Category: Pottery + Ceramics

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Sometimes you just gotta make a stuffed animal.

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Sardine Pillows

I had a big case of the sads (how can you not) and spent a disgusting amount of time scrolling last Saturday. I woke up the next morning craving an immersive sewing project and landed on the Sardine Pillow Pattern by Wooly Petals. Why?

  1. Fun end product.
  2. Scrap buster.
  3. Simple sew with room to play.
  4. No fitting : )

The only changes I made were to use felt for the fins, buttons for the pupils, and I topstitched the curved seams.

They are whimsical additions to the knitting nook as the fabrics coordinate with the other pillows and they support my neck.

Vintage Sleeve Board

I bought this crusty old sleeve board on Etsy and re-covered it with some fabric I planned to use in the knitting nook. This combo of fabric is actually where I got the idea for the Sardines.

I can’t pull it as tight as the original cover, but I think it’s a good addition to my pressing tools.

Stockholm Slipover V-neck

I finished my first vest project and had to knit it twice. My sleeveless projects seem to be cursed. The first attempt involved running out of yarn, a discontinued yarn, at an unfortunate length. After scouring the internet and pleading on Ravley, I gave up and bought a different yarn all together.

Overall, pretty pleased with it, however, the armhole ribbing is kinda floppy despite being knit on tinier needles and a pretty tight bind off. I did also buy enough yardage of another yarn that’s very similar to the original color, but the motivation to knit it a third time is low.

Louise Cardigan

I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS CARDIGAN. I used German short rows instead of the instructed Japanese short rows. I’m also planning to knit the body and sleeve hems in garter stitch to match the collar and placket.

Some Big Plates, Small Buttons

These have made it through the bisque firing, so hopefully there will be no cracks!

And here are some buttons that I just glazed today. Planning to use them on my Louise cardigan or these brown buttons.

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Fixing a disappointment

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I made this ceramic wall hanging and broke it before bisque firing. I decided to go through with firing it anyway, believing it salvageable.

Ceramic and wood are beautiful together so I decided a wood base was the solution. I chose walnut for a nice contrast.

I definitely need more practice using a plunge router, but think this wall hanging turned out maybe better than the original idea.

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Some Pottery Wins*

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And disappointments*

I have not been making it into the pottery studio very much this month. It might be because I’ve been sewing a little more… and because of my big plate disappointments. These were doomed even before the bisque, but I still fired them anyway. Maybe one day I’ll rent a tile saw and cut them into coasters?

Wall Art

These are some older pieces that I finally got around to hanging with French cleats. The amount and method for spreading the epoxy needs some work, but I’ll get there.

This guy cracked too but it totally looks great in this empty phone niche in our hallway.

And another disappointment. I bought some walnut wood that I’m going to set it into so that it can be hung on the wall making the cracks “intentional.”

Buttons

I used trimmings from nerikomi projects to make buttons!

There are two sizes and I think they’d be great for hand knitted cardigans.

I plan to sell some sets in the Fine Things storefront.

More functional things

I made two mugs like this but one suffered a crack in the base that glaze did not fill.

On this mug, I tried burnishing the exterior. It worked sorta well but the cheap spoon I was using deposited a lot of marks onto the white clay that didn’t completely burn off. The manganese bits also burst through the smooth surface making this guy pretty rough.

And this… awkward vase? While making it, I had the idea to eventually make a lamp like this but taller. I have the lighting kit all ready to go, but I’m completely out of clay.

And an update on replacing my IKEA dishes. There are now five medium plates, three little plates, and one large plate. I’ve sold / am selling some small and medium plates at the shop that either varied in thickness or I just didn’t love. I’m aiming for at least six of each size.

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Taking a big plates break

After posting yesterday, I went to the studio and almost immediately broke this plate. I’m 1 for 3 big nerikomi plates, so I think I’m done trying to makes these happen for a while.

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November & some…

How is November already over? Anyway, here’s some stuff I’ve been making.

Another Yellow Lakes

I started the Lakes Cardigan a couple weeks ago and it’s knitting up pretty quickly. I’m making a size M (the size I always make for Ozetta patterns) and using Noro Madera yarn in the color Shogi #30. Here’s the yellow Lakes Pullover I made in 2023.

