Felt commission

I think one of the best things about having online shops is the possibility of being asked to create a special commission or design. I have been lucky enough to carry out several of these special orders and the above is the latest. The order is from a lovely lady in Australia and the fact that she has not said they she has received it is not going to worry me just yet, but I have emailed to ask.

I am not spoiling her surprise as the order was similar to another cover featured in my Etsy shop. I love making these and I do have another 6 different designs cut out ready to stitch together. I did add additional features to this cover as it was to fit an A4 book, which is the largest that I have ever made.

Due to the bigger size I decided to add some interfacing just to prevent the cover from stretching too much. I then added a fabric label, packed it in my lovely blue tissue paper and labels. It has been over a week since it was sent off and I really do hope that it is alright.

It has been an awful day in my part of Cornwall today but we still took Sophie to a bowling party. Hubby and I hired a lane as well but then had to stop as it malfunctioned and then the party food was served. I was pleased to even go as I had been nursing another bad migraine which started Friday evening soon after I started work on my latest knitted scarf. I had no idea that knitting could affect your health like that. Managed to drag myself out of bed at mid day but mainly because I was hungry! Luckily it has subsided a bit by 3.45pm when the party was due to start but I was not exactly the life and sole of the party but I was still there! Hoping tomorrow will be better. Enjoy the rest of the weekend anyway.

xx

Cupcake Knitted Pincushion Tutorial

During half-term I found this idea in my favourites. I found it on Craftzine and thought it would be a good stash buster and a fun project to do with Sophie. I decided to change the pattern to suit the wool scraps I had and to simplify it for Sophie to follow.

I used 3.5mm knitting needles and some leftovers of DK wool from my Never ending Blanket which I have been knitting for years! From here on I changed the pattern approach and simplified it so that Sophie could follow it and make better use of the stash leftovers.

Method:

You will need to knit three rectangles and each one will be bigger than the previous one knitted.

Centre Ring

Cast on 14 stitches

Knit 28 rows

cast off .



Middle Ring

cast on 14 stitches (Pink wool)

Knit 32 rows

cast off.


Outer Ring

cast on 14 stitches

Knit 40 rows

cast off.

To make the Pincushion:
Fold the rectangle so that the cast off edge meets the cast on edge. Stitch using the wool left after casting off.

You should end up with a tube shape, as shown above.

Then fold the tube back on itself as shown above. This will give quite a firm ring.

Turn it over so that you can see the folded edge, this is the top side of the centre of your pincushion.

Do the same with the other two rectangles and you should end up with three folded rings as shown above.

Now for the really fun bit. Place the rings one inside the other and push down a little bit. I was surprised at just how firm and strong this little pincushion was turning out to be!

The next stage is to add a few discreet stitches here and there to keep the layers together. I did seem to have more of a gap in the centre than the example on Craftzine, not sure why either. You can have the layers quite flat or....

...or quite high. Whatever you decide to do work it out before stitching the layers together.

It did strike me at this point how much it looked like a cupcake so I added a bright red pompom to the top of mine.

This was such fun to make and quite quick. It would an ideal stash buster and stocking fillers too. Let me know if you have a go at this. I shall certainly make some more of these over the coming weeks.

My new Knitting club group starts after school tomorrow, I shall let you know how we get on. Sophie is going to be dropped off at big school so that she can join in as well.

xx

Quilt Block 16 Musical Frogs...

Here is my latest quilt block for the Around the World Quilting Bee which started back in May. This time the owner of the block wanted a house with something inside. This was a bit of a challenge, but I did have some fun frog fabric so I decided to have musical frogs jamming in the house.

It did look a little plain so I added some grass and an appliqued tree. I do have to say that it looks much better in the flesh. The picture has come out rather dull looking. It was fun to look at by the time it was finished and was posted off over a week ago.
I am a little bit behind with my blogging because I have in fact finished the next block and sent that off last Wednesday but more on that another time. We have just come back from visiting my Sister in law in Seaford and we went to London on Friday. I have not yet downloaded the pictures but when I have I shall explain why we went to London. Back to work tomorrow! I have one load of washing on and another to do before I go to bed. Back tomorrow.

xx

Eye Candy Crochet Scarf......

This is post 406!! Blast I missed the 400th post birthday. Once I come back from visiting my sister-in-law I shall have a belated giveaway. However, until then how about my latest crochet make.

