Archive for the ‘Textiles’ Category

Sneak peek | Fun with felt: Custom ornament prototype

Thursday, February 9th, 2012

Around the holidays, we made some special Christmas gifts — they were ornaments based on our child’s drawings (our 5 year old Jr. VP!).

We had a few requests to have custom ornaments available in the future and while it’s no longer the season, these things take time and we’ve put our thinking caps on! Behold, a first prototype in 100% wool felt, in a beautifully vibrant shade of red:

As fun as they were in acrylic, the ornaments are spindly which could lead to the little limbs snapping off, and frankly, it smells horrible to laser cut plastic. (Not to worry, our laser has a carbon filter, but it certainly does not smell like roses or anything good for you).

Wool felt on the other hand is quite pliable and doesn’t smell any worse than a hair dryer. We’ve washed the final product and there’s actually no residual odor.

So we’ve got our thinking caps on and will be experimenting with designs for some trivets and other household goods aside from the ornaments. What do you think?

 

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Inspiration | Plushie! for the pattern impaired

Friday, December 14th, 2007

Saw this via BoingBoing:

It’s “Plushie: an interactive design system for plush toys“. It’s a little interactive program that allows someone who couldn’t draw a pattern to save their life (me! me!) to create patterns for 3D plush toys. They’ve got a link for the demo program (see under ‘Demonstrations’), but it’s for Windows only and not for us lowly mac users. It looks intriguing enough though, that I’m willing to unearth my old, loud PC to give it a shot.

I’ve made plushies in the past, but they’ve been more along the lines of fluffified flat shapes, as evidenced by these:

These are my version of Eric’s parents, done in miniature, about 5″ high, with cardboard versions of their furniture. It was part of their Christmas gift a couple of years ago, and it’s been hard to top… I figure the gift of the grand-child will just have to suffice now.

In any case, I’m already thinking I’d like to try more 3D plushies when there’s actually time. (Time?)

Oh and FYI: next Tuesday the 18th is our last day for taking orders. Then we’re closing shop until New Year’s. We’ll still be around answering emails though. And if you’re stuck for a gift, and don’t want to do the panicked, last-minute shipping, we’ve always got gift certificates.

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Inspiration | Mmm… sushi

Wednesday, October 4th, 2006

One of the (many) things I missed being able to eat while pregnant was sushi — I mean real sushi with the raw fish and not the placate-the-craving-with-the-cooked-stuff kind that I was able to eat. Though, I do have to say that the Dynamic Rolls and some of the other special Maki at Sushi Time on Queen St. in Toronto are really freakin’ good.

But I digress. This post is supposed to be about some cool sushi-inspired pillows. My brother and sister-in-law recently purchased these pillows and apparently they’re just as cool in person.

The pillows are made by Cindy Tomm and Mel Maghuyop and sold on their site. These original sushi pillows make a good I-heart-sushi gift :), especially when they’ve got a fall sale going on.

My favourite is the Ebi Nigiri, for the shape of the shrimp ($35 US). (Yes, I realize this is a ‘cooked’ sushi — the eating and the pillow-thing are different).

The rolls are pretty cool too.
Like this ‘Flat California Roll’ ($36):

You can see the full catalog here, and then go out for sushi.

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Inspiration | Eee! Monsters!

Thursday, September 28th, 2006

We love our unusual plush around here.

Eric recently came across Cotton Monster (via Modish) — the work of quilt/monster maker Jennifer Strunge. Jennifer makes a range of monsters that vary in size and price (between $35US for a baby monster and $80 for a more grown-up one).

The monsters are all made with recycled clothes and linens. A much better use for a fleece that’s been outgrown, I’d say.

Make sure you check out the Monster Care guide and the Cotton Monster blog. Jennifer’s got images of some crazy big monsters there and other fabulous creations.

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