Blissed out

Pinboard tutorial

I've been wanting to make a pinboard for ages and ages. I love having photo's around and John's a really good photographer so we've loads I think should have pride of place on display! I wanted a really big one to fill a big gap I've had reserved in our dining room wall but I couldn't find one I could afford.  I've been on the look out for an old, wooden framed one but my regular ebay search has drawn a blank. (We've actually got one in our office which would have been perfect but it's Council property and currently full of rather important work stuff - and it's a big too big to sneak out the door without anyone noticing!)

So I've been thinking for a while that I'd like to have a go at making one but couldn't figure out how to do it.  I knew I wanted something bold and much bigger than the usual ones available in stationers (well here anyway.)  Slowly the idea formed for me of what I could use and the final piece came when John was storing some flooring fiber boards that are designed to go under laminate flooring (he has a flooring business)  The boards are recycled wood or paper and are nice and lights.  They're nice and spongy so will take pins nicely. 

So, here's what I used:

Piece of hardboard cut to required size
Laminate fiber board - I used 2 boards for the size I wanted but you could cut them to suit
contact adhesive
Staple gun
Coloured fleece - I used a fleece blanket from IKEA - about £2.50 I think

Lay the hardboard on a flat surface and spread with contact adhesive.  This is really smelly stuff - I've no idea how flooring people work with it.  Make sure you use it in a very well ventilated room - or even outside. 

Put some contact adhesive on the fiber boards and attach them to the hardboard.  As you can see from the pictures - John did most of this for me - it's his medium (and he was a bit 'let me do it' when I tried to have a go!)

Leave to dry for a few minutes and then stand the hardboard (now with the fiber board attached) Using the staple gun, attach the fleece to the underside of the board (the non fiber board side.)  Apply contact adhesive to around a third of the board and the fleece and when it's tacky, pull it taught over the first portion of the front of the board.  Repeat this step until the whole of the board is covered.

Then pull the surplus fabric over the edges of the board and secure with the staple gun.

Finally, fold the corners and cut to prevent and bulges - then staple them in place.

Finally, drill holes in the corners and use to secure to the wall with screws and raw plugs.

Voila, groovy pinboard.

Hand made flower petals tutorial

I've had some requests to do a tutorial for the flowers on my revamped wedding dress.  Obviously I am thrilled to oblige! 

The most important thing is that you use a man made fabric - I've used cream satin for these although I've been experimenting with polyester blouses from my local charity shop and they work a treat (and it's a funky way to recycle too.) 

Here's what you'll need:
man made fabric
Candle
Bowl of water
Tweezers or jewelery pliers

Cut your fabric into circles.  Don't worry about getting them symmetrical and perfectly round - they'll look much more 'natural' if you do them free hand (and life's way too short to stress over perfection.)

Take your tweezers or pliers and grasp the fabric close to the edge.

 

Carefully singe the edge of the fabric over the candle flame. 

This can take a bit of practice - you just want to melt the edge fibers without scorching them.  I find that rotating the fabric quickly over the flame seems to work well. You'll find that as the fibers melt, the edges will curl up - just like a flower petal.

The water is on hand in case you get a bit singe happy and the fabric 'catches' -it's only happened to me once but that was enough!

As John said when I was making them - 'that's such a rainy day activity' and he's right, it's quite zen after a while!

I've done lots of cream because I like the simplicity of them but I suppose you could do whatever colour you like to match your colour scheme. I've seen little boxes of flower petals selling for £6.99 and you could make your own for a fraction of that (especially if you use charity shop finds.)

I'm going to sprinkle them on my tables at the party but I've also made flowers out of them by stacking them one on top of the other and securing with a few contrasting stitches in the centre.  You could also use little beads too to add a bit more bling.

Flower Brooch

I been making little things this week - easy, sit in front of the TV type of thing.  I was really pleased with these brooches and loved playing around with the different fabrics and finding just the right vintage button to finish each one off.

They're super easy to make and a great way to use up fabric scraps- so as it's been a while since I did a tutorial, I decided to do one!

Cut a strip of fabric around 10 inches long and between 2 & 4 inches wide (the wider the strip, the bigger the finished flower will be.)

