Better Know A Crafter: Ysolda Teague

Ysolda, as you may know, is an amazing knitter. She is in town visiting us and we couldn't be happier. Come by tomorrow night for a special lecture, booksigning and meet & greet!

Last time she payed us a visit, Ysolda surprised us by spending a few hours in our sewing studio, designing an adorable skirt which we published as a free tutorial on our blog. (You should make one!) We love Ysolda's secret sewing side. When she rolled into town this time she immediately started designing a super-cute handbag!

Ysolda Teague

Tell us about your crafty self and what kinds of crafts you do.

I design knitting patterns so I kind of craft for a living. My job involves a lot of thinking about making stuff, a lot of writing and calculating along with general business stuff. I love it, but it's definitely cut into my craft time. I've done almost every craft at least once. I spent my childhood sitting on the floor of the crafts section at the library, falling in love with crafts and craft books.

Tell us about bag you've made.
I've been hauling a huge bag around on this trip and I thought it might be nice to have a smaller one. I've loved this car print for ages but never used it. I like the contrast of the cars and the flowers on the handles. These Japanese handles are really cute and they were easy to use--they give a really professional finish.

I didn't use a pattern and my bag kept getting more elaborate. The piping was the hardest part, but I think it was worth the hassle of sewing through so many layers where three piped seams came together.

How did you learn to be so crafty?
My mother is an artist and, although she is more into drawing and painting than craft and didn't really teach me techniques, she always made sure there were lots of supplies available. As far back as I can remember I had my own little table in the kitchen and there was always paint set up. We made playdough and crafted decorations for all my birthday parties. Crafting was so much a part of my everyday that I was shocked to find out that my friends didn't live like this or that they weren't allowed to make so much mess.

I couldn't see how to make a living with crafting and decided to do something intellectual at university. I turned out that I couldn't live without making things and that's when I fell in love with knitting. I could sneak a project into my bag and pull it out during dull lectures. My notebooks started to fill up with ideas for my own designs. Crafting became my life even when I tried to do something else so I figured I may as well give in. And now I'm sneaking time to make things that aren't "work"--where I can just focus on just putting something together, making it up as I go along.

What is your favorite animal?
I'm currently obsessed with narwhals. I love that so many people don't know they're real.

Thanks Ysolda! Happy sewing (and knitting, of course!)