pond_ripple's Fabric Blog

Small over the Shoulder Arctic Fox Bag For sale HERE!

I really am going to stop making rice socks now that I've got a brand new one for myself. I usually get my swatches on quilting weight, but I got my Jinxed Rust Lion on the organic cotton knit. The organic cotton knit is wonderfully soft, but it shrinks vertically more than it shrinks horizontally after washing. After I filled the sock I made up with rice I realized it stretches even more horizontally, which is perfectly fine for a rice sock to do. I just think it's funny. This Elvis rice sock is one that I made by hand several years ago that is being displaced my my new sock.

Today when I checked my email, I got the Photojojo newsletter. I've been getting it for awhile now, but today as I meandered from link to link on their site I came across this: Bakumatsu Koshen Generator Now you may be asking what does this have to do with fabrics? Inspiration, my friend, inspiration. This is my fabric design Here be Treasure!  after being run through this wondrous generator. It looks amazing! The image that you end up with is rather small and the distressed looking edges don't match up for use as a stand alone fabric design. However, it would be perfect for getting a lovely vintage look to a design element, and you don't have to worry about not being able to enter your fabric in a contest for using a pre-existing vintage/antique photo. Here are a couple more with my baby Richard, just to show what happens with real photographs:

I've been making mice shaped cat toys today. It's super fun and actually more simple than I thought it would be. So my Etsy shop is carrying mice, and I took lots of pictures! I'll try and break this down into digestible segments. Set #1: Floral Mice These three are made with my White Flowers fabrics found here and here  on Spoonflower. The guinea pigs, so to speak, they were more of an adventure.  Set #2: Ears and Not This was the part where I wanted to make the mice look more like mice and less like triangles. It worked, but it was troublesome to replicate. Also I have this cautiousness about cats and thread ever since my old cat Felix ingested a yard or two of thread off a spool and the vet had to operate to get it out. Those little ears seemed just a little too likely to be replicated wrong and hurt somebody. So, while this set is secure enough that I'd let my cats play with it, mass production of cute ears is a no go. Set #3: Mostly Blue The...

Here's another cat toy, that I've come up with. It's just a simple mouse that uses only a few inches of fabric and a bit of ribbon. Perfect for reducing my fabric scrap pile, I'll probably make a few batches of these little darlin's ( I'm southern, I don't pronounce the g) ;)

Now for sale!  http://www.etsy.com/listing/70382256/purple-and-black-sea-serpent-purse I've gleefully moved on from rice socks and made a purse!! It's my first one ever, and I designed it using this tutorial from Splityarn as a guide. The inside is lined with my fabrics White Flowers + Sea Serpent Colorway and White Flowers + Sea Serpents Colorway has a small black side pocket. The outer flap is made with my fabric Sea Serpents . The rest of the bag is made with a plain black fabric that I got on Ebay. Ironically, my favorite part about the bag is the lining which you don't normally see. One side is fuchsia and the other is blue. I was using my 8" by 8" fabric swatches on this, and it pushed me in a direction the I wouldn't normally have gone. Close up view of the Sea Serpent View under the flap Inside look at the lining

As promised in my last post, here's another rice sock. This one is for my dad, and will probably be the end of the rice sock marathon. To view my tutorial on how to make a rice sock from a fabric swatch click here . I made this sock with my Snakes in Top-Hats fabric on Spoonflower. Rice sock front Rice sock back Rice sock front zoom Rice sock back zoom

This is probably going to be my entry in the Rain fabric of the week contest. I thought I'd show a bit of detail.

Here's another rice sock. They are in high demand in my family. My mom got the first one, and I sent one to my grandmother, and now it's my brother who's getting one. I'll probably make an other, other one to send to my dad. Here's a link to my tutorial for rice socks . Front Back Front zoom Back Zoom Front zoom