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Crochet Picnic Basket

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Fall is for romantic, with this “mood swing”, I refashioned my hemp basket to become a lovely fall floral picnic basket by adding some crochet flowers and leaves. You can get the pattern for the flower and leaves here, it has a butterfly motif for you to crochet too. Be that you use this picnic basket to bring out your yarn to crochet or knit at outdoor, or hand sewing some fabric; you can even bring some breads, sandwiches, fruits and drinks for a small picnic; or use the basket to collect flowers from the garden; isn’t it a great life to enjoy such a lovely weather!!!!

You can adapt this method to decorate your existing hemp basket, or sisal basket, or any round base soft basket that you made or bought. Pinch the basket below the handle to imagine how it will turn out if you were to refashion it the way I did.

Happy Fall and enjoy your life to the fullest!

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Zipper Pencil Case

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To welcome you back to the craft room of Craft Passion, here is the zipper pencil case pattern and tutorial which I did before my recent weekend getaway. Honestly, this is not suitable for beginner sewer because of the piping and the way I lined it, but intermediate or advance sewer should have no problem in getting it done.

As you can see from the photos, this zipper pencil case has a zipper that opens all the way down from top to the sides. This enable a widely open view that make getting things from the pencil case straightforward. Also, there are internal gussets at the sides to prevent contents from falling out.

This pencil case would make perfect storage for many purpose, pencil case, cosmetic pouch, stationery, accessories, craft tools etc… you name it!!!

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Sew A Strawberry Reusable Grocery Bag

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I have developed a tutorial on sewing a strawberry reusable grocery bag to share with you. I know many of you would agree with me the great functional effect of the cute little strawberry drawstring bag attached to the reusable grocery bag.

I used nylon/polyester fabric which thin but strong bought from Daiso. You may use cotton or even old T-shirt to sew it. T-shirt or heavier fabrics will need a bigger strawberry bag to store, so please adjust the size a little bigger.

Keep one in your handbag or hang it as a charm, handy when you need to do some urgent grocery shopping. It is small and light, it won’t take up too much space and load

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Reversible Jumbo Tote Bag using Ikea Upholstery Fabrics

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With the global warming getting worst nowadays, major departmental and grocery stores responded to the government’s campaign on “Reuse, Reduce and Recycle”, they no longer giving out free grocery bags for the purchase. We either have to bring our own bag or donate a small charge to get the plastic grocery bag. A jumbo size tote is indeed one of the bags I need to bring along when I do shopping.

This jumbo reversible tote bag not only has 2 different designs for you to choose from, it also has 2 sets of handles, long handles for shoulder and short handles for hand. Now, you can choose how you want to style the bag, a black & white or a colorful “facebag”, on shoulder or on hand. When not in use, you may roll it up and keep inside your handbag or any convenient place for you to grab and go….. go shopping!!!!

This August is Ikea’s textile month. There are many great ways to restyle your home with the range of fabulous textiles available at Ikea. Love it, I always love Ikea’s fabrics!

Oh, by the way….. I forgot to mention that from now till 26 August, IKEA Damansara is having 15% off on all sewing services with the purchase of IKEA fabric! Check out your local Ikea store to see what other offer they have from time to time. I will be renovating my new condominium soon, I am planning for a few trips down to Ikea to get some furniture, more fabrics and decors too. How I wish that I stay next to Ikea… lol

[Find your nearest Ikea store, here.]

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Zipper Card Pouch

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I am not a big fan of big wallet, with the increasing numbers of cards that I have, my decent size wallet is no longer able to buckle up. Sometimes, I just temporary placing the card in my purse’s pocket but I forgot about it later. I need an additional card pouch where I know where all my cards should locate. So, here it is, my new zipper card pouch

This zipper pouch can hold up to 30 plastic cards (similar to credit cards), and more for thinner cards, business calling card for example. With the zipper open up to the side and couple with an internal gusset, this will make card finding easier and faster.

Get the pattern and tutorial to sew one yourself after the jump and don’t have to struggle with the cards anymore.

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Crochet Hemp Basket

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Recently, I found myself strolling at Ace Hardware store more often than usual. I used to go to craft shops to get my craft supplies but now seems like I found an “auxiliary” place to buy… the HARDWARE shop!!! I bought a roll of manila rope from my local Ace Hardware store and made a hemp basket by coiling the rope with yarn using crochet method.

If you have been a facebook fans of Craft Passion, I have asked a question a few hours ago about what can you make with the rope, yarn and a crochet hook, and this is my answer: a hemp basket. Sara has had the closest answer and many of you guessed it right… basket, bingo!!!! I also specially like the answer from Lorraine and Alison, they said plant hanger, coasters, hot pads for the table/counter top, Dimple H said door mat, Yusi said table mat, yes, they can be done with this method too. There are many other creative ideas from the answers, **love them all** I am going to explore them out with it possibilities if time permits, like build a house as Gillian mentioned… may be with a huge roll of rope, who knows… there is no limit when it comes to creativity. I enjoyed reading through all your answers, you are simply awesome!!!!

