PennyDog's Garden Swap

PennyDog's Garden Swap has been such a great experience - I feel lucky that I got paired with Chrissy - it's been great to get to know her better (she goes dolphin watching! she lives in Aberdeen! she is considerably cooler than me!) and she has been so generous. Her parcel of goodies arrived here yesterday and as you can see I got some fabulous things - a lovely hand-printed tote bag (that I have decided to use for current crochet projects), a fabulous hand made ring and fridge magnets, a very stylish b&w rose picture, a japanese lantern, some chocolate (that didn't last long) and some incredible fabric. I also got a 10% off voucher for her brilliant shop. See, I told you I did well! There's been some other great swap parcels - you can take a look at the Garden Swap Flickr group. A huge THANK YOU to Chrissy for all the lovely thoughtful goodies you sent - can't wait to make something fabulous with that fabric!

While we're on the subject of the swap I thought I'd blog the bag I made to go in to Chrissy's parcel. It's a small bag (about 20cm x 20cm) made with navy cotton twill with a handsewn, wool felt, flower garden applique. I have to say that I am pretty much more proud of this than anything I have ever made, and it was VERY hard to send it off to Aberdeen. Doing the applique was a real challenge (I always like to set myself a bit of a challenge when I'm doing swaps!) but I think it worked well and I got the slightly retro feel I was going for. I'm also very pleased with the colour combination, because I'm never confident about how colours go together. The handles are recycled from an charity shop bag find, and I used that bag as a template for this one. That's my bag making top tip actually... You can find some ace bags in charity shops - I like to use them to make a pattern and reuse all the bits and bobs (handles, zips, buttons, beads, etc), that come with them. I am really hoping Mary Portas' ideas to revamp charity shops don't catch on - I'm worried I wont be able to find bargains any more...

Two more projects completed...

Well, I didn't expect it to be going this well at this early stage, but I have another couple of projects finished from my 50 Things Challenge list.

I've been wanting to create a slightly larger hairclip (& something other than the Daisy clips I sell on Etsy already) for a while now. I love wild roses, so I thought I might have a go at making something reminiscent of a dog rose (isn't that a terrible name?!). I've used some pink and white wool-rich felt to call to mind the petals and yellow and orange embroidery thread for the stamens in the centre. The stitching is put on pretty randomly - it's not very tidy in nature after all (it's a good excuse)... I like them a lot - although they look a bit foolish on me, and I don't really do pink, so I might well make myself some red poppy clips at some stage. More stuff for me!

When it comes to size however, the clips don't come anywhere close to the tweedy corsage I've also finished. It's grey & black and therefore much more my kind of thing. It's also pretty huge and certainly a statement. I think it would look fantastic on a big winter coat. Anyhow, I wont go into too much detail now because I want to blog on it tomorrow - the photos really don't go with the pretty pink wild roses.

Dear me...

I have been so lax recently! I guess it's a busy time of year but I find it so frustrating - I have lots of bits and bobs to post about but something always seems to come up before I get to write it down! However, I have 1/2 an hour before dinner so will make an effort to complete a post before then.

I think I'm done with Christmas stockings for a while (or at least the ones I came up with - I am in the process of copying someone else's work for a friend) & it made a LOVELY change to make some hairclips for an alchemy order on Etsy. Here they are (see left)... Don't they look pretty & spring-like!! I made them for Caroline who has her own Etsy shop called Seawood Designs. In return I acquired one of her gorgeous art rolls (see right) - which are pretty AND practical - always a winning combination. Caroline also makes gorgeous crochet cakes which have proved incredibly popular - I think she might be trying to set some kind of record for cakes crocheted!

I also had some last minute orders from the USA for Christmas pudding decorations & had to rush to get them done in time for the last posting date. I thought I could practically make them in my sleep by now, but it appears not. Whilst I was watching the last episode of the excellent 'The Devil's Whore' the other night I tried to make a pudding with 6 sections instead of the usual 4. Possibly I was distracted by the brilliant John Simm..

I'm told I need to go and 'encourage' the boys to tidy up - so I'm off again. But I'm aiming for another post very soon...really!

