An elementary art teacher blog with art projects and lessons, DIY projects and outfit photos as well as clothing I have made myself.

This is a project I'm currently doing with Grade One. It's in conjunction with another teacher around a creative writing project. We were ...

After seeing the beautiful indigo pleats at the Kazumi Tanaka exhibit, we've been obsessed with Shibori . This Japanese method of resist dyeing involves binding, knotting, twisting and pressing fabric to achieve patterns and designs. By restricting areas the

Explore the process of creating the fabrics, cloths, blankets, and rugs that warm the chilly months of winter with weaving lesson plans.

Make a beautiful weaving from an ordinary branch with yarn and beads.

Weaving with denim is another one of my favorites. I especially love the idea of re-using the denim fabric from jeans that we can no longer wear. Denim also adds a really unique texture to weaves. It has a sturdiness to it that allows you to use it in ways that wouldn't work with yarn.

Slow stitching is becoming more popular as an art and craft form that takes bits of fabric and thread to create small pieces of art.

Weaving looks like fun, but how much does it cost to get started? I’ll show you a way to try it out for only a dollar or two!

Here we go! I’m so excited to kick off this series of finger-knitting projects. For the first project, B proffered his largest ball of finger-knitting...

Learn how to set tie dye so that it stays bright and vibrant, and doesn't rinse out or fade in the wash.

Eco-printing on paper is a fast, easy and satisfying way to get started with this wonderful craft process. You don’t need much in the way of special tools or equipment and you can experiment …

Not sure what to do with old magazines? Here's a look at 32 cool things to make with them instead of tossing them out.

For the final lesson, I’ll assume you’ve worked through the entire circular chart and are now ready to move on to the brim portion of the chart. The crucial part is knowing how the circ…

