Covering the drawers...

There is always a project or two that you simply MUST do. And this was one of them...

I had recently discovered the delight of filling up my evenings with art and crafty kind of stuff and when I wasn't doing that I was reading about art and crafty type stuff (when I do something it always has to be at 100%!)

Simply homemade had this quirky little project to help use the bundle of free papers that came with the magazine that month. All I needed was the drawers in question, a length of red ribbon and some red paint.

I have tried to find the drawers since but have failed. I have put a link to some similar ones on the bottom of the post...

The knobs of the drawers were carefully removed (by saw) and the drawers were measured out on the paper. The paper was then stuck using a high quality glue.

The sides were also then measured in the same way and paper stuck down.

The ribbon was then measured across the drawers, cut to length and then stuck down.

The knobs were painted with red acrylic paint and stuck on the ribbon. It was left to dry for 24 hours.

It now sits in my daughters nursery which holds little bits and pieces... Very effective indeed!

Done in a few pips...

As I have said before I love freebies! Especially on the front of magazines.

 This little one was from the magazine Craftseller and was a quick little project that kept my fingers busy while on a train journey from York to Portsmouth.

 The main body of the strawberry was cut out of felt and stuffed with a thin layer of sponge.

The black thread was used for the pips and the ribbon was sewn in between the felt pieces.

 The green stork was cut out and the button was sewn on top. A five minute project and very effective...

I have made a couple of these into broaches for birthday presents and my friends have loved them...

Under the sea...

When I told my husband that we were expecting our daughter the first thing he wanted to do was get the baby's room ready by painting a mural on the wall.

I left the design up to him and, because we didn't know the sex of the baby, he needed to find something that would suit either a boy or a girl.

He decided to do a sea scene...

As I have said before me and my husband are a bit batty about animals so he chose animals which we both like...

He drew the pattern on a piece of paper first all before tracing the pattern on the wall in pencil.

He then worked out what colours he needed and also looked through the half used pots of paint that we had left over from decorating the house when we moved in.

He then set to work.

After painting he then outlined the pictures in sharpie.

I love what he has done... It was a labour of love... What do you think?

Quilting the memories... Part I

After completing my first t shirt quilt my husband produced a box of t shirts of his own which we had carted from house to house for the last five years. They were all of his t shirts from his various university clubs and also a few football shirts he couldn't bear to throw away. He also wanted them to be made into a quilt. So this time I had to do it properly!

Because a lot of the t shirts had quite big logos on them I needed to find a size of square which would be universal.

I then pressed all the t shirts.

Some of the shirts had emblems on the front as well as the back so, using a quilting template, I traced it around the front design and then painstakingly appliquéd the design to the main panel. The photos below show the process used for the logos ...



This is a work in progress and I'm trying to chip away at it little by little... I will update again soon!

Free as a bird...

As I have said before I am a bit obsessive about craft magazines. I have a few favourites...

Sew magazine
Simply homemade
Mollie makes

They all have their merits. Sew magazine has amazing patterns for the avid sewer. Simply homemade has ideas for every craft under the sun and Mollie makes has interesting crafting articles as well as tutorials. Mollie makes also has very good free gifts every month.

A couple of months back (maybe even six months or more) they had a kit to make a bird keying.

The instructions were easy to follow and the kit had enough of each of the materials that were needed.

The kit took half an hour at the most - a nice thing to do while catching up on the latest episode of my favourite murder mystery!

It now hangs on my shed keys - where I keep the bird food ... Not bad for a free gift!

Monsters included...

After the success of the dice monster it was my turn to try sewing my own monster.

I chose the pillow monster as I had a load of purple furry fabric in my stash which I thought would look good.

Again, the pattern was from 'dastardly delightful monsters' and the pattern was easy to follow.

All I needed (besides the fabric) was some pink felt, some red felt (for the inside of the mouth), a couple of buttons and a zip.

This was the first project in which I had used a zip so it was a new skill to add to my repertoire!

