Second Skin Blog •

Making Sneaker Style Espadrilles – Soles And All

August 7, 2019August 9, 2019 by Neda

I haven’t worn sneakers for a very long time. I do like them but I stopped buying shoes once I learned how to make my own. Sneakers, I thought, aren’t the kind of shoes I could make at home.

I konw they now sell sneaker making kits but I’d prefer a plastic-free version. So I’m glad I finally figured out how to make all narural sneakers out of things I have in my craftroom.

I used raffia for the soles and denim scraps from my ever-growing fabric stash for the uppers (it hasn’t shrunk much after completing this project, sigh), pigskin lining and leather soles.

Out came these sneaker style espadrilles. I’m so happy how they turned out, they are super comfy and so soft to walk on. So here is how I made them. Read More

Sandals With A Punched Design – Sandalmaking

April 15, 2019April 19, 2019 by Neda

Every spring I make my children new sandals, so this year I decided to make sandals with a punched design. Before I start making them I look for inspiration on the Internet.

Exploring New Fibres – Nettle And Rose Bush

November 25, 2018 by Neda

I love exploring new fibres for spinning yarn. Recently, I’ve noticed a lot of unusual fibres appearing in online wool shops, fibres made from seaweed, mint, corn, banana plants…. I’m just beginning to explore some of them.

Carryall Raffia Bag – PDF Crochet Pattern

September 2, 2018September 14, 2018 by Neda

Here is my newest crochet pattern: a roomy carryall raffia bag. It would make a fabulous accessory to a colourful summer outfit – but it’s big and strong enough to carry all your groceries, too.

I made the carryall from soft yet strong raffia yarn, the base has a leather lining to make it even more sturdy and durable.

Daisy Leather Wrap Bracelet – Tips How To Make It

May 13, 2018May 22, 2018 by Neda

This daisy leather wrap bracelet is the newest addition to my collection of leather bracelets. I love the look of metal embellishments on leather, so was really excited when I discovered these metal brass daisy eyelets.

Making A Sandal Pattern Using Lasts – Step-By-Step Tutorial

March 30, 2018April 21, 2018 by Neda

It’s that time of year again when I get out my leather stuff and start making sandals (while still wrapped in wool). These are my son’s new sandals. In this post I share my process of making a sandal pattern using lasts.

Pieced Hoody – Using Up Sweat Shirt Fabric Scraps

February 16, 2018February 17, 2018 by Neda

Going through my fabric scraps, I came across lots of small pieces of sweat shirt fabric, the remains of my teen daughters obsession with hoody making over the past year.

So I thought what could I do with it, it’s a lovely soft organic cotton fabric, too precious to put into the bin. Well, I decided to create a new hoody with it, although a very different one to those my daughter made.

I gathered all the pieces, pole dyed them (a shibori technique), cut them out using three different sizes of squares to use up even the tiniest pieces and sewed them together again to create a new fabric.

Fingerless Mittens Crochet Pattern

January 17, 2018May 24, 2019 by Neda

I can’t survive winter without a pair of fingerless mittens, I wear them all day long inside and outside the house. They keep my hands and wrists warm but fingers free to work, type and use my touch screen.

So here is a crochet pattern for the mittens you see above. Although I used handspun wool, you could substitute it with another DK weight yarn.

The mittens are worked flat, then sewn together, leaving a hole for the thumb. It’s an easy and fast project using two different stitches, riddle stitch and half double crochet.

The pattern is written in standard American/U.S. English terms.

Handspun Crocheted Hat With Pom Pom Earflaps – PDF Pattern

December 20, 2017October 23, 2018 by Neda

One of the joys of winter for me is wearing cosy, colourful and hand knitted or crocheted wooly hats, scarfs and mittens. It’s my winter jewelery, so to say.

I spend most of my free time dyeing, spinning, designing, crocheting and knitting winter accessories.

Hand Painting Wool Tops – Wool Dyeing Tutorial

November 28, 2017March 21, 2018 by Neda

Hand painting wool tops is sooo much fun. I completeley lost myself for a couple of days in dyeing wool using many colours and experimenting with different wool blends and painting techniques.