Valentines Craft

 

The kids and I had some fun creating our very own little valentines tree packed with home-made decorations and some love hearts!

Platinum Jubilee Felt Crafts

 

Posting has been a bit quiet around here these past few years.  I wonder if anyone even visits this quiet piece of the World Wide Web anymore?  I've been wondering if it's worth updating the blog anymore or if social medias such as Instagram and Pinterest do the job for me?  At the same I'm reluctant to entirely give up on it as I have such a huge archive of work here which I don't really want to abandon - decisions decisions...

For now I'm sharing some of my crafts that I have been creating in my spare time over the dark winter months.  Once fo them has been some felt decoration I have made to hang on a jubilee tree I intend to pop up to celebrate this years platinum jubilee celebrations later in June.  I've noticed there is already a lot of talk on the topic and some people already have flags up - so I though I would share these sooner rather than later.

Easter Craft Inspiration

 

After a long slog at home schooling and way way too much work these past few months I'm planning some down time crafting over the next few weeks - here is some of my inspiration...

Sewing - Make your own Animal Bag

Every time I get my sewing machine out of the attic my son always asks to have a go on it.  During 'normal' times my answer is a swift no, maybe another time, ask me in the holidays etc... etc... 

However, after trying homeschooling for a few days and realising that finding activities that last more than a few minutes are our top tip - suddenly when he asked about the sewing machine this week my answer was yes!  

Inspired by a pin on Pinterest I decided to set a simple task of creating two small animal faced draw string bags for them.   Alfred was happy making the Panda that initially inspired us from Pinterest (link) Unfortunately, like so many Pinterest pins these days I can't credit the original owner OR click though to a blog with detailed instructions so I re-created it myself (see downloadable patterns below).  We chose a panda face inspired by one of Wendy Kendall's Designs to draw on the front (link to Wendy's instagram and website)  She has loads of there cute characters which if you're confident enough to adjust my pattern template will make equally cute designs!  My daughter Elsie wanted to make a Unicorn(!) so we were inspired by a print by Printed Fabrics and adapted that design into our own bag print.

What you will need:

- Fabric about A3 size* (an old shirt or bedding would work great)

- Chord - an old shoelace, plaited wool, gardeners string will do**

- Cotton (any colour)

- Permanent Marker - a sharpie

- Sewing Machine ( or needle and cotton if you have the time and patience!)

- Scissors

- Pins (if you don't have pins just tape a couple of edges of the pattern to the fabric so pattern doesn't move when you're cutting out!)

Optional Extras:

- Buttons for eyes

- Fabric paint/pens

- Anything creative you can add to make it your own!

*I used calico that I ordered from Amazon

**I used some florescent camping guy rope spares

Step 1:

Download one of the attached templates (see bottom of post) - either the panda or the Unicorn.  These are simple templates.  You can change the details/design of the faces easily into a bear, horse, giraffe etc.  Just look online for inspiration! Cut the templates out carefully with scissors.

Step 2:

Pin the patterns to a piece of fabric.  An old piece of bedding or some shirt fabric will do.  I used calico (which you can order off Amazon) as I always have some around.  Cut out the pieces of fabric carefully.

Step 3:

Use marker pens and/or fabric paints to draw any face details to your design.  I placed the design under my fabric - the fabric was thin enough for me to see through and trance the design.  I used a thin nib black sharpie for the Panda and a combination of a black sharpie and some fabric paints I had in the attic for the Unicorn.  Make sure if you are using fabric paints that you leave the fabric to dry over night to avoid smudging and spoiling your design!

Step 4:

Iron the fold lines for the tunnel that will house your draw chord.  Iron the 5 mm at the top and then then over again to make the channel for the chord.  At this stage if you want to be a perfectionist you can sew the 2 cm edge in at the top just at what will be the entry to the chord channel to avoid fraying.  You can totally miss this part out though if its too confusing/complicated!!

Step 5:

Stitch the back and front of the ears together.  Make sure you sew them together inside out so when you turn out, the drawing details are facing the outside and all the stick details are bagged into the middle.

Step 6:

Place the chord into the channel you have ironed at the top (this is easier to do now then trying to thread it through later!  Stitch the channels closed so - make sure you don't sew over the chord.  Go very slow!

Step 7:

Place the back and front of the face together so the fact details are on the inside.  Insert ears into the correct positions and pin/stick into place.

Step 8:

Sew from BELOW the drawcord channel all the way around to the other side (below the drawcord entry)  Turn inside out and secure the drawcord with a knot at the end and you should have a draw string bag?

