Carrots and sprouts are not just for Christmas...!

I have a couple of new free patterns, but have decided to go about putting these online in a slightly different way.  I have been an absent blogger this year, a few reasons, work, real life and health have had other plans.  More on that another time, but for now, better late than never, but as the title says, carrots and sprouts are not just for Christmas!

If you fancy squeezing in making some new Christmas tree ornaments in between online shopping and wrapping presents, these are very quick and easy and will look rather cute on the tree (and also hanging in the kitchen till next Christmas!)

The free PDF patterns for these are available via a website called Craftsy.  The reason I've uploaded them this way is to conduct a little market research, as I can access information as to how many times each pattern has been downloaded. 

The Carrot is available here, you will have to register or sign in to Craftsy, to gain full access but both patterns are totally free to download.

The Brussel Sprouts are available here.

As with all my sewing and craft patterns, these are small projects that only need a small amount of materials, everything I used for my Carrots was up-cycled.

I've not used Craftsy before, so this is a bit of an experiment, any problems with the downloads, leave a comment or email, and I'll help all I can.

Christmas pudding bauble,

As my part of the 'Sew a Softie for Christmas' campaign, here is my pattern to make a really simple Christmas pudding tree decoration.

You will need...

a circle of brown fabric, can be patterned or plain, 15cm (5 3/4") in diameter

white felt 12cm x 12cm (5" x 5")

green felt 8cm x 8cm (3" x 3")

2 or 3 red buttons

white embroidery thread (I used pearl cotton 8)

brown embroidery thread 

brown sewing thread

toy stuffing

plus the usual needle, pins, scissors etc...

(Templates, drag and drop the image onto your desktop and print)

STEP 1

Hand sew a running stitch, using the brown sewing thread, 0.5cm (1/4") in from the edge, all the way round the brown circle of fabric.  Gently pull the thread to begin gathering and stuff the inside with the toy stuffing.  Once you are happy with the shape of the pudding, pull the thread tight to continue gathering, and secure closed with a few stitches. 

STEP 2

Cut the icing shape from the white felt, either pin or hold in place, over the top of the pudding, hiding the gathering, and sew in place using running stitch around the edge using the white embroidery thread.

STEP 3

Cut out three holly leaves from the green felt and attach in place to the top of the pudding by adding some leaf veins in straight stitches using the white embroidery thread.  Add holly berries by sewing the red buttons in the centre of the leaves.  Finish off by adding a long loop of brown embroidery thread to the top of the pudding so it can hang from your Christmas tree.

Make as many as you want, I used scraps of fabric from old clothing, even the buttons are up cycled. 

The pudding baubles are quick, simple and cheap to make.

The idea of the 'Sew a Softie Day' is to get more people sewing, and Softies are so easy to make.  Check out the 'Sew a Softie Day' blog for more information and other sewing patterns you could sew.  Join the Facebook group and you'll find a 'stocking' full of additional patterns too.

As with all of my free patterns, refer to the images if there's anything you're stuck with, sometimes seeing it makes it easier to understand than reading it, if there's anything you're stuck on, send me an email or leave a comment and I will help.

Don't forget about my other Christmas tutorials, you can find the Christmas Tree Softie via this link.

Ladybird,

Many moons ago, I had a free pattern posted on a craft and sewing blog called Whip Up.  Sadly, Whip Up is no longer live, which, after double checking some of the links on my blog, also means the pattern for the ladybird is also no longer live. 

There's been a long absence for me from blogging, reasons for which I'll go into in my next post, but for now, I'm going to add the ladybird pattern here, it was a popular pattern and is also one I've used myself a few times when I've done teaching sessions, its small, simple, quick to do, doesn't require a huge amount of materials and can all the sewing can be done by hand.

pattern skill rating : easy

You will need...

2 pieces of fabric 3” x 4” (7.5 x 10cm) for the body

1 piece of craft felt 3” x 4” (7.5 x 10cm) for the wings

1 piece of craft felt 1” x 2” (2.5 x 5cm) for the eyes

2 small buttons

sewing thread

stuffing

small pebble to weight the ladybird

plus the usual needle, pins, scissors etc

Begin by printing out the template image below

STEP 1 : making the body

1.  Cut a body shape using the template, from each of the fabric pieces, place them both right sides together and pin.

2.  Sew round the edge leaving the turning gap open.

3.  Turn the body right side round, stuff with a little of the stuffing, then pop in the pebble to give the ladybird a little weight to it.  Continue to stuff until it is almost full then fold in the raw edges of the turning gap and sew it closed.

STEP 2 : adding the eyes and wings

1.  Cut 2 eye circles from the smallest piece of craft felt.  Hold one in position on the body (the opposite end to where the turning gap was), and anchor in place by attaching it on with one of the small buttons.

