The folks at the Costume and Textiles Department at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)worked with Thomas John Bernard, a theatrical costume designer, to draft several men’s clothing patterns, including this man’s waistcoat. Originally made in silk plain weave (faille) with silk embroidery, and circa 1740, we crave this in iridescent brown taffeta lined with cool wintergreen silk….marvelous for a starry late night riverside picnic. Download this PDF for an annotated pattern.

What a fantabulous idea; Brookelynn from CraftZine has a tutorial for spiffing up old shoes with fabric. All you need are 1/2 yard of fabric, and a pair of sad, ugly shoes. We’d like to make like an urban Marie Antoinette, and cover a pair of sky-high wedgies with this lithesome embroidered silk fabric.

Kathleen from Fashion-Incubator has a wonderfully detailed post on making bespoke men’s neckties via reverse engineering. I am practically enamored with the photo of her father’s military necktie, and the nifty idea of sewing button-holes in the back of the tie in order to keep it in place by fastening it to ones shirt.

Julie from QuilterGeek made this awesome Tetris quilt, and then created a Tetris quilt tutorial so you can make one too. Julie says, “I’m still practicing my machine quilting, but I really like this freehand design. I approached it like a curvy meander, but turned 90-degree angles instead. I was a bit wary of using the variegated thread, since any wonky quilting would show up very clearly on the back fabric, but I really like the way it turned out.”, and we agree!

Here is another easy-peasy and inexpensive home decorating project with tons of graphic impact. Theresa from Apartment Therapy and Design Sponge made a tutorial on how to tuft a dining room chair. Wouldn’t this be great in a stark urban geometric black and white print? We love the vintage meets très modern air that tufting provides!

It is springtime; time to air out your wintery home, scrub, repaint, and gussy up your cozy nest! We love spending hours in the tub soaking in a hot scented bubble-bath, snoozing, and relaxing…..a snazzy easy-to-sew shower curtain (tutorial courtesy of Linda from Craftaholics Anonymous) is great for a fast ‘n chic salle de bain rejuvenation. We like to skip those pesky grommets and sew button-holes instead, and we particularly adore this Japanese-linen retro print (This fabric is available on the 2nd floor of Britex Fabrics! 415-392-2910)

I can smell the beginning of springtime in the city; trees are blooming with fragile pink flowers, surly bicycle messengers have risen from their winter rainy slump, and I’ve been eating lunch in Union Square with my shirt sleeves rolled up rakishly. It is time for spring cleaning, but rather than break out the suds, I’ll revive my pillowcases with some cross-stitched borders; a 14th century band sprinkled with fleurs-de-lys will provide a touch of chic to my tired bed linens (graphing courtesy of the talented needlesmith, Rosemary Stecher)

Just in time for a restorative getaway to a rock-strewn and balmy Mediterranean island, here is a tutorial from Matt at Design*Sponge for a hand-sewn passport cover. This could be made in either leather, or even faux leather….we love hand-sewing for its meditative nature, and with this case you’ll have plenty of time to daydream about fields of wildflowers, picnics of crusty bread, hard cheese, sticky thyme honey, salty olives, and wine, and lazy afternoon snoozes on a soft blanket.

It is the year of the dragon, so don’t be too surprised to see babies blooming like posies! Claire from Craftzine made this tutorial for a group baby gift — an old-fashioned felt cloth alphabet book. Clair says, “The book is beautiful, hilarious, and put together by friends with all levels of artistic skills. I love the different approaches to each page and that the personality of each contributor is obvious as you flip through the book…The great thing about this project is that you could organize a “mailed baby shower” for a friend who is far away, or at least allow distant friends and family to participate in a baby gift that will be personal and meaningful.”

According to Chinese tradition, the year of the dragon is particularly auspicious for new babies, and Aimee, blogstress and craftster extraordinaire, brings us a free Chinese dragon transfer to embroider. This sly fire-breather would be charming stitched upon a pillowcase, tea towels, or even a draw-string laundry bag!