Edward's Menagerie,

During the summer, I was invited to attend a book launch for the latest title to join Edward's Menagerie...

Birds by Kerry Lord

The launch took place at the Toft Alpaca Farm near Rugby, which is well worth a visit for the wool shop, cafe and a tour of the Alpaca fields.  

 

During the day I was there, Kerry herself gave a number of workshops taking us through the process of making one of the birds from start to finish including stuffing, sewing up, joining limbs and also adding the eyes.

There were other members of staff on hand to instruct crochet for those who were either a beginner or (like me!) had not done any crochet for a very long time.  Everyone there was lovely and very welcoming.

 

Also included, was a tour of the farm and the chance to meet the Alpacas up close.

They are adorable!

While I was there, I bought some Alpaca fleece to do some wet felting with.

As far as the book itself is concerned, the first Edward's Menagerie book was hugely popular so following that with birds is a natural step.  The birds are cute, comical, colourful and bursting with character.   Design wise, they all follow a similar pattern, as in body, legs, head, and wings, the idea being once you have made one, it becomes easier and easier to make more.  The crochet side is well explained and the patterns are graded for difficulty so anyone from beginner to advanced will find a project to suit them.  You can easily alter the scale of your bird by using thicker wool and a larger hook too. 

There are over 40 patterns in the book, making it good value for money, and unlike sewing books where the pattern may need to be traced from the book, these instructions are all in written form, so it is only a matter of preference over print copy or digital.  Although, for me, I prefer to buy in print.  In our house, music and movies are all pretty much digital nowadays, but for books, nothing beats an actual book!.

Owl,

As promised, here is the chart for the Owl counted cross stitch motif.

As with the Fox, the finished counted cross stitch is only small, 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" (or 4 x 4 cm) and fits perfectly onto the laser cut disc (which is available from The Workroom) and works out at roughly 13 stitches to an inch (or 2.5 cm), but can also be stitched onto any aida or evenweave fabric.  The finished size will change depending on what count fabric you use.

So, in addition to what you decide to stitch the design onto, you will also need, thread (I call it stranded cotton, is it embroidery floss in the USA?) in the following colours (I used Anchor thread and have added the shade numbers in brackets as a guide), dark brown (382), dark grey (400), mid brown (936), brown (379), blue grey (850) and cream (386), plus a fine embroidery needle and some small scissors.

Follow the chart below for your stitching.

(click on the chart to enlarge it to stitch from)

The surrounding circle is just a guide for the edge of the laser disc, and I split the stranded cotton and worked with 2 strands in the needle.

 

Happy stitching!

Foxy fox...

It's been a while since I've offered a free project, but this is an idea which has been milling around since I first posted about these pendant blanks for cross stitch...

The finished counted cross stitch fox motif is only small, 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" (or 4 x 4 cm) and fits perfectly onto the laser cut disc (which is available from The Workroom) and works out at roughly 13 stitches to an inch (or 2.5 cm), but can also be stitched onto any aida or evenweave fabric.  The finished size will change depending on what count fabric you use.  

So, in addition to what you decide to stitch the design onto, you will also need, thread (I call it stranded cotton, is it embroidery floss in the USA?) in the following colours (I used Anchor thread and have added the shade numbers in brackets as a guide), dark brown (382), dark grey (400), mid brown (936), dark terracotta (884), terracotta (1003), beige (942) and cream (386), plus a fine embroidery needle and some small scissors.

Follow the chart below for your stitching.

(click on the chart to enlarge it to stitch from)

The surrounding circle is just a guide for the edge of the laser disc, and I split the stranded cotton and worked with 2 strands in the needle.

And there's more...  As I bought 2 of the laser cut pendants (indecision as to which shape I wanted!), next week, I will be posting another cross stitch chart for the Owl.

Happy stitching!

Giveaway time...

Last year I designed a project for the book 'Countdown Calendars'

It's a 'How long till school starts?' calendar with felt patches with pictures appliqued on them,

which flip over to count down the days either to starting school for the very first time or a brand new term.

The pattern and instructions to make one are included in the book, or...

you could leave a comment on this post to win mine!

I'll leave it open until next monday, ie Halloween to draw a winner.

Blues,

You know how we tend to have certain colours that we favour wearing?  Until recently, mine was always brown.  I wore it all the time and have lots of it in my wardrobe.  But now, I am starting to veer towards blue.  Blue has generally been a colour I avoided, except for denim (as in dark jeans, not 80's style pale denim jackets), but now I am embracing it in a vast array of shades and hues.

