DIY Projects

I saw this display yesterday on ‘milk tooth’s rain‘ and thought it was such a clever idea.

So, I took my old and plain brown clipboard and decided to ‘make it pretty’ too. I have a bit of a wrapping paper fetish (if I see one I like, I buy it. I have a collection but sadly they always get damaged before I can use them. My idea is to get architecture draws (but they are like hen’s teeth to find) and my papers can all be stored safely in them). Anyway, I took one of my favourite wrapping papers, cut the outline of the clipboard, coated the clipboard surface with a thin layer of wood glue, carefully stuck the cut out wrapping paper down and then coated the surface with a clear varnish.

It was as simple as that and now I have a beautiful and fun clipboard.

The Organic Coffee Sling Bags have been selling really well (faster than I can stock my shop). So for those of you who are wanting a Coffee Bag and are waiting for me to post some new ones up, why not select your own coffee sack and lining colour and I will make it up for you.

Below are photographs of some of the coffee sacks that I have. Each one is special. Of some I have more than one and of others, only one. To ensure that you get the one you want, send me an email asap with your order.

For the lining colour you can choose from (picture below, from top right): Stone, Off-white, Navy Blue, Black, Rust, Cream and as of next week there will also be a Military Green option.

You also need to let me know what length strap you would like: an extra long (over the head and across the chest) strap or a normal length (over the shoulder) strap.

Have fun!

With Christmas just around the corner I thought it would be a good idea to let you know what other fabric options there are to put together the perfect bag for your friend, family member or even yourself.

Fabric descriptions in alphabetical order: A) This print is called Wild Orchids and is printed on a black linen. I have made a bag out of the sister fabric (ie the same design but on a moss green base cloth). Click here to see it. B) Stylized leaves on a sandy coloured base cotton cloth. The leaves are coloured grey, white (the silhouettes) and deep red wine. C) Pink palm trees with lime green speckles on a off-white cotton. D) White leaves and flowers on a blue-grey background. E) A gingered coloured cotton with a print of Hibiscus flowers. F) Polka dot Dragon flies on a light peppermint backdrop. I have done a tulip bag in this fabric before. Click here to see it. G) A wonderfully stylized khaki print of leaves on a stone-washed dark cream background. H) An almost Jacobean print in brilliant turquoise with touches of pink and burnt amber. I) White Cherry Blossoms on a red cotton. J) A symmetrical stencil print on a stone-washed red linen.

To see more fabric’s to choose from click here.

To see the technical design drawings of the Big Town Bag, Small Town Bag and Tulip Bag click here. These drawings show you the fabric placement options and list what other decisions (such as lining colour, zip colour etc) you might want to make. Otherwise, let me know what fabric you like and I can help you come up with the complimentary fabrics and colours. It’s a lot of fun!

Remembering that the project (below) is about taking a ‘known’ object, unlearning what it has been learnt to be and creating a new purpose. Here are some more brilliant ‘paradigm shift’ products:

Above: Lize-Marie created this absolutely amazing lamp using a colinder and a shower head (and shower cable). I think this is absolutely fabulous. It is so stylish and simple!

Above: A broken mirror turned into a mug hanger/holder by Natasha Wisterman.

Above: Tarryn Prins made a plant hanger using a broken lamp shade.

Above: This ‘Whisk light’ is made by Amy Burton. She took a traditional kitchen whisk, bend the prongs out and using think wire hang tea lights from it making a minature chandeliar.

Above: Juanne Groenewald ingeniously turned an unwanted telephone into a watering can for in the home. She removed the inside of the telephone, sealed the box and all other joints and added water to the main unit. All you have to do is hold the telephone higher than the reciever and water flows through the pin-prick holes of the reciever.

Above: Megan Aitken took a toilet seat and turned it into a mirror and table. It is meant to be mounted onto the wall, closed with a strong magnet and when opened you have a mini dressing table. Perfect for small bathrooms.

The 1st year Surface Design Students at CPUT did a project called the “Paradigm Shift Project”. The aim of the project was to challenge the way of seeing and knowing objects as. They had to take a ‘known’ object and unlearn what it has been learnt to be and recreate its purpose. They had to find one household object to work with, were allowed a maximum of 4 extra objects (including glue etc) to make this ‘new’ object of use and were encouraged to spend very little (if possible, nothing) on their objects.

I was so excited by the results of this project we organized a professional photo session for their products (and them) to be shot. Here they are:

Above: This bottle-top opener and cork-skrew all in one device is made by Micka Chisholm. It was originally a thick metaled fork.

Above: Amanda Wababa made a filing system out of South African cereal boxes. I think I need to make one of these for all my posting envelopes.

Above: Isabelle Manyuchi cut and stuck scoring blocks together to make a seat cushion. She called it “score a seat”. It is colourful, comfortable and an extremely affordable cushion. Love it!

Above: These are placemats made from old diary covers. Lara Stanford took used diaries, removed all the pages and then stuck chopsticks onto them as heat insulators. They are also reversable.

Above: Monique Arnold took her broken bar bridge and turned it into a herb garden for her flat. She fitted it with a full watering and lighting system.

Above: This jewelry organiser is made by Anri Vercuiel by turning a coat hanger upside down, adding an extra metal foot for stability and nails to help organise the jewelry.

I think these objects are brilliant, clever and fun. I wil post the rest of the class tomorrow….

