Tag Archives: crafting

Be Sew Prepared For Anything!

Did the hem on your skirt come undone? Rip a hole in your quilt by accident? Now a crafty girl like you can save the day without lugging a big ol’ heavy sewing machine out of the closet. Who really has extra space in her apartment to set up a sewing machine, anyway? Not us! (And if you do have the space, we totally hate you.) But with a Smartek cordless sewing machine, you can finish easy projects with no hassle at all! It has four metal bobbins with thread, two speeds, three machine needles, one threader and a spindle. All it takes is four AA batteries and a shoebox-sized amount of storage space. Sew adorable!

[$15.80 Forever 21]

Come On, Get Crafty

Congratulations, you made it through another holiday season. But you’re so broke you’ll be stuck at home eating ramen noodles until April! Never fear, actress and crafting extraordinaire Amy Sedaris won’t let those hands get idle. Simple Times: Crafts For Poor People, a belly-achingly hilarious tome of super-easy crafts and recipes, is a follow-up to her amazing book, I Like You: Hospitality Under The Influence. In both books, the uber-creative Sedaris proves you need panache — not cash! — to entertain and be entertaining. In Simple Times, Sedaris will teach you how to make homemade sausage, cilantro treats for a pet rabbit, and seashell toilet seat covers. When you finally dig yourself out of credit card debt, you’ll be a total crafting diva. Being broke never looked more fun.

[$13.99 Amazon.com]

Frisky Q&A: Stitch ‘N Bitch Knitting Queen, Debbie Stoller

I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I don’t know how to knit. My mom taught me after college, but I messed up my stitches and abandoned it in frustration. Debbie Stoller promises she can teach me. Why shouldn’t I believe her? The editor-in-chief and co-founder of Bust magazine has taught hundreds of thousands of women to knit and purl with her first book, Stitch ‘N Bitch: The Knitters Handbook. Her small library of Stitch ‘N Bitch books — there are many — are in every yarn store, groups of gals meet at hundreds of Stitch ‘N Bitch knitting groups that have sprung up around the country, and there is even a line of affordable yarns that bears her name. In other words, Debbie Stoller is pretty much singlehandedly responsible for the hipster knitting craze that swept the 2000s.

So, naturally, when I heard Debbie Stoller had published an advanced knitters’ pattern book, called Stitch ‘N Bitch Superstar Knitting, I knew we had to chat (despite being one of those fools who hasn’t learned to knit from her first book yet). After the jump, find out what Debbie thinks of being responsible for the 2000s’ knitting craze, why left-hand versus right-hand knitters are like the Crips and the Bloods, and her intense mama pride for what is now 17-year-old Bust magazine. Keep reading »