Sweet (but not sugar) mouse

I needed a break from stocking-creating, scarf-knitting & apron-fashioning these last couple of days. I've got lots of ideas for new things to make & it is quite frustrating (sometimes) to be limited to making lots of the same thing. Of course, I shouldn't complain because what it does mean is that business must be going well, but occasionally it does get to me & I need a bit of a change.

Of course, it couldn't be anything too big because I haven't really got the time or energy for anything ambitiously creative & huge so came up with the idea of making a little creature that could make an appearance in my sons' Xmas stockings. I dallied with the idea of a ladybird, then suddenly remembered that little white sugar mice with string tails are a traditional feature of Xmas stockings in my partner's family. So here's my non-tooth threatening version - just some fuzzy white felt, a bit of black embroidery thread and some hemp twine for a tail. He's about 3 inches long & very very cute. And it was so nice to have a break from Christmas stocking furry fluff! I am wondering if I have got time to make a few to put in the shop before Christmas...

And just a final note to say - this is my 49th post - my 50th post giveaway is coming very soon!!

I pricked and pounced!

I've been personalising Christmas stockings full time for the last few days it seems. Because the stockings are made with quite rough textured felt it is a real problem getting the lettering on to the fabric so that I can embroider the names. I have been using a charcoal pencil, but that is rather unsatisfactory because drawing on the felt is difficult, smudgy, and the pencil gets very clogged up with wool. Yuck.

So, today, I had a bit of an inspiration when I remembered reading about the 'prick and pounce' method of transferring pattern to fabric in Diana Springall's book Embroidery. So I tried my own version of it.

First I drew my design on thick tracing paper.










Then I pricked along the lines of the tracing with a chunky needle (sorry, rubbish at knowing about needle sizes) - you might be able to see in the photo below that I missed the dot on the letter 'i'!













Then I laid the tracing on the felt stocking I'm working on at the moment. Holding it firmly in place I then scraped a bit of tailors' chalk dust on to the tracing paper & rubbed it in a bit with my finger. If you were doing prick and pounce properly then you would use pouncing powder - ground up cuttlefish - & a brush so I don't think you would need to rub it in.

















Then I lifted up the tracing paper and - tada! - it worked perfectly! I then pressed the chalk in a bit with my finger so it didn't just brush off.














People have been using this method of transferring pattern to fabric for centuries. I think the next step is to join up the dots with paint, otherwise the pattern would soon be rubbed off. Fortunately, the chalk I used lasted for long enough for me to finish the embroidery.













I've just read that it's also traditional to use ground cinnamon for pouncing. That sounds infintely preferable to using ground cuttlefish... And wouldn't it make Christmas stockings smell nice and Christmassy?

I feel the need to record how hard I've been working these last few days. So - we've got the embroidery above...

This very sweet little blue elephant:


















Some crochet brooches (er, not quite finished):














Finished a scarf using the stunning beautiful Colinette prism in Autumn Leaves:














No wonder I'm cream-crackered...

Personalised Christmas stockings

I've so enjoyed making these stockings as a custom order. I was a bit concerned about how the heck I was going to fit the names on to there, because they're not huge things - but it worked out just fine! They are meant as tree decorations rather than to hang up for Father Christmas to fill, but there's certainly space in them for a little tiny gift or two. Please ignore the awful Xmas tree I've used for the photos - we found this tatty number in my dad's attic & we thought it would be good for our product photos. Maybe not!!

The stocking itself is handsewn together and the fur is also sewn on by hand because my sewing machine can't get into such small places! The applique is done with wonderful wonderful bondaweb and finished with hand blanket stitching round the edge. I do love to blanket stitch but I always forget how to start - have to get my book out and look it up every single time... Hopefully I'll get some more custom orders before Christmas and then I can practise a bit more.

I now have another two to make for two more little girls. I've had fun today chosing the coloured felt & floral fabric that I am going to use. I can't remember if I have mentioned where I buy my felt from before. They're called Handmade Presents & they have fantastic stuff - gorgeous colours and 100% wool so it is a dream to work with and doesn't have that sheen that you get with cheaper felt. One of the things they sell at their site are these absolutely gorgeous felt animals. Take a look at their fab stuff!