Fold the fabric in half length ways and iron it so that you have a nice crisp fold.

Then take some threat and do a row of running stitch along the raw edge - about 1/8th inch from the edge.  You want to leave a long tail at the beginning of the row.

When you've completed your row of running stitch, pull both sides of the thread together and knot in the middle.  This will pull the fabric into a circular 'ruffle'

For extra security, I did another row of running stitch around the middle of the 'flower' and secure with a knot.

Then take a small square square or circle of felt and sew onto the back of the flower.  This provides a good base to secure your pin and button too.

Now choose a nice contrasting or toning button and sew it into the center of the flower, securing it to the felt at the back. 

Using a glue gun, secure a brooch pin to the back of the brooch.

Finally, for neatness, trim the first piece of felt and then take a circle of felt and glue it to the back of the brooch, over the pin back.

Then use then as you will - maybe to adorn a coat, or brighten up a plain hat or bag - I mean, what can't be brightened up with a funky flower?

Jo x

 

Appliquéd Sweater - With Tutorial

I've had this sweater for ages and although I love the color and style, I don't wear it very often because it's well, a bit revealing!  It's fairly tight fitting and low cut - so I always feel too overexposed and dolly Partonesque -not that I can compete size wise but they boobs are just a bit too 'out there' if you know what I mean! (I was going to include a picture of me wearing it at  this point but decided against!)

So I originally thought I'd just put a bit of trim at the front to reduce the 'in your face' ness of the whole thing but then I thought it was a bit plain and could maybe do with a bit of a lift. The Broiderie Anglaise was really pretty so I thought I'd make a bit of a flower design using it.

 

I cut the trim into 9 triangles and placed them on the sweater in a circular shape.

These form the petals of the flower and I pinned them individually so that they would stay in place.

Then I took some Stitch and Tear and placed a piece a bit larger than the flower shape on the underside.

 

I used the same pins that were holding onto the flower 'petals'  to pin it in place (that way, I can see all of the pins and won't be in danger of sewing over them with the machine.) 

Stitch and tear is fantastic and I'd say essential if you want to sew into knit or woolen fabric.  It holds it all in place so that your sewing machine doesn't stretch or eat the fabric and means that your sweater won't get pulled out of shape and your appliqué or embroidery will stay the shape you intended.

I used the appliqué stitch on my sewing machine but you could use a zig zag just as effectively.  I sewed around each petal  individually, pivoting the needle on the corners so that you can turn neatly (to pivot, simply leave the needle in the fabric, lift up the presser foot with the needle still in the fabric and turn the fabric so that you're facing a new direction.)

Rather than backstitching, I left long tails on all of the beginnings and ends and tied them in on the wrong side so that it was neat and out of the way. 

Then came the fun bit!  I love the tearing of the Stitch and Tear - you simply tear away the bits outside of your design to create a neat edge.  Because of it's papery texture you should be able to do this quite easily.

Then all I had to do was sew a cute little vintage button in the center of the flower. 

Now I think I could actually wear this sweater - so nice to be rescued from the back of my wardrobe.

Jo x

Felt Ipod Cozy

I'm so pleased with my evenings work! I've been feeling so inspired recently. I've been online lots and feel like a whole world of fantastic, inspirational, motivational craft blogs out there. My head is so full of ideas that work (as in the day job that pays the mortgage) is totally getting in the way!

My very lovely partner John bought me a new ipod Nano for Christmas. This was a total surprise as we were supposed to be forgoing presents for one another because we're off to Barbados tomorrow. But he broke the rule and bought me a fabulous dinky little nano (which I'm pod-cast happy with at the moment - I can't BELIEVE how many fantastic free pod-casts are out there - even video ones.)

But I don't have a case for it so tonight, despite lots of other things that really needed my attention (like triple checking the cases are packed, we've got passports, tickets, clean underwear etc.) I decided to make myself one.

I think I mentioned yesterday that I'm feeling a bit shaky. Today I had the horrible edgy feeling that comes with anti-depressant withdrawal. I know it's only a temporary chemical response, but it's a horrid throwback to my days of depression. So I knew that I needed to do what nurtures me - make stuff. There's lots of evidence out there that repetitive, physical actions such as sewing, crochet, knitting (in other words crafting) are very soothing and there's a ton of evidence to support creativity as therapy. So instead of giving into my anxiety and packing neurosis, I made myself something fantastic - and I'm SO pleased with it.

