Rob's Can Tab Cupid

At least she reminds me of a cupid in the first photo above. The comfort of this two piece warrior woman set is in question, but it sure is a lovely and unique outfit.

Here are some other designs, too.







Rob Emery's warrior woman designs are created out of 100% recycled aluminum. Not only are the tabs aluminum, but aluminum strips from used cans were used to weave the tabs together. Outstanding job! Using all aluminum really makes the tabs shine. When asked about the story of these outfits, this was part of the reply:

"I got into the habit of collecting tabs for a friend's school's charity but when they stopped collecting the habit stuck. Eventually I thought, maybe I could make some chainmail out of that. I tried a few iterations with tabs alone and with aluminum wire but didn't like the look - plus I was keen to make them without any other materials..." - Rob

Using nothing but aluminum must really have been a challenge! Kudos for the successful execution. Though, I pray this one never gets re-recycled!

"...I have one more suit not published yet (looking for the right model still). I am also working on a male armour suit now, with a shirt (sleeveless hauberk) and maybe pants (or at least shorts and greaves) too, though I'll have to get creative to make some knees that can bend more than a few dozen times." - Rob

Good luck with the future projects Rob! I really hope you find your solution for the knees. We're looking forward to seeing your results. Thanks for sharing!

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After viewing the portfolio website where these images are displayed, Rob appears to be an extremely multi-talented artist being able to draw, sculpt, and make costumes and props equally well (and is gifted at photography, too!) To see other nontabistry works, stroll over to rob.emery.net for a peek.

Don't forget to vote for these outfits in Greenwala's Eco-Chic Contest! You can vote up to once PER DAY for your favorite!

To view past tabistry work by others featured here, go to the Visitor's Gallery.

Image Viewing Problem

Yikes! Bandwidth Exceeded!

You may have noticed some of my images aren't showing up these days. I just wanted to let everyone know that this is a temporary problem. Should be back to normal around the 18th of this month. I was using Photobucket.com to host my images, and it seems they only allow a limited amount of traffic every month for non pro accounts. If this happens again, I will move the images to a new host. Or, I may have to consider taking up donations to open a pro account in the future.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Mieljolie

Joani's Coif and Market Bag

Time to share some more tabistry created by another amazingly creative artist. This one blew me away when I saw it. Joani was inspired by my hat tutorial to create this awesome coif for her man.





She got the fit so perfect. I'm very impressed! But, not only did she manage that, she also designed her own "Market Bag" for carrying her reusable grocery bags. What a clever idea! Looks pretty cool, too.





She is so sweet to boot. She left me some really kind feedback on Etsy.com, and also commented:

"This is by far the easiest method I've tried for creating things with tabs and the results are great. Your blog inspires me to try new ideas." - Joani

I blush. I'm glad I was able to inpsire her to give it a try. Her creativity is wonderful! I asked her a few other questions, which she graciously took some time to answer for us.

>What inspired you to try tabistry?

"I've tried making things out of can tabs before (crocheted belts & purses). It was hard to crochet. I've tried linking them with chainmail rings. I've tried cutting and bending them. Your method looked much easier (and it was!)." - Joani

>How long did your project take?

"4 evenings to make the market bag (3 or 4 hours each night) and about the same for the coif." - Joani

>Approximately how many tabs went into making your project?

"The market bag took about 2500 tabs. The coif took 2352 tabs. We already had the tabs, so the projects were fairly inexpensive. The coif used about a yard of grey t-shirt material ($5). The market bag we used a spool of black ribbon yarn we got at the dollar store, so that was only $1. :)" - Joani

>Will you be making any future tabistry projects?

"Definitely. I'm going to make some more market bags, and might try some more of your other patterns. I am thinking of making a roman gladiator costume for next Halloween." - Joani

>I'm truly amazed at how wonderful the coif turned out. The bag is great, too. Have you used it out shopping, yet?

"We take it with us every time we go. I use it to carry other reusable bags. We get lots of comments about it, especially when they realize what it's made of." - Joani

That's really cool! Can't wait to she the gladiator next year. Congrats, Joani, on the CANTABULOUS tabistry! And, thank you deeply for the generous testimonial.

Cloak with Hood Scarf

I finished this cloak just in time to wear to TRF for pirate weekend. I also made a hood scarf to wear with it. Later, I plan to try making a stand up collar for it when I get a chance.

Sorry about the pics. I only really wore it during the evenings at camp, so I don't have any good pics, yet. I will try to get some better ones later.

Without hood:



With hood:


Close up:


I made the fabric part out of the same polar fleece I used to weave the tabs. I worked up a new technique on this project. I found a way to increase the scallop look, which I think will turn out nice on the future collar.

I'm back!

Whew! Still recovering from this weekend. Had a blast at faire and camping. We're already missing it. So much fun! Plus, I got to try out a few new garb additions I've put together.

I've been pondering what to do with this rainbow-colored Turkish vest I made a long time back. Never quite got around to finishing it back then. Then, I decided it would be perfect for All Hallow's weekend, which I believe is also the weekend for TRF's "Day of Wrong".

So, here I am with an "Elvira" we met:



And, with Taffy Saltwater in her awesome Steampunk outfit:


I gathered up all the brightest pieces I've collected over the years at thrift stores and flea markets for this one. I'm wearing FOUR skirts!

• The arm warmers are actually striped socks, which I cut the feet off of.

• Made the hair falls out of synthetic yarn. I'll be sharing a tutorial for the falls on my other blog here.

• The "evil eye" headdress is actually what I was told is a Turkish belt. I bought it at a flea market for $3 shortening it and tying it in the back with elastic.

• The tassels on my belt were made with poly rope and some tassel bead I found in a big jar at a thrift store. The rope is the same stuff I used to make the fluff on my masquerade mask.

Just before heading out for Pirate weekend, I also managed to finish up a lightweight cloak with tabistry shoulders and a matching hooded scarf. It came in very useful on the chilly nights at camp. I'll get some pics of the cloak up soon.

*** UPDATE ***

I have entered this outfit in two online costume contests. Not that I have any hope of winning either. But, if you want to show your support for tabistry and vote for me, check them out here:

http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=322964.0

http://www.greenwala.com/greenwala_contests/all/10-Green-Your-Halloween/entries/all

Thanks for looking!