Panda Template

Unicorn Template

***Blog Hiatus!*** Corona Virus and my blog!

OK so things have changed slightly since I last posted on here!  Firstly, I hope everyone that follows my blog posts is staying healthy and coping with this crazy situation as best you can? I also hope your family and friends are doing well too and you are finding new ways to catch up with them?

I'm now trying to run my business (at a very limited service), home school the children and complete all the normal daily activities all from the confines of our home (excluding the 1 hour of exercise we are allowed to leave home for here in the UK currently)

Trying to take the positives from a really unusual situation I have found myself with the gift of time.  I have time to spend with my children (I actually miss them when they are at school and don't feel I get to spend enough quality time with them) I have time to walk alone - I try to get out and walk the furthest distance I can in the 1 hour we are allowed out here in the UK.  I'm managing to achieve 4 or 5 miles which conveniently is usually spot on the 10,000 recommended steps.  I'm also a thinker and this time alone fills me with creative ideas and allows me to sort out things in my head that may be worrying me.  I have time to do activities - I've dusted off my sewing machine, got my paints out, created a new veggie patch, planted loads of seeds, cooked homemade fresh foods daily, camped out in the spare room, foraged foods from the hedgerows and fields by my house and its only the second week.  I've always dreamed of living a more simpler life connecting with the land, my children and finding time to enjoy just being at home.  

Most surprisingly I'm watching very little TV.  I'm not a big TV watcher anyway but would usually watch maybe an hour or 2 each evening.  Instead, after I put the children to bed I'm cooking a decent meal, crafting and drawing and doing yoga, pilates and meditation daily for at least 30 minutes - I love it!  

I'm actually not stressed - sure if I watch the news I get anxious about the situation but I try to only watch the 4pm major update then switch it off.  Everything that exists outside my front door is out of my control and it is for everyone - it's almost too much!  I know there's nothing I can do (other than stay home)  So there's no point stressing - I just have to take what I can from a difficult situation - and to my surprise I am!

Which brings me to why I'm putting my blog on hiatus - no business, trend or fashion stuff but a place to share activities, crafts and recipes Im successfully trying out at home.  Don't worry - it won't be forever - hopefully normal service will resume very soon for all our sakes!  But fro now I hope you can enjoy a different kind of blog post and maybe find it of use / interest!

Here are a few highlights from the past week:

Home-Made Stuffed Toy

Over the past couple of weekends I have been designing and making my own stuffed toys.  The first one I have completed is this stylised Fox.  I have badgers, penguins traditional teddies and more on my list over the coming weeks and will keep you posted on my progress!

It measures 25 x 23cm (thought id include that as when I e -mailed the image to my father he thought it was big enough to fit round an adults neck!)

If anyone would be interested in purchasing the pattern let me know - I was thinking about selling them on Etsy perhaps?

Crafting - Make Your Own Pillows from Shirts!

Its another washed out weekend here......

Instead of getting down about all the rain today I decided to put my Saturday being stuck indoors to good use and get crafting!  A few days ago I was given some shirts that were not going to be worn again by their owner.  I had been thinking what I could do with them all week then this morning I had a eureka moment!

I woke up looked out of the window at the grey wet day outside and thought...

'I'll make those shirts into pillows'.

I thought I would share what I created here as it took under and hour and is an easy peasy way to convert similar old clothes into pillows.  What's great about using shirts is like in the image below you can use the front button up placket as the opening for the inner pillow to fit in through so no fiddly zips to fit Yay!

My finished pillowcase measures 40 x 40 cm as that matched other pillows they would sit with.  I cut my front square to 42 x 42 cm giving me 1 cm of seam allowance.

On the back side of the pillow I made a patchwork of different cuts from the two shirts I used.  I cut each square to 12 cm (this gives 10 cm squares when sewn together as 1 cm will be seam allowance)  I used a total of 16 squares to make up the side then sewed them all together.  Again, once this was all sewn together it gives me a piece measuring 42 x 42 cm.

I then sewed the patchwork square to the square I cut out of the front of the shirt including the button up placket and voila!  I have a very simple 'none zip' recycled shirt pillow case.

Some of the squares I cut on the bias giving a nice contrast to the pieces.

I included details of the shirts like cuff plackets to give the pillows a real crafty feel as you can see in the above and below images.

OK a few of my pieces didn't match up exactly but it is the first time i've attempted a patchwork.  I think it shows they are homemade!

Here are my two finished pillows.  A nice new addition to our home!

You can see the chest pocket still on here too!

I made the inside pillow with stuffing from some cheap pillows I picked up off of e bay and made their shell from some old kalico I had.

I would like to try this again with old denim jeans and make a big pillow to go o our sofa.  I will keep you updated in the future!