eco felt

Because my range is 100% vegan it means that I don't use any wool felt in both my bird decorations or on the backs of my brooches. Instead I use eco felt. I often get asked about eco felt so I thought I'd answer a few common questions here.

What is eco felt?
Eco felt is made from eco-fi, a high quality polyester fibre made from 100% certified recycled plastic PET bottles. It can go into any textile product such as clothing, blankets, carpets, wall coverings, auto interiors, home furnishings, and felt. You can read more about eco-fi here.

Is eco felt as good as wool felt?
Before going vegan I used wool felt and yes I agree it has a lovely soft texture. The down side of wool felt was that I would sometimes find moth holes in it. Plus depending on where you buy it, it's not so easy to know the conditions it's sourced in. Eco felt is softer than acrylic felt so for me it was the perfect solution, and I like that it's recycled.

Where do you buy eco felt?
In Australia I have always bought Kunin eco felt from The Thread Studio here. I've never seen it in store nor have I found it anywhere else on an Australian website.
In America and Canada the Kunin brand is everywhere, check out the outlets here.

So there you have it! Please leave me a comment if you have any other suggestions or questions and I'll keep adding to this post :)

my creative space

I'm playing catch up this week on my last creative space post. There's been lots happening as always including having a crack at screen printing with Brown Owls, learning from the amazing Catherine and Vanita of cat&vee who shared so much screen printing knowledge with us. Their generosity went above and beyond everyone's expectations. What an amazing craft community we have here in Brisbane!

My screen printed lighthouse, I'm pretty happy with my first attempt, not sure what to do with it yet :)

The GoMA Winter Design Market was fabulous as always, a huge thank you to everyone who stopped by to say hi :)

I even managed to knock out a good selection of crochet necklaces which will be in the shop soon!

Speaking of crochet! I've been working on some fun, super quick and easy crochet jewellery designs for our Brown Owls meet up this Saturday!

I love this one, it's teeny tiny, worked in a very fine linen yarn. I'm thinking a bracelet version would be really cute.

And to round it all off, a fabulous end to BrisStyle's Saviours of the Lost Arts program. What an amazing three months it's been, so many great Brown Owls meet ups have formed part of the program. With the final one a mix of basket weaving, rag rug making and crocheting. The most popular crafts of course!

For more spaces or to show off your own head here, it's a great way to keep on top of documenting what you've been up to :)

shop update

cascading triangles pendant

teal crochet jar cosy

mountains and clouds zipper pouch

cascading triangles zipper pouch

navy kantha zipper pouch 

ruby kantha zipper pouch

The shop has had a little update with lots of new goodies, this is just a selection and there's more coming soon! Click here and enjoy :)

eco crafts for kids

diy toilet roll knitting nancys

It's school holiday time here and soon to be down south too! With 5 nieces under 10 "Aunty Crafty" likes to be prepared in case a crafternoon is in order! I picked out a few of my favourite projects, the projects that I know I will have things lying around the house to pull them off at a moment's notice (and that I know the girls will think are "cool").

 

 diy toilet roll knitting nancys

I almost bought some knitting nancys recently for the girls and now that I've seen these awesome diy toilet roll ones I'm so glad I didn't! My Material Life has some great resources for how to make them, how to use them and what to do with your knitted 'sock'. Start at this post and work your way through the links.

 

weaving with a cardboard loom

Weaving is trending big time at the moment and I am loving the re-use of cardboard to create a quick loom of any size! This is a really sweet craft that the older girls will love. Made by Joel has an excellent photo tutorial here.

diy god's eye

Since we're talking all things yarny and weaving I have to mention God's Eyes! And if the girls really feel the need to leave them hanging around my little home that's totally fine ;) There's a super simple photo diy with some pretty girly pics at Coyote Negro. Made with sticks here but also a great way to re-use paddle pop sticks and left over bits of yarn or string.

 

toilet roll heart stamp

Another cute re-use for toilet rolls, pretty heart stamps for the littlest, need I say more :)

Rust & Sunshine has the low down here.

bottle lid stamps

This is one of my latest faves and I'm so happy to have found a re-use for the little styrofoam trays we seem to have accumulated at home. I also have loads of jar lids which I'll use instead of the bottle caps. Check out super clever A Little Learning for Two for all the details.

 

wrapped washer necklaces

And finally because I know there are usually loads of washers down at Reverse Garbage these necklaces are super cute, I'm pretty sure there will be more design ideas that come out of this one too! Check out the photo tutorials at Design Mom.

There's lots more great ideas for re-using bits and pieces around the home on my Kids Crafternoon Pinterest board. 

Have fun and let me know if you have any other great eco crafts for kids or if you try any of these at home!

my creative space

I’ve been playing with some great colours in my fabric collection that I’ve picked up recently from a friend’s de-stash and at a couple of local op shops.

Plus a huge pile of new designs were pulled out this week for the GoMA Winter Design Market on Saturday.

It’s been really nice working with different styles of stitching lately, so many ideas, so little time, only my most favourite will make the cut.

