Things are heating up at the East Side Glass Studio.

In fact, they're 2100 degrees hot:
That's the temperature of the glass furnace
at this recently opened public-access venue.

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Admit it: When you were a kid, you really wanted the Imperial Stormtrooper armor or a Ghosbusters' proton pack. And when you grew up and got a real job, your first thought was, "Wow, I can afford that armor and proton pack now." Costuming groups like the 501st Legion, the Lone Star Jedi and the crew of the Airship Isabella go one better: They make their own. Read More | Comment »

I must be crazy for admitting this here, but the reader should know that in years past, your local inquiring eye stooped to keeping a separate set of clothing for grandmother visits. Those who know her would not be surprised, so I suppose shamelessness is the new black. (Her own wedding dress was black velvet.) Read More | Comment »

Seeing fake artifacts sold as costume jewelry, like a wall of identical, pre-loaded charm bracelets and necklaces, or for that matter, as falsified miles on blue jeans, factory-worn to look like you nursed the holes over years of fun, fun, fun, rankles. The clothing's claims to experience are empty ones; those holes should tell a story, Read More | Comment »

The man who runs Super Mercado Comics & Film isn't just going to attend Staple!, he's created a quick animated video to pimp the event.

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The nerd world has been ablaze with debate about Patton Oswalt's editorial for Wired, mourning the death of Western geek. He compares old-school geekery to Otaku: The Japanese term for obsessive collectors who immerse themselves in a particular sub-genre. One potential local solution? Otaku immersion at Ikkicon. Read More | 1 Comment »

Everyone knows that Marty McFly invented skate boarding in November 1955, but it didn't get pretty until artists got their hands on the wood. Read More | Comment »

There are still three slots open for Stitch Lab Sewing Studio's Dye, Print, Stitch! with Kat McTee, which starts this Sunday, April 18th at 5pm. In this class "students will use safe, easy fiber-reactive dyes to add rich color to cloth, then print the fabric with “instant” Read More | Comment »

If you're a pack rat, I mean archivist, then you already know. When you need that pair of black pants, The Uniform, that you'll snatch up on nights that premium denim is a fail, and that your black jacket will tolerate, you have two choices. You can haul yourself around in vain to every clothing store in town, Read More | Comment »

I don't have a problem with used clothing. Rather than provoke disgust, they strike me more as having been worn by someone probably not that unlike myself. I had been telling myself for some time that used clothing was what I could afford, and that I felt more comfortable in things meant for my opposite, whether old man pants, Read More | Comment »

Ikkicon IV, Austin's annual Anime convention, wrapped up today, and that means a lot of cosplay costumes go back in the closet. Read More | 1 Comment »

Due to the amazing turnout for both days, Leslie has extended the Stitch Lab 20% off fabric sale until Christmas Day! The donations and fabric sales raised a ton of money for Grrl Action, and more classes will be added to next year's schedule since so many are now full through February. Read More | Comment »

The word is out about the newest addition to Austin's hearty crafting scene - even before next weekend's grand opening, many of the sewing classes offered at Stitch Lab are full through January. Read More | Comment »

Handmade Nation is a book, a movie, and a movement about the "rise of DIY, art, craft, and design." Whether knitting gloves, silkscreening a poster, or buying a handmade book on Etsy, the hallmarks of indiecraft are making art accessible and celebrating creative community. Read More | Comment »

Brittany Forks has done a wonderful job with this DIY guide for making geek chic jewelry. Kilobyte Couture (Random House, 2009) features clear instructions, beautifully photographed finished pieces, and binding that allows the book to stay open to the page I'm working on without coming apart all combine to make this book a pleasure to work with. And it gets better: Lest we become bored while trimming and twisting wires and fiddling with our findings, each chapter has either a Top 10 list or computer-geek Q&A that caters nicely to the typical geek-girl thirst for fairly constant tech input. I felt a certain sisterhood with the author when I found that I had read everything on her list of Top 10 Nerdy Book Series, some multiple times (however, I'm not admitting to how many of the series nor exactly how many times). Kilobyte Couture has become a regular companion, and I don't plan to give her up any time soon. At a minimum, I'm going to keep the book and maker-gear handy until I make enough of these delightful accessory pieces so that I can wear different ones every day of the SXSW Interactive Festival. We can't plan too far ahead for this amazing experience! One highlight of my time spent with this book so far is that I've learned something new about the inventor Nikola Tesla. Apparently he was physically revolted by jewelry, notably pearl earrings! Well, I only wish he was still with us Ð I have a feeling he would have appreciated some of these wonderful pieces. Maybe he just never saw pearl earrings that were combined with capacitors! Read More | Comment »

