Song lyric embroidery #2

One of the few things my sister and I have in common, apart from the same parents, vegetarianism and the belief that my niece is the best child in the entire world, is that our favourite band is The Doors.  I made this little set of embroideries for her birthday, using a line from her favourite Doors song:

I did them totally freehand and although they're a wee bit wonky, I think this adds to the homemade look rather than detracts from their appearance.  I used chain stitch which I hadn't done before but I'm now hooked on the way it looks.  My stitches could be a bit neater and I definitely improved a lot towards the end, but as a first attempt, I'm pretty pleased.  

Now, shall we have a gratuitous picture of Jim Morrison to round off this mini-post? 

Jenny

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Crochet Tea Cosy

What exactly is it that makes a tea cosy so pleasing?  Is it the nostalgic reminder of a bygone age when every home in the land had at least one?  Is it the association with hot, comforting, freshly brewed tea?  Or is it simply the fact that all tea cosies, regardless of style or shape look like rather comical hats?  I'm not entirely sure but I often find myself lusting over tea cosies, despite not even owning a teapot at the moment.

 It was my mum's birthday at the weekend and she'd asked me for a new teapot to replace her broken one.  I duly located a pretty teapot, four cute cups and saucers and a vintage style tin to store them in, but the set just didn't feel complete without a tea cosy.  So, with approximately 12 hours to go until I was due to see my mum, and 8 of those hours to be spent asleep, I decided to have a go at crocheting a tea cosy.  As my mum's teapot was an unusual shape, I eschewed the many tea cosy patterns available online and winged it, adapting my pattern as I went.

I'm rather pleased with the results...

 

'Seriously? You're taking photos of a teapot when I'm right here?'

I used cluster stitch, increasing and decreasing as necessary according to the shape of the pot.  When I'd finished, I edged the cosy in single crochet and added a vintage button and chain stitch closure under the handle.  The only part I didn't edge was the spout opening as I liked the way it looked.  The beauty of bulkier stitches, such as cluster, is that they work up in no time, making this an enjoyable, speedy little project for an evening.

I hope you like it and as I'm planning to rectify my lack of teapot shortly, I am pretty sure I'll be making another one in the near future!

Jenny

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Tea + Embroidery

This time last year, I had just completed my first ever embroidery.  It was done freehand, featured applique, was a present for my mum's birthday and had a tea theme.  Never one to push the boundaries too far, I have once again completed a tea-themed, freehand embroidery featuring applique for my mum's birthday.  She asked me for a teapot and some nice teacups so I though this would be a nice accompaniment to her pretty new crockery.

And get this, it's BACKED so it looks all neat and pleasing.  I don't know why the back pleases me almost as much as the front but it does.

I love embroidering by hand - there is something very soothing and mindless about it - but I am itching to try freehand machine embroidery.  I didn't think a birthday present needed at short notice (my mum's birthday is on Sunday) was the best place to practise this but I will be frantically seeking advice on here and Twitter when I do have a go!

Jenny

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Lavender stuffed crochet heart

A lovely Mother's Day heart for my lovely mum...

The heart is based on a pattern from The Complete Guide to Crochet from the people who publish Inside Crochet.  I don't usually buy crochet magazines but I couldn't resist this massive issue with 43 patterns!

I used a finer yarn and smaller hook than the pattern suggests as I didn't want it to be too big.   After stuffing with the filling and lavender sachet, I added a little loop as I think it 'll make a really nice hanging heart.  I'm going to make one for my Gran as well as a little Mother's Day gift so I'd better get a move on as I'm seeing her tomorrow...

Wishing a very happy and relaxing Mother's Day to mums, mams, mothers and mummies everywhere!

Jenny

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French Memory Board Tutorial

 

I've been seeing all these gorgeous fabric-covered memory boards around for years and have always wanted one.  Laziness combined with a lack of a staple gun stopped me from making one, and an unwillingness to part with the obscene amounts of money the ones I saw in the shops were selling for prevented me from buying one.