Sophie liked the jewelled scarf that I made.

So Friday evening a little voice says,

"Mummy I really like your scarf."

"Do you?"

"Yes.......do you have any more wool?"

"I have some why?"

"Any pink?"

"Hummmm yes I have."

"Oh,........how easy would it be to make me a scarf like yours, but smaller, pinker, with a white edging and fringing on the end?"

"I do not know, why, would you like me to make you one?"
(Pause)

"Yes pleaseeeeees Mummy"

Well, who could resist a request like that? So this is how I went about making Sophie's crochet scarf. I needed to make the proportions smaller than for my scarf so we decided to create just two rounds of pink for each square and then add a row of single crochet in white around each of the square.

I used a soft acrylic wool and some that I had left over from making the crochet baby blanket. I made a total of 18 squares, pale and bright pink wool was used. Made most of those Friday night then finished them off Saturday afternoon. I blocked the squares on a board over night. My squares still do not always look like they have been blocked. Not sure exactly why not, but there you go.

During Saturday afternoon I added a row of single crochet in white wool around each square. Then in the evening I stitched them all together and then Sophie tested the size for me. So far so good. Once Sophie had gone to bed I crocheted two rows of single crochet using white wool. I I then blocked it again over night. On Sunday I showed it to my little customer.

"Do you like it?"

"Oh yes Mummy it is lovely" (eagerly trying it on)

"Does it need anything else?"

"Hmmm, what about something on the ends?"

"OK, like what?"

"What about bits hanging down, you know like this scarf?" (dashes out to find the scarf that goes on her doll)

"Oh fringing on the ends?"

"Yes"

So I then began to find something that I could wrap the wool around to help me make the fringing all of the same length. To make the fringe blend in with the scarf I used three strands of wool, (one of each colour) wrapped it around my pin tin and then looped it through the holes created by the crochet edging.

I then trimmed the fringe to make sure that it was all the same length. A real Eye Candy Scarf which will be going to Brighton with us later in the week. This was fun to make and this is why I like my sewing, crafting etc, having the skills to be able to make something for my little girl that she has designed, enjoys wearing and is not mass produced. Draw backs? Sophie wants to learn how to crochet!! I think we shall tackle the knitting first!

xx

New Coin Purses

Above shows some of the coin purses that I made last month. I am also going to use these as a method of gift wrapping jewellery this Christmas as after it has been opened the earrings etc can then be kept inside or used when going on holiday. I have made a couple more but I have yet to add the buttons. These will be added to Etsy and Folksy this week. These can also be made in different sizes too. Again, other sizes are available in both shops. Links in the margin. Blogger will not do the links today. Typical.

I have some other items to finish this week plus another tutorial in the pipeline.

A pretty murky day here in Cornwall today so I think snuggling up on the sofa with a DVD may be an option this afternoon.

xx

Seed Swap Update....

I am a very bad blogger with a poor memory. I did email Pomona personally to say thank you for her swap parcel. However looking back through my posts I can not see that I have posted about it here. Tut Tut. I can only apologise and maybe blame it on my age. (The big birthday is looming).It was all wrapped up in lovely purple tissue paper and the smell was gorgeous. Inside the tissue paper was a floral bag tied up with yellow ribbon.

Inside I found four packets of seeds which will be sown in the garden next summer. By then we shall hopefully have our veg patch sorted out as well. At the moment we are busy with a building project in the house which I intend to say more about this half-term.

Inside I also found four lavender bags. This was the smell I detected when I was opening the parcel. It reminded me of my Grandma's garden. I had a lovely lavender bush at my last house, but for some reason I can not achieve the same standard of plant at my present house. Typical.
I intend using the lavender in an embroidered sachet that I had already started. I have quite a bit of lace upstairs which I had collected years ago because I had the intention to make a cream and lace quilt cover which never happened.

This was a lovely smelling swap which is now making my sewing room smell lovely and a pleasure to be in. i really must buy another lavender plant and try again to make my own for next year. Many thanks Pomona.

The clocks have changed and a welcome extra hour this morning was very nicely. It is lovely and sunny here today so a trip to Lanhydrock for tea, cake and a walk around may be in order this afternoon.

Many thanks for all of the comments on the button bracelet post. I think that is the highest number for a single post that I have ever had.

xx

Recycled T-shirt into headbands.