These Sunset Weavings are a result of my Canada 150 focus and trying to find new ways to expand my circular weaving options for my younger students. I love circular weavings, it's where I start after paper weavings with Division 1 kids, (Kinder - Grade 1). So I took elements of the Canadian landscape as the focus. Other ideas that would work: - lighthouse on the rocks 'Peggy's Cove' - grain elevator on the Prairie - cabin in the woods - urban skyline, using landmarks like Calgary Tower, CN Tower - wildlife silhouettes MATERIALS REQUIRED: - heavy corrugated cardboard - something circular to trace, I used a dessert sized Chinet plate - yarn and string, I like chunky yarn for weaving but nothing too fuzzy - plastic or metal yarn needle, you can also just use a piece of pipe cleaner, or even just wrap masking tape around the end of the yarn. - acrylic or liquid tempera paint - black felt - glue, scissors PROCEDURE: Before we start I just want to say the directions look complicated but really they are not. I'm just trying to give you all the tips and ways of doing this that I find have worked the best. Weaving takes kids a while to get the hang of, some longer than others. You will have some students that will pick it up immediately and I like to buddy them with kids who are struggling. Weaving ends up being very relaxing, a quiet time for the kids and once they have it down a good project for those spare moments or early finishers. Using a circular item, the size you want your weaving to be, trace onto heavy corrugated cardboard. Cut out. I use heavy cardboard because kids are not the most gentle with their looms. They can pull really hard on the yarn and sometimes I see those looms flying like Frisbees, you know exactly what I mean. You need to poke a hole thru the center of your cardboard. I use a knitting needle. You then need to cut 15 notches around your circle. I never measure I just cut 4 notches first to divide my circle into quarters, like 12 o clock, 3 o clock, 6 o clock, 9 o clock but I purposely cut 1 quarter smaller than the others. I then cut 3 notches into my bigger sections and only 2 notches in my smaller section. This way I can cut the many class sets I have to make fast. Cut a length of string to thread your loom. I like to just use plain household string. You don't see it in the final weaving and it does not get fuzzy while you are weaving. If using a needle, thread it and then knot the little tail onto the needle. This stops you from having to keep threading the needle when the kids pull to hard. Incidentally I teach kids how to thread needles and tie knots before we do any weaving, otherwise I would go crazy. On the end that does not have the needle I secure it into a notch, any notch, leaving a little bit so I can tie a knot. Pass the needle thru the hole and pull tight. Tie the little end you left to the string you just pulled thru. This will now be the back of the loom. Pull string tight and then fit into the next notch, pass the needle to the front of the loom and thru the hole again. Continue until all notches are strung. On that last notch tie off the string to the back onto one of the other strings. It won't look right but this is the back. It's important that you only have 15 strings showing in the front. Now we are going to tie on the first colour we are going to weave with. I am using white to start on these Sunset weavings. Cut a length about the 3-4 ft. I tell kids to stretch their arms out and cut a length that long. Thread your needle, knot onto the needle using the little tail and then tie the other end of the yarn to your loom. Just choose any of the strings to knot onto at the back. Pull the needle thru the hole so you are ready to start weaving on the front of your loom. Choose a string on the loom to start at, doesn't matter which one. Begin weaving using the pattern over under over under. I tell my young kids that the needle is like a rabbit, it dives under the first string, hops over the next one, then dives under the next one and so on. When you have woven over/under along 4 or 5 strings pull the needle so that all the slack in white yarn is taken up and then continue weaving. Some important points here: - you have to be constantly pulling the slack, I will remind the kids of this all the time - you want the weaving to lay flat on the loom, if you pull too tight the weaving won't sit right, it will start growing upwards from the loom instead of out to the edges of the circle, like a big mass of yarn in the center. - after each pull look at your weaving, you should be able to see where you left off. Start again right where you left off, no skipping. - tell the kids to leave about 4-5 inches of yarn unwoven when it's time to change colours or get more. When it comes time to change colours or add more we need to tie off. The best way I have found to do this and hide our knots is to first tie a knot on the next string in the loom to finish. Before cutting thread the needle under some of the existing weaving. Then cut the yarn carefully so you don't cut any of the weaving. Cut the needle off from what's left of that yarn. Select your next colour and cut a length Tie one end onto a string, I usually choose one opposite to where I finished because I do not want too many knots hidden in the same place. It will make a bump in your weaving. Using the needle just thread that little end back under the weaving and cut off . Then thread the other end of the yarn on your needle, knot on and start weaving again. Weave until there is no space left on the loom. Tie off one last time. Now it's time to paint the loom. We are just painting that little bit of cardboard that is exposed. If you want you can prime it first with some white paint, let it dry and then paint the finishing colour. You could also just paint without priming but I would suggest you add a bit of white paint or gesso to your colour. The white paint makes it a bit more opaque and it covers the cardboard a bit better. When the paint has dried cut the black felt for your silhouette. Here I cut my mountain range first. I then turned the felt and loom to the back and using a white pencil crayon or china marker I traced the edge of the loom. Cut on that line. Then glue into place. That's it. Some other circular weaving projects you might want to try: Frogs Woven Owls Finally the winner of the "Little Loom Weaving" by Andreia Gomes is Kathy Hardman from Ontario Thanks everyone for entering and don't worry I have more book giveaways happening all summer long. :) Take care everyone and DO SOME WEAVING! Gail

Textured wall weaving create a lovely effect. In this tutorial, you will learn 5 simple and easy ways to add texture to your DIY wall weaving.

