Cardboard looms and Vacation Weaving

cardboard loom

A Community Weaving Project at the Museum of Contemporary Craft

Looming Thoughts blog + Kumihimo cardboard loom + Make a knitting loom with stuff from your trash can + Pot holder looms + Cardboard Weaving Frame.

photo-loom-and-weavingHow to make a cardboard loom

DIY Woven Friendship Bracelet Using a Circular Cardboard Loom.

Woven wall art tutorial + Make a DIY rigid heddle loom + Make a cheap knitting loom (using, for example, a cardboard tube).

notched loom

Wide-Notch Cardboard Looms (for sale)

Woven Tree Wall Hanging + Little LOOMs on pinterest + The DIY Cardboard Box Inkle Loom.

saori weaving

Tutorial For Portable Saori Vacation Weaving

cardboard loom drawing

Cardboard weaving

ALL FIBERS LOOMHow to weave on your Cardboard Loom

How to weave a pouch out of rags using a cardboard loom + Weave a change purse + Weaving with plastic bags + Blue Rondo Place mats + Weaving A Starburst.

t-shirt weaveReusing old t-shirts

Fibers Delight August 16 + Warp and weft + Weaving Tutorials for Beginners & Kids + Weaving Recycled Materials.

Woven PouchesWoven pouches

Plastic bag weaving.

6th weavingCardboard loom weaving by 6th graders

instructablesCardboard loom

pom pomVia today’s momma

Related: Traveling Scarf Project.

Other: build a solar cooker.

RecessionGIF2Cardboard iPhone case

Posted in Crafts | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Xαιρομαι/Delight huipil

It is raining again in Rome.

herome I’ve stitched the world “χαιρομαι,” the Greek word for “delight,” on this huipil.

herome

Muy Marcottage: Italian Exhibit.

herome

herome

Huipiles related:  ‘Huipiles’ celebrate la mujer + Foto of little girl wearing embellished huipil + Huipiles related images + TRAJE  EN GUATEMALA + Guatemalan Weavings – Fun Fact of the Day.

In Search of Disappearing Huipiles in Coban + Huipil Collar Mirrors + The Huipiles Exhibit at the Museo de Alameda + Sosa’s artwork to get TV viewership + Huipiles at the Museo Alameda: There is nothing to celebrate + This is the Huipil you won’t see at the Museo Alameda’s “Huipiles: A Celebration“.

This huipil, exhibited at the Museo Textil de Oaxaca, is part of Remigio Mestas’s collection of Oaxacan textiles. Recycled Huipil Wristlet + Sewing Lesson: Making a Huipil From Indigenous Cloth + How to size huipiles + W!ld Moon Woman boutique.

frida kahloFrida Kahlo by Leo Matiz

Frida:  Carlos Ball: Frida Kahlo: ¿Símbolo de la mujer latinoamericana? + Coincidencias + Frida Kahlo (1910-1954) + Frida Kahlo + “Vissi d’arte, vissi d’amore”: gli amori saffici di Frida Kahlo.

images0-2012-09-September-October-Mexico_Frida_Kahlo_Maga_166662688

Frida Kahlo, her real look, on display in Mexico

frida socks The commercialization of Frida

Back-Strap Loom Weaving + Chiapas: A Revolution, Some Sheep, and Centuries of Weaving.

Back-strap loom weaver + Mexican Embroidery + Embroidery detail from the Panajachel huipil mercado + Silkworms in OaxacaNim Po’t, home of the world’s largest retail Maya textile collection, is a consignment store that provides a retail museum showcase for hundreds of indigenous suppliers + Mexican weavings + Weaving, embroidery and other textile arts are practiced by the Mayan people in a traditional manner for both everyday use and to sell.

Doilies:  Reclaim: Doilies + doily bowl + doilies at pinterest + Doily Craze.

Other: Chiara Pilar Photography.

Posted in Fashion | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

“Soft Spot”

There are many outdoor markets here in Rome and, in the past couple of years, there has been an increase in stalls selling second-hand clothing and even second-hand linens. My studio is in the San Lorenzo area and, nearby, there is a daily market in the piazza behind the church of the Immacolata. I go there, periodically, looking for “corredo” linens. A corredo is a trousseau or hope chest. It was once a tradition in Italy for women to embellish their homemade linens with handiwork such as embroidery or intaglio.

Intaglio

An example of intaglio

One day at the market,  I came across this tender little baby blanket with crocheted flowers (it’s difficult to understand how one could give away a handmade baby blanket that also has a sentimental value). So, obviously, I bought the blanket and took it home to transform into a huipil.

soft spot

Here is the finished huipil.  I painted the crocheted flowers with textile paints.

soft spot

The back of the huipil is made from a sweater cut up and resewn together as well as pieces of patchwork.

Having been made from a baby blanket, the name of this huipil is “Soft Spot.” Soft spots, technically known as fontanelles, are soft areas on a baby’s head which permit the skull to be flexible and pass thru the birth canal. And eventually the softness hardens.

fontanel

Fontanelle

The soft spot is of particular interest to me because of it’s relationship to the pineal gland, (often called the Third Eye) and the gland’s role in arriving at higher consciouness:

«The relationship of the pineal gland to the fontanel, that soft spot in a baby’s head where the skull has not completely come together, has an interesting metaphysical interpretation. “Fontanel” is from the French word for fountain. It’s that place on the baby’s head that collapses to get the head through the birth canal. That open spot in the skull opens to the pineal gland. Acknowledging that the pineal gland is associated with religious ecstasy, finding bliss, and experiencing spiritual heightening, this “fountain” suggests a direct one-on-one link with God, a constant flow between baby and God».

soft spot detail

Outdoor markets in Rome: Bargain shopping at Rome’s Via Sannio street market + Rome’s OPEN AIR MARKETS + Rome Markets.