For more spaces or to show off your own head here. It's a great way to regularly document your process plus meet like-minded crafty peeps.

making changes: what 'handmade' means to me

Guess what! I have a slightly new direction for my blog and it’s about time. I’ve been holding a lot in and it’s time to let it out in a really good positive way before I explode. It’s all about making little earth friendly changes in my own handmade practice and hopefully inspiring others to think about doing the same. I’ve already started in my own little way by using almost all thrifted and organic fabric in my products. Sure, I have a massive fabric stash and it will take a bit of time to phase out anything ‘un-eco’ but I’m going to start making a more conscious effort.

I go to a lot of markets, mostly as a shopper or a looker or to say hi to crafty peeps. I also buy a lot of handmade stuff online. Sometimes when I’m looking around I feel like we’re getting a little further away from what I think is authentic handmade. I love finding the products where I can see little stitches, or a little bit of ink gone astray, a wonky edge on an item that is hand cut, even a dropped stitch makes me smile. And I’m happy to pay a little more for it because I know what went into it. And I know there’s something inside that person who made it that’s the same as what’s inside me. I want to profile those people in this little space and share their story.

I also want to learn more about materials and resources that can be used to tread more lightly on the earth. The thing I love about running the Brisbane chapter of Brown Owls is that lately we are almost always using up bits and pieces of scraps to make stuff. I love the dialogue that goes on during that process in the group about what could be re-used in place of something else. So I’m going to post more tips, tricks, resources, how-tos and more about what we can make at home, what we can re-use as well as a collection of resources for handmade businesses to be more eco-conscious.

Sometimes people ask me where the name edward & lilly came from. To be honest there was no thought put into it back in 2007 when I started this little blog. They were just my two favourite names. I never dreamt I would actually sell anything I made. It was really just my way into an awesome handmade community. I’d like to get back to the roots of what this space was originally intended to be and what the term ‘handmade’ means to me.

So how about it?

Are you interested in getting more eco in your practice?

Do you have an awesome earth friendly material or product that you use that you would love to share?

Are you already an eco friendly crafter yourself?

I would love to hear from you either in the comments below or email rebecca (@) edwardandlilly.com

Ok, I better get back to writing my new blog plan so we can get this show on the road!

QAGOMA Winter Design Market

 

Very excited to be part of the QAGOMA Winter Design Market in conjunction with the Quilts 1700-1945 exhibition. This market is always a fabulous one full of gorgeous wares :)

QAGOMA Winter Design Market

Saturday 22 June, 9am-4pm

Gallery of Modern Art

Stanley Place

South Brisbane

See you there!

the new brisstyle city hall market

Crochet brooches

Did you know BrisStyle has a new market for high end handmade in City Hall? I'll be there this Saturday 11th May from 9am-2pm with lots of new goodies. Perfect timing for Mother's Day!

little houses brooch

green sashiko brooch

See you there!

my creative space

 

It's been a while since I've posted some pics of all the crafty goodness that's been happening in my little space. I'm gearing up for the BrisStyle indie twilight market tomorrow night with some new crochet brooches above, mostly made in my creative space on the bus ;)

 

Knotting away with my rag rug for the super popular Brown Owls meet up on Saturday. I'll post all my tips and tutorials I've found while researching this one soon. 

 

Country Boy and I did an amazing basket weaving workshop at Northey Street City Farm, I also learnt loads about the art of making miso, I'll post more about these workshops soon.   

 

Some amazing linen yarn arrived from here, it's a little thinner than I was thinking but I have a new project that it will be perfect for :)

 

Another fab Brown Owls meet up on the weekend at Brisbane Square Library learning crochet in the round and granny squares. So nice to know there are over 20 more Brisbanites on the crochet bandwagon after this one :) 

 

And finishing off some sweet custom orders :)

 

You can share your creative space or check out more over here, it's a great way to document what you're up to!

And if you missed my last post I'll be demonstrating lots of crafty things like rag rugs, how to make t-shirt yarn, macramé knots, crochet and more at the Brown Owls meet up at the BrisStyle indie twilight market tomorrow night, details are here.  

get your craft on with me!

This Friday night at the BrisStyle indie twilight market not only will I have lots of new stitched goodies available at my stall (preview coming soon) but I'll also be doing some little live crafty demos for Brisbane Brown Owls!

There will be a Brown Owls meet up happening next to my little stall on the deck above Groove Train in King George Square where you can pop in and pick up some crafty tips!

I can show you how to make t-shirt yarn, the basic knotting technique to make a rag rug, I can get you started with a bit of crochet, show you some basic macramé knots and more! Or just bring your own craft along and hang out with other crafty peeps :)

All of the details about the Brown Owls meet up can be found here and about the market here. There's also loads of other guilds, groups and crafters doing demonstrations and workshops on the night because it's also the launch of Saviours of the Lost Arts!

See you there!

Or leave me a comment or email me if you can't make it and you're after some hints or tips on any of the above :)