of stick but thin) to open the shed, here you pass the threads to weave (I pass them double to have more structure)

Do the same in the back part and be careful because here you can’t see the threads so it is better to help yourself with your hands to feel if there are some threads out of place.

Now we take off the first stick (not the guide one) and do the same process with the other one. Once you have finish you have completed the row.

You are going to see that at one point you are going to need to tie off the threads and retie them between them (not to the loom) if not the tension is going to be at the maximum and is going to be impossible to weave.

It is very important to control the threads tension because sometimes depending on the material they lost tension and need to be cut and tie to continue

This is it! If you need something else… just ask!

Interviewing Moira Neilson of Paleolochic

We share a lot of things with Moira, she is part of the Etsy in Spanish Team and also of the European Street Team and once I saw this “Choker for the Godess” I felt in love with the African style of a lot of her creations and I proposed her to make this interview.

Apart of being a Jewelry designer Moira also makes Housewares as Aprons (very sexy, by the way) and Table cozies…

Check out her Website, I specially loved the Philosophy section… 

Let’s know her a little bit more…

Personal Information:

placemates

Hello! My name is Moira Neilson and I was born in Canada almost 34 years ago, I grew up and went to school in Argentina; my father is English and my Mum Argentinean.  The past century, in the year 1997 I moved to London and

After five years I’ve decided it was time to put the umbrella away and moved to sunny Barcelona where I am planning to stay until destiny said so…

 

What kind of craft do you make?

I like everything related to crafts but to keep myself mentally healthy I

focus most of my effort designing fashion accessories and different decoration goodies in fabric.  

When did you start?

Summer Island Bracelet

Since I was a little girl I’ve always liked to create with my hands and I was always doing some kind of workshop. When I grew up I studied Graphic Design in Argentina then in London I did a Foundation in Art & Design and I’ve continued doing different workshops in pottery, weaving,etc., all very easy things to do in a flat (ha-ha-ha!!)

What are you inspired by?

The truth is that I’ve get inspired by almost everything, I am very thankful to be able to appreciate beauty in the small things, the everyday life; though I must say my best friend its nature.

 

Afrika Red and Black Necklace

What do you enjoy the most?

I really enjoy the freedom, being able to follow my intuition and initiative, I loved to figure out how to develop a project that seems to be very simple but it’s not, it’s like a puzzle, piece by piece…

 What are your future expectations?

I would really love to live of my work and to have a “real shop” with handmade products, not only mines but from fellow artisans from Etsy, Dawanda, etc. That is why I am dedicating a lot of time to the non-creative area of  everything related to marketing, finance, legal aspects, etc. basically the non fun part but essential aspect to carry on a business , Yin and Yang, like life!

 

Choker for the Godess

Links:

Etsy Shop www.paleolochic.etsy.com

Dawanda Shop www.en.dawanda.com/shop/paleolochic

Web Site Paleolochic www.paleolochic.com

Flickr Photo Albums www.flickr.com/photos/paleolochic/

Become a fan on Facebook !www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/PALEOLOCHIC/104102216154

 *I would like to thank Anabel for giving me the opportunity to show a bit of who I am and what I do to all her readers.

A blue sky shawl

I have to say that the project I was knitting with my circular needles was not what I expected to be… so, once I finished it, I decided to take it apart and start a new one with the same fiber.

It is incredible how something that take hours to build can be destroyed in seconds.. very metaphorical but true.

So, I thought in a poncho again, but then I imagined how this piece would be as a shawl, in a “décontracté” style for the nights of summer, when after sunbathe we need to cover our shoulder with something light and soft… and this was the result.

 

Blue sky shawl

*If you want to see more pictures go to my flickr or my Facebook page

Some sites that you cannot miss

Between yesterday and today I have discovered this sites I wanted to share with you… I bet if you are into fibers you are going to love them

It seems that 2009 is the year of natural fibers, which makes me very happy to work with this type of textile support in many aspects … First, sustainable development that gives work to many people in lots of developing countries. On the other hand it is also biodegradable and ecologic so we care for the environment and it is also important to use natural materials because  our skin does not suffer the degradation to which is exposed with polyester and acrylic ….

 This site shows each fiber, as explained, indicates from where they are and also the different uses that can be given to each …

http://www.naturalfibres2009.org/en/index.html 

This is another site that always makes me thrill with his notes and his movement. Craft Australia is the organization, which works much uniting people: artisans, artists, indigenous and crafters. They have made a meeting “Selling Yarns, innovation for sustainability” I recommend you to watch this video because it’s worth and full of hope for anyone.

http://www.craftaustralia.org.au/ 

Video: http://www.craftaustralia.org.au/library/presentation.php?id=selling_yarns_2_video

And finally for those  who are fan of felt, this site is an unmissable…

Fashioning Felt has an impressive range of designs, so that we realize that reinventing our lives with natural materials is possible!

http://exhibitions.cooperhewitt.org/Fashioning-Felt/ 

 

Hello World….

First of all, I have to say that is pretty weird for me to write in English, so probably with the time I’m gonna have some people criticising me because of my mistakes… but anyway I wanted to do it as an excercise and as well to be in contact with some other people who love crafts and work with textiles…

So, I’ve studied in an Art school when I was a teenager, and after that I never ever did something with this aknowledge… I graduated in trade business and then I started a trip for 6 months… Started in my country (Argentina) and followed in Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, and Central America trough Mexico…

In all my way I realized I wanted to do something with my love for art and cultures… and when I returned I began to create some little things and the projects grew in complex ways… up to the latest: woven belts in Mapuche technique, and another Andean techniques as well… I enjoyed very much learning and I wanted to make the following step into this world… become a crafter and doing it for aliving…

So, this is going to be my contribution to all the crafters and I’m gonna show you some of my creations as well…