The furry fabric was quite an open weave so had to be all sewn by hand. The stuffing was polystyrene balls... I still had a HUGE bag of them!

I was pleased with the result... And I can't wait to make another one of these!

Potty about Easter...

I love to try and give something a little different at Easter and, as much as the whole chocolate overload is something I look forward to (especially as I will have just finished the Christmas chocolate treats) I try my best to make something.
 Easter is also time for a bit of friendly completion between me and my sister. One year she had made up some organza bags with fake grass, a couple of creme eggs and a chunk of our respective birth stones - a nice little touch.

 So the next year I made everyone personalised mini flower pots and filled them with mini mini eggs.

The pots (bought through amazon) themselves started off terracotta in colour so I painted them copper with some acrylic paint which gave them a nice sheen.

 The wooden letters I bought from a local craft shop and painted them too (these can be bought through amazon too!) The butterflies were also bought at the craft shop but I have yet to find them anywhere else - please let me know if you know where I might be able to find them again...

 The gold letters finished off the personalisation...

 These were then given out in little cellophane bags with mini chickens on Easter Day...

Sewing with Cath...

Another of my greatest loves is Cath Kidston. I love the fabric, the designs and the homemade element of her things.

I particularly love her craft books: 'sew', 'stitch', 'patch' and 'make'. Free with her 'sew' book is the fabric and pattern for a bag. And I thought I would give it a go.

The instructions were easy to follow but I was grateful that the pieces were pre cut for this first project as I felt that this project was not for the beginner although the book does come with a massive pattern sheet which is, again, very clear.

It got me used to using my sewing machine (which was very new at that point) which was very useful but as the material was quite thick it made me test the tension on the machine too (another skill I had to learn!)

The project took me a couple of evenings to complete. However, I did tweak the instructions a little and did not make a loop for the button but instead sewed Velcro on the inside of the bag for a fastening.

All in all a great project for Cath Kidston fans... I'm certainly hooked!

Not just for Valentines...

One of the very first things I got given when I started crafting was 'Craft' by Kirstie Allsopp. I admire the way that she tackles every craft she tries with an eager enthusiasm.

This cute little project seemed quite a quick little one to do and didn't need more than some felt, a button, a short length of ribbon, some stuffing and some thread.

I tweaked Ms Allsopp's design a little by using polystyrene balls as stuffing (a huge bag of them still lives in my guest room!) I also didn't put a tassel on the bottom as I thought it might look better without it.

I have made a few of these since my first one. They make great gifts for someone you love - or just because you want to remind someone that even if it isn't Valentine's Day you still love them.

These can be found at my etsy shop too!

Heart to heart...

I love buying craft magazines. It is a bit of an obsession but I love flicking though them and gaining inspiration from their pages.

 I also, most embarrassingly, love the ones that have free gifts which come in kit form - I'm a real sucker for those!

 The latest idea came from 'Makes' from Prima - it had a make your own mouse on the front which completely won me over! I had some off cuts from the onesie that I had hemmed for my sister in a nice bright fleece material. I thought I could make some little fleece hearts which could then be strung together to create some heart bunting - something which could make a fireplace a bit more cosy.

 The hearts were easy enough to cut out and a button was sewn on with invisible thread. The hanging ribbon was part of my stash of off cuts which I usually snip off new clothes as I usually have them hanging out in strange places!

 Once they were sewn up I hung them up on the ribbon and pinned them on.

These little hearts went onto etsy - my husband said we had nowhere to to hang them ... To be fair to him he's probably right!



Etsy shop

Batty about felt ...

My dad works as an ecologist and spends a large amount of time handling bats as part of his job.

 The back lash of this is the fact he gets given all things that are bat orientated. So I decided to make him a little felt bat.

 The template was from a hanging decoration I had bought one Halloween and it was traced onto the felt twice. I used a running stitch to stitch the front and back pieces together and stuffed it with polystyrene balls - I have a MASSIVE bag of these so they get used for everything!

 I also found some eyes in my box of everything crafty and stuck them on.

