Bits of This and That

Wow more than a month since this little space has seen a new post. Things have been progressing slowly but steadily with the ripple blanket - probably a quarter of the way to being finished. This has been a great TV crochet. It has the added benefit of keeping me warm at the same time. No more pictures of this yet.

A book I have had on hold at the library for ages and ages was ready for me to pick up last week and that has sparked a little flower crafting. The book is called Kanzashi In Bloom and whoohoo is it one I think I may need to buy to add to the bookshelf. The instructions are very clear and the projects offer all sorts of inspiration.

Take a look at my efforts so far.

The little blue flower was the first one I tried and I added a button to it that I bought about 10 years ago in a button shop in Melbourne. I bought two of them and each one cost five dollars. I am not sure what I will do with this flower next. Maybe I will add a brooch back or possibly put it on a pretty pincushion so that I can look at it every time I sew. The big blue flower on the little board with the pegs and buttons was much larger and I found it more difficult to get a nice shape - all the petals seem to twist sideways. This is now hanging on my wall waiting for a few postcards to hang from it.

Check out the flickr pool of blooms made by people who have used the book.

Must go now. Happy Crafting!!

Wool+Hook+Pattern=Blanket in Progress

With this wool:

and the help of this lovely blog - attic24

this blanket is in progress.

There is lots of rippling to go but so far I have been pleased with the progress. Hopefully when it is finished it will fit on a single sized bed. The wool is from the Bendigo Woollen Mills with some other yarns from the stash thrown in for good measure.

A bag and a felt softie to share

It has taken a while but a I have made a new bag with help from Crafty Things. The pattern was Huntington Hobo by Pink Sand Beach Designs.

I had a bit of trouble with some of the instructions. The photos in the pattern instructions were hard to see as they were too small but with some help from Crafty Things I finished it. I used a different interfacing so the bag is floppier. This picture shows the back of the bag with the zipper pocket and there is another pocket inside without a zip. When I test ran the bag I found the inside pocket to be a little on the small side and some things fell out. It is going to be used for carrying books to school and probably not as an everyday handbag. I like how it looks and it is very roomy. This was the first bag I have made with zippers and these were the bits where I needed the most help. Thanks, Crafty Things.

Here it is part way through construction.

A while ago I made this cute kitty. It was a kit from Cupcakes for Clara and came with everything you needed to make the kitty. I think I might have run out of one of the threads but everything else was perfect. I wasn't quite sure if I liked him at first but he has been growing on me lots.

Applique on Drawstring Bag

A quick post to share this little applique. I needed to repair a pair of denim shorts - they have been so well loved that the fabric had worn thin on the front. I added an applique flower just like the one in the photo with a smaller one on the other leg. I did some repair work to the inner leg seams with a multi stitch zigzag, some bias tape and a bit of fusible webbing and will now get a little more wear from the shorts before they fall apart. I fused the bias tape to the inside of the seams and then used the multi stitch zigzag on the outside to hold it all together.

I like the colours I had chosen for the applique so made another and added to a lined drawstring bag. This bag will come in handy to hold those little bits and pieces that need a home in my creating space.

Off to sort some of the accumulated stash of fabric, felt, yarn, buttons and other things crafty.

A New Bag

I have had great fun with the sewing machine this week. A few little fishes, a few drawstring bags and then this. It all started with a little piece of patched fabric - just a few rectangles sewn together and the thought of "what will this become?"

I added two strips of osnaburg either side and then some more fabric top and bottom. At this point I was thinking of a tote. I then hand-stitched the three rows of running stitch using Perle cotton and found the the three buttons. It needed to be a bit wider if I wanted to use box corners at the bottom so I added two more fabric strips at the sides and at this point thought I would experiment with a different back.

For the back I used osnaburg with a layer of flannelette and added satin stitched ovals with two different coloured threads - the idea from this came via the book "Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts".

At this point I joined the front and back together. I added a backing of flannelette to the front as well. I added box corners on the outside instead of hiding them on the inside of the bag. I had tried this on a bag before Christmas and like to look of it. The lining was a piece of light weight cotton.

What kind of handles was the next step along with a closing of some sort. In the end I went with a drawstring top that was the same as the one I tried here. The last idea was for it to have a long strap so that I could use it messenger style - I like this style as it is hands free. As always I made the strap too long and had to shorten it by folding the strap on itself for a little bit and adding another button. I added some more patchwork to the strap but should also have interfaced it - it is a bit soft.

The end result is OK but the drawstring doesn't work very well hence the addition of some beads that can slide along and help keep it closed. I have been using it for the last couple of days and I think I will like it. I have a zipper pouch and smaller drawstring bag inside it to keep things organised. Avid Crafter likes the fabric I created for the back of the bag.

I think it is now time to get stuck in and finish the crochet food and then move on to working on some of the kits that are just waiting to be finished.

Happy crafting.

Go Fish - a gift in the making.

Some sewing has been progressing and a few little drawstring bags and zipper pouches have been made. More fabric has been purchased - the stash grows ever larger and a gift has been created.

Here is a little fish in the making. It is part of a set of ten that will be winging their way to a little nephew and niece. Each little fish has a washer sewn inside so that they can be caught with a magnet. I would love to link to the site from which the idea sprang but in the mysterious ways of the Internet it is no longer there???? This blogger has also made some and linked to the original site but has noted the disappearance of said site.

I have used the freezer paper method to create each fish and simply tucked a metal washer (I had some of these and decided to use them instead of the suggested magnets inside the fish) in the centre of the fish as I sewed around the edge of the freezer paper fish shape. There are two layers of fabric with a piece of batting in the middle add a little bulk.

Once I have sewn all around the edge I removed the freezer paper fish shape and cut outside the stitching with my pinking shears. Then I moved the washer to the mouth end of the fish and used my zipper foot to sew a curve around it - trapping it in place. I was able to reuse the freezer paper fish for each of my different fabrics as I just pressed it in place with a warm iron and then peeled it off after the stitching was done.

In the end there were ten little fishies. They will packed in a post bag very soon and my lovely Mum with help by acquiring the required magnet and pole to create the rest of the fishing game at it's destination.

I can remember making a set of fish for my own children but they were not as colourful as these. I made them from scraps of fleecy fabric (I cannot remember what used inside to be caught by the magnet) and used safety pins to add numbers to the bottom of the fish so that they could play a game and see who could catch the more valuable fish with the higher numbers to win the game. They were also just as happy to go fishing with no numbers attached - they would use my cane laundry basket as a boat and sit there quite happily fishing away. The magnet was a big horseshoe one that we tied to a cardboard tube with some very thick white cord. Not very attractive but very practical and created in minutes.

I think I will be making some more of these for me and others.

I am still creating the crochet play food and and now made pancakes and a salad bowl with lettuce, tomato pieces and onion strips but have no photos yet.