Trend: Conversations in Cross-stitching

It’s an interesting phenomenon when DIY techniques are applied to luxury homegoods. You peruse the store thinking, my goodness, I could make that, then probably never do. The technical finesse and process behind what looked like a simple execution is rarely realized in the moment. Case in point: These clever burlap needlepoint pillows from ABC Carpet and this cross stitched living room set from Furniture Row on Greene Street.

This highly exaggerated design works well in other scenarios as well- particularly in retail display. I snapped this typographic lace signage during a trend trip to London last year while at the Converse store on Carnaby Street. Simple and ingenious, wouldn’t you say?

February 19, 2013 | By: Shayna Kulik

Clever Seating for Creatives

I’m constantly reviewing photos from past travels. Whether I’m pulling a story together related to art, mosaics or trends, everything’s mentally cataloged. Today I figured it was time to do a stool round up.

Lately, cushions from the US seem to fall into one of two categories: neutral and organic or vibrant and geometric.

If you hop across the Atlantic (or perhaps the Pacific) though, you’ll notice that designers abroad are a bit more playful.

From this clever needlepoint top at Milan’s La Rinascente department store to these glitter-covered tree stumps at Bensimmon in Paris to this sad emoticon in Tokyo, to this Helsinki technicolor stool, all examples illustrate how to brighten up a home with a little unexpected character.

February 12, 2013 | By: Shayna Kulik

Making Wooden Accents Seasonal

We’ve all seen the painted driftwood trend– it ushered in summer and complimented many jewelry, fashion and swim catalogs. Fast forward and it’s time to consider the evolution of this idea. Hombre and striped twigs can be appropriately styled for winter as well, with wool replacing paint and branches in place of castaway wood.

Not Tom designed the woolen hombre installation in collaboration with Loui Thomas. The driftwood mobiles are by ZeLape and the striped driftwood is from Zinke’s SS12 swim presentation.

January 17, 2013 | By: Shayna Kulik

DIY: How to Gift a Sandwich

Here’s a nice, easy last-minute holiday gift. If you’re like me, you’ll be wrapping an individual sandwich made for the giftee!

Here are the materials you’ll need:

1. 16″ x 16″ square of fabric, washed and dried
2. 16″ x 16″ square of plastic fabric
3. Scissors
4. Measuring Tape
5. Iron
6. Ribbon
7. Two Buttons

This project is as easy as cutting two squares, following the instructions on the heat-fusable fabric, and a little bit of hand-sewing. I’m admittedly a huge fan of ziplock bags. But there’s really no reason for them, especially when you can make a cute sandwich wrap in a half hour (I made a big batch at once to save time).

I’ve thought of some improvements since making these, but it’s ok to keep it simple. You could, for example, use pinking shears to make a nice clean edge or use velcro instead of the ribbon closure. After I fused the plastic and the fabric with an iron, I trimmed the square down to 14″ x 14″ square with a roller cutter. I then hand-stitched the ribbon and button at the midway point of one side of the square. Done!

My materials were purchased at Denver’s most amazing craft shop Fancy Tiger)

Contributed by Tiffany Iung of Tifamade

December 19, 2012 | By: Shayna Kulik

Make Your Own Wrapping Paper

Have you heard of Alisa Burke? During a little furniture search that evolved into a rabbit hole of Pinterest clicks, I stumbled upon one of her ingenious DIY painting projects.

Everyone has spare bubble wrap lying around and if you’re in the mood to customize your holiday wrapping paper this year, consider this two-step project. All you need is paint and a toilet or paper towel roll. If you’d rather not, consider stopping by Alisa’s e-shop, as there are a unique array of patterns to choose from. I’m a fan of this which results in this.

November 28, 2012 | By: Shayna Kulik

Textile Techniques: Insley & Nash

We’re so used to looking at streams of pretty pictures, that the process beyond the product is often an after thought. Places like 3rd Ward, Kollabora and Skillshare, here in New York and Craftsy on the West Coast are attempting to democratize the DIY process, though there’s still a big step between producing craft and superior luxury product.

I recently came across Insley & Nash and was blown away by their fabrics. They’re a bespoke screen printing studio based out of London, specializing in the tough stuff: flocking, foil, devore and fluorescent pigments.

Gavin Insley and Mika Nash formed the studio with the hopes of providing an outlet to designers in need of short runs of high quality textile screen printing and dyeing. Have a look at their video, hopefully you’ll find it as calming and inspiring as we did.

September 25, 2012 | By: Shayna Kulik