Whilst blog hopping during the summer I stumbled on this recycling idea which I found here at

Altered Cloth.

I decided to use a strap t-shirt that I realised that I had not worn in ages!

Firstly I cut off the hem at the bottom of the T-shirt and across the body just under the arm pits. I then cut up one of the side seams so that I could lay the T-shirt out flat on my cutting board.

Next I needed to cut a rectangle measuring 12cm deep x 43- 48cm long (4.5" deep x x17-19" long). I found that 18" was best for me but you could measure your head before you start.

Due to the size of my T-shirt I had to do this as two separate rectangles. The key to this is using what you have and adapting it if needed.

Due to having two separate pieces, I needed to join them together to make one long piece (so this was not in the original tutorial). I used a straight stitching but set it to be just a little longer to prevent puckering.

You really must put pins at the start and the end of the seam otherwise stretch fabrics such as these will be stretched when passing through the machine and the edges will not meet up when you reach the other side.

Here I now have one long piece of fabric. Next with right sides together pin and stitch to form a tube using a 1cm seam allowance (3/4"). You will need to start and stop you r stitch line approx 4cm in from the ends (1.5"). This will assist with the joining up of the ends.

Turn the tube the right way round.

Take the ends and with right sides together and pin them. Due to most of the fabric being in a tube the pinning may look rather curved, but do not worry, it will straighten out. Stitch along pinned edge. You may want to try it on for size at this stage. Tuck the join inside the tube.

You will now have an opening which needs to be stitched up. With this stage you have a choice, either slip stitch it together with a needle and thread or machine stitch the opening shut using the slightly longer straight stitch used earlier.

Then it is ready to wear!!

Below are a few examples made by my students.

They work very well with patterned T-shirts including those with writing on. on average we managed to make 2-3 headbands per T-shirt used.

They can be adjusted for all sizes of heads and it is a great way of recycling kids T-shirts by making the headbands for them. They could even help select the T-shirt that they have grown out of and be involved in the recycling process.

My students then asked about embellishing them as well, so there are loads of possible ideas to try out. I use headbands whilst gardening, putting make-up on, aerobics and cycling to keep my hair out of my face. These are all washable, recyclable again and much nicer than horrible plastic ones.

If you have a go then please do let me know as I would be happy to post any pictures here on my blog.

Take care.

xx

Button Bracelet Tutorial

You can use any buttons that you have and they do not have to be all the same size. For this tutorial I am going to use a range of blue buttons.

All you really need is some 5mm ribbon and some buttons. You could have a bracelet clip as well to make putting on and taking off the bracelet a little easier, but use what you have.

Then line up the buttons in the order that you would like to be on your bracelet.

I then cut a length of ribbon about 45cm long. This may seem a bit too long but you then need to cut the end of the ribbon at an angle to form a little point to help get it through the holes in the buttons. You may well need to keep re-cutting this point as you make the bracelet so the ribbon will be shorter anyway.

So come up through the first hole in the first button and then back down.

Pull the ribbon so that it lays on the top of the button. Then take the ribbon up through the hole of the next button and down again.

Push the two buttons together so that they are sitting slightly one on top of the other.

This is what it should look like on the back.

Continue to add the buttons in this way. For the centre of my bracelet I decided to layer two buttons one on top of the other. This would look really good if you had a particularly large button and layer a couple of smaller ones on top. Again, you have to experiment.

Here I have continued to add to the bracelet after the centre buttons were added and this is the back again.

At some point you should check the fit of the bracelet. You really need a bit of a gap between you and the bracelet.
Now you could just tie the bracelet on or use a clasp like the one shown above. These can be found in most sewing or craft shops. Or recycle one from a broken piece of jewellery.

To be honest I was not sure how to add this so I decided to tie the ribbon on and then seal it with some dabs of clear nail varnish. If I make some more I shall probably think of a different way, but this has worked well.

Above shows another bracelet that I made in shades of brown. I also made a little pink one for Sophie but this time I used shiring elastic, as a clasp would be too fiddly for her to put on and take off.

Know, I have been singing the praises of buttons for years, but I think that I may have gotten through to my students as we ran a little session on how to make these. Here are some of the results.

I would like to make a really bright funky version of this but I will need to source the buttons for that idea.

Give it a go and let me know if you use this tutorial as I would love the see what you make.

Happy Sunday to you all.

Take care.

xx