Tag Archives: crafts

Some sewing / mending projects with brief notes

Part one: handle cover for a hot water kettle (previously had kind of straw wrap cover which was burning out)

Now, brocade edging (used for tatami mats’ edging I think) with a sort of blanket stitch with sturdy waxed twine/thread

Update: looked super cute but fabris included synthetic which melted and so now is removed

Part two: a pair of #Uniqlo jeans, surprisingly lasted since *at least* 2016 Now repaired sashiko-esque style with repurposed kimono/OB cloth & embroidery floss {2 views}

Update: awesome! The fabric is very thick and a bit inflexible at first and is definitely stronger than the rest of the jeans but that’s how it goes, eventually the scraps and the patches become the clothes if you know what I mean

Part three: similar to part two, #Uniqlo jeans, – previously repaired, but with some parts using iron on tape :(

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Improving Campsite

Stitch, Stitch: mending some demin jeans, sashiko-esque

Image January 16, 2023 daveo

Stitch, stitch, stitch (mending some Uniqlo jeans Dane loan/gave me when I showed up from India in rags for my Mom’s funeral in Utah).

PS Sashiko is a Japanese term for a style of mending, which is visible stitching using scraps of cloth so the reuse, reinvention and flaws (as it were) are evident and almost emphasized. As it goes, it’s the only way I know how to do sewing, so hooray!

Performed mending tasks on another pair of denim jeans with double torn out knees.

Used some iron on patch tape and then stitched up the edges with embroidery floss – not particularly “good” but vaguely charming and generally effective, which is the important part, right?

[update: feb 19] seems my mending needs some mending after a spin in the washing machine

Looks like we’re going to need a bigger patch / maybe a slice from a disused kimono obi

Craft Sessions

Accordion-style Postcard Scrapbook hangout (with jazz and sage)

Video November 15, 2022 daveo

various beloved correspondence, mostly post cards, cards and whatnot, taped and glued with affection, maybe from you

Hangout in the Kura barn while i light sage, spin Ornette Coleman and fill up an accordion-style scrapbook with postcards and other postal treats using various sticky corners, washi tape, double-sided tape, envelopes and odds and ends. No chit-chat (not even my lovely beard), just ambient craft session.

Grab a chair if you want some company or otherwise have a notion.

Craft Sessions

Typing Aerogrammes (ambient, in the kura barn studio)

Video October 21, 2022 daveo

yes, that is my address, send me a card (but don’t come visit unannounced)

its just me, typing aerogrammes with a funny look on my face, pull up a chair

Typing Aerogrammes in the kura barn studio – Really, that’s it, typing aerogrammes on an Olivetti Lettera 34 at a desk in kura barn studio in a corner of provincial Japan – sometimes with a weird look on my face as I scrunch my nose to hold up my glasses, listening to REM’s “Reckoning” vinyl. No chitchat, just ambient hanging out.

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Personal Musings

Diary: sewing things for Ichiro + tie-dyes and pee-caps

Gallery July 18, 2020 daveo 1 Comment

Diary: Sewing Things for Ichiro / assortment – card, hat, bib, tie-dye and “pee cap”

{Catching up with…} Scant days before our adorable baby came into the world, my remarkable wife fired up her mom’s sewing machine and decided to start with making so many thing… Then we busied ourselves with a few photo collages combining these handmade items with custom tie-dye shirts received from brother/uncle Dan and card from Kim, Brad, Ben, April (among other delights to be documented later).

Started with cloth diapers (not pictured) / easy right? So Then moved on to these incredibly handy “pee caps” (meaning little cloth “cones” to put over his willie when changing diapers…

– as it turns out, lil fellas in general often use the sweet freedom of a diaper change to let loose with their venting)…

Then made a completely cute soft cotton hat with “io” initials (which i want to make into a rubber stamp as well).

Then came bibs! oh the bibs! using Aloha print cloth i’ve had in my stash since 1996 or so, these hav a velcro tab for easy (and safe) on and off and style points to spare.

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Japan Cottage Musings

Ryoko Sewing Diapers for baby Ichiro (time lapse)

Video May 8, 2020 daveo

It’s so cute! Ryoko cutting cloth, threading needles, and sewing diapers for baby Ichiro (in belly at the time), upstairs at Tsuchida Cottage here in Okayama, Japan.

Added “Girl” music by (appropriately) Belly from their wonderful Dove album. Just for a little something something – no narration, instructions just rocking the sewing machine and adding love for his ‘lil bum and whatnot.

Update: I told/asked Tanya Donelly of Belly (+ Throwing Muses, solo, Breeders etc etc) about using the song and she replied enthusiastically and kindly (note: her other job is a post-partum doula)

Spring 2020 if you are curious.

Post'd (cards + letters)

Pictograms: Pokhara health home (watercolour pencil)

Gallery April 27, 2018 daveo

Pictogram: Pokhara (health home window) — Pictogram: Pokhara health home, gratitude card with window view of World Peace Stupa (watercolour)

Pictogram: Pokhara health home, gratitude cards

Pictogram: Pokhara health home (single card) — Pictogram: Pokhara health home, gratitude card

Pictogram: Pokhara health home, Gratitude card with view of World Peace Stupa (watercolour) — Pictogram: Pokhara health home, Gratitude card, front/back (watercolour + photo + ink)

Post'd (cards + letters)

Post’d: Telegrams re-mixed for a un-modern, post-forgotten age

Image November 14, 2017 daveo

Postcard still-life - Telegram collage — Postcard still-life – Telegram collage

Telegrams re-mixed for a un-modern, post-forgotten age. Water coloured with paints from a dollar store > cryptic messages scribbled fountain pen > inky stamps applied appropriately > chopped with tiny scissors > glued > addressed > mailed to magic makers worldwide > digitized for your possible convenience, enjoyment and/or pleasure.

Post'd (cards + letters)

Pictograms: Notes to adventurers (mixed media + ephemera)

Gallery July 5, 2017 daveo

Pictogram: Letter Heather for India (outside)

Various handmade “pictograms” from from watercolour notebook paper and various foreign postage stamps and inky stamps – mostly made in Newfoundland and Labrador, though some in Nova Scotia whilst i was rambling Maritime Canada seeking a home (which i did not find).