I’m super excited today to announce the launch of a new project I’ve been working on: I’m teaching an online class over at Craftsy.com! My class, Design Your Own Handbag, will teach you everything you know to do just that–design and sew your own bags! The class is structured so that you’ll learn everything you need to know to create and make your OWN designs–from how to draft the basic shape of the body of the bag, to adding lining, zippers, handles, and all kinds of fabulous hardware. I take you step-by-step through making the bags shown above, but in the end you’ll walk away with the power to make any bag you want to create!

If you haven’t heard of Craftsy, they’re a really cool web site that features tons of online classes on a variety of crafting techniques. Their classes tend to be very in-depth, and Design Your Own Handbag is no exception–it’s ten lessons total where I show you in real time how to create all the elements of your bag. I love this, because usually on camera we have to focus on showing things really quickly, which can often lead to rushing through a project. But in this class, because of the format, I was really able to take my time with all of the demonstrations. You can watch the class as many times as you like, on your own schedule, and there’s a great interactive platform with each class where you can ask questions (which I personally will answer), post photos of what you’re making, and more! It’s really very neat, so I hope you’ll check it out.

Check out this trailer for a peek at what the class covers as well as more photos of the bags we’ll be making! (A very special thank you to YouTube for making me look *so* lovely in that screen shot!)

I’m really very excited about how this class turned out–I loved designing and making my samples, and breaking down the process in a way that will hopefully make it easy for you to do the same. I can’t wait to see what kinds of bags everyone makes after taking this class. I hope you’ll join us! Click here to sign up.

I’m super excited today to share this little before-and-after video showing the process of painting my living room pink! I teamed up with some friends at the indie paint company Yolo Colorhouse, which is a super cool company dedicated to making paint that is produced in an environmentally conscious way, and which contains no harmful chemicals. When you start leaning about all the gnarly chemicals in normal paint it’s pretty alarming, so I love that Yolo has created a product that’s a healthier choice for our homes.

Big thanks to Natalie, Caitlin, Lauren, and videoman extraordinaire Zach for all their help with this project. And very special thanks to Miss Fifi for making a guest appearance during our taping, and for tracking hot pink kitty tracks all around the apartment.

Music is “Wallpaper“ by Kevin MacLeod – thank you!

I made this Jello the other day – it’s peach, apricot and raspberry on my new faux-jadite cake plate. I was playing some peppy music in the background, and when I walked out of the room and came back in unexpectedly, I found this going on. I guess even Jello molds have to let loose and party once in a while.

(To learn how to make a layered jello mold like this, check out my how-to video!)

Music is Hola Hola Bossa Nova by Juanitos, via Creative Commons License on FreeMusicArchive.org.

Sewing in a Straight Line by Brett Bara – How to Sew a Round Bowl with Straight Lines Only from Rarebit Productions on Vimeo.

I’m very happy today to share the last of my book videos – how to sew round fabric bowls with straight lines only! I love this little project, it’s SO simple – you just start with a square of fabric, make a special little tuck on each corner, and voila! Instant bowl!

Thanks to Design Sponge for debuting this video yesterday!

Big thanks to Rarebit Productions for all they did (which was a lot) to make these vids, and to Molly White for creating the lovely music.

A very, very special thank you to our wonderful sponsor Coats & Clark for making these videos possible! Thanks, Coats!

Sewing in a Straight Line by Brett Bara – How to Sew a Skirt in One Hour from Rarebit Productions on Vimeo.

I’m so happy to share another of my web videos I’ve been working on with the good people at Rarebit Productions! We set out to make a series of mini episodes that would teach viewers how to sew projects from Sewing in a Straight Line while also giving a peek at some of the other projects from the book. We had a lot of fun making them (check out a behind-the-scenes here) and I hope you have fun watching them!

This video features my pal Amy and I making a little skirt, which you will see is ridiculously easy and quick to do. One cool thing about this project is that the pattern is written so that you make it to fit your own measurements, so those measurements can be a kid’s or an adults! I hope you enjoy, and let me know if you make a skirt!

Big thanks to Rarebit for all they did (which was a lot) to make these vids, and to Molly White for creating the lovely music.

A very, very special thank you to our wonderful sponsor Coats & Clark for making these videos possible! Thanks, Coats!

Sewing in a Straight Line by Brett Bara – How to Sew the Easiest Zippered Throw Pillow from Rarebit Productions on Vimeo.

I’m super excited to finally share my little set of web videos I’ve been working on with the good people at Rarebit Productions! We set out to make a series of mini episodes that would teach viewers how to sew projects from the book while also giving a peek at some of the other projects from the book. We had a lot of fun making them (check out a behind-the-scenes here) and I hope you have fun watching them!

