Incorporating Textiles and Paper into Wedding Fashion, Décor, and Gifts

Today I have a guest blogger, Laura Holden, a freelance writer whose biggest hobby (after writing) is knitting. Her grandmother was an avid knitter and gave knitwear for Christmas presents. I can relate to that, as my mother did the same thing.

Knitting has become popular again especially after the Royal Wedding when Kate Middleton wore a knitted bolero over her dress at the reception. You can see it in this article about weddings and knitwear that Laura sent to me. Check out the free patterns on the right side of the article.

Laura commented that I have a great set of resources on my site (thank you, Laura), among them some knitting themes. Check here and here for a couple of these. She also offered to write an article for my blog and I took her up on that. However, I did split the article into three parts. Here's the first one:

June and July always seem to be the big wedding months—and wedding anniversaries too, of course—so it’s a good time to hunt down some inspiring ideas and patterns for gifts and decorations. You don’t have to work with fabric specifically to make some gorgeous wedding-themed creations.

Knits Make Great Gifts and Fashion Statements

While few people are willing to knit an entire wedding dress, as English knitter, Lydia Taylor did in 2012, well-chosen wool and needles can create beautiful accent pieces. The trend towards making knitted wedding fashions part of the event can work in any season, even in the heat of summer. Cute cloche hats for the bride and bridesmaids add a fun element to a summer wedding, and styles like this crocheted cloche with straw accents, made by Linda Kilpatrick of The Teacup Milliner, are perfect wedding attire. For some truly inspired and inspiring ideas, visit AnnieBee Knits, the blog of Anne Blayney, who produced three amazing pieces for her sister’s wedding. For her sister and herself she created delicate silk lace shawls, which definitely fall into the category of wearable art. The third piece, her wedding gift to the bride and groom, is a geometric knit of vibrant colors that is no less than stunning.

Incorporating knitted pieces into a wedding doesn’t require making an entire garment or a full-size blanket. Thinking small can have results that are just as spectacular. Anna Hrachovec, who runs the blog MochimochiLand, knitted more than 200 flowers for her own wedding, and used them for her simply sweet bouquets, boutonnières, and table centerpieces.

 

I will be posting a second part soon!

 

Here's a short list of other sites related to weddings to visit:

• Six Little Wedding Knits from Cotton & Cloud
• Bamboo Wedding Shawl from The Purl Bee (pattern included)
• Free Knitting Patterns from Vogue Knitting
• Royal Wedding Knitting Patterns (the video is a chuckle)
• Kate Middleton Angora Bolero/Shrug

Enjoy!

 

 

Crafty Blogs - UK

On Sunday, I blogged about the Patchwork & Quilting Blog List at Red Pepper Quilts. Today I came across another source of blogs. This time it is Crafty Blogs exclusive to the UK. Reading down through the list of blogs I came across some very interesting names. A lot of the sites listed are for paper crafts. I found it a tad frustrating trying to find the sewing /quilting / stitching blogs among all the paper related ones. A search engine for the site would have been nice.
Since there are so many sites to view, I've selected a few blogs (some with free downloads) related to quilting, sewing, and needle craft.

Cross Stitch Charts
Needle Work & Knitting  (lots of different stuff here)
Tutorials at Flossie Teacakes
Knitted Toy Box
Bustle & Sew (interesting stuff)
Very Berry Handmade (list of some more blogs)
Crafty Corner
Ellieskeepers Creations (list of blogs)
Hand Embroidery Network (HEN) I have a link to this site on my blog list
The Magic Bean(patterns
The Patchwork Heart 
Hand Knitted Things
Indigo Blue

I went only as far as the end of page 12 to find these.
 

Christmas Tea & Sale

I spent a pleasant afternoon at the Anna Templeton Center Christmas Tea & Sale. The cookie selection was marvelous but I wasn't tempted to have any. I wandered around the booths chatting to exhibitors and admiring the items for sale. As a member of  the Craft Council of NL, I know most of the exhibitors. I had a grand chat with Vicky Taylor-Hood of Sea Strands Studio. Visit Vicky's web site to see her wonderful textile creations. Vicky was sharing a space with her mother, Mary Hood. Mary designs and creates toys for children. She is well known for her Burnt Island Bears. 

If you are looking for quality hand knits of Newfoundland such as caps/hats, socks & mitts, contact Christine at christinelegrow@nl.rogers.com. Her company is called Spindrift. I was also talking to Erin of Northeastern Folk Art. She specializes in handmade Raku pottery & giftware. I have a couple of Erin's pieces and have sent some as gifts. The bronze colour is beautiful.

Steph Squires of Fire Dove Jewellery has beautiful wire & gemstone necklace and earrings. Two of my stitching buddies also make jewellery and were displaying on the second floor. They sell pendants, earrings, rings & small knitted beaded evening bags under the name Jocale. Jason Holly and Roslind Ford, also jewellery makers, shared a space on the main floor. Jason designs chain mail jewellery as well as clay pieces and Roslind creates miniature hand dyed woven thread pieces mounted on silver. Very unique pieces.

There were some very lovely stain glass ornaments from Stain Glass Reflections. Many of the pieces are one-of-a-kind. I think there will be a blog designed in the near future, featuring the glass pieces.

The last booth I visited was Riddle Fence, a journal of arts & crafts. Take a look at their site.