I finally "treated" myself to a staple gun the other week and set about covering a generic cork noticeboard right away.  I love how easy these memory boards are to make, but I do not like staple guns.  The last time I used one was when a friend and I were helping a teacher to decorate a classroom wall when we were in Year 3 (It wasn't called 'Year 3' then but was so long ago that I've forgotten what it WAS called).  Staple guns are loud and a little bit scary and I don't know why I was allowed to use one of these dangerous things in infant school.  Possibly because 1980s kids were just tough.

There is no shortage of tutorials out there in Internet Land for making these, but as with everything, I tend to cut corners and make things easy for myself, so here is my tutorial for an easy and quick French Memory Board.

You will need:

♥ Cork noticeboard or a cheap artist's canvas (I prefer the canvas, see below!)

♥ Fabric measuring approx 6cm wider and 6cm longer than your chosen board

♥ Wadding or batting cut to a rectangle approx 1cm smaller than fabric

♥ Ribbon or tape*

♥ Staple gun

♥ Buttons

♥ Needle and thread

* I used approx. 2.5m of ribbon for a 30x40cm board and approx 5m for a 60x40cm board, plus a little extra for hanging

1. Place wadding on floor and place board facedown on top of wadding, ensuring even border all the way around.  Snip off a triangle of wadding at each corner.  Wrap wadding round one edge of board and staple several times along the length.  Repeat on opposite board edge, keeping wadding taut.  Next, do the remaining two edges, pulling fabric as taut as you can.

2. Repeat Step 1 with the fabric.

3. Take your ribbon or tape and, starting with the piece that goes from top left corner to bottom right corner, staple into place on the back of your board.  Working outwards from the central ribbon, and ensuring each ribbon is evenly spaced, staple all the parallel ribbons into place.  Keep the ribbons pulled taut as you work.

4. Now for a little weaving.  Using an under/over weaving pattern with the existing ribbons, place your top right to bottom left ribbon in place.  Work outwards like you did with the first layer of ribbons.

5.  If your memory board is to be wall-mounted, and not just resting against a wall, staple another length of ribbon onto the back for hanging.

6. Sew a button at each ribbon intersection to ensure your pictures and cards stay in place.  If you're using canvas, you can just jab your needle right through to the back of the canvas which is quick, easy and anchors the button well.  For my first memory board, I used a cork board which meant I couldn't do this so it was a bit more awkward just sewing the button to the ribbons, fabric and wadding.

Some tutorials use drawing pins or tacks, but I prefer the look of the buttons.  I found that Broderie Anglaise style lace trim made a really pretty and reasonably priced alternative to ribbon.

I'm currently making one for my niece's bedroom with polka dot tape but she's only 4 so I'm not sure how much she'll have to display in it just yet...

I am also thinking of making one as a Mother's Day present for my mum but pre-filling it with pictures and memories of her family.

Jenny

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Crochet bunting

My little niece, Sophie, is shortly moving into a new bedroom so I've offered to decorate it.  I've been getting ideas from Pinterest and have started making a few bits and pieces ahead of painting the room in a couple of weeks.

The first thing I made was this crochet bunting.  I absolutely LOVE how it came out and I think I might have to make some for my own room now in few different colours.

You can find the pattern I used for the motifs here.  It's been modified from an original pattern published in 1893.  I used a 3.5mm hook to keep the flowers tight and neat instead of the 4mm hook the cotton yarn called for.

 

I strung the flowers together using a simple crochet chain.  I was going to crochet over/around the chain with single crochet to strengthen it but I don't think I really need to.  

It's a really simple pattern so would be brilliant for a crochet beginner tired of scarves and granny squares!  The motifs work up really quickly so it's a great project for a weekend. 

Jenny

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Miss Beatrix's Buttons

I just had to write a quick post about the lovely handmade and hand-painted buttons I received the other day from my talented friend Anna. She makes the sweetest little buttons and as she takes custom orders, I asked if she could make me some bluefinches. Even though I'd seen a picture of them before they were sent, I still did a little "eeeeeep!" when opening the envelope!  

A family of Bluefinch buttons

Anna makes the buttons from polymer clay and then paints the intricate designs on by hand.  The attention to detail is just amazing and each button is a little work of art. (Excuse the photos - they were taken on my phone as I'm supposed to be working, oops.)

