Creative Friend: Joanne

Today's Creative Friend is none other than my BFF Joanne! The very same Joanne who helps me with my photo shoots and who made this awesome Stuffed Animal Craft. Joanne earns a living as a scientist in Boston, but crafting is one of her hobbies outside of work, and sewing is by far her specialty.

Joanne and I met in college way back when, and have been partners in crafting crime ever since. Dueling sewing machines are not an uncommon sight in our apartment! Here's what she has to say about herself:

"I learned to sew about 10 years ago and ever since I haven't been able to put the needle down. It still surprises me how accomplished I feel after completing a project.  Whether its sewing for myself or for a gift, I enjoy the entire process: the inspiration, the planning, the construction, the adjustments and yes, the final product (but usually not the seam ripping). I seem to have caught the re-fashion bug because a lot of my projects have recently involved turning trash into treasure."

She has been working on a lot of great projects lately, and I want to share a couple of my favorites with you. The first is a gift she made for a friend (she's very thoughtful with her talents!). 

I was really impressed with how easily she seemed to whip these up! It looks like she bought some really nice fabric to make these, but that's actually not the case! She actually created these using an old grey t-shirt, and old lace blouse, and colored scrap fabric! Pretty impressive, no?

Joanne bought the frame for this purse from Joann Fabric, but she suggested that using one from an old purse may have worked just as well.

I love the pop of color on the inside of the purse! I think the oversized clasp and the bold inside color are a perfect contrast to the delicateness of the lace exterior. Well done Jo!

Joanne's second craft was a project and a half and required a lot of thought and patience. She received an old lamp and wanted to re-vamp it by giving it a new handmade lampshade. This proved to be easier said than done as the awkward shape, curves, and angles of the frame were difficult to work with. I watched as Joanne brainstormed ways to make it work and was so impressed when she finally found a solution! Here's the old lampshade she started with...

So how did Joanne conquer the difficult task? 

She says "I tore off the white panels and border and added my own fabric by hand stitching fabric all around the rim.  I dyed the cording because I could only find burgundy but I wanted an eggplant purple to match my fabric.  I used blue dye and attached the newly dyed cording with hot glue."

This gorgeous lamp now lights up our living room with style! I feel really lucky to live with a fellow crafter in our homemade home. Joanne doesn't have a website as her crafting is just a hobby, but feel free to leave comments about her work here and I'll yell them to her in the next room over!

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