Woven Basket - Blue Jeans Recycled

I have lately been exploring and pushing the boundaries for my woven / plaited baskets that I have been making for years and lately been selling in my shop SewDanish - Scandinavian Textile Art . In December I taught a basket weaving workshop using this traditional Scandinavian diagonal weaving technique. It was a great workshop, a lot of fun and most of my students left with a finished basket. It is a great pleasure passing on this old  basket weaving technique. It is so important to keep these traditional skills a live, so that they are not forgotten.

For a long while I have been weaving the baskets using recycled Danish newspapers. I love creating something so useful and unique from a humble newspaper and as an added bonus I can have little read while preparing the strips. 

While preparing for the above mentioned basket weaving workshop I was given a pair of totally well loved  blue jeans by a friend who knows, that I can pretty much find use for anything in my work. Having been cutting and preparing an endless number of strips, I instantly saw the trouser legs cut into strips and woven.  

                          

It was fun weaving the basket as the strips kind of took on an organic way of life adding a lovely relaxed look to this rustic basket. To stiffen the basket, making it less fabric like and firm to the touch, I decided to paint the basket with diluted acrylic paint. 

Textiles In Focus 2011 by Pauline Verrinder

                         

I'm so exited! Textiles In Focus is just around the corner! This great event organized by Textile Artist, Author and Tutor Pauline Verrinder is a total must for any textile/fiber art enthusiast and crafter and is not to be missed. I promise you will not be disappointed! The event will take place 25-27th February 2011 at Cottenham Village College just north of Cambridge, England.

Please take a look at the programme for all details about the exciting workshops, exhibitions,  demonstrations, lecture and all the lovely vendors. This years lecture will be by Dawn Thorne on 'Transparency and Dimension'. The two textile groups exhibiting this year will be 02 Textiles and Fibrefusion
The chosen charity for the very popular tombola is Alzheimer's Research Trust 

As a member of Fibrefusion I will be attending the event on most days. Do stop by and say hi  :-)

Happy New Year from Birgitte / SewDanish :-)

On this last day of the year 2010 I want to wish all a very happy and healthy new year.

2011 is going to be a busy and exciting year for me. I'm participating in several textile exhibitions with deadlines fast approaching. In one of my textile groups, Fibrefusion, we are writing our 5th book which accordingly to plan the book is due to be published in September 2011.
My list of projects for my shop SewDanish is ever growing and I'm so excited to get back sewing after my December travels to Copenhagen, Denmark. As the photos kind of show a lovely trip, but bitterly cold! Brr.... :-)

Right now my husband and I are in the middle of planning our trips for the coming year that will hopefully include a fair amount of hiking around England. We so want to walk part of  Hadrians Wall, so that is very high on our list. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Interview with SewDanish and her folded stars

Last week I was contacted by the DesignStyleGuide if I wanted to be interviewed about my Christmas ornaments and shop.
The interview has just been published and I thought I share the link with you if you wanted to have a look
Interview with SewDanish and her folded stars

Autumn in Bury St. Edmunds

The other day I went uptown Bury St Edmunds where I live. It was such a beautiful, very mellow autumn afternoon with soft, hazy sunlight. On my way home I decided to take a short cut through the old Abbey and cemetery. And I'm so happy, that I had my camera in my purse.

 
I haven't been blogging much lately as I have spend less time on the computer. Amongst all the other things I'm involved in, I'm busy preparing for 2 upcoming workshop that I'll be teaching in a couple of weeks. The first is on my folded stars, the second one is on my woven baskets. It will be a lot of fun teaching the two techniques. Both are very traditional Danish crafts and it will be great passing the techniques on.     

My studio featured at UKHandmade

A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by UK Handmade being asked, if I wanted to write an article about my studio with photos! for their studio section. Since my workroom is NOT a showroom, I thought, I was very brave consenting writing this piece :-) I hope you'll enjoy it.

Please head over to
http://ukhandmade.blogspot.com/2010/10/studio-birgitte-hendricks-of-sew-danish.html
for the full article.

Autumn inspiration, an EtsyTwitter Team treasury

'Texture and Color' by SewDanish

Today has been the most amazing autumn day with beautiful saturated yet fading colors and stunning textures.

Fingerless Gloves, PDF Croc... crochetgal $	Sea Salt Spa Soap Vegan Unsc... AquarianBath $3.50	Hand Knit Fashion Sassy Wrap... FoxyGknits $60.00
Twisty Copper Ring with Ligh... capecodjewel $15.00	ON SALE Madeira Citrine Vint... FirebirdHouse $11.20	Women's Slippers Mary Ja... kimwhitecreati... $22.00
Gorgeous Rare Silkstone 14K ... WellspringCrea... $54.00	Baa Baa Black Sheep Notecard... TheCheckerdRab... $2.50	Reykjavik necklace anapinatelier $14.00
Spa Set HandmadeBySand... $15.00	Rustic Circle fine silver ne... PunkyJane $45.00	Olive Branches Print by Robi... RobinMariaPedr... $20.00
e-book...... Make your very ... AbbyChaseDesig... $9.95	Organic Cotton Market Bag JaybirdDesigns $45.00	Pineapple Crush Soap Bar soaprehab $

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.

My husband and I went yesterday for such a wonderful walk through the gentle landscape of Suffolk, East Anglia which inspired me to create this treasury. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I enjoyed putting it together, browsing through some of the wonderful shops of the Etsytwitter team members.