09 september 2015

If only I could wear 200 brooches at once.

A few months ago, two good friends told me and my boyfriend they wanted to start their own business. They wanted to open a store in the middle of Antwerp to sell pretty things and unique souvenirs, and asked me and a couple of other people to make products for them. I went for postcards, limited lino prints, printed tote bags and felt brooches, and today I'll show you one of these things!



I have been making these little brooches for a while now, but never seriously thought about selling them (more in an 'ok if you want it I'll make it' kind of way). Over the past few weeks I spent a few days watching the X-Files and embroidering. With nice results!

Every brooch is made from 100% wool felt, and entirely handcut and sewn. I first sketch the brooch on sturdy paper, cut it out, use the general shape to cut out the background and then cut the smaller shapes out of that to cut the details. This means that each one is unique!

I had to find a way to present them that would look decent but not be too expensive or hard to do. In the end I carved a stamp on some mounted softcut (which I only used because I was going to stamp it by hand, it's horrible stuff that feels like cutting chewing gum and I'd much rather cut real lino and use a press or spoon!) and went to town on sturdy coloured paper. The result looks 'legit' according to the boyfriend!

I have some pictures of the linoprinting process lined up as well, but those will have to wait for after my holiday. See you in about three weeks!

PS: If anyone in New York, Portland, Seattle or Vancouver wants to meet up, don't forget to let me know!

02 september 2015

Watch out, here we come!

Sorry, no sewing to show today, but I do have some exciting news, so here's another gif party!

I've been permanently hired at my job (I'd always work with three-month contracts before so I was basically at risk of being out of a job every three months) and this meant that my boyfriend and I could do some longer term planning! We thought it had been way too long since we went anywhere so I asked for three weeks off... To go on a trip to the US and Canada!







We'll visit New York, Vancouver, Seattle and Portland, and I'm REALLY excited. We haven't been properly travelling since Iceland, apart from a few very short weekend trips. More gifs to express my emotions!







Now for the big question: is there anyone from around those parts who wants to meet up? Show me the nice (fabric) spots, or just to have fun. I can repay you with Belgian sweets and wisdom such as this:


We will be around between September 15th and October 3rd! If you are interested, feel free to send an e-mail to annekecaramin(at)hotmail(dot)com!