 The finished article is rather sweet and could perhaps be used as a pincushion or a loop could be added as a Halloween decoration...

From coaster to coaster...

It can sometimes be difficult to find things to do with crafts around the home and fitting them in with the stuff you already have.

 I certainly have this problem frequently as the crafts I try don't necessary have a purpose - they are just done because I can!

 My husband found this when starting his cross stitch work especially when doing little quick ones of an evening and we ended up with little squares of cross stitch.

 I found on my travels that you can buy little acrylic blank coasters that fitted the little cross stitches perfectly. We now have a completely unique set of coasters all made by my husband.

 I wish that I could cross stitch so that I could make a set for friends - what a unique gift they would be!

Starting with a smile...

When I first moved to York I was in desperate need of something to occupy my mind other than my work which was taking over pretty much every ounce of my life. I then made a discovery that was to change my life forever. Hobbycraft.

This discovery was made when me and my husband went to do one of our favourite pastimes. Looking at fish. This particular fish watchery was The Deep in Hull - an amazing place which we have visited many times since and has plenty of things to do for families. At that time though we were still unmarried and the idea of children was a dim and distant thing for the future.

We ended up getting a little lost around hull. Anyone who knows me will know that this is not an unusual occurrence as I probably couldn't find my way out of a paper bag. My sense of direction is rubbish. Anyway, we ended up in a car park outside Hobbycraft. My day brightened up immeasurably!

From that day I have spent many an hour wandering around the store.

I also love their website (hence the link appearing on my blog many, many times. On this website they have an ideas page which is a wonder to behold and I challenge any seasoned crafter to look at it and not come away with a bit of inspiration.

And this is what happened with my 'smile' bag. I was still relatively new to the whole crafting thing so I wanted to start with an easy but effective project. And this was it:

I didn't want my bag to say 'love' on it but 'smile' instead as I considered using it for my school books (as a Lamda teacher I ALWAYS have books!) and thought it would be a nice sentiment for my students to see especially first thing on a Monday morning. I also wanted the letters to have an almost monochrome effect.

I typed the letters in a word document on the computer and played with the fonts so they were all different. After printing the letters out they were then cut out and I traced the letters on the fabric. The letters were then cut out and then I out bondaweb on the back and ironed the letters to the calico bag.

 I find bondaweb heaven and hell ... Heaven when it works. Hell when it sticks to the iron!

I then appliquéd the letters.

It was satisfying finishing it. I again plan to do another couple of these but what they will be - who knows!

It's pumpkin night tonight!

Last year I was fortunate enough that my husband dug me out a vegetable patch of my very own. It had been one of my many dreams. I wanted to be able to grow and then make stuff with the vegetables that I grew.

However, last January I fell pregnant which kind of put the dampners on anything that involved a lot of bending down for long periods of time so I needed to plant stuff that would be easy to maintain.

I also had a major store of vegetable seeds that I had been hoarding for as long as me and my husband had been living together (at that time three years!) and couldn't wait to see what I could grow.

The most successful vegetable of the patch was also the one that managed to take over most of the surrounding lawn too - my pumpkins!


Out of the patch I managed to get two huge pumpkins.
The problem with pumpkins is that they take hours to carve up and it also takes time trying to find different recipes to try to use it!

I was given a book for Christmas from my dad which is 'Jams, Pickles and Chutneys' by Midge Thomas - from a series of books by the WI. (See link below!) The ingredients needed were:
1.5 kg pumpkin flesh (no pith or seeds)
1.3kg granulated sugar
675g prepared oranges
675g prepared lemons
1 litre of water
Ginger

I adjusted the recipe and swopped the ginger for cinnamon as I am not a big fan of ginger.

Also needed is a jam pan, jam funnel, wooden spoon and jars.

So the original recipe requires you to prepare your lemons and oranges. I have to admit that I don't want to faff too much so bought my oranges and lemons in tin form... Just as good!

The pumpkin, oranges, lemons and water go into the pan together and then are brought to the boil and then the heat is turned down to a simmer.