Given that over the past 2 weeks, the UK has been plunged into a bit of a cold snap, the one thing my wardrobe was lacking was a blue (or blueish) scarf.  One thing my craft room is not lacking, is tons of felted woolens...

so, here you go.  A pile of squares and rectangles stitched together, with a few buttons to jazz it up,

and we have a scarf.  A very snug scarf which I even wear indoors.  Both Lucy and Luke have asked for one.  I might even be tempted to stick a few up on Etsy.  Could do with clearing some space amongst my woolens stash!

The Etsy 'Autumn' range...

...is coming!

There are some softies, cotton reel pincushions and this decorative pillow...

You've seen sneak peeks of bit of it before.  It's something new I'm trying out, so for now, there's just the one.  It truly is one-of-a-kind!

With a miniature Fox softie and

some hand embroidered words.

Once the kids are in bed, I'll start uploading the range to the Lucykate Crafts Etsy shop.

edit :: slight delay due to poorly child, we've had a night with the sick bowl!

Preparation,

A couple of weeks ago, I very quietly placed a new item for sale on Etsy.  I'm offering the embroidered envelopes as a bespoke, made to order item.  I wasn't sure how this would be received, but am pleased to say one has already sold...,

it's been a while since I've made one of these and preparation is the key!

There are a few other items being prepared here too.  Over the coming week I'm hoping to add a few more new items to Etsy, a little range called 'Autumn'.  There are a few cotton reel pincushions, a couple of Softies and a embroidered pillow, all featuring autumnal fabrics and colours.  There's just a bit more sewing and photography to do first...!

New,

...a little embroidery idea I was trying out.

I like quirky!

We are going to a wedding tomorrow, and last night it occurred to me that I had yet to sort out a card, no problem, I can make something. After a bit of trawling about on Flickr etc for ideas, I'd seen lots of lovely wedding inspiration but it was all a bit 'seen it all before' if you know what I mean. Cakes, champagne glasses, wedding rings, confetti, all the usual imagery, but nothing a bit different, unique, and well, ...quirky.  Then I remembered something I'd seen on the 'Feeling Stitchy' blog a while ago, a love note.

So with that in mind, and also obviously subliminally channeling my daughters homework?! (must be because it reminds me of my old school exercise books), I came up with this...

I just need to finish mounting it on the front of the card and that's my homework finished.  I know I like quirky, I just hope the bride & groom do too!

Weaving...,

There is a television series currently on here in the UK called Mastercrafts.  Each episode centers on a traditional craft with 3 volunteers undertaking training in this craft.  So far, they have covered Green Wood Craft, Thatching, Blacksmithing, Stained Glass and last week was all about Weaving.

Weaving is the subject I studied at University, so I simply had to watch, it's been such a long time since I did any.  Now, I wasn't the best of students, preferring to spend my time at Uni drinking (alcohol, actually it was cider back then!) and watching bands play, any studying came a poor second.  But nonetheless, I do still have a fair amount of woven samples to show for it...,

looking back, it's really hard to believe that I actually wove these,

everything was done from scratch, including dyeing all the thread,

although some was used in it's natural state.

The looms we had were huge floor standing Dobby Looms.  Each design was pegged out using tiny wooden dowels or 'pegs', hammered into holes to create a 'peg plan' which told the loom which shafts to lift each time the foot peddle was pressed down.

 There were 12 on the course and we were a mean bunch.  The running joke would be to scatter a handful of pegs on the floor under the loom, making you think some had fallen out of your peg plan overnight.  One part I don't miss is threading loom, anyone who has done this before will know it is a very fiddly, time consuming job, and so easy to make a mistake.  But without doing all that, there wouldn't be the satisfaction of cutting a freshly woven piece of cloth from a loom for the first time once it's finished.  A piece of cloth that you know inside out, every single length of thread is there because you placed it there, and together it really does weave something beautiful!

Button necklace,

A couple of weeks ago, I was in the mood one evening to do something crafty.  Whatever it was going to be, it had to be easy (as I was tired), and quick (as it was late).  I'd always fancied a long button necklace, White Stuff have a nice one, but I don't live near a branch or have that much spare spends right now.  But seriously, how hard can it be to make one?  Not very so it turns out, here's mine...,

  

It's quite long, and with a big red square button I bought a while ago, but wasn't sure what to do with it, as a central feature.  To make one, all you need is a length of cord and a selection of buttons.

  

The cord is a fair bit longer than I wanted the finished necklace to be.  Fold it in half to mark the center point and anchor the first button there.  Then, working up each side, thread on buttons at roughly 1 1/2" (4cm) intervals.

 

 

Each button is  secured in place at the back with a knot before moving on to the next.

  

Once the whole necklace is threaded with buttons, simply tie the ends in a knot and trim off any excess cord.  The first one came together so easily, I made a shorter one for Lucy using pastel coloured buttons alternating with a white flower.

 

Don't tell her I'm wearing it, I'll be in big trouble! 

ps, just noticed I am 2 posts away from 200, and about 3 weeks away from a 3rd blogiversary!