Welcome to the second installment of Embroidery School! Are you ready to go crazy? I hope so because we're going to work through some incredibly beautiful stitches used along fabric seams in crazy quilts. If you haven't worked the lessons from the original Embroidery School series, you can still do this one. All the stitches are explained, the "old" ones and the "new" ones. Here are some links to other useful lessons: Transferring the design to fabric Knotting and not knotting your thread You're also welcome to go back and review all the lessons of the Embroidery School series. Just click the page tab above conveniently labeled "Embroidery School". Let's Get Crazy! This series comes with a free downloadable sampler pattern to work on (click on the link in the materials list). I have provided the pattern of a patchwork crazy quilt block with the stitching drawn on so you can just follow along and make what I made - like walking in the snow and stepping where I've stepped. But I have also provided the crazy quilt block pattern without stitching drawn on, so you can go wild and practice and create your own designs. Now don't get nervous. Many crazy quilt seam embellishments are a single stitch, such as feather stitch, but those complex ones can be daunting. Guess what? They are actually combinations of very simple stitches and we'll do some of that, too. Lesson One covers seams 1 and 2. Lesson Two covers seams 3 and 4. Lesson Three covers seam 5. Lesson Four covers seam 6. Lesson Five is a surprise! Materials needed: sampler pattern template cotton or linen fabric suitable for embroidery ( a homespun calico or muslin works well) - 10" square embroidery hoop - a 9" hoop will allow you to work the whole piece while a smaller hoop can be moved as you stitch cotton stranded embroidery floss (I used DMC) embroidery needle or sewing needle with an eye large enough to thread a 4 strand length of floss scissors a method for transferring the pattern Choose you favorite colors or use the same colors I used: Seam 1: long and short blanket stitch; DMC 936 Seam 2: chain stitch, straight stitch (running stitch); DMC 3821, 825 Seam 3: feather stitch, straight stitch, french knot; DMC221, 988, 3833 Seam 4: chevron stitch; DMC 154 Seam 5: cretan stitch, lazy daisy stitch; DMC 921, 154 Seam 6: herringbone stitch, straight stitch, lazy daisy stitch, french knot; 826, 472, 3835, 988, 825 Use your favorite method to transfer the pattern to the fabric. Place the whole thing in a 9" hoop or place the area you want to work on inside a smaller hoop. Work with a 4 strand length of embroidery floss for all stitches. Seam 1: Long and Short Blanket Stitch You might see this stitch called buttonhole stitch, but don't be confused as the two are basically the same stitch. This seam is decorated by a simple blanket stitch, but here, one prong is longer and one is shorter instead of them being all the same length. Because I thought the beginning had room for one more prong, I've added it here without drawing it, as you can see in the photo. Just follow in my footsteps! Thread the needle and bring the thread from the back to the front at the left end of the seam. Insert the needle as shown making sure to wrap the floss behind the tip of the needle. Pull the needle and thread through to make the first stitch. Insert the needle at the bottom of the long prong and bring it back up at the top, with the floss wrapped to the back of the needle. You can also stab stitch (bring the needle to the back, bring the needle to the front, etc.) one step at a time. Here I have taken the needle to the back of the fabric at the bottom of the next prong and am just bringing the needle to the front at the top of the prong. The thread is still wrapped to the back of the needle. Continue stitching along the lines until the end of the seam. Tie off the thread or weave it in the stitching at the back. Seam 2: Straight stitch and Chain stitch Bring the needle to the front of the fabric at the bottom of the little fans. Take the thread to the back at the top of the line on the left. Bring it back up in the same place or a thread away from where you started. Be careful not to split the first thread with the needle as it comes through. Make the second stitch over the next line and continue making the fans in this way. To make the chains, bring the needle and thread to the front at the start of the chain on the left. Pull the thresd through to the front. Insert the needle into the starting place and bring it back out at the other end of the individual chain. Wrap the thread around the back of the needle. Pull the thread through. Insert the needle right next to where the thread is coming through to the front. Set up the next stitch in the same way, bringing the needle point back out at the other end of the little chain and wrapping the thread behind the needle. Pull the thread through. Continue to the end of the seam. Here is the seam completed. Look what you've done! You've completed two seams of your faux crazy quilt block! Well done and see you in Lesson Two.

This is a project I'm currently doing with Grade One. It's in conjunction with another teacher around a creative writing project. We were ...

These instructions show the basic layout and techniques for making flat felt panels. This is the format or canvas we use in many of my classes. This technique can be used for laying out many other feltmaking projects, including felt wallhangings, felt bags, lighting and more. It shows the basic

Try this impressive DIY art project inspired by the traditional batik of Indonesia: upcycled batik t-shirts you make make at home with glue and paints.

