Variegated Butterfly on Purple T-shirt

So, here’s the lowdown.

The business name is inspired by her two children. “I have a 4-year-old son who gets called ‘Monkey’ and has done since birth (he used to make cute little monkey sounds when hungry!) and a 2-year-old daughter who has always been called our little ‘Chicken.’ Since all the clothes I was crocheting and sewing originally were for them, it wasn’t too much of a stretch to name my label Monkey & Chicken.” In terms of design, ideas are sparked by both what she sees on Pinterest, and just by wandering through fabric stores and imagining what she could turn those fabrics into.

Girls' Hooded Poncho with Hand Crochet Trim

Girls' Cream Crochet Bolero

While Wilson is relatively new to selling her creations, she is a longtime crafter. “I have been sewing since I was about 8 when my parents gave me a toy sewing machine that was able to sew simple stitches. I LOVED that little battery operated sewing machine!!!! I took Textiles classes all through high school and really got a good understanding of how to make a pattern work for me and how to sew.

Crocheting is only a relatively new thing for me. I have always been able to knit (only very basically!) so I thought since my Grandma could always do both, and so can my Mum, why couldn’t I?? I taught myself to crochet only 5 years ago while on bed rest pregnant with my son. I was hooked immediately.”

As for starting the business — that came about because there was only so much she could make for those in her personal circle. “I really do love sewing and crocheting, but there are only so many things you can make for you own family and friends before they start to have too much! It was suggested to me by a fantastic friend that I should sell my creations. I’m a stay at home mum as our kids are still little, so the thought of being able to make a small income doing something I really enjoy, while still being able to stay home with our kids, really was attractive to me.”

So, now she sells online through her Monkey and Chicken Facebook page, and has sold at local markets with a friend. The clothing, depending on the piece, is available in several sizes and/or colors. Her goal is modest — to perhaps have Monkey and Chicken turn into a part-time job, once the kids are in school.

Boys' Brim Beanie

At the moment, the toughest part of running the small label “is finding enough time to physically make my creations! Everything is handmade by me so is fairly time-consuming. The best part, however, is finishing an item and then seeing how happy it makes someone when they see it and wear it for the first time.”

Do you also have a craft-based business that makes you feel this way when someone buys your work? Let us know about it, and you too, could be featured in So Crafty! Just email us at So Crafty. We can’t wait to see what you do!

Photos Courtesy of Monkey & Chicken

And  the Gap has a clever way to help clean out your drawers and closet to create some space for its new T-shirts.

The clothing brand has teamed up with the Threadless T-shirt company to show folks how to get crafty with their old duds.

Each Friday throughout the summer, the Gap will feature a different T.I.Y. — or T-It-Yourself– project on its Facebook page  showcasing a different way to transform a T-shirt into something new and different.

The weekly takes on DIY crafts — a collaborative effort between the Gap and Threadless — will include step-by-step instructions for completing the T-shirt transformation along with a list of needed supplies and photos to guide crafters along the way.

The first T.I.Y. project — Summer T-Straps — was provided a tutorial for turning plain flip flops into “chic beach sandals” by covering the shoe’s straps in strips cut from a T-shirt. The most recent post featured tips for creating canvas art from an old T.

Photo Credit: imjustcreative

In this brief video tutorial from Craftster, you’ll see how simple it is to make your own T-shirt rug in just a short time using minimal crafting supplies. The hems of the T-shirts, along with the top part, which includes the collar and sleeves, are cut off and the remaining portions are cut into strips. The T-shirt strips are stretched and wrapped around a hula hoop in alternating directions, creating a wagon-wheel type effect. The remaining T-shirt strips are woven through the strips already in place.

This is such a neat and inexpensive way to create your own home decor. You can use as many different T-shirt colors as you would like to create your rug. And with T-shirts available in all colors, you can make a rug to match any space!

Have you tried making rugs with old T-shirts or other items found around the house? Share with us what you used and how it turned out.

Photo Credit: YouTube

That’s the thinking behind Generation Q — a magazine catering to modern quilters and sewers.

The lifestyle publication launched in July 2011 as a free online magazine emphasizing sewing, but offering articles that seek to entertain and inform, a blog for visitors to the site to explore and share their modern and contemporary creativity, and recipes, reviews, and insights into the readers’ worlds.

And after nearly a year of working to secure advertisers and running a public fundraising campaign through Kickstarter, the publication will go to print in June.

Through the fundraising website alone, Generation Q raised more than $28,000 to publish its debut issue and get its printing operations off the ground.

The Los Angeles-based magazine promises that on its 96 pages readers will find up-to-date information on new products and books, new fabrics, articles showing readers how to make money from their crafting, profiles of designers and bloggers, tutorials, along with photos of home decor ideas, and projects and quilt patterns.

The publication is geared strictly toward modern and contemporary sewers, with a motto that boasts “Quilt, Sew. Live. Breathe.”

Intended at providing content that inspires, entertains, and celebrates sewing, along with all other aspects of readers’ lives, the magazine will be printed quarterly.

The premier issue made its debut earlier this month at the International Quilt Market in Kansas City, and updates about where and when you can purchase the first and future issues will be posted on the magazine’s website.

Photo Credit: Strandz

You can use any color or quality of plastic spoon to create the flowers featured in this short video sponsored by Fave Crafts.  The inside bowl of the spoon is heated over a candle flame until it begins to soften and warp. The edges of the spoon are pinched inward to form a bud shape before the neck of the spoon is heated and then snipped off using a pair of craft scissors. To create the petals of the flower the underside of another spoon is heated and the tip is rolled backwards. The neck of the spoon is removed like when creating the flower’s bud and the bud and petals are fused together by melting the plastic pieces to each other over the candle’s heat.

You can create as many petals for your flower using this method. By using hot glue to attach a piece of felt to the flower, you can easily make a hair clip or pin. What a cool way to create unique accessories! And with plastic spoons available in a variety of colors, it’s easy to make these roses in any color that you choose.

Will you try making these roses?

Photo Credit: YouTube

Jolee’s Boutique — a leading manufacturer of craft embellishments– has teamed up with French General, a Los-Angeles-based boutique specializing in French fabrics and buttons, to create a line of vintage-inspired accessories.

Included in the new line, which features an Old World feel, are adhesive-backed fabric sheets, ribbon borders, metal embellishments, Ephemera and Notion kits, and paper tags with twine.

“The collection is the best of all the vintage treasures found in French General,” French General owner Kaari Meng said in a press release announcing the launch of the new French-inspired craft products. “The old bits of paper, textiles, and all of the antique notions have been reproduced to create a charming line of paper crafting materials.”

The embellishments, fashions, and styles inspired by Old World France retail for between $2.20 and $29.99 and are available at Michaels craft stores and www.eksuccessbrands.com.

Photo Credit: EK Success Brands