The big DIY book for everyone

With some waste paper and cutting gear I just made these cute and colorful little notebooks. They only took me a couple of minutes each.

The notepads measure about 6 by 10 cm (2.4 by 3.9 inch) and are made with paint color strips from the DIY store. In fact this is all you need.

It's one out of many ideas in the book Het grote zelfmaakboek voor meisjes (literally The big DIY book for girls) by Kristel van Genugten.

It's a great book. It's very contemporary, it's clear in its descriptions and it is packed with a wonderful variety of ideas. From plaster casting to cutting stamps, from knitting to sewing and from printing to recycling. It's excellent for girls, boys, adults ... everyone.

Old school crafting

'Useful Crafts for Girls one considers: Knitting, Cutting and Sewing, Crocheting, Mending and Darning and Decorating. When pupils master these subjects they are able to make, decorate and repair all undergarments (and some outerwear).

To teach effectively, a course in each matter needs to be given, thus ranking the curriculum methodically, so that difficulties increase gradually. In an education plan the curriculum is allocated to the different apprenticeships. The dexterity and intellectual development of the pupils of Elementary School should thereby be taken into account.'

This is how the book Nuttige Handwerken (Useful Crafts) starts. It was written for teachers and this is the eighth edition, from 1961. I found it in an opp shop and it reminds me of an exhibition I saw on textile crafting in large and small households with little or no electrical equipment.

There's a pattern example under Free patterns above (English version on request)

It's a fascinating book: it shows how to knit socks for every size and gender, take measurements to make sewing patterns, sew button holes by hand and use darning-samplers. I also love that knickers are called directoires. And it shows that play pants, play aprons, crafting aprons and slip dresses are not as common as they used to be.

What impresses me most though (in this book just like earlier in the exhibition) is the amount of work women and girls used to have (this blogpost on socks illustrates this well), and how quality of fabrics and yarn changed when production increased and everything became disposable.

Staphorst summer fair

The folklore of Staphorst is fascinating. Last Wednesday I revisited this village during one of the yearly summer fairs. There was more than enough to see and do for one day, so I focused on their typical textile crafts.

I took this photograph in the Museumboerderij. The costume presentation there by Dirk Kok was excellent - very informative and fun. It showed the different costumes for various occassions, for men and women, rich and poor and young and old.

In two of the main streets there was a great fair with many retailers but also a lady spinning, a lady crocheting the typical bicycle accessoiries, a lady knitting purses with tiny beads, one making a typical cap and of course one making the typical 'stipwerk' (dotting).

At the jumble sale I gathered my own little stack of Staphorst. Bits of fabric but also some second hand garments. I love the colors and the contrasts. Below you see a 'kraplap' - the top that adds color and individuality to the dark womens clothes.

Staphorst is one of the few places left in the Netherlands where people still wear traditional clothing every day. They do so with pride and are very open to anyone who's interested.

It's amazing how much crafting is involved in their lifestyle. Their hard work and choice of bright colors (also in their houses) are a joy.

Crafts fair coming up

The largest crafts fair in the Netherlands is called what it is: Handwerkbeurs. It is twice yearly and it's huge. The next fair will be in Zwolle on the 25th, 26th and 27th of February and I’m looking forward to it. There will be around 140 stands with all sorts of crafting ideas and supplies, exhibitions, presentations, competitions, a Dutch Knitting Café and a lot more.

And of course visitors cannot only see and buy stuff but also do things. There are workshops on various knitting techniques, weaving, spinning, felting and dyeing. Or you can make soap chains, wishing hearts and other gadgets. You can even learn temari :) It's a great mix of traditions and novelties from many different places. Like a friend of mine would say: dulge in!

Hello world!

Being a writer by day and a knitter by night it's about time I started blogging. Let me tell you a bit about myself and my intentions with this blog.

My name is Tryntsje (pronounce as Trinsia) and I grew up crafting: sewing, knitting, crocheting, embroidering, macraming, weaving. I used to love to hang around my mother when she was sewing, intuitively learning how to make clothes. Both my mother and my grandmother loved crafting and taught me all kinds of stitches and techniques.

Growing up I just kept sewing and recently I rediscovered knitting. What a joy. Feeling like I had lost time I knitted more than I need and I soon started a shop on Etsy. Luckily what I learnt as a girl wasn't lost and I  discovered that there's so much more to know on the internet. This is what I want to share with you in my blog: everything that's interesting to know about knitting and other textile crafts.

I hope you will enjoy my posts. Sign up for them if you like and feel free to leave a comment every once in a while.