Check it out how I did it after the jump!!!!

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Woven Water Bottle Holder

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It is the Father’s Day gift for my beloved husband and I am super happy that he loves it a lot. After looking at the beauty of the weaving texture, he was a little reluctant to use it at first, afraid that he will dirty and spoil the delicate work of mine. I ensure him to go ahead and use, if it gets dirty, just wash it. It is meant to be used, if damaged, I sew a new one again!!! Easy job!!!

This Tupperware water bottle has been with my husband for many years. After years of following him to all the places, in and out of his car, on and off from his shoulder, in and out of the washer, the original holder starts to show sign of deterioration. I can’t let him bring the worn-off water bottle holder as it really affected his professional impression… it’s time to change!!!!

So… I went into my craftroom, picked up the intrecciato weave fabric I have made, scissors and sew….. a few hours later, here comes the Bottega Veneta look of water bottle holder. I am really please with the result and the look, it has turned the ordinary water bottle into something simple yet classy, thus reflect the taste of my husband too. Clients being to ask him where did he buy this holder from… ha ha ha… opppsss, “sorry, not in the market yet!”

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How To Make Intrecciato Weave

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May be you are not a fan of Bottega Veneta, but I am sure you have seen this signatured woven texture in handbags and purses made popular since early of the millennium. The designer and developer of the luxury artisan leather goods, Bottega Veneta, called it Intrecciato Weave and it remains the signature of it’s brand.

This is the tutorial on how to weave a non-sew light weight denim / cotton strips I demo it on the water bottle holder. If you are interested on the water bottle holder pattern, it will be on the next tutorial. There are several ways to weave fabrics strip and this tutorial is something for a neat look, though you need to invest some time on preparing the strips, but it is worth the time!!! I might have another fabric weaving tutorial coming the way as I am testing out a different technique, wish me luck to get it done successfully so I can share the method with you

Hope you will enjoy making this Bottega Veneta inspired Intrecciato Weave by using quilting weight cotton or light weight denim.

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Entrelac Messenger Bag

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At first, I just blindly made the entrelac piece without knowing what to do with it. A few options ran through my mind… I could make different kind of bags, cushion or throw pillow cover, may be join a few pieces to become a baby blanket…. but ended up with messenger bag.

I added a long straps which act as a gusset for the bag. Added a side pocket to house my giant smart phone. This time I don’t want to sew any zipper, instead I fold the bag down as a closure, so I needed another 2 smaller piece of gusset for the fold down. I always love to line my bag and this time I made a center divider plus a pocket in the bag. The divider is great for holding books and flat item like documents.

See… me carrying this bag during a photographing outing with friends. Thanks to Mandy who captured this beautiful moment, caught in the act of photo shooting… lol… love it!!!! *** mmmm… I think I need a hair cut soon… ***

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How to knit Entrelac pattern

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When I first saw this pattern…. wow, this woven knit strips pattern is so beautiful!!! I definitely want to make this, but how? Thanks to the modern technology of internet, I searched through the web and found some videos that taught about it. I like Planet Purl’s video the most, not only that it is easy to understand, Beth Moriarty has every stitch covered and explained. I am able to cast on and start knitting after the first or 2nd views of the video tutorial. Please stay tuned to see what will this piece of entrelac knit turn into…. I can foresee something sweet is on its way to Craft Passion pattern & tutorial

There are 6 parts of video tutorial to complete the entrelac knitting pattern, go through each of them and you will be able to do the same. As long as you can do cast on, knit, purl, purl 2 together, slip slip knit and bind off, you are able to make this woven-like knit pattern. There is of course a crochet version on entrelac, but the effect is not exactly the same. May be I will cover that as well after finish this project.

I am not a proclaimed professional in knitting, but I have the passion to create something out of the needles and yarns. Not lucky enough to have video and tutor to guide me through, so, I am basically a self-taught knitter and I learned knitting more than 30 years ago from just a basic knitting book. Long story short, I can knit after making numerous trials and errors, with no regret of the hard work and I really proud of myself for being able to knit a few vests, cardigans, pullovers, scarfs etc etc….. And also, conduct a small class among classmates during the break time between high school classes.

So, you think it is a real woven knit strips? Not until you look at the wrong side of the knit piece…. no overlapped knit strips, SURPRISED!!!

[update: I made this into an Entrelac Messenger Bag]

SOURCE: Planet Purl youtube video tutorial.
[Remark: Beth Moriarty of Purl Planet used 5 stitches for each "strip". Mine is 6 stitches, the method is the same, the only different is the width of the "strip"]

Part 1 – Bottom Triangles [Watch this video in Youtube]

Part 2 – Left Edge Triangles [Watch this video in Youtube]

Part 3 – Wrong Side Rectangle [Watch this video in Youtube]

Part 4 – Right Edge Triangles [Watch this video in Youtube]

Part 5 – Right Side Rectangle [Watch this video in Youtube]

Part 6 – Top Triangles [Watch this video in Youtube]