Christmas makes

I know I haven't posted in a while, but I can assure you it's not because I've been idle!  I've been working my socks off this past month to try and get everything made in time.  Unfortunately, I was a bit over-ambitious about what I could achieve in the time available, so some makes are going to have to be presents for next year!  But now it's Christmas Eve, so I thought I would reflect on what has gone well.

I'm really pleased that I managed to make reindeer decorations for just about everyone I had been planning on giving one to.  Everyone who has had one seems to like them, so I'm happy.

I'm rather proud of this hot water bottle cover that I have knitted for my Nana.  This was my first real attempt at a cabling project, and the final result is better than I had hoped.  I know she is going to love it, and as a granddaughter I get great pleasure from being able to give homemade gifts to grandparents.  I only have two grandparents left, and they are incredibly important to me so I like to be able to make a fuss of them.

I actually found the pattern for this project in a knitting magazine I bought in a charity shop for 50p - another small victory for charity shop browsing!


I have previously posted about the Christmas fabric that M gave me.  I used this, along with unbleached calico, to make Christmas bunting.  I have to admit that I am really quite proud of the result.  I hope to make more for next year.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas.

Baby name bunting

This weekend I had the joy of joining some friends as they celebrated their little boy's first birthday. I wanted to make something as a present, and I decided I would try to make some personalised bunting, decorated with their baby's name.  Fortunately the result was as good as I could have hoped for.

I have written previously about my attempts at making bunting from card.  This time I went for fabric bunting, using calico for the triangles. I had some fabric left over from the cot quilt I had given my friends the year before when their son was born, and I used this fabric for the lettering.

If you want to have a go at making something similar, the process is pretty straightforward:

* Decide on your size of triangle - this will dictate the size of your letters.  Make a template.  Draw and cut out (remembering to leave seam allowance) your triangles from the calico.  I find tailor's chalk really helpful for this.
* Draw and cut out templates for your letters.  Think about whether you have anything that can help you with this - I used a cookie cutter to help me with the star (I had to scale down the size a bit).  Once you have the templates for the shapes, cut these out from the fabrics you have chosen (think about choosing colourful fabrics that will stand out against the calico).  Small scissors help here!  I never throw away templates - you never know when they will come in handy.
*  Attach the letters to the calico triangles.  I used Bondaweb for this; I found it made the appliqué process a lot easier than my previous attempts at this skill, and I think it makes for a neater result.  It's very easy to use.  Using your templates you draw and cut out the shapes you need from the Bondaweb, iron these onto the back of the fabric pieces, peel off the backing and iron the pieces into place on the calico triangles.  Keep the edges neat by overcasting on a sewing machine.
* To make each bunting flag, take one decorated triangle piece and one plain triangle piece, lay right sides together, pin and sew along the two side edges (not the top).  Trim the edges, especially around the point, press the seams, and then pull through.
* I made my own binding to sew along the top of the bunting flags, but you can buy bias binding, or you could use ribbon.  I pinned this in place, folding it over the top raw edges of the flags, carefully lining up front and back edges, and then machine stitching into place.

I am really pleased with the finished result, and this will certainly be a project that I will be trying again.

Tablecloth with bird applique - stage 1

A small success - I have completed the edging on the tablecloth I am working on.

The tablecloth is a length of cotton sheeting, which I cut to size for my dining table.

To add the edging, I followed these steps:

I hemmed the raw edges of the cut sheeting to prevent fraying.  This was probably not strictly necessary and if I ever carry out this project again I would think about missing this step.  The picture shows the "wrong" side of the tablecloth.

I wanted to use a mix of fabrics for the edging, so I cut small lengths of fabric which I then joined together to create one long strip.  I pressed the seams and also folded and pressed the edges.

This is a picture of the "wrong" side of the tablecloth taken after I had sewn the strip of edging to the "right" side of the tablecloth.  I did this by placing the strip of edging, right side down, on the right side of the tablecloth.  I then used my machine to sew these together (the top line of sewing in the picture), folded down the edging to reveal its "right" side and ironed along the sewn line.

On the back, I hand stitched the edging, sewing along the fold to create a neat edge and making small, hidden stitches.

I am pleased with my neat corners.

The next stage will be to add the birds (a few of which are pictured below). You may recognise the shape - I used the same Cath Kidston template on this cushion and as a basis for my Christmas robin.  I used Bondaweb to help attach the wings; it's easy to use and I am pleased with the results.  I'll be using Bondaweb to help fix the birds onto the tablecloth.  And of course I will share the results with you as soon as I am done!

A pair of hares

Lately, the mists of guilt have started to descend whenever my thoughts turn to this blog; but then I remind myself that "not perfect, but good enough" goes for the writing of this blog just as much as it does for any of the "makes" I post about.  I make no claim to be a prolific or conscientious blogger; my aim is to share ideas, to strengthen my belief in the joy of creativity over the search for perfection, and to hopefully inspire you to put a little time aside to get creating.  