This video features my friend Christina and I making a zippered throw pillow. It gives a quickie lesson on installing zippers using my favorite method, which I think is insanely easy. (I actually think it’s faster to make a pillow with a zipper than to make one without and have to sew the opening closed by hand.) You really can make a pillow cover in about 15 minutes using this method, once you get the hang of it. I hope you try it out!

Big thanks to Rarebit for all they did (which was a lot) to make these vids, and to Molly White for creating the lovely music.

A very, very special thank you to our wonderful sponsor Coats & Clark for making these videos possible! Thanks, Coats!

Rarebit Productions and I have been hard at work making three web videos that will be released next week in conjunction with my book, which will also be released next week (hooray!). The videos will show you step-by-step how to sew three different projects, and will also give you a sneak peek at what else is in the book.

We’ve been shooting in my apartment, which means my little space has been transformed into a bustling photo studio. There was a big green screen in my dining room, lights and stands and tripods in every room, and some of my very favorite creative people were there to help. (Top photo is Kelly from Rarebit; above photo is my friend Anthony, and Rose from Rarebit.)

I made a big ‘ol pile of pillows for one of the videos, which will show you how easy it is to install a zipper. (Seriously, it has become my mission to make the world see how easy zippers can be!) My friend Christina appears in this video with me, but in the shoot craziness that day I didn’t manage to get a photo of the two of us.
We snuck up on my building’s rooftop at dusk to shoot a little scene with the city skyline in the background. The funny part was that we spotted my landlord out in the backyard 4 stories below, and since we didn’t want to get busted for having an unapproved photo shoot on the roof, we conducted the whole shoot in whispers, which made it an extremely silly giggle-fest. This group is part crew, part pretend-party-goers for the pretend-party scene we were filming.

Brooklyn at dusk with Manhattan across the river, and pretend-party-goer Jeff.

My still-being-decorated craft room made an appearance in some shots.

Rarebit worked a little stop-motion action with this set (which was actually in their apartment). They spent one of their Friday nights filming this sequence, because they are just that awesome.

We hit the streets to film my friend Sara modeling a cute skirt which we show how to make in another video.

This cute skirt can be all yours and the video will show you how to make it so! (My friend Amy appears in this video as well, but alas I didn’t get a photo of the two of us on set.)

The last project demonstrated in the videos is this set of fabric bowls, which we propped in this cute tableau.

This project has been incredibly fun and inspiring to work on, and I can’t say enough to thank Rarebit for all their hard work, and all the friends who have come to help out in guest spots. I also can’t say enough to thank our sponsor Coats & Clark for their support in making the videos possible. It is truly a joy to do creative work you love, with people you like.

I’m super excited to share the finished videos next week, along with the book’s release! Be sure to check back here because I’ve also got some amazing crafty give-aways to celebrate the book launch… trust me, you won’t want to miss them!

Yay!

PS: You can pre-order the book now and it will ship as soon as it’s in stock, which sometimes is before the actual launch date.

How To Make Stuff – Ten Layer Jello from Rarebit Productions on Vimeo.

Is it just me, or does the 4th of July make you think of Jello molds? Well, every occasion makes me think of Jello molds, so perhaps it is just me.

But nonetheless, the upcoming holiday weekend is a great excuse to get jiggly – so if you want to get your Jello on, check out this video I made with my friends at Rarebit Productions for a how-to in mold magic.

For a different style of mold, and a complete recipe, along with a story about how much everyone will love you if you make them Jello, check out this post.

Happy 4th!

xoxo
Brett

This week my bud Drew Emborsky (aka The Crochet Dude) hosted an event at Etsy where he was teaching folks to crochet with strips of fabric using the Simplicity Rotary Cutting Machine. (It’s a machine that cuts perfect strips of fabric to any width, and also embosses. Very cool.) I got to jump in and do a little impromptu webcast with Drew, live from Etsy headquarters. It was fun!

Click the above video to watch the demo. My favorite part is Drew’s story about how his whole family pitched in to crochet giant rugs when he was a kid. How cute is that??

I’m so happy to be helping Land’s End get the word out about their fantastic FeelGood Campaign. This fall, Land’s End will donate 5,000 pounds of yarn to be knitted and crocheted into warm blankets to be donated to those in need — so we have a lot of work to do, and I really hope you will join us in the cause!

Today I’m happy to share the videos I made with Rarebit Productions and filmed at the glorious Purl Soho. (Seriously, huge thanks to the staff there, who couldn’t have been more gracious about letting us take over the shop for our shoot.)

In the first video I explain all about the campaign. In the How to Crochet video I give a simple demo designed to help beginners learn to crochet, and in the How to Knit video I do the same for knitting. So please take a peek and join us in our efforts to make 64,000 knit and crochet blanket squares!

ABOUT THE LAND’S END FEELGOOD CAMPAIGN

VIDEO: LEARN TO CROCHET

VIDEO: LEARN TO KNIT

To get the complete scoop on the Land’s End FeelGood campaign, visit their site.