Necklace Craft

Since my fellow blogmates raved so much about this book, I decided to check out Hardwear with the hopes of forming a cool program. I was really impressed with the book, but a lot of the projects seemed like they would be too expensive to actually work for a craft program. However, one project that really stuck out was "nut" necklace featured on the the cover.

Based on my calculations, this project would cost about 50 cents per necklace and take about 25 minutes to complete. (I would guess this could stretch to 45-60 minutes with young teens, snacks, and music.) I would however advise you use embroidery floss (I started out with a thin rope that kept raveling whenever I tried to make the knots.) I also recommend using triple knots rather than double knots - ESPECIALLY on the top two nuts....since they are only supported by one thread. The only other thing I feel the need to note is that each participant will probably need one whole thing of embroidery floss (the kind that cost about 25 cents.)

Author Interview: Hannah Rogge

About a month ago, I received a copy of Hardwear: Jewelry From a Toolbox for our YA collection. Sheryl and I were both intrigued by the fun projects in the book (you can find Sheryl's review here). One of our fellow librarians was so inspired by the book that she sewed washers to the hemline of her skirt! I contacted the author, Hannah Rogge, via her MySpace page and she very graciously agreed to an author interview (even though she was on vacation in Thailand at the time).

How many of your creations do you wear yourself and how often (from both books)?
I wear my own stuff a lot. The jewelry is the easiest to throw on with an outfit, and the shirts I wear when I feel like it is a good day to wear them. Sometimes I think I've abandoned my real jewelry (trading in gold for zinc) and I wonder if my co-workers and friends get tired of seeing my stuff, but I keep on wearing it. (My mom does too.)

Have people sent you pictures of their projects? Have you seen any particularly cool "twists" on your originals?
I haven't seen too many twists on my projects but I did host a workshop in Boston where I brought materials for the Hardwear jewelry and the participants ran with the basic ideas and made their own stuff. That was a great experience because I like inspiring other ideas. I have also seen some pictures of variations that were posted on a beading blog. That was also very cool for me as I have never met the person who was showing off their work.

What do you think makes your book and/or your designs different from similar books?
My craft book was actually awarded a spot on the American Library Association's "Reluctant Reader" list for 2007, so I would say that foremost my books are both attractive and clear. The format of each books are both attractive: Hardwear has a metallic cover with cardboard dividers sectioning off the book like isles of a hardware store. Save this Shirt comes with a nicely packaged T-shirt. I know from experience that it is very important for instructions to be very clear and I think that comes across in both the words and the illustrations. I also very much enjoy the idea of making something out of nothing, which is true for both the Jewelry book and the T-shirt book.

What do you do when you're not writing books?
I have a full time job working for a company that is a custom design and fabrication company. We do mostly animated Christmas windows (which takes about an entire year from concept to install), but we also do other visual merchandising windows, corporate parties and trade shows. I work in the design department but wear many other hats, from building props to bringing in new clients.

Have you had any craft project disasters?
When I was working on my T-shirt book and experimenting with new ideas, my boyfriend Kevin gave me a pile of his old t-shirts to work with. I had my pile and his pile and the scrap pile and the pile of designs I didn't like or didn't work, etc. There were piles everywhere. One day I wanted to show Kevin what I had been working on that day and when he looked at me his mouth dropped. Apparently I had completely cut up one of his favorite shirts. Oops. That was a bit of a disaster… until I decided to remedy the situation by buying him another shirt that matched colors of the logo on the one I had cut up. Then I cut out the graphic of the shirt he liked and used it as a very large patch on the new shirt. Ha Ha. He LOVED it. The new shirt was WAY cooler then the old shirt. Phew. I think there is even a photo of that shirt in my book, Save This Shirt- it is red with a flag of Thailand in the back, if you want to look for it.

Thank you, Hannah! We are looking forward to your next book, Save This Shirt: Cut It. Stitch It. Wear It Now!

Cool Book

Hardwear: Jewelry From a Toolbox by Hannah Rogge

This book just came in today, and it is just really cool. It has good photos of the finished products, the instructions are easy to understand and do, and, most importantly, the finished products are actually good looking and don't look "crafty" or cheesy. I did notice a pair of earrings with washers that would be way too heavy to actually wear, but otherwise the projects look very cool.