Upcycled Man's Suit and Ties

When I was trying on this grossly oversize jacket from the dollar rack at the corner thrift store, I notice a woman nearby watching me. "I'm not crazy, I have a concept in mind," I told her. And indeed I did, but it was a lot of work.

Step One: remove arms, cutting in towards neck to make it more vest-like than suit-like.

Step Two, not shown here, involved taking in the jacket about two inches on either side, which in turn involved unpicking and restitching the inside lining.

Part of the appeal: pockets, pockets...

...and more pockets. Pockets are power.

Step Three: select two recycled men's ties

Pick apart stitching on back of ties, starting at narrow end and working about three-quarters down the tie. Remove tie interfacing to that point also.

Use one tie to edge each armhole opening, using one of the inner flaps for the inside of the armhole and the body of the tie for the exterior side of the armhole.

Completed armhole - tie continues up and over shoulder and becomes free hanging in front.

The result? A vest with a gazillion pockets guaranteed to baffle the average man on the street.

Sporescape: Watching the Mold Go By

This is the second in a series of "sporescapes," combining assemblage with live mold cultures. My first experiments with mold can be seen in my Living Mold Jewelry.

Little Piggies Baby Lure

An oldie but goodie, this necklace has been around the world with me a couple of times and consistently demonstrates oddly magical properties. No matter where I wear it, whether Nairobi, Samoa, Sri Lanka or Salt Lake, small children in the vicinity are lured in, climb up onto my lap, and start playing with the necklace. When I first made it, the juxtaposition of pigs and babies made sense to me and apparently it makes perfect sense to the under-four set also. Stay tuned for the "how-to-make."

Baby and piggy charms from little plastic figures collected here and there. Somehow a little elephant snuck into the mix.

As worn

Make: Tips on how to make something like this out of most any plastic figure (try the bins at children's toy stores or go to a party supply store).

Step One: Hold a straight pin with a set of needle-nose pliers and place it over a candle flame until it is really hot. Jam the pin into a likely spot on the plastic figurine, using brute strength as necessary.

Pin jammed into back of baby's head

Step Two: Snip off the pointy end of the needle with a pair of wire cutters, leaving enough of the pin projecting out of the figure to form a loop. Use needle nose pliers to grip the pin and twist it into a loop.

Loop formed from straight pin

Voila! You now have a charm ready to hang from any chain. Piece together chains or sections of chain to form a double-loop necklace.

Charm ready to hang.

Seed Bomb Pin - Morning Glory

Part of the ongoing seedbomb series.

Found rust, broken jewelry, watch face, antique fragment of carved wood Chinese rooster head, morning glory seeds, scrap of Chinese love poem.

For more seedbomb pins and seedbomb bangles, click here.