Find St. Louis Craft Mafia made goods at these local events this holiday season:

Rock n Roll Craft Show                                              Nov. 25 – 27    

Artropy                                                                       Dec. 3                

Contemporary Art Museum Etsy Sale                  Dec. 8   

And in other crafty holiday fun news, we would like to invite all St. Louis CRAFTERS & MAKERS to the first ever community Craftogether on Friday Dec. 16 from 5:30pm to 9:00pm at the Regional Arts Commissions.  It’s an evening of crafting with our fellow local makers while raising some money for a worthy cause, Tenth Life Stray Cat Rescue. Find additional information by visiting Craftogether. 

We wish you a warm, bright, and safe holiday season!

The St. Louis Craft Mafia

The dust has settled, the votes have been cast, and we finally know the results of the 2011 St. Louis Craft Mafia Membership Drive.  We would like to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who applied to join our membership this year. We had the largest number of applicants in the history of the organization, which made for some really tough choices for the few openings we had available. We were really very impressed by the quality of the many talented people interested in joining our group.   We wish we could accept everyone.

We would like to formally welcome eight SUPER AWESOME and talented crafters into our St. Louis Craft Mafia family!

Ansell Arts

Belle Journée

Bubble Lab 

bunnyXproductions 

Cristin Rae Knitwear & Paper Goods

Ghost Cat Studios

Scarlett and Maria

Zenbot Design

Thank you again to everyone who applied and we look forward to seeing all of you around the St. Louis Handmade Scene!

• Felted Wool Scraps (old sweaters)
• Fabric Glue
• Scissors
• Safety Pin or Pin back
• Needle/Thread

If you need to yarn to glue to your art project, then it probably doesn’t matter what you use, but if you want to make a useful, functional item then your fiber experience will benefit from knowing a little bit about the wondrous world of yarn. Yarn comes in different fibers, different weights and different textures. I’m just going to focus on types of fibers for this post.

Yarn can be broadly broken in to 3 different categories—protein fibers, cellulose fibers and synthetic fibers.

Protein Fibers
Wool, alpaca, silk (which can also be considered cellulose), cashmere and mohair.

Cellulose fibers
Cotton, hemp, linen and bamboo.

Synthetic fibers
Acrylic, nylon, polyamide and a wide variety of other blends.

There is another category of yarns synthesized from organic materials that sort of defies categorization. For the most part. these yarns are made from unusual “fibers” like seaweed, milk, corn or bamboo.

Choosing Fiber

Things to consider: What are you making? What purpose will your project serve? Who will wear it?

Wool
The best all-around fiber, in my not unbiased opinion is wool. Wool gets a bad rap as being itchy and hard to care for, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Old-school wool can be scratchy, but the popularization of fine-wool breeds such as merino has given us crafters yarn options that are buttery, next-to-skin soft—a far cry from what our fore-crafters may have used. Wool can also be treated with a process called superwash that dissolves or glues the wool scales down so it won’t felt if you run it through the washer, with the bonus side-effect of making the wool wonderfully soft. Plus, wool is fantastic for garments that need body, stretch, warmth and breathability. It can hold several times its weight in water and keeps you warm even if your woolens are wet. Basically, wool is magic.

Alpaca/Silk
But maybe you have a different need in mind? If you need a lightweight shawl with good drape, but need to keep warm? Try alpaca or silk. It doesn’t have the memory of wool, but both fibers will keep you super warm while giving your garments and accessories some needed lightness.

Cotton (unmercerized)
Maybe your crafting needs are more practical. Maybe you need some knitted dishcloths, or burp cloths? Nothing beats plain old unmercerized cotton. Buy it cheap at your local big box craft store. Upscale that same dishcloth for face use and knit it in a linen from your local yarn store (LYS) and pair it with a bar of artisan soap for a nice hostess gift.

Acrylic
So where does acrylic come in? Acrylic has come a long way since the 1970’s scratchy indestructible stuff it used to be. Oh sure, you can still find that nasty stuff in the back aisles of the store, but save those yarns to make pet squares for your local animal shelter or for yarn-bombing your local craft show. Modern acrylic is much softer and has, for the most part, lost that tell-tale squeak of man-made yarns. Technology has made acrylics and other man-made fibers much softer, more breathable and, when blended with wool, more resilient.

