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UPDATE: You can pre-order Simply Sublime bags at the following locations:

Amazon

BN.com

Borders

It’s time for another Potter Craft News Contest!

Simply Sublime Bags offers the secrets to creating four-figure-price-tag-worthy bags. And most of them only take an afternoon! Whether it’s a casual carryall or a ritzy, patent leather clutch, the envy of your friends is only a few hours away.

You’ll tire of hearing “Where did you get that bag?”

The book arrives in stores July 8. But why wait? We’re giving away five FREE copies. Just leave a comment below answering this question: What would you like to see on the Potter Craft news Blog?

We’ll pick five and announce the winners on the blog on July 3.

— Shawn

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Sweater Renewal, the first Potter Craft title by Sharon Franco Rothschild, isn’t due in stores until August 19, but we have a sneak peek! Download the wallpaper today and get ready to start gathering your old sweaters, starting your washing machines, and sharpening your scissors …

The 25 colorful, cheerful projects in Sweater Renewal incorporate a diverse range of skills-including felting, applique, crochet, sewing, and embroidery-and range from Short, Sweet & Simple Projects using felted sweaters, such as a cell phone holder and a Fair Isle digital camera case, to Knitted, Felted & Fantastic Projects that you knit and then felt, such as a purse and a felted scarf. Most can be finished in less than a day, some in a few hours.

— Shawn

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My name is Thom and I’m the Editorial Assistant at Potter Craft. To me, making a craft project is always half inspiration and preparation and half actually putting the pieces together. With that in mind, I invite you to come with me on the two-part journey of a newly minted sewer on the trail of his second project.

Part 1: Hunting and Gathering

The Target store at the Atlantic Center in Brooklyn is busy everyday, but on Saturday it’s a zoo. The express line looks like the one outside of Shake Shack. It often snakes around half of the women’s clothing section. Thanks to the staggering number of people that pass through the store, it’s inevitable that things tend to travel far from their rightful places. Light bulbs end up in the food aisles and I once found a pair of scissors in electronics. They were not electric scissors. But in the chaos there is sometimes a single, shining ray of beauty. Digging through the haphazardly strewn racks of clothes is like going to a thrift store. You never know what the experienced hunter might find.

Like, say, a t-shirt with a giant watercolor lion head design-its resplendent oranges and blues second only to the creature’s majestic gaze. Which is exactly what I found that Saturday, sitting atop piles of inferior t-shirts and assuming its rightful place at the top of the t-shirt food chain. If you saw it, you too would have to have it. Unfortunately, I could never wear something that majestic in public. That didn’t change the fact that I had to buy it.

So now I had my inspiration. Even though I couldn’t pull off this design on a t-shirt, I was fairly confident I could wear it on a bag. The next stop for me was Baltic Bazaar (in the Cobble Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn), a store so amazing it probably deserves its own blog post. This place sells fabric by the pound instead of by the yard, so it’s possible to spend 20 bucks and have enough material for the next three months. I went in with dreams of brown fabric (to go with the brown outlines on the lion head) and came out with black canvas, green vinyl, and a dark gray material with a feel (and pattern) that evoked dress pants. Don’t ask how that happened. I also picked up some heavy-duty light turquoise thread.

Join me next month to learn how not to sew and to see some pictures of the end result.

— Shawn

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It’s time for another forum question! Be sure to leave your comments below and check back to be a part of the conversation!

Question: Today is the first day of summer. What project are you going to be working on during the season?

— Shawn

Comments (3)

Irene Koo recently submitted these gallery photos from a project she adopted out of Karen Elder’s Potter Needlework Library: Embroidery, a 2006 Potter Craft title.

Now it’s your turn. We are calling for all submissions you may have. The only requirement is that you send photos and a credit for the book you used. That’s it! If we post your pattern, we’ll send you a free upcoming book.

Easy enough?

Email the photos here, and be sure and leave a comment so the community knows the pattern you submitted. The deadline for submissions is July 3. We will release the results on July 10.

Happy crafting!

— Shawn

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After having so much fun in Columbus at TNNA last weekend, Potter Craft’s publicity director, Kate Tyler, and I found ourselves jonesing for some more crafty encounters closer to home. Luckily, the Brooklyn stop of the Renegade Craft Fair was in happening and satisfied our craft craving like a Snickers bar at 4 pm.

Unlike TNNA, which is exclusively for the trade (i.e. no cash and carry), the Renegade Craft Fair is open to the public for pure retail therapy. We started out the day early-we know who gets the worm-which meant 11 am, when doors opened. By noon, the crowds were upon us, no doubt thanks to listing on sites like Etsy.com, Flavorpill.com, ApartmentTherapy.com, and on the blogs of the 200-plus handcrafters who exhibited at the market.

It was great to see our authors, Cal Patch of Hodge Podge Farm and Faith and Justina Blakeney of Compai and to be able to meet so many other super-talented crafters selling a wide variety of jewelry, letterpress cards, decoupaged goodies, baby stuffs, t-shirts, screen prints of all kinds, and generally fun, one-of-kind goods. I picked up some truly beautiful letter pressed cards and a pair of earrings, while Kate scored with a few necklaces made out of typewriter keys-all things that we knew we couldn’t make ourselves!

Check out the pictures from the show below!

— Rosy

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We’re starting a new feature at Potter Craft News. Every Saturday we will post a new question for everyone to discuss in the comments section below. Let’s start chatting!

We saw this story about crochet hooks being used to treat varicose veins:

Question: What creative uses have you found for your own crochet hooks?

— Shawn

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Whether your little one is as cuddly as a kitten or prowls like a lion, you’ll find the perfect accessories here.

Jean Adel shares patterns for the cute creatures that have made her JEANADEL line at Barneys department store sell out season after season. The hats, mittens, and scarves can be made in three sizes (for children ages 3 to 7) and require basic knitting skills that Jean guides you through-as well as some slightly more advanced techniques (intarsia, knitting in the round) should you wish to challenge yourself further.

Finishing touches that give the wooly animals personality are as simple as a stitched mouth, some googly glued-on eyes, a pom-pom nose, or a few artfully placed buttons.

— Shawn

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Check out some photos the Potter Craft team has sent in from TNNA. Click on an individual picture to read the description. Tell us what you think. Which author pictured below would you most like to have lunch with?

— Shawn

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Sarah’s Recap from Sunday at TNNA:

Another busy day on the show floor. We kicked the day off with Gina Wilde signing copies of her much hyped Shibori Knits, available in stores on August 26! The line was around the Unicorn booth as Gina eagerly talked to the crowd about the Japanese art of Shibori.

Then came the fabulous Big Girls signing their second book More Big Girl Knits, available now. Even though Amy lost her voice Jillian more than made up by chatting the crowds ear off. Sharon Franco Rothschild was also in attendance signing copies of Sweater Renewal. Finally a use for those too small and out of fashion wool sweaters!

Stay tuned later today for a photo gallery from the show floor.

— Shawn

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