Cleaning out some “filed” emails I came across this one from almost three years ago.  Better than late than never I’m posting another project by my Mom. In her own words:

Hi Tracy,

When I was talking to you about making the jean purse and items for  Paris and Mars, I mentioned that I had also picked up a pair of embroidered jeans that I was going to make something out of for Ally for Christmas.  I finally got around to finishing it up this morning, so as you said to do – I took a picture.

It’s a little bag and a journal holder.  They are both lined with the funky flower print.  The lace ups are from the leg bottoms. Hopefully, Ally will like them – teens have very strong opinions as I’m sure you are learning. This aunt and Mema doesn’t want to be too “uncool”! Speaking of uncool – Got to stop and clean house.  Dad and Folly are off delivering muffins he made this morning to friends at the cleaners, service station, church office etc. and maybe hitting the guy stores (Northern and Harbor Freight).

xxoo to all
Mom

Previously posted projects from recycled jeans

That’s my dad! Usually the dude is busy doing things for other people, but once in a while he cranks out a project for himself. He makes it seem easy to make this copper sunflowers sculpture, and for him it probably was. He’s got the gear, and the skills. Dad used a nibbler to cut everything out but you can definitely use a bandsaw with the right blade or maybe even a jigsaw. Snips? I doubt it, with copper this thick. Once he had all the pieces fabbed up he used an oxy-acetylene torch to braze everything together.

Now you know. Go make your own thing.

More photos of this copper sunflowers sculpture

I recorded this interview with my uncle, Robin Sigler, on Christmas Eve 2009. It’s taken me a while to edit it together with some related photos.  I like his philosophy that you don’t have to paint things exactly as you see them. As I watch it and hear all the conversations and dogs whining in the background I feel like I’m back at my parents’ house during the holidays. And I always enjoy our time there.

I have a lot more photographs of Robin’s painting and will eventually add them to the site.

You can run, but you can’t hide from me when I’m carrying the Flip. This latest ambush is with my aunt Jan. For Christmas she made some very fancy embroidered pillow cases for my parents. I can’t imagine sweating and drooling on these masterpieces so I’m guessing they’re ornamental.

I dropped the ball and forgot to get photos while I was there, but I think you can see clearly enough from the video that pillow cases have a lot of detail. Gifts like this really are special, and not just because of the significant amount of time it takes to make something like this. In this (pillow) case it was about 20 hours for the pair.

One year I tried to make every gift I gave, and it just about killed me. Props to everyone makin’ stuff.

I left the video camera running while we did this. The whole shoot took about 30 minutes. I think Paris had the idea for snowflakes. Originally, I wanted to recruit a ton of people, dozens at least, to make one giant snowflake somewhere in downtown Asheville, and shoot it from a building. But the ladies were thumbs down on that. I still may do it one year. That’s a lot of white clothes!

We hope you like it. If you haven’t gotten yours yet and you know you’re on list email me. We still have a small batch that hasn’t been mailed. If you want one, no matter who you are, just let me know. We have a small number left.

Christmas Card 2009 - Snowflakes

Here are some individual snowflake photos.

Christmas cards from previous years.

The hits keep coming. Mary made a set of potholders from some funky 1970s style fabric for her funky (in a good way) older sister. She used some fabric meant for covering ironing boards in the middle because it’s heat resistant. Beyond that, she freely admits that she doesn’t know what she’s doing, and didn’t have directions. Freestyle sewing!

Photo after the jump.

Mary Earle-Sigler - Funky Retro Fabric Potholders

Check out Asheville Cotton Company.

This Monster Backpack for our nephew is another Christmas creation by Mary. Handmade all the way. Even the bag it’s wrapped in is handmade. She Googled “cute cartoon monsters” to find different ideas and used them as inspiration for her own thing. To make the applique possible she had to simplify the final design. Mary has advanced sewing skillz, credentials even, but she makes it sound simple.

And, she was wrapping gifts in our freezing cold house. Lots of snow this weekend. Not much electricity. Sorry to whoever was calling during the video. We stop for no one.

See some pics after the jump.

Pieces and thread for the Monster Backpack

Finished Monster Backpack

Orange lining in the Monster Backpack

The crafty lady is on a roll. This project is a tote bag made from some salvaged wool that she felted. Details include a fancy-pants interior pocket, and a functional/decorative patch. Curse you moths! No pattern was used. Freestyle sewing!

Pics after the jump.

Some detail pics of this wool tote bag at Flickr.

Felted wool tote bag by Mary Earle-Sigler

Home girl is knocking out the gifts, faster than I can blog them. But that’s not saying much because I haven’t been that active here for a while.

First Mary project I’m posting this season is a couple handsewn critters wallets. One for our daughter and another for our niece. Check out the video for more info. You can see all the pics at Flickr.

Handsewn Critter Wallet - One of Mary's recent craft projects