Stick- or Branch weaving is the new craft descending on blog posts and Pinterest. Not much is needed for it, a nice v-shaped branch,...

I'm in The Prayer Flag project and want to share a little tutorial on making your own flag, using your drawing skills. We've lived i...

...an "experiment" using a fine masking applicator and a wet color filled wash on 140# CP watercolor paper. Happy Cactus Monday! Why not experiment with something artistic today! "All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

We decided to try and make Dreamcatchers yesterday...a simple star design and then a more advanced one that proved a little tricky. We'll start with the simple one. Materials Required: yarn a yogurt or margarine lid a few beads scissors a few feathers string Take your plastic lids, punch a little hole to get you started with the scissors and then cut out the inside. You want to leave at least 1/4 inch of the lid...they usually have a raised edge to show you where to cut to. Our lids were about 5 inches in diameter. You don't want to go with a really large lid as it won't be stable when you cut out the middle. Take your yarn and cut off a piece that when formed in a ball will fit in your palm....that should be enough. Kids sometimes have trouble when winding the yarn around the ring....so if you make a simple shuttle it will stem the frustration and the tangles. I took a toilet paper roll and squished it. You can use a piece of cardboard. At school the kids wind their wool around a glue stick....use what you have, it's only temporary. Start your wool by laying it lengthwise on the cardboard and then wind around it width wise. Start winding the ring with wool or yarn. When you come around catch the loose end. "winding Dreamcatchers in the sun" When you get to the end tie off the yarn with a knot and clip the end. Now you are going to make the web. Cut a length of string. For the simple star pattern you only need to cut a string about 24 inches. Start weaving your web...follow the #'s on the pattern...make sure you wrap the string around the ring at least once at every point of the star...otherwise the string will just slide off your catcher. Place a bead in your Dreamcatcher to be the spider or the spirit bead. Tie off the string when you have finished the design. If you want you can make a double star at this point. Start at #1 and then continue...at #6 slide on your bead. #7 is where you tie off. When finished add a loop for hanging at position #3...that will keep your bead in the center of your star. Cut a length of yarn or wool about 14 inches long and tie onto the bottom of the catcher. String on 3 beads on each end and then make a knot. I like to have them at different lengths so trim your yarn to your liking. To add feathers just slide them into the bead holes. The beads will hold them into place. That's it. You can now hang it above your bead. You can make a double star if you want for a more substantial web or you can try the advanced version. The hardest part I found with the advanced version is keeping the same amount of slack between the loops. It's not till you are weaving the 3rd or 4th round that you realize you may have a bit of a hole. The kids still enjoyed making them though so its worth a try. I found it easier to make my loop before we started to loop around the ring. Here is the first round of weaving. Here we are at the 3rd. Here at the fourth there is a bit of a hole at the top...we tried to ease the string over and it looked much better. Add your tails with the beads and feathers and you're done. Give it a try. The kids are going to practice the advanced one because they really like the look of it. take care gail

I‘m back with the second of three installments of Weaving Class to teach you how to make simple shapes and customize your wall hanging with a little paint and fun tassels. In the first class we covered the general tools you need to get started and set the foundation with a few basic things you…

Explore appliquegoddess' 269 photos on Flickr!

This sounds like the coziest way to spend the last weeks of winter.

Hello! This tutorial has been updated (as of April 2013) Please click here for the new version *************************************************************** This tutorial will show you how to make a 3D felted pod using a resist. A resist is usually a piece of...

Crochet doilies will decorate your house like a dream! You can use them as centerpieces for special occasions or as tasteful coasters.

Eco-Printing With Rust & Vinegar: Eco-printing is a method of bundling leaves and other plants in fabric, and steaming the bundle(s) to print their natural pigments onto the fabric. You can buy kits and special chemicals to do this, but you can also try it out with household materi…