This simmer is to soften the pumpkin though in the original recipe it is to soften the peel of the citrus fruits.

Once the pumpkin softened I added the sugar and then turned the heat up to bring it to a boil again. Once boiling I brought the heat down to a medium heat and then waited.

I needed to wait for the mixture to thicken enough for the spoon to leave a clear path at the bottom of the pan ... I didn't wait that long to be honest as I wasn't sure if the fact that I had used tinned oranges and lemons might have affected its setting point so I experimented with how quickly it set on a back of a cold spoon and was satisfied that it would set once jarred up.

The jars had been sterilised earlier in the process in my daughters bottle steriliser (so little hassle!) and were ready to be filled.

I am pleased with the finished product - though it seemed to take a lot longer than the recipe specified. The marmalade tastes good on toast.

Thank you WI for this amazing recipe for using a monster of a pumpkin!
P.s. I love the Kilner range of preserving stuff so that is why I have put links for them here too!

Taking it down a size...

After the success of making normal size bunting I had some very nice material come with a magazine and immediately thought of my sister (who needed cheering up) and made her some bunting.

There was rather a lot of fabric scraps left over from the bunting and it seemed a pity to throw it away. So I decided to make some mini bunting.

I did what I usually do for the big stuff and just scaled everything down and used bias binding yet again to bind all the triangles in a line. The triangles themselves were quite a fiddle and I had to be carful not to trap my fingers in the machine or burn my fingers while pressing!

This bunting is still in the box I put it in - where projects that have no special place go until I find a use for them. I think I may need to make a small bunting just to prove it can be done ... Do dolls houses need bunting?

When's a door not a door?

I have always found Easter one of the hardest holidays to prepare for. It usually falls just when my students are preparing for many many exams and I end up panic buying Easter eggs from the supermarket and none of creative juices are given the chance to flow!

So this year while on maternity leave I thought I would start early and thought I could use up my surplus collection of jars which seemed to be over taking the shed.  I started by buying mini eggs of different brands as my family have very individual tastes when it comes to their favourite egg. I also added a small Lindt bunny for everyone except my husband (he doesn't do posh chocolate!)

I cut out a circle of fabric from my huge stash of scraps and then wrapped silver thread to secure the fabric over the lid. The chick was then glued to the top.

Really simple but nicely effective.

Next year I hope to be as organised as this one!

Quick note: For all of my sewing projects I use gutermann threads. Personally, I have found this the most trustworthy brand and it always comes in an amazing array of colours.

A bunting we will go!

When I first got my sewing machine I was desperate to make something that was quick, easy and simple ... Plus it needed to be something that I could not muck up in any way. So I decided I needed to make some bunting.

As I have previously mentioned I am a massive bookworm and I feel that books solve most problems so I bought a book on how to make bunting.

In hindsight I realise that I possibly didn't need a book but it seemed a great idea at the time. Some of the more complicated ones look great though!

I had a fat quarter of some cake fabric which I bought from ebay, a metre of bias binding (readily available from hobbycraft or any other haberdashery) and a triangle template.

I made the template slightly bigger than the bunting I wanted to finish up with (allowing for seams). I drew out 12 triangles and cut them out. I sewed around the two longest edges. I then turned them inside out. I then pressed them.

It has only been since I started sewing that I have realised how useful having a small travel iron to hand. There always seem to be seams to press and you don't want to be getting out your massive laundry one every time as pressing can take seconds. The one I use is linked at the bottom.  If I had my own way and had a craft room I would have an ironing board and iron always out -I will have to continue dreaming!

After pressing lay out the triangles in the order you want them. Take your bias binding. Press it in
half (which can be tricky so watch your fingers!) the place the triangles between the two folds if the binding and pin in place.

Then run the bunting through your sewing machine making sure the triangles are square inside the binding.

And viola! Your bunting!

I want to experiment with some other types soon so I'll let you know how it goes!

Travel iron: http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4103336.htm
Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/177390311/cupcake-bunting

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/177390311/cupcake-bunting