Pineal gland related links:  Pineal gland + DETOXIFYING YOUR THIRD EYE.

Posted in Muy Marcottage | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Looking for the poetics in everyday life

This morning I woke up with the desire for poetry, with the desire to poeticize my world. I am tired of the dreariness and sense of oppression that this economic crisis has subjected us to. I am tired of turning on TV news only to hear over and over again about People In Power who have robbed the citizens, the same citizens who now have difficulty providing for their families because of an economic system controlled by greed and corruption.

I am tired of this injustice. And I am tired of being tired.

People are exasperated. So many out there walking around with their foreheads corrugated, their shoulders slumped and their nerves so frayed that, at the slightest inconvenience, they go into a rage.

I am not only tired of this but also disgusted by these men who kill their EX’s because they, the macho men, don’t have the backbone to accept a woman’s “No”. In Italy, on the average of every 3 days, a woman is murdered simply because  she has rejected a man.  In the US, according to some statistics, a woman is raped every 2 minutes simply because a man has given more importance to dominance than to dignity.

Being constantly surrounded by such negative energy is overwhelming and can drastically effect one’s behaviour. So it’s time to stop resonating and start sending out powerful vibrations of one’s own.

Well, I still haven’t found an internet tutorial on how to activate this change but I do know that the journey begins at home, from within,  so that’s where transformation begins, too.

Dealing with the sense of anxiety that has permeated the collective mentality is very demanding. And very fatiguing. This has been my major preoccupation:  where am I going to get the energy necessary to affront the spOOKiness to come?

Luckily, my research has led me to this discovery: Cinnamon and Honey. A Ayurvedic cure that’s been around for centuries, this concoction offers a multiple of cures-wounds, arthritis,  heart disease, weight loss and much more (see links below).

I have been taking a cinnamonhoney mix every morning for about a month now and can feel an incredible difference.  My energy level is balanced, my memory has improved and my nerves are anchored. Well, sort of.

So this represents my first step in the search for poetics, the poetics of well-being.

When I feel good, I am good.

Related: The Cure in the Kitchen: Honey and Cinnamon can Cure Cancer and Arthritis + Healing common health problems With Honey and Cinnamon.

bed

Daily Aesthetics…

On a HaPpIeR note:  Salvaged Grace, a blog full of repurposed projects + Growing Seeds in a Cup + Jean shin’s jeans cuff art.

guylaine walsh tie hats

Guylaine Walsh who makes hats from neckties.

Skirt made from socks + Gwen Murphy’s shoe fetish.

lounge pants

Lounge pants

My name is Stella Meades. I am an artist living in Parksville, British Columbia, Canada. In 1996 I completed footnote, an installation of 1001 hand-built, child-sized ceramic shoes. The shoes were unglazed, smoke-blackened, and altered to suggest some of the ways in which children affected by war have suffered.

lucy-renshawLucy Renshaw’s embellished lampshades.

Posted in Health & Healing | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Extend your hands with Needles and Pins and huipiles

While re-organizing a bookcase, I came across an old copy of SELVEDGE magazine. Of interest was the review of “Needles and Pins: Textiles and Tools” exhibition (Santa Fe’s Museum of International Folk Art). What struck me about the article was the following quote regarding the exhibition’s premise:

«Cloth is made, embellished, or constructed with tools that started out as a simple extension of the human hand».

«We have gold in our hands and we did not even know it» –Aasif Ansari, weaver

I started out this post wanting to write about hands and craft but got distracted when I came across huipiles made by Lina Bartula.  Who follows this blog knows I have a passion for huipiles. (In fact, tomorrow I will be participating at the Lanificio Mercatino with 18 Muy Marcottage huipiles.)

lina bartula

Lena explains what hupils are to her: «Huipil is a Maya woman’s traditional blouse; it is her identity, a marker of her village, her status, her background and beliefs. The weaving of this garment is both a sacred duty and a personal statement, woven with her own designs, colors and ideas, yet all within the context of her tradition».

All Roses, All the Time ALL ROSES, ALL THE TIME, huipil by Lena Bartula: «In order to illuminate the stories of women whose voices have been forgotten or silenced, I have been creating contemporary huipils, the name for traditional Mexican blouses, each of which represents a particular woman or group of women».

frida painted huipil

Frida painted onto a huipil by Lena Bartula + MENSAJES GUARDADOS.

weaving huipil

Woman weaving textiles for huipiles using a backstrap loom: Unlike a foot loom, backstrap weaving limits the width. That is why huipiles must be pieced together.

Magdalene & Huipiles

The Virgin wearing huipiles at Magdalenas, village in Chiapas known for it’s weaving.

Zinacantan Poncho.

Ronaldo Fraga

Designer Ronaldo Frega‘s dress based on Mexican paper cut-outs (papel picado).

papel picado

Papel picado

papel picado dress

Just let It Go” Papel Picado Strapless Dress

Papel Picado cut paper fashions + Paper banners honor Day of the Dead tutorial + Rob Ryans papercuts  + Papercut Dresses by Béatrice Coron + More paper cutouts.

HEAD OVER HEELS FOR: LASER CUT DETAILS + Beige laser-cut suede Gift of John Galliano.

Other:

katagami stencil

Katagami stencils: textile tools

Living with Less: Never Throw Out Citrus Peels, Ideas Of What To Do With Them.

Posted in Fashion | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment