Here is a top I made for my just turned 7 son, inspired by a wonderful book on stitched shibori (see more below). From the many projects in the book I decided to make a stitched shibori flower to use as a center piece decoration.
Leather Sandals For Cooler Days Dyed Using Batik Wax Resist Technique
I needed some sandals for cooler summer days, I try to avoid putting on shoes until I absolutely must because of my toes turning blue… So these cover most of my feet but still let in some air.
Recycled Bottle Glass Bead Necklace – Tutorial
One of my favourite pastimes in summer is jewellery making. I get lots of books out of the library to teach myself new techniques and of course for inspiration. I always look for unusual beads, colour combinations that I haven’t tried before and interesting finishing techniques.
In this necklace I used recycled bottle glass beads from Ghana, they are semi-translucent and really beautiful. The bell in the middle is made from recycled brass. I joined the necklace to a leather cord, this way I can wear it at different lengths and of course I like the look of it.
And here is how I made the necklace.
Knotted Straps Sandals – Handcraft Your Own Sandals
These knotted strap sandals I made for my teenage daughter. Every time I make her a pair of sandals she gets out fabric scraps and cardboard and builds her own sandals that she wears proudly around the house.
It’s so fascinating to see how our making stuff inspires children to do so too and one day without ever having been taught formally they are able to just create whatever it was that they watched us doing. I’ve observed this many times.
Leather Cube Earrings – Make Sparkling Jewellery Out Of Scrap Leather
If you’ve followed me for some time, you probably know by now that I like finding ways to use up my leather scraps. Here I made leather cube earrings out of very thick leather (4-5mm) which I use for midsoles when making sandals/shoes.
They look suprisingly lovely considering what they are made off. I made various shapes like rectangles, triangles, squares and painted them in bright coulours. They are my new favourite earrings.
Making A Cut Out Leather Bracelet – Ideas For Leather Jewellery
This cut-out leather bracelet is the newest addition to my collection of leather bracelets. I made it using punch shapes, which are hammered to make holes in the leather.
You can create an amazing variety of patterns with these simple punches, giving the surface a playful and vibrant character.
Weaving Leather Strips To Make Sandals – Ideas For Leather Crafts
I’ve wanted to try weaving with leather strips for some time and finally decided to make my son’s new sandals this way. Most of the leather for the sandal tops is from my leather scrap box, so I used up some oddly shaped pieces that I couldn’t make anything with anymore.
Leather/Oilskin Rucksack – Inspiration For Bag Making
I love the look of leather and fabric together, this is the first time that I’ve made something combining these two materials. As I’ve wanted to make a rucksack for ages it was a good opportunity to try it out.
Making A Spring Dress From Organic Cotton Fabric
Winter is nearly over (happiness) and I’ve started to make new clothes for my children. For spring clothes I usually make something from knit jerseys, often taking old dresses apart to make new t-shirts or mixing up new and older fabrics.
This dress I made for my teenage daughter from organic cotton jersey.
The dress is a little challenging to make because of the 3 panels front and back, you have to attach them to the right places but other than that it comes together easily. I really like its shape and swing.
Tooling A Leather Strap/Making One-Of -A -Kind Leather Sandals
I can’t wait to get out of socks and boots and into sandals! Here I made tooled one-strap sandals for my children’s grandmother who lives on the other side of the world in Chile, they are in the middle of summer now…
Tooling leather straps is one way of adding sparkle to your leather projects. It’s taken me so long to find out about all the different ways to decorate leather that I thought I document whatever new I learn with each project I undertake.
Here is one way to tool leather to get the look you see on the sandals above.