Brief and useful notes: why are some DMC colors so hard to find
It’s true: some colors of the large range of the most loved stranded cotton from the famous French brand seem (and are!) truly impossible to find! You often ask us info about them, since – as often – they seem to have suddenly disappeared. And you often ask about some other colors that – even though listed in the color key of several patterns – here in Europe are simply impossible to find. Well, in the first instance, we’re referring to colors that DMC sometimes discontinue. There can be different reasons for that, though the most frequent ones are connected to textile dyes that the European Union has stated as…
Can you be eco-friendly even when crafting?
Sure, we can! As we’re taught by a number of people keen on creative recycling, who create amazing things, just giving a new life to materials usually considered as scrap materials. To explore this theme – definitely so topical and much discussed today! – you can now count on two brand new books (both in French, but with clear step-by-step pictures showing whole processes) with a whole lot of truly lovely, easy and 100% green projects: Couture maison durable & Atelier zéro déchet The former one includes 20 eco-friendly, sewing projects to create everyday objects (from shopping totes, to make up remover pads, just to mention some); while the second is…
Cotton VS polyester sewing floss: what’s better?
A quick guide to choose the right one. Here at Casa Cenina, we’re often asked this question and we’d like to clear up all doubts: in our opinion, there’s no “best one”, while there are different answers, according to the kind of sewing project we’d like to realize. On the one hand, it is true that cotton threads are often considered better quality, somehow “more precious”, than polyester threads. But, on the other hand, polyester swing floss is stronger than cotton ones and ensures thinner (though more resistant) seams, with less impact on the look of the finished item. However, cotton sewing threads is definitely better when it comes to…
DIY Video for a multi-purpose bag
Talking about ideas… Summer: the season for BBQs with friends, even though keeping the right distance and always wearing your facemask! If we want to bring the dessert – of course a housemade one! – why not delivering it in a “packaging” that’s going to be forever with your hosts? Just like the lovely, multi-purpose bag, that’s perfect to carry your homemade apple-pie, or any other kind of cake, in the DIY video that we’ve just found in the Freudenberg YoutTube channel, here: It’s an extremely clear and quick tutorial, giving you the opportunity to choose the final size of your “bag”, as well as your favorite fabrics to craft…
The genuine Furoshiki!
A world of beauty and convenience from Japan. In the movie “The Last Samurai”, the anguished veteran of the American Civil War interpreted by Tom Cruise writs about Japanese: “They are an intriguing people. From the moment they wake, they devote themselves to the perfection of whatever they pursue”. That “perfection” is actually so evident nowadays, too: just think of the silent and delicate charm of origami and ikebana; or even of the elegance of the sashiko needlework and of all the quilting projects coming from the Land of the Rising Sun and, from now on, also of the Furoshiki. When we decided to carry the Miyako handles here: we…
Freudenberg: boosting your creative flair.
To guide you through the number of items included in our selection of battings and interlinings from the largest world manufacturer of such products, we have renewed all their descriptions and filled out a useful chart, showing how “thick” each of the most used battings is. You can download it here and always keep it handy, whenever “some doubts hit you”. As for the composition of battings, natural fibers, such as cotton, are always a very good choice, even more when it goes on quilts and other projects for our bedroom. However, do not underestimate the polyester from Freudenberg, because it’s a highly soft, last-generation polyester, extremely light, though very…
Your bag, your style, in a few seconds.
Bags and shoes: the most wanted accessories! Both of them usually require bright fashion designers and gifted artisans: brilliant minds and hands, in short. What about if, now, those hands and minds were yours? No, we’re not saying you should try and become experienced shoe artisans… but, we’re definitely taking “to the next step” our will to DIY bags, because – thanks to the Miyako handle – these bags are truly getting amazingly easy and fast to craft and, moreover, in a fully personal way that you can change from season to season, matching our outfit and mood from time to time. A little, precious accessory made of colored leather…
Everything you can create with buttons
The most famous fashion stylist have always stated so: a particular button can make the difference on any cloth, including the cheapest one! When it goes on crafting, this unwritten rule is even more true: a whole lot of cross stitch designers include lovely buttons in their patterns; while felt projects like little house door stoppers or wreaths celebrating the most different events, can be even more delicate and customized, if finished with some special buttons according to their subject. And, of course, the possibilities to give a personal touch to any knitted or crocheted cloth, bag and more, are truly endless! However, here at Casa Cenina we wanted to…
The most “wanted” accessory for Spring/Summer 2020
Sounds like – at least for next Summer – we won’t have to think of a bikini as our main concern for the warm season! But we’ll have to think of a pretty different, must-have accessory, as soon as we get back to our freedom of movement: the mask… So, since this is going to be “mandatory”, what about sewing some – for ourselves and for all the people we love – but making them so that they’re truly distinctive and trendy, besides being an actual protection for all the people around us?!?!?! Let’s sw washable masks, with the Summer fabric par excellence – pure cotton – and, first of…
Let the rainbow get into your kitchen
Almost 100 years of history, with 70 of them family run – just as it’s in the DNA of the best-known companies of the so-called “Made in Italy” – and nowadays led by its very third generation: this is Tessitura Artistica Chierese. The company, in fact, was established in 1954 by the grandfather of the current owners, who had grown up in a small, artisanal weaving factory dating back to 1925. A 100% Italian business tradition, that Casa Cenina has chosen to carry from its very beginning, appreciating it so much ever since and willingly letting customers get to know the top quality of its ready to stitch items. Now…
