Letters

Iam a 14-year-old avid artist and computer enthusiast (my favorite operating system is Linux).

I recently created my own penguin figure based on a drawing I did. I was really encouraged by my drawing to try and create my very own version of Pangwi (that’s what I call it). I hand-sewed the figure and added a string of battery-powered LEDs to light up her body gem. I’ve also created a matching uniform that I like to wear when I carry around my Pangwi. Hope you like it! —Marielle Riley, Naperville, Ill.

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Recently, while visiting with my mother in Illinois, we went to the Lawrence Arthur Salon in Winnetka. There I met Elsa Cohn, who runs a boutique at the salon. Elsa (above, at right) was busily working with two other women, all silently engrossed in their handiwork. They were crocheting a little white handbag out of plastic twine. As

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Craft: Volume 10

her friend crocheted, Elsa kept her supplied with the plastic twine she was cutting from a rolled-up plastic bag. She used a special technique of cutting the bag to create one long, continuous strand.

Elsa talked about how she’s been creating things all her life, without any patterns, even raising her own Shetland sheep and learning how to dye yarns and spin. What’s really interesting about her is that she’s not getting her ideas from other people, but just coming up with them on her own, looking at the potential that different materials have. Elsa even said, “I always try to see what else you can do with something. For instance, if a dress can’t sell, it’s a lamp.” Trendy without trying to be!

—Nancy Dougherty, Sebastopol, Calif.

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My daughter and I subscribe to both MAKE and CRAFT. Recently, I was inspired by the article in CRAF T, Volume 07, by Tom Wyatt, about revamping old Converse All Star shoes [page 49, “The All Star Fabric Swap”]. I am actually a shoemaker by trade ( fernandfootwear.com) and specialize in leather footwear.

Attached are pictures of my BlackSun Chucks. I used 6oz oil-tanned leather and a pair of old soles that I’d been kicking around for nearly 20 years. They require regular glue maintenance but are more comfortable than the originals for sure. My friends are begging for a pair of their own; I have to keep them tied tight for fear that they’ll be stolen right off my feet! —Tim McKay, Benzonia, Mich.

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