Unusual Fibers
Speaking of technology, have you tried corn, milk, bamboo, seacell or tencel? All of these viscose-type fibers have beautiful sheen and take color in beautiful ways. They are perfect for a luxurious scarf.

Written by: Rachel Kluesner

Who or what was your biggest influence?
I grew up in rural Tennessee and was introduced to gardening at a very young age. I think I’ve always been somewhat obsessed with all things botanical and bringing those images into the home via screen printing and sewing is a perfect expression of my love for nature.

How long have you been crafting?
I’ve officially been selling my crafts via Etsy and local craft shows since the summer/fall of 2010.
I’m always working on new designs! Currently I’m working on some new fall/holiday themed designs.

How did you get started?
My mom taught me how to sew in high school; the first thing I sewed was a summer dress out of muslin. I still have it! Several years ago I gave my fiancé screen printing lessons at Tom Hucks Evil Prints Studio for his birthday. He taught me the basics and I immediately became obsessed with the process and the limitless options screen printing has to offer. I originally only made pillows; I then added the tea towels, then the cards, baby clothes, napkins… Now I am constantly thinking of new things I could make.

How long have you been with the St. Louis Craft Mafia?
I became a member of the St. Louis Craft Mafia last fall.

What music do you listen to when you are crafting?
The Decemberists, The New Pornographers, Pretenders, Cornershop, Feist, Sufjan Stevens, Flaming Lips, and when I’m struggling with something or having a rough go with the sewing machine I’ll put on the Where the Wild Things Are Soundtrack. It’s my go to happy music.

How important do you think blogging, Facebook and Twitter are in today’s craft market?
Since I’m relatively new to the Craft scene it’s hard for me to judge the importance of social media. I recently made a twitter account which I’m still a little confused by, #twitter? What does that even mean? As for Facebook, I do think it’s a great way to keep your friends and clients up to date on what shows you’ll be at and it’s a great way to offer sneak peeks at new products that you are making. I do find the Facebook page to be rather limiting in some ways – hopefully they are working on fixing those issues. Blogging I have yet to venture into, I still need to make my own website!

Do you prefer to work with paper or fabric?
I love both paper and fabric; they both have their pluses and minuses when it comes to printing. With paper I can get very precise detail that is unachievable with fabric. But fabric has limitless options as to the final product which is extremely exciting to me.

What is your favorite local craft show?
It’s hard to pick one! As a vendor my favorite show so far has been Indie Craft Revolution, as a shopper it’s a toss up between Schlafly’s Art Outside and Strange Folk Festival.

Interview by: Jane Linders

If you are interested, please click on the “Join” link at the top of the page.  You will find information about our Application Process, our Meet and Greet on Sept. 30, as well as our Membership Requirements.  Between Sept. 1 and Oct. 1, you will also find a link to our on-line application.

The next mafia event is coming up soon! “Let Them Eat Art” will take place July 8th, from 6pm to 11pm. It features live music, art, and entertainment. The St. Louis Craft Mafia tents will be near the corner of Manchester and Marshall Ave across across Manchester from Citizen’s National Bank. Click on the logo above for more details.

Thank you to everyone who submitted the adorable and fun (and beautifully drawn!) artwork for the Robots & Kitties Design Competition – every piece submitted will be sold at Craft-O-Matic and the proceeds will go to benefit our nonprofit sponsors.  We appreciate the very generous and giving spirit in which all of our artists participated!  It was a really hard choice…we oohed and aahed over every single one and each piece made us very, very happy – they’re all so different from one another!

The winning design is titled “Kittieoid” and was created by Lori Austin – check out more of her amazing artwork and jewelry at her Etsy shop – www.lalalori.etsy.com.

We are SO in love with Kittieoid and we’re going to have some accompanying merchandise available at Craft-O-Matic with his image on it, all proceeds will of course be donated.  Could you love him any more?  Could you?