New this week is one very special Tulip Bag that is made from traditional African Wax Print Fabric, a Terracotta and Disa Small Town Bag and two Cosmetic Bags from the Lino Exhbition that was held on Friday night.

I got the idea to organise my ribbons and piping into glass jars from blogger Pamela Angus and since then I have been on the look out for them. The other day I found the big jar/urn and spoilt myself by buying it (it was also on sale), and the small one I was given for my birthday on Saturday.

The big jar has my piping and I refer to it as my ‘worm jar’. The smaller one has my ribbons and I call this one my ‘wonder jar’.

I love the array and whirls of colour. Delightful!

A year or so back the yellow rubber duck that you used to play with in the bath as a kid become ‘funky’ and ‘cool’. I even bought a few of the decorated ones as presents: The lucky Duck and The Trooper Duck. Since then I’ve had a ‘cute’ spot for yellow rubber ducks which is why I love Joel Lozano’s (Spanish Graphic Designer) rubber duck sculpture. I think it is adorable, fabulous and brilliant!

The feathers are cut pieces of cardboard and were attached one by one with tweezers and glue. To see how this yellow friend was made (photographically documented process) click here.

Indigo is my favourite dye colour. It is among the oldest dyes to be used for textile dyeing and printing and with time, its beauty has not aged. The colour is still as sharp, rich and no synthetic (at least in my opinion) can obtain the same vibrance or energy. To many it is described as Midnight Blue…and if I have to add to that….it has the colours of a thousand shining stars too.

Traditionally indigo came from a flowering plant called woad (Isatis tinctoria), dyer’s knotweed (Polygonum tinctorum) and the Indigofera species which yields the most dye. The process of dyeing with Indigo is very complex and time consuming taking several weeks. The real colour only emerges at the end when the dye and fabric oxidizes.

For my thesis I attempted to dye with my small jar of indigo powder. I achieved the colour and had great fun but unfortunately I could not get the dye to fix and I turned blue for days.

My poor model (picture below) also turned blue. The garments: a bra and panty set with a wrap-around skirt inspired by the mussel shell and pearl (items collected from the beach) was all made using 100% bamboo fabric. Everything was natural including details such as the bra strap rings (which was made from bamboo wood). Overall, the project was a success but the dyeing was not.

With time, as all things, synthetic dyes has became the favoured form of dyeing and today it is rare to find a true indigo dyed fabric or garment. This is why I was so excited when I discovered that Dondup, an Italian based clothing company that is dyeing using Guado, as it is known in Italian, and casting it as the original, local shade of blue. If that is not enough, all of Essentia’s apparel is also made from organic cotton and for colours other than blue, Dondup also works with natural dyes that have been used for centuries, like rose madder and blackberry.

It is great to see nature coming to fore. Nature and natural ways are to be treasured and traditions and skills like dyeing with indigo I believe is not one that should be read about only in art history books but one that should be alive today.

When designing, I always try and push myself to new boundaries…to try new options, to discover new possibilities. This is what happened with my new bag (which I still hope to launch next week). To close the bag I wanted to use a wooden button….but not just any wooden button….a BIG button….and it had to be real wood…and I wanted this button to be the wren label! How exactly this would work I had no idea.

The first problem I encountered was that nobody makes or stocks 1.5″ or 3cm real wood buttons. I asked every haberdashery shop I knew, I even went through sourcing agent All Source who eventually found some for me in a chinese market. I also asked several etsy crafters. Nicole Catroppo took me up on this challenge and for the last two months we have been brainstorming possibilities. She eventually managed to source wooden buttons big enough and was going to paint and print the Wren bird onto them. Thank you Nicole for all the time and effort you put into this project.

At the same time I was looking into my own local options. This has turned out to be the best way. I asked a local timber company if they could turn some wood for me and slice and drill some buttons. They tried and it worked after only a few samples.

However, the buttons were still very rough and needed some serious sanding. I tried various methods and machinery but by hand was the best (even though I landed up sanding my hands raw).

The buttons were made with Poplar wood that is hard, strong and easy to work with. It is also quite light in colour. I wanted a variety of wood colours so that I would have more options when matching a button to fabric. To achieve this I bought various wood stains and varnishes. I divided my buttons up and got dipping and painting….

I tried to prevent myself getting all sticky from the varnish by using surgical gloves. This did not work becuase the fingers of the gloves stuck together. My next idea, I thought, was rather ingenious: I strung fishing line to each button, dipped it into the varnish or stain and then wiped it down with a paper towel.

This did not work wonderfully either as the buttons got stuck in the varnish, the wood did not stain all over and when wiping the excess off, the paper cloth stuck to the buttons.

The fishing line did come in handy though: I hung the buttons on the washing line to dry using clothes pegs.

Then I took the buttons to a local laser cutter who has done various weird and wonderful projects for me over the years. Onto each button the Wren bird avatar was lasered (individually). The buttons came out fantastically! The detail achieved with the lasering is amazing. I love them!

I made some discoveries though: the stained and the untouched buttons came out really well. The contrast between the lasered Wren bird and the actual button was strong and defined. Unfortunately the varnished buttons did not come out as well. The Wren bird was there, but you had to feel for it. So….I started painting these to improve this contrast.

The buttons came out beautifully….

Now you just have to wait to see the WHOLE new Wren Bag….