Favorites...,

You must know what I mean when I talk about favorites, it's that favorite piece of fabric languishing in your stash that you love so much, you almost don't want to use it.  I mean, what if you can't get anymore?  In this case, it's a button, my favorite button.  Let me describe it for you.  It's cream, slightly shiny, only about 1cm in size, scratched because it's old, came in a mixed bag from a charity shop and has tiny little flecks of grey in it.

As buttons go, it's pretty plain.  But I thought it was beautiful.

The dilemma is, shall I keep it, or shall I use it?

At the moment it's here, and I'd say I'm 50% happy about using it.  A little nervous that it's not safely tucked away in my button box.

There's still time to unpick!

How brave are you with that favorite item in your stash, are you a keeper or a user?

Warm & wooly,

It is beginning to get round the school playground about what it is I do, which is great, (there are far worse rumors that could be going around!) particularly when Mum's from school hand me bags of unwanted woolens. One such bag, contained a tiny pink cardigan, which belonged to the baby sister (called Lucy) of one of my Lucy's classmates. It seemed such a shame for this cardigan's life to end (it was from Boden, after all) so I decided to make something by way of a thank you for all the jumpers. Armed with Betz's 'Warm Fuzzies' book, (incidentally, I much prefer the American cover and title to the UK version), and using the scrapwork pillow (page 28) as inspiration, scissors in hand, I got chopping.

I went quite simple with the design, piecing just a couple of rectangles together for the front, with an appliqued row of circles from the cardigan (it's so tiny, there's not much of it to use) and buttons.

The back has an envelope opening with a random flower on it. I was distracted watching Jamie online, in particular his bubble & squeak recipe (episode 3), and went a bit wonky with my stitching, rather then unpicking, the flower hides the mishap rather nicely.

This is the only gift I have made this christmas, everything else has arrived in a box from Amazon. Sounds very unexciting, I know, but anyone who has read this blog for a while now will know, I have had my fingers burnt in the past with handmade gifts, and have learnt a hard lesson. The people who matter (and they know who they are), get the odd handmade thing all year round, but I've said it before, and I'll say it again, please make sure your own efforts are not as sadly misplaced as mine were.

Besides, I can't make roller skates or Spongebob lego anyway!

Leftovers...,

As primarily a softie maker, I quite often have leftover bits, pieces, and softie limbs. Some I just throw out, while others give the impression that they could actually have a second lease of life as something else.

This was a trial run, so didn't get used for the final piece. It's been sat on my desk all week,

...while I ponder what I could do with it. It's fringed felted wool, with a piece of wire running down the centre (which can come out if need be).

Any ideas?

Applique, applique...,

I have completely forgotten to blog about this.  It is a magazine editorial for the appliqued cushion, that was featured in Issue Number 91 of 'Classic Stitches'. 

 

'Classic Stitches' is a rather lovely UK based embroidery biased crafts magazine.  When I worked for Coats Crafts UK, I had designs featured frequently, but it was always credited to 'CCUK'.  It's nice to finally have a project under my own name...,

"Amy Adams for Lucykate Crafts"

This issue came out in April, but you can purchase back issues online here.  They have done a lovely job on the page layout for this project, and as always, their photography is beautiful.  Mine just doesn't do it justice!

ps, thank you for all the christening gift suggestions.  I think I have almost decided what to make now!

pps, I am trial running a different blog banner this week, not sure yet if it will stay, what do you reckon?

Sticky situation...!

I signed up for a small, local craft exhibition which starts in October and is being held in the foyer of the museum.  There is space for about 15 items, and as, everything is going to be for sale, I was aiming to put in a few Softies but also some smaller, less complicated (and therefore cheaper, there is a credit crunch going on, after all!), items.  So, late yesterday evening, I whipped up some very simple decorated hair slides.

Lucy & her friend are test driving them at school today, so I can see how they stand up to a bit of wear and tear before making any more.

The button is stitched on, and the stitching also anchors the fabric to the slide, although I did add a blob of superglue to hold it in place more securely.  Anyone who follows me on Twitter will already know what happened next.

I went to bed last night with my finger and thumb glued together!

Make do & mend...,

I bought a copy of this book last weekend, and I love it.  It's a collection of official Second World War advice leaflets with instructions on darning, patching, letting out clothes so they last just that bit longer and even how to cook and use the gas more economically.  Little did I know that these skills were going to be called upon so soon.  Lucy had a bit of a mishap in her bedroom which resulted in her duvet cover sporting a hole.  So rather than a trip to Ikea for a replacement (as much as I would love a trip to Ikea), out came the fabrics and thread...,

and voila, a patch.  I think she's a bit disappointed that there's only one, and is threatening to make more holes.

I've hidden the scissors!