Initially I planned to use leftover mohair from this sweater, which created an interesting marled effect, but it really muddied the yellow. I then thought about not using mohair at all, but ultimately decided to since my last Noro Madera project didn’t.

So I ordered two skeins of Knitting For Olive soft silk mohair – one in ‘dusty honey’ and my wildcard color ‘quince’. I ended up going with quince, even though the swatches looked almost identical. I made so many swatches, yet didn’t block a single one ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I planned to use these ceramic buttons on another cardigan, but they look so good with this yarn! They’re made by my studio buddy, Animated Earth. Also my travel mugs made it through the glaze firing! I’m keeping this ‘pumpkin’ one, gifting the ‘blue jeans’ one, and trashing the one I accidentally glazed with a non-food safe glaze. I’m excited to make more.

I am using US 9 needles for the body, US 8 for the ribbing, and did include the short rows on the back hem. I purchased 6 skeins of Noro and 6 skeins of mohair – I think I will have a decent amount leftover… Hoping I can finish it in December!

Big Plate

It has been a challenge to make big nerikomi plates. One so far has made it through all the stages and one has a sizeable crack. I made this checkerboard plate a few weeks ago, but it’s been too wet outside to sand, so it’s sitting on the shelf at the studio. Wishing for a break in the rain so I can have two big plates at home.

Stretchy Pants and a Knit Tee

I have been trying to work through my fabric stash and finally sewed up this lovely linen I bought ages ago from Stonemountain. I have no idea if they carry it anymore, or what it is, but it’s very nice!

I made the Elizabeth Suzann Clyde Work Pants in size 10. I just love how the waistband looks. After one wash, it was already perfectly worn in.

And I finished my summer knitting project last month. It’s totally fine, I think it’ll be much too warm to wear in the summer anyway.

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FLOWERS!

So pleased with this little flower plate. The background color is Avocado 5%, the petals are Lobster 10%, and the centers are Chartreuse 10%.

Also very pleased with this bigger guy. It features the same colors as above, but with the addition of Peacock 10%. I’m pretty sure the Avocado background was the last bit of colored clay I made this round and I clearly was done wedging because the stain was not fully incorporated.

And I made a little pinch bowl out of leftovers. The bottom is my favorite.

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Ceramic Travel Mugs

I bought this rib from Garrity with the goal of making some portable hot drink containers.

It took about three attempts before I started to get it. Ideally, I should have documented how much clay I used here, but I honestly didn’t think I’d make anything useable this first round.

I haven’t thrown in a few months, so naturally there were some casualties.

I rolled out slabs for the tops the same day I threw the mugs and then didn’t get back in the studio for a while. The slabs were much dryer when I finally got around the attaching them, so hopefully they actually adhere to each other.

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More Nerikomi

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Basket Weave Plate

This is the first plate of leftover mason stained clay. I layered slabs of old gold and hazelnut brown with unstained clay and haphazardly rolled cross sections together.

Moon Plate

Okay, it doesn’t actually look like the moon, but it feels spacey. This isn’t technically nerikomi – I took leftover black clay and lightly wedged some unstained clay into it. This plate did warp a bit, but it’s still usable.

Bacon Mugs

I am so pleased with these mugs. The ‘bacon’ series was a risk – instead of using the same clay body stained with different colors, I used two different clay bodies with the same shrinkage. For the record, they’re Laguna B Mix 5 and Laguna Speckled Buff.

The mugs started as this hunk of what I think looks like bacon. I can’t quite remember how I went from the hunk to smaller pieces, but the mugs were formed using the same process as the mug found in this post.

Cracked Plate

Can’t win them all. I knew after the bisque firing that this plate was doomed, but I still went ahead and glazed it. Compression is really important for plates, especially large ones, and I think I just didn’t take enough care in the first stages of making this guy. The smaller plates have been quite successful!

Flowers & Size

And this little flower mug made it. Like a lot of my other nerikomi mugs, this one is just a little too small for my liking. My focus on the next round will be size.