2.  Repeat for the other eye.

3.  Cut 2 wings from the other piece of craft felt and attach one to the body using small random straight stitches along the short straight edge.  Flip the other wing and attach in the same way so both wings line up as indicated on the template.

STEP 3 : embroidery embellishment

1.  Add some french knots dotted around each of the wings.  To do this, anchor your embroidery thread to the ladybird’s body with a knot underneath one of the wings.  Bring the thread up through the wing, wrap it round the needle 3 times and then take the thread back down through the body, coming up where you want the next stitch to appear, pulling the previous french knot tight as you go.

2.  Add some antennae by passing a short length of embroidery thread through the head from one side to the other, just above each eye.  Remove the needle and tie a knot in each end of the thread trimming each end if needs be.

And there you go, to finish off, here's a batch of ladybirds made in a class I taught at my daughter's high school.

Back...

Wow, it's been almost a year since I last blogged.  It wasn't intentional to take such a lengthy break, it just kind of happened that way.  I have been posting on my Facebook page, occasionally in the meantime, but not with any regularity.  I also love using Instagram, although my posts tend to be mainly of our cats!

There has been crafty stuff going on, a bit of teaching and writing to be precise.  I have spent some time doing workshops with Primary School kids at my sons school, and out of all the projects I did with them, the wet felting has to have been the most successful.  They had great fun doing it, its messy but its just warm water and soap messy, and we always seemed to gather a bit of an audience of the other kids wanting to know what we were doing.

We made balls, basically the easiest thing to do if you wanted to give it a try.  The fibers I used were given to me by Coats Crafts UK (I used to work for them!), and is called Filz-it. 

The kids did really well considering none of them had done it before.  Wet felting to make balls can be tricky as it requires lots of patience, if you rush the process, the ball won't be matted enough to stay as a ball and will break open as it dries.

Lots more to blog about soon, including a book and Alpacas (all will be revealed!) and a small sewing tutorial.

Rocking Robins,

If you fancy a little sewing project in the run up to Christmas, there is a new magazine out from My Time Media, the team behind titles including Popular Patchwork.  Its called "Make your own Gifts & Toys".

I have a pattern in there to make a matching pair of Robins,

there is a little Mama bird,

and also a baby one too, both with the cutest wire legs!

The magazine is out in the shops now or you can buy a copy online from My Hobby Store, just follow this link.

   

Wire,

I have been playing with wire this week, something I've wanted to have a go at for a while but never got round to, wire for birds legs.

Love the way they look, but oh my goodness, harder to make than they should be!  Plus then you've got to get it to stand up without toppling over.

Cute though!

sewing bee...

Here in the UK, everyone in the crafting world is currently going Great British Sewing Bee crazy (for what it's worth, I am Team Lauren), although I suspect the rather easy on the eye Patrick Judge may have a little something to do with it's popularity!

Anyway, in celebration of all the sewing machines which will no doubt now be being purchased, here is my contribution to get people sewing.  In the Sewing Bee, they are making clothes.  In my humble opinion, sewing clothes can be quite complicated, so if you are new to the craft, here's a simple little project to try which encompasses a handful of techniques, a sewing bee softie...

You will need :

selection of fabric : black & yellow (I used fabrics with sewing related prints!)

selection of craft felt

toy stuffing

2 small buttons or beads

sewing thread

embroidery thread (I used Pearl Cotton 8)

paper, pencil & scissors

pins & a needle

Step 1 : First create 2 squares of fabric, (8x8cm) by patch-working together 3 strips for each. 

Step 2 :  Draft yourself a pattern for the Bees body by drawing an oval shape onto the paper that is roughly 6.5cm tall and 5cm across.  Cut out and pin the template to the first of the fabric squares and trim to size.  Repeat for the other piece.

Step 3 : Pin the 2 fabric ovals, right sides together, sew round the edge to join (either by hand using backstitch or on a sewing machine), leaving a small gap for turning it back right side round.

Step 4 : Through the gap, stuff the bee, tuck in the fabric edges and then stitch the gap closed.

Step 5 : Switch to the embroidery thread and add eyes by attaching 2 small circles of craft felt with a tiny button or bead in the center.

Step 6 : Make yourself another template, this time a wing shape (mine is kind of like a flower petal) and cut 2 from the craft felt.  Stitch into position with the embroidery thread.

Step 7 : To finish off, after the wings are attached, take the needle up through the middle of the bee and tie a loop in this thread so you can hang your bee up.

And that's it, all done.  A quick bit of sewing and you've practiced pattern drafting, patchwork, sewing, applique and embroidery!  You could make lots and create a mobile, and even nip over to Whip Up for the Ladybird project I posted there, both insects are about the same size so will work great as a pair.