Mr Bluefinch Button

Ms Bluefinch Button

Baby Bluefinch Button!

The teeny little buttons feature my shop's logo.  I am planning on making some gloves or wristwarmers and stitching these onto the wrists.  As for the larger ones, I don't have any plans for them yet but I'm absolutely in love with them!

You can visit Anna's adorable etsy shop here: Miss Beatrix Shop .  

Jenny

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Pastel Crochet Granny Squares

Crochet and knitting are the perfect wintry crafts and I've really been getting back into both lately.  I've been rediscovering the humble granny square and am really enjoying making these pretty pastel ones.  Athough I started with the idea of making a throw, I quickly realised I'd better be more realistic about my staying power and make them into a cushion cover instead.  I had loads of pastel yarn left over from making gifts for the babies and children of friends and family so it started as a way of using scraps but I'm running out of pink so will need to buy some more to finish up.  Even when I start a project using leftovers, I end up spending money!

I'm just using a traditional granny pattern but with a little flower motif in the middle and a single crochet border.  I plan on crocheting them all together with white yarn and reckon I'll need 16 for one side of a cushion cover, so I'm nearly halfway there!

Kind of hoping we get snowed in this weekend so I've got the perfect excuse to stay inside in the warm and work up some more of these!

Pepe observing the snowfall

Jenny

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I made a cushion!

A couple of months ago, I was having a Twitter chat with the lovely Anna and Carolyn (aka @Miss_Beatrix and @AyannaAccessory) about sewing.  Basically, we all agreed we'd like to do more of it but lacked the time, motivation and confidence.  We decided to pick a different (easy) sewing project each month which we would all have a go at and compare results at the end.  It seemed like a good way to learn new techniques and having the one-month deadline gave you motivation to finish, but also plenty of time to procrastinate.

This is the second month we've been doing this and we decided to each make a cushion. Now, bearing in mind that I'm a total sewing novice with a machine which has been in hibernation for several months (years), I'm very happy with how this turned out:

The back has a simple envelope style opening which was really easy to do and made me wonder why I'd convinced myself I'd make a mess of it.

I used this pattern/idea from the lovely Cluck Cluck Sew blog.  There are tons of other things I want to make from there now, including loads of amazing Sprocket Pillows which I'm going to attempt when my sewing confidence is a bit higher!

I'd not tried applique with a sewing machine before, only by hand, so I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly I got the hang of sewing round those little leaves.  

The first few I did were ridiculously wonky and I thought I'd have to abandon the machine and do the rest by hand, but I persevered and improved lots by the end.

The best thing about this is that it cost practically nothing to make.  All the fabrics were already in my stash, except the trunk which I cut up an old vest top for.  

I hope you like it and if you're a novice sewer and would like to join our little monthly challenges, get in touch on Twitter!

Jenny

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What I made when I was ill

I've been feeling a bit flu-ish this week, not real, full-on flu, but bad enough to have to take it easy for a few days and drink lots of hot lemon and honey.  

Lying on the sofa, surrounded by tissues and boxsets of Sex and the City, I had a flick through an, as yet, unused present, The Busy Girl's Guide To Sewing by Carrie Maclennan. It's a good little book, more useful to a sewing novice like myself, I imagine, than someone who knows what they're doing already.  It's filled with supposedly quick little projects and I was suddenly filled with an urge to make the Keep-It-Neat Pattern Sleeve to store my embroidery in when I'm not working on it.  I'm new to embroidery (you can see my first completed project here) but have already found that two big fluffy black cats and white cotton fabric do not mix.  In an attempt to store my embroidery safely away from cat hair and busy paws, this is what I made:

I'm pleased with how it turned out, although even as a novice, I'm sure I could have easily winged it and made it myself without the book.  My sewing machine has only just come out of a three year long hibernation though, so I thought I'd play it safe for my first project!  According to the book, this should have taken me around 30 minutes to make...if that's so, then they were the longest 30 minutes of my life.  I think this is actually the first time I've made anything from scratch with my machine though, so I'm quite happy :-)

Finally, I just wanted to show you my cute little Cath Kidston needle holder which was a gift from a friend:

Isn't he cute!?

Jenny

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