This mug might be a better size, but the handle already feels too small. The colors are Peacock and Chartreuse.

And I did (hopefully) have some success with more flowers…

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August Makes

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Baggu Dupe

I’d been wanting to knock off my Baggu visor for a while because I thought it would be a fun project and because they stopped producing them. I liked its line of hats, so it was inevitable that they’d disappear.

Inspiration finally struck when I found some Kokka canvas that reminded me of my grandparents’ bathroom paneling. The colors go great with most of my wardrobe!

Overall, I’m quite happy with it! It was fun to puzzle out the construction and what inner workings were needed to emulate the Baggu version.

For my memory, here are the construction steps:

  1. Right sides together, stitch brim pieces together along the long, curved edge.
  2. Fuse foam to one wrong side of one brim piece and turn unit right side out.
  3. Mark 10 lines spaced at ¼” intervals along the brim and topstitch.
  4. Fuse interfacing to both band pieces.
  5. Right sides together, align band pieces along one long edge and stitch. Press seam allowance open.
  6. Align one unstitched long edge to wrong side of brim and stitch in place. Press remaining band edges in at ¼”.
  7. Stitch velcro pieces to band.
  8. Fold band to right side of brim. Hand baste band in place. Topstitch and remove basting stitches.

More Sewing

These Pomonas have never quite been right. For one, the khaki leg became about an inch longer than the other. The canvas weight is also too heavy for a wide leg cut, so the fix was to turn them into shorts.

And I tested Klum House’s soon to be released Alberta bag. It’s smaller than the Fremont I just finished, making it a great everyday bag.

Ceramics

Finally hung this piece and even though I totally bonked the french cleat epoxying it at an angle, it’s level on the wall! I love it and I want to make more.

I’ve been making lots of plates too!

Knitting

And finally, I started the Ozetta Air Tee. It’ll probably be done by the end of summer…

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July Makes So Far

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Sewing | Klum House Fremont

I made another Fremont bag, this time using all Klum House waxed canvas. I made this set in 2020 using accent fabric I’d sourced on my own and boy has it stretched out. I also added that little initial tag between the handles, which made the zipper catch and the bag collapse in a weird way. The light colors of the set were risky and they definitely showed a lot of wear immediately. Ah, learning.

The only change I made to the exterior was to hem the pockets to the right side, taking inspiration from the hems on the Naito bucket bag. I like how the pocket contents don’t get caught on the hem ridge when I grab things.

This bag is quite roomy, so I wanted at least one more interior pocket to organize things. I added one to the front lining of the bag, totally forgetting that the one little rivet on the exterior would go through it. It worked out though, perfectly aligning with the stitch line. However, I may have punched right through these stitches, so there’s some risk it’ll come undone with wear.

The interior pockets were stitched on with two lines, the first at â…›” and the second at ¼”. The instructions only include the â…›” line, but on my first Fremont, I didn’t like how the raw edges of the pockets were just flapping around inside the pocket.

The only other modification I made was to add this very simple water bottle loop. Again, this bag is very roomy, so I wanted a way to keep things in place. It’s just a strip of fabric with two double fold hems, inserted into one side of the lining. To get the approximate size, I hemmed a long strip of fabric, wrapped it around the bottle adding a little bit of wiggle room, and finally seam allowance. I totally guessed the placement and ended up moving it a little lower after turning the bag right side out.

I love Klum House bags and kits, but they’ve made a significant change recently – kits no longer come with pre-cut fabric. I understand this change, but was pretty shocked and bummed to not be able to jump right to sewing after unpacking the kit. When I purchased this kit, I also bought the Slabtown in the same colorway (I want to replace the bag set mentioned above) but I have to build up motivation to cut out all the pieces out.

Ceramics | More Nerikomi

I wet sanded and glazed so many pieces last week. It’ll be a while before they’re fired, but I’m so excited to see how they turn out!

I also had a big fail after spending so much time making this flower log. The goal was to turn this slab into a plate, but the white clay was too dry to properly adhere to itself causing bubbles. At least I sort of improved my coil making technique in the process!

I was able to use some of the flowers to make a mug, so it wasn’t a total fail.