Thursday, July 30, 2009
Moving!
I've decided to move all future recycling/reuse related posts to my personal blog, Painting Bunnies. Please visit me there for more crafty recycling fun!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Made by hand: napkins
Thank you for your patience as I get back to life in the blog-o-sphere post-wedding! Everything was grand and we had the lovliest time. Here is one of my favorite shots by our incredibly talented photographer Kelly Lorenz:
Now that I am back at work, its on to the very exciting world of making books, crafts, and re-use...
I thought I'd start by posting about a few of the handmade projects we worked on for our wedding. We wanted to be as environmentally responsible as possible, do a lot of reusing, and keep throw-away stuff to a minimum... so we decided to hand sew napkins for the table settings, and then make an extra set to give away to guests as a gift. That way we wouldn't be throwing away a lot of paper napkins, and people would have a nice memento from the day (that in turn would encourage everyone to choose cloth over paper).
At first I thought I'd recycle fabric from thrift stores, but couldn't find enough of any one fabric for the job, or a mix of patterns that went well together. So instead I did some searching around online and ended up falling in LOVE with Amy Butler fabric. Her color palettes vintage inspired patterns are so so lovely. I ended up buying a yard of about 30 different designs (though I wanted a whole apartment full).
I estimated about 6 napkins per yard for a 13 x 16" size when hemmed. Finished and folded the napkins looked like this:
How did I have time to do all that sewing before the wedding you ask? I didn't! My mom pitched in and did the bulk of it, thank goodness. She is a much better and faster seamstress than I will ever be.
Once they were done I assembled my lady friends and we put them all together, tied with a bit of ribbon.
It was fun to see them all laid out- our color palette for the wedding was shades of yellow and blue and green...
Most of them went into a basket for the gift table.
And the rest went on the dinner tables (the runners were sewn by hand too, with fabric from Ikea).
They were a big hit; the basket was emptied and most of the table napkins went home with folks too! But we do have a nice set left to use and remember the day by.
Now that I am back at work, its on to the very exciting world of making books, crafts, and re-use...
I thought I'd start by posting about a few of the handmade projects we worked on for our wedding. We wanted to be as environmentally responsible as possible, do a lot of reusing, and keep throw-away stuff to a minimum... so we decided to hand sew napkins for the table settings, and then make an extra set to give away to guests as a gift. That way we wouldn't be throwing away a lot of paper napkins, and people would have a nice memento from the day (that in turn would encourage everyone to choose cloth over paper).
At first I thought I'd recycle fabric from thrift stores, but couldn't find enough of any one fabric for the job, or a mix of patterns that went well together. So instead I did some searching around online and ended up falling in LOVE with Amy Butler fabric. Her color palettes vintage inspired patterns are so so lovely. I ended up buying a yard of about 30 different designs (though I wanted a whole apartment full).
I estimated about 6 napkins per yard for a 13 x 16" size when hemmed. Finished and folded the napkins looked like this:
How did I have time to do all that sewing before the wedding you ask? I didn't! My mom pitched in and did the bulk of it, thank goodness. She is a much better and faster seamstress than I will ever be.
Once they were done I assembled my lady friends and we put them all together, tied with a bit of ribbon.
It was fun to see them all laid out- our color palette for the wedding was shades of yellow and blue and green...
Most of them went into a basket for the gift table.
And the rest went on the dinner tables (the runners were sewn by hand too, with fabric from Ikea).
They were a big hit; the basket was emptied and most of the table napkins went home with folks too! But we do have a nice set left to use and remember the day by.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Gettin' hitched!
I'm headed to get married this weekend, will be back blogging shortly thereafter!
Cheers!
-Anna
Cheers!
-Anna
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