Apparently Texas Tea and the Colorado River have nothing on Style for finding the path of least resistance. Even in the face, so to speak, of a looming flu pandemic, the opportunities found in a plain, green mask can't be ignored. Check out these examples from Mexico City and beyond. Read More | Comment »

So, I get handed this crafty book with the words, “You can keep it if you blog about it.” Mmm, okay. I'll just start by saying: I'm sorry if I offend anyone; please don't write me about it. I just don't get Japanese cute. I mean, it's weird. Not in a bad way, but way beyond "Keep Austin Weird." (Except for Hole in the Wall – that show's hilarious.) I look at the book, and it has some cute baby stuff in it. Not all that useful, but definitely cute. And great step-by-step instructions. I completed a couple of projects, one being a bunny towel that has no clearly defined purpose. Wiping up drool, maybe? My daughter, who is way beyond drooling, loved it, so I suppose it's a success. It's too cute to get dirty, though – and I'm sure if I wash it, the tiny felt eyes will fall apart. Nonetheless, I've bought the fabric to make a second one. Read More | Comment »

Artistic duo Samuel Boutruche and Benjamin Moreau, who go under the alias Kolkoz, have created a group of new works composed entirely of concentric frames. The gilded edge is the content. A craft project for Brandeis after they've sold off all their art? Hmmm? Read More | 1 Comment »

The contemporary artist Bob and Roberta Smith (one person, I know, it's confusing) has installed a bicycle powered Christmas tree in the rotunda of the Tate in London. The tree itself is made out of recycled materials, and each of the eight bicycles grounded at its base are connected, via generator, to a set of lights on the tree. In a season weighed down by energy, credit and consumption woes Bob and Roberta Smith's tree provides viewers with the opportunity to make their own Christmas cheer! Who wants to pitch this to the Trail of Lights? Read More | Comment »

This may not seem much like an Age of Enlightenment (the recent election notwithstanding); we really are still so many Neanderthals hunched over keyboards. (I myself am pretty resigned to unwanted Planet of the Apes imagery.) So maybe we do chap at the thought of assembling casseroles and gift lists for other Neanderthals in the middle of a busy fall, making the discovery that we don't even have the luxury of a Stitch 2008, well, dulling.

I think I can do something about the last part. I can't do anything about the casseroles, but, dammit, say it with me, "We have evolved past Presto Salad-Shooters and apple-pie candles!" (I actually re-gifted said candle to the person who had given it to me the previous year. They never knew, which is another comment.)

So whether you are a real Neanderthal or just dressed like one, hunch over the keyboard with me for a spin around a virtual Stitch. I'll bet some of the friends we made from Stitch 2007 are hanging out just a bandwidth away. (No need to fish around for last year's brochures in your [ahem] "files": If you need the tourist map, click here for last year's account.)

Austin's LuckyKitty Design has more practical gifts, like checkbook covers and notecards, but it's all about those owls. Hands off Eduardo – he's mine. Tip: If you don't have time to decoupage light switch covers, check out the ones in their favorites list on your way out. My 2007 obsession, Louisiana's supermaggie, have their thinking caps on, as the sculptural forms in handmade felt here get more and more sophisticated. The news flash, though, is the line of bags made in collaboration with local Chia. Meanwhile the fiber-art of Breanna Rokstad-Kincaid's thorns and flowers still intrigues. Read More | Comment »