I kind of made the whole design up, so I've not got exact measurements or anything. But I think the pictures make it pretty clear how it's made. I wasn't sure about the red felt at first but I wanted something cosy and I had quite a bit left over from Christmas so that's what got used! I chose a lovely little chintzy number for the lining and decoration and the button is a spare from an Anthropologie cardigan I bought in new york city.

I started by cutting out a length of felt about 3 times the length of the Ipod and about 1 inch wider.

I then cut out a piece of floral fabric about 1 inch wider than the felt.

I hemmed the floral fabric with running stitch and then placed both the wrong sides (of the felt and the floral) against one another and attached the floral fabric to the felt with (as neat as possible - but not too neat, I like the naive look - or at least that's what I'm saying and I'm sticking to it!)

I then folded the bottom of the fabric up to make an envelope shape.

After double checking that the ipod actually fitted (phew!) I sewed on the cute little button and a few scraps of the floral fabric. I used slightly off kilter circular shapes - but you could use anything you like really. That's what I love about creating - sometimes it's sooo nice to do something free form and not tied down to a pattern or rule book.

I used meandering stitches around the scraps and over the body to create a flowing pattern. I really like the way the navy blue provides a nice contrast to the red (and stops it being a bit too 'Christmassy').

Finally I sewed a piece of thin white ribbon onto the top flap as a tie. Now all I do is wrap it around the button a few tips to secure it closed.

Considering sewing isn't really something I've done much of I'm really pleased with how this has turned out. I'll have my Etsy shop yet! (OK, one step at a time!)

How to Block Your Knitting

One of the most important things you can do to improve the look and quality of your finished knitting is to block it. Blocking simply involves pressing the pieces into a crisp shape. Because yarn is, by it's very nature, pretty stretchy, It can sometimes be difficult to create neat, clean lines like you can with other fabrics. Blocking helps to 'set' the knitting into a neat shape so that it can be sewn up into a finished garment, or worn on it's own (as in the case of a one piece garment.)

Equipment needed:

- Iron
- Glass head pins - you don't strictly need the pins to be glass head but they're much, much easier to see if they are
- Damp cloth or towel
- Ironing board or suitable surface to pin your knitting flat.

Place your knitting on the ironing board and pin into the desired shape; place the pins through the knitting into the board to hold it in place.

Take a damp cloth or towel (Run it under the tap and then ring it out fully - it should be damp not wet) and place it over the knitting. Press (don't rub) a medium iron over the cloth for a few seconds at a time.

The idea is to let the dampness from the cloth produce a small amount of steam to set the yarn. Be careful not to let the iron stand for too long and let the yarn get too hot.

When you've pressed the whole piece, remove the cloth but leave the knitting to stay pinned in place until it has cooled completely. This will set it and produce the clean, crisp effect.

If you're knitting a garment that need sewing up, this will provide you with new edges to sew up and clean lines that will hang well and give you a professional look.

How to Add a Simple Crocheted Edge To Your Knitting

I originally taught myself to crochet because so many of my favorite knitting patterns included crocheted edges. This is the first in what I hope will be a series of posts showing you just how easy it is to add edges with crochet to your knitting.

This edging is by far the simplest to do and is a great one to add neatness to your knitting.

Adding a crocheted edge to knitting

Start by holding your crochet hook is your right hand (use the same size hook as you have knitting needle: So if you were using a 4mm knitting needle, use a 4mm crochet hook.) Make a loop and wrap it round your hook. Then put the hook through one of the loops on the bottom edge of your knitting.

Wrap the yarn around the hook from right to left.

Pull the bottom loop up over the new loop (created by wrapping the yarn over from right to left as you've just done) and over the top of the hook.

Wrap your yarn around from right to left again, and repeat the above step, leaving 1 loop on the hook.

Carry on doing this double crochet stitch into every stitch along the outside edge of your knitting. This is probably the simplest and easiest crochet stitch to get to grips with and produces a nice neat edge.