Elf Hat Christmas Tree Decoration -It's Tutorial Time

These felt Christmas tree decorations were pretty much the bestsellers when we started selling craft kits on Ebay last year (we've moved over to Etsy now - a much nicer place to be). You can buy a kit containing all you need to make one again this year but I thought it would be fun to offer the pattern as a resource for people who want to go & get their own bits & pieces for the project (or of course, you can raid your stash!).

Depending on how you fast you sew, this really isn't a time-consuming project & the results are really pretty. I reckon a beginner could make one of these in an afternoon so there's nothing stopping you! We use them to hold a big handful of sweets or chocolate money & then hang them on the tree.

You will need:

1 piece of felt about 12x25cm for main body of hat

1 piece of felt about 1.5cmx20cm for the hanging loop
embroidery thread
assorted buttons and beads to decorate
2 larger buttons to attach the hanging loop
needle & a couple of pins







Step 1
Cut the larger piece of felt so that it will form the shape of a cone when rolled. In the picture the 2 short sides are 12cm in length & the inner angle is about 130 degrees.

















Step 2
You don't have to do this next step, but I find it very helpful to mark a line 1cm along the curved edge to the central point (see picture). This reminds me not to sew any beads or buttons on that area which will be covered when you roll the hat into the cone shape.















Step 3
Sew on the buttons & beads in a random pattern all over the hat using 3 strands of the embroidery thread. Remember to leave 2 clear areas on opposite sides on the rim of the cone for sewing on the buttons for the strap/hanger (you'll do this after you have sewn the cone shape).

















Step 4
Roll the felt into a pointed hat shape, overlapping the edges where you have made your pencil line. Pin (if it helps ) & sew along this edge on the right side of the hat using overcast stitch - I like to use a contrasting thread here because it looks so cute.






















Step 5
Sew on the larger buttons on opposite sides of the hat about 1cm from the edge.



Step 6
Cut slits, a little shorter than the width of the buttons you have just sewn in either end of the piece of felt for the strap/hanger.


















Step 7
Fasten the hanger on to the buttons & tada! You're done...

I think some ric-rac edging and a little bell would make fantastic additions to this little hat if you have the inclination.

There's lots more Christmas decoration, food & celebration ideas and resources at our Christmas Matters site. Enjoy!

Hand sewing - I love it!

I'm in the midst of a real frenzy of handsewing at the moment. Perhaps it's because I got my new sewing machine a couple of months back - I had to force myself to switch the thing on this morning! And I haven't done any crochet since we got back from our holidays at the end of September. It's strange how these enthusiams come and go in phases. I've decided to go with them rather than fight against them, even though I would really like to make a few more crochet animals for the shop. I don't see the point of forcing myself to make stuff if I'm not keen. So I've been working on handsewn felt Xmas decorations mostly. I think what started the enthusiasm was a new book...

I was very excited to get a bonus from the people I work for recently. I was clever enough to get 100% in 2 consecutive reviews & as this includes spelling, punctuation and grammar it was a minor miracle! I used the money to get a couple of new craft books & selected The Cute Book from the rather sparse selection in my local Waterstones. It's a fun book of projects to make some really cute little creatures & here's my 1st attempt. I've added to the pattern a little bit because I wanted to make a creature with stuffed arms and legs too (the projects in the book don't generally involve stuffing the limbs) - but it was an awful lot of fiddly cutting out of felt pieces. He is very sweet but I am wondering what to do with him - I have an idea that I would like to do little bag & felt creature sets for the shop. But that will probably have to be after Christmas now.

Speaking of which - I need to get back to my decorations!

How did I ever do without one...?

Here's the first needle book I made myself back when I was starting to craft with any kind of seriousness. It's the most useful piece of equipment that I have - no more hunting around for my fave needles through the various boxes and tubs that make up my 'storage system'. It's practical and pretty too because it's made with my favourite Liberty tana lawn fabric - I really love it & have no idea how I did any sewing without it. It makes me feel very professional too! The ones I have run up since have sold well in the shop too, so I am obviously very fond of making them. The later versions have little ribbon and button closures too & I like finding just the right button for each scrap of fabric.

