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!)

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.

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

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.

Super,

It must be noticeable to blog readers that I haven't been blogging with any regularity of late.  I think it's something most bloggers in any subject hit at sometime or another, a bit of writers block along with a dose of self doubt, why do I blog and do I want to continue?  I do want to carry on, I know that much at least.  Baby steps, baby steps...

First place to start is a run down of what's been going on here...

An online friend featured some Marvel comic fabric in a project she made on Facebook, which caught my eye.  I got some from Ebay (UK link) and have tracked it's origins as being from Camelot Fabrics who seem to have the license for Marvel.  Have to admit though, the comic book cover fabric (USA link) is definitely my favorite.  

  

Of course, as soon as it arrived, my son's eye's flashed wider with a 'ooooh, is that for me?' expression.  I'm sure some will make it's way into his room eventually (and join the scraps he is currently squirreling away in his bed/nest), but for now, it is intended for a few Superhero type Softies.

Fantastic Mr Fox/Dame Edna

Apologies for the out of focus image, it's from Instagram, but how do you make Superhero eye masks, look like eye masks and not glasses??  It's a real problem.  And Luke tells me Mr Fox needs a cape as all Superheros should have a cape.  I am drawing a line at red underpants though!

Onion,

It's my friends birthday, and rather sadly her cat died.

So, I made her this...

Hope she likes it.

one, two, three... tea!

A quick solution to plug a gap while I finish off the last King Charles Spaniel, 3 tea time themed cotton reel pincushions...

I have only made a couple of these recently, so it was a case of having to remind myself how to do it as I went along.  Do you ever do that? forget how to make your own designs?

I was sat for a while with a circle of card, wondering where on earth it went!

It's a base (obviously!), but for a while my mind just went blank.

The pincushions are in the shop now.

The English Monarchy,

It was only after I left high school that my interest in history began to develop.  Doesn't say much for my old history teachers does it?!, and the fact I couldn't remember their names, makes me realise how much uninspiring teachers can affect your schooling.  

We've just had two weeks off school here for the Easter holidays, during which, I went on a trip to Peterborough for the day and ended up in Peterborough Cathedral, stood before the grave of Katherine of Aragon.  A few days later (and a long story!), I was also in the presence of the burial place of Oliver Cromwell's head, and the last surviving person to have seen it.  Within history, it's always been the English monarchy in particular which has fascinated me, so I started to wonder how I could bring this into my design work.

Now, I'd previously started sewing some Softie bodies which were going to become dogs for the next installment of Project 3.  I completed one, and while I was kind of happy with it, there was just a certain something missing.  Cue, the train of thought beginning.  Dogs.  Dogs and English monarchy.  Dogs and English monarchy = King Charles maybe?

King Charles Spaniels?

I think he looks quite regal,

and quite appropriate given it's the Queen's Diamond Jubilee this year.  In homage, here is me at our 1977 street party for the Silver one (I'm in the rather fetching yellow sunglasses!)

ps, and talking of Oliver Cromwell's head, eeeek!

Penguins the sequel...

The latest issue of the online magazine from Crafteroo is out,

containing the next installment in the penguin family of softie patterns.

Click here for a taster of what's inside and also more information on how to purchase a copy, it's only £1.50 (that's about $2.35).  Bargain for crafty ideas over the Easter break!

Spotted this weekend,

a very rare Snow Fox!

p p p pick up a penguin,

Here, it's the latest edition of the online magazine from Crafteroo,

as well as the pattern for the cutest amigurumi elephant ever, there's a pattern for the first in a series of Penguins,

the magazine is available from here and is only £1.50 (that's $2.34).

Start the year off with a bit of sewing!

Penguin pattern,

Coming soon, a brand new Softie pattern for this whole family of Penguins...

where and when, will be revealed after christmas!

I continued battle...

with the Softie that wouldn't work and finally won.

I'm now working on a little range for Etsy called 'White' which will be available in a couple of weeks time.

Spoons,

You may remember a while ago I posted a sneaky peek of something I'd been designing.  That something is spoons.  After collecting some ideas together on Pinterest, I began working on the first pattern for bringing the idea in my head to life...

The first attempt didn't quite work.  I made it using two layers of felted wool, with darts to achieve the spoon shape, but the whole thing was a bit on the flat side.  The idea then began to develop towards the idea of welsh love spoons.

This one is a bit more like what I am trying to sculpt.  

It's still a bit of a work in progress design wise,

but as a project, it's certainly fulfilling the desire to move away from the cute animals are try something a bit different.  Only problem is, they are hard to photograph without it looking,

...a little bit phallic!

Off on a tangent...

Well, while working on the new idea I gave you a sneaky peek of last week, another idea popped up, which kind of took over.  And here it is, a parcel pincushion.

The address says 'pins & needles, the sewing box',

...the only problem I had with the design was what to stuff it with.  Felted wool has a lot of give, which is great for the rounded shapes involved in making animals, but can be a bit of a problem when it comes to anything requiring hard, straight edges.  The only solution I came up with was to use foam, a block of seat pad foam cut down to size.  Any other ideas??

I kind of like how it's turned out.  Think I'll be making some more of these for Etsy asap!

Retro Cat,

will be on Etsy shortly.

I haven't made a cat for a while, obviously needed some practice.  I initially photographed the cat before realising I'd forgotten to add the whiskers!

To book, or not to book?

That is the question I'm pondering today.  It's probably long overdue, but if I'm going to do another craft book, I need to pull my finger out and knuckle down to writing that book submission.  There are ideas, but in all honesty, writing a book is a long job, and I need to weigh up the return against plans like PDF patterns, or even kits.

In the meantime, I'm going to add a few pieces to the Etsy shop later,

a new retro Owl,

the other retro Owl I made a few weeks back,

and an Otter.