A more fiddly needle book I made recently for the Fairy Tale swap is this little lily pad (my theme, chosen by Lottie, was The Frog Prince). I think it came out pretty well although I now wish I had made the lily a little bit bigger (sorry Lottie!!). It's made almost entirely with wool felt - dark green on the outside, light green on the inside and the white flower. When I was making the flower I got to thinking it would make a lovely hairclip - so I am hoping to try that out when I get a chance. I think I am slightly put off by the fact that I HATE cutting felt - it always seems to go wonky - especially when I am cutting teeny tiny bits... I expect my hard-living 20s did for some of my fine motor skills. Of course felt is so lovely to sew that as soon as I get the cutting out of the way I forget all about how annoying it is & come up with lots of lovely new ideas for it. I am currently working on a very cute little Xmas pudding and a lovely little Christmas stocking - prototypes of decorations I hope to sell in the shop. Great fun!

Projects in progress...

Haven't been around for a while... something to do with moving house I guess, but I have been hard at work so thought it was time for a bit of a round up of my work in progress. It was my friend's daughter's 2nd birthday last week (hi Becky, Molly & Keith!) and I wanted to make something that wasn't quite the standard soft toy. I recently managed to pick up some excellent hard-wearing blue suiting fabric on Ebay so thought I would use that as the basis for an Awake/Asleep Bear. I remembered loving this kind of thing when I was a child & as it was something that I hadn't seen in the shops I thought it would make a good pressie for a lovely little girl. The fabric is some great Kaffe Fassett stuff that I got from The Cotton Patch a shop with a really excellent selection of fabric & very efficient customer service. I am pleased with the way it turned out, although I think the bear is a little boyish for his cute green & pink dress! I definitely prefer the way that the sleeping side turned out.

I also picked up some gorgeous stripey Fassett stuff which I intend to use to line a bag that I have crocheted. The pattern is based on one from The Happy Hooker by Debbie Stoller. This is a fun book an excellent value for money considering the number of pleasing patterns & the very clear introduction to crochet techniques. I am particularly grateful for a tip that I have already picked up about how make edges neat by hooking into the base of the chain rather than the top on the 1st row. I have said goodbye to holey edges!! This picture is a bit out of date now because I have since sewn up the bag & blocked it & it is now all ready for its lining. I have been thinking & thinking about how I will embellish this & think I came up with an answer last night. I have made a flower with some of the lining material & am going to top this with a crochet flower (or possibly a crochet 'button'). I am dead pleased with how the fabric flower worked out so hopefully it is going to look pretty good. It will definitely go on sale in the shop when I open (next week?!) if I can bear to part with it.

I think that will do for now - I've also been working on new hairclip designs & have had a little go of doing some felting (with knitted fabric rather than from yarn) which I am very excited about. But that's for future posts.

Another pin cushion finally finished

This has been sitting around waiting to be finished off for days now - just haven't had a chance to get to my sewing machine to sew the sides. I like the way the colours look on this one - and now that the blobs are a bit closer together I think it looks better too. Thinking about it the colours really remind me of some of the photos that we have of our first garden in London. I am obviously attracted by this colour combination because I seem to be drawn to plants with these colours too.

What hasn't worked well is the edge stitching - this time I went for more curved corners but for me the corners still look a bit bumpy & uneven. I am not sure what I am doing wrong & I am wondering about unpicking it & having another go... I hate it when things don't go right the 1st time. Which is my downfall when it comes to crafting, I really haven't got much patience when things don't go right.

More hair stuff... working on ideas for the shop

This is really experimenting with stuff that I might or might not sell in the shop. I have lots & lots of gorgeous 100% wool felt to use and thought these clips might make a good thing to sell as ready made items & as kits. I am very pleased with these - I didn't have any yellow embroidery thread so thought I might try the orange instead. I actually think it looks great - bringing out the depth in the yellow and I love the contrast it makes with the absolutely fantastic green colour of the clip cover. Anyway, here they are:



The only thing I find difficult about them is that it is so hard to cut small bits of felt very accurately. It takes a lot of patience which is something is not a specialist subject of mine!

I am also working on some tote bags with some furnishing fabrics I got reduced at John Lewis. I am very pleased with the colours & they way they co-ordinate - especially as it was pretty much dependent on what I found in the remnant bin. The other ongoing project I am working on is some large drawstring bags (pump bags we used to call them at school) which I want to use for storing son of my sons' toys. They have lots & lots of little bitty things (they have phases of being absolutely fanatical about jigsaws & they love Playmobil) so it would be very good to find a better way to store them rather than all jumbled up a various boxes. If they work out well I am sure that I will probably think about doing them for the shop too - maybe with some applique felt decoration - can't keep me away from felt at the moment!

I spent some time this morning chopping off the front of lots of Xmas cards that we seem to have been saving for the last 4 years! I am trying to be organised about recycling them as decorations/Xmas cards/gift tags... terrifyingly organised for me in fact. We are going to take this years cards and decorations down in a minute. Sad it's all over for another year.

Some finished projects!

Very pleased to be able to post some completed projects!

This is the scarf I have made as part of my brother's Xmas present. I am very pleased with it - it's probably the biggest thing I have ever knitted for starters (I am not a great knitter!). I love the pattern too - very simple but a bit more complicated than just a straightforward rib. The wool is some gorgeous Rowan tweed stuff. It is very black but has some lovely touches of red, blue & yellow in it. Hopefully it will appeal to my brother - otherwise I will wish that I had kept it for myself!!!


I have been making tote bags for a lot of people based on a pattern than I got from Simple Sewing by Lotta Jansdotter - which is an excellent resource (although strange for an English user to revert to using Imperial measurements). I have used plain white canvas for the main part of the bag & some green & blue check for the bottom panel. I have added different embellishments for different bags - this one has a crochet silk flower which I am hoping wont be too impractical. The yarn for the flower is from The Natural Dye Studio and is an absolute pleasure to crochet with. I am slightly addicted to crocheting flowers because they are so quick and easy to do & look so sweet. I finished a couple more last night to give as Xmas brooches/pins & will take a photo to put on here later on today. I also want to make another couple of tote bags like this one - it is great to have my sewing machine out again!

Whilst we were on holiday near York (you can read more about that & see some gorgeous photos in my partner's Christmas blog) I made another cutsey bag which I am very pleased with. I have numerous small girls to create presents for at this time of year (birthdays and Christmas all coming at the same time) so I have another one to do. Fortunately they are pretty quick to do & it is only really me fiddling around with different colours & embellishments that make them time consuming.

Finally finished something!

I am feeling very pleased with the cutsey bag:



I like the shape especially - and the detachable flower brooch. It's made with yet more of the 100% wool felt that I really love to work with. It is so simple & beautiful to use & makes the difference between it & other types of cheaper felt all too obvious. The bag is designed for kids - it's only about 12cm across and I am really hoping that it will appeal to the recipient. I was thinking of making one for her sister also, but am not sure what colour to go with. I might go with the same colours but perhaps with a different design for the brooch.

The great thing about the bag is that it is very straightforward to make - it really requires the bare minimum of sewing skills, so I am wondering if it would be a good project for our craft kit business. I am sure that it would be quite straightforward for a child of perhaps 7 and over to sew & very easy for an adult to make as a gift. I guess the only way to find out is to stick it on Ebay & see if we get any takers...

Working with this felt is making me feel very very inspired to have a go at making my own felt. It would be lovely to have control over the colours (although I really like the colours created by the people I buy from currently). After Christmas I think I will investigate doing a course if we can come up with the cash. I guess if I use the skills for the craft business then we can justify it.

I have also ALMOST finished the dreaded tea cosy but have yet to sew it all together. I think it is going to look really nice - let's just hope the ILs haven't bought a different shaped teapot since we last visited. I also don't have the right shaped teapot to use for a photo - so I am going to have to work out another way to show it in its full glory.

Yesterday we had a fun time making saltdough Christmas decorations with the kids & some friends. They came out pretty well & I think I will add the project idea to our Christmas website later on today.