Having made my excuses, I was about to say my problem is that I have too many projects on the go, but a more positive way of looking at this is that there are several things I am working on, all of which I'm enjoying, and I'm looking forward to sharing them with you eventually.  This isn't a race and I'm not setting myself monthly quotas of projects to complete.  So you'll have to bear with me I'm afraid.

Which means that for the second time running I'm bringing you a project from the archives.  This cushion was another Christmas present, this time for my mother, who has a liking for pictures of hares.  So during a stay with the P's I made a sketch of a hare from a card M had received.  When I got home I then scaled this up (drawing grid lines to help me) to make my template, based on which I sketched the opposing hare.  For someone who is not an artist I'm pleased with the templates I produced - they actually look like hares!

I think the red fabric for the hares works really well.  I took care when placing the templates to position the circles in the pattern to be eyes.  Like the teapot, the appliqué was fiddly - I had given myself some difficult angles.  I think this project would have been easier if I had used Bondaweb (an adhesive which you can buy in sheets and use to bond fabrics together by ironing), and I will certainly consider using it if I attempt a similar project in the future (in fact I've been using it in one of my current projects and have been impressed with it - hopefully I'll be able to share the results with you soon!).

I have to say I'm really rather proud of this cushion.  I think the combination of fabrics is striking, and would fancy making a series of cushions using these - a squirrel and a stag's head are two images that I think would work well.  But maybe I should try to finish at least one or two of my current projects before making a start down this road...

M loved her present, which really was the most important outcome.  It is a special thing to be able to give something you have made to someone you love - not only are you giving them the "thing", tailor-made to them and a product of the relationship between you, but you are also giving them the time you spent.  I got a lot of joy from making this cushion, knowing how surprised and pleased M would be.  The cushion is now proudly displayed in her living room.

Not following the pattern...

Where has the time gone?  I've got lots of half-finished projects on the go at the moment (story of my life!), so I'm dipping into my "here's one I made earlier" pile...

A few years ago my friend Maud gave me the Cath Kidston book sew!.  We drooled over the pages, and of course I wanted to have a go at making just about every project described on its glossy pages.  Skip forward several years and I don't think I have actually faithfully followed any of the projects (I'm still working up the courage to try to make one of the bags!).  However, for me the real joy of this book has come from the inspiration it provides - and the very handy templates. 

One of the patterns in the book is for a cushion decorated with appliquéd birds.  I already had two cushion pads, which were covered in some curtain fabric found in an offcut bin; it was time for a change.  Their size didn't match the pattern, but I wasn't about to let that stop me.

I had some fabric that I had bought in The Viking Loom in York, not with a particular project in mind but (as I do more often than I should) with the intention that I would find a project to suit it.

I used the bird templates from sew!.  You may recognise the template - I tweaked it slightly to create my own template for my robin christmas tree decorations, which you can see here.

I made the covers using a combination of machine and hand stitching: machine for the basic pieces and hand sewing to appliqué the bird embellishments.  I improved with practice - the appliqué technique on the second cushion is definitely better. The trick is to run the thread inside the folded edge of the fabric and use small stitches, so your sewing is as hidden as possible.

I am sure there are some who would turn their noses up at the use of a manufactured template, but I say why not.  You can still inject your own personality into the final creation.  Just because you may not have the exact materials a pattern calls for doesn't mean you cannot still create something lovely - and what's more, it will be something no-one else has.

Tea for two

Christmas lights are going on, I've started my Christmas shopping and the John Lewis Christmas advert is showing on TV.  Christmas is 42 days away and I'm feeling festive. 

I've started making Christmas decorations (more on that to come) and it got me thinking about Christmas presents I have made in the past.

This cushion is a present I am particularly proud of.  The execution may not be perfect, but it was the perfect present for this friend, who like me shares a love of textiles and tea.

I started by drawing the stencils to fit the size of the cushion.  I tried a few designs for the teapot, but this was the most pleasing.

I won't lie, the appliqué was fiddly, in particular the insides of the handles.  The stitching is not perfect and is not something to be examined too closely!  But I am pleased with the overall effect.  And no-one is more surprised than me that it actually looks like a tea pot!  The saucers were the most difficult to do and are the one thing I would do differently if I were to do a similar design in the future.

All in all, I am quite proud of this cushion.  Yes it was tricky, but I am all the more pleased that the overall effect works.  And there's nothing quite like the satisfaction that comes from putting in the effort to make a perfect gift for someone which you know they are going to love, imperfections and all.

Women for Whales

When a friend announced her intention to attend an event in support of Women for Whales (a campaigning group run by our surf instructor among others), it seemed a perfect opportunity for me to channel my creative enthusiasm into something which would have a broader purpose than just looking pretty.

I really liked the idea of using a technique that was a traditional woman's craft associated with the home and using it to create a banner that would be used in a women-led protest aiming to reach out and raise awareness.

A successful protest banner should attract people's attention and clearly convey what it is about.  I hope you agree that this design succeeds against those criteria!

The overall design looks deceptively simple.  The whale is made up of rectangles stitched together.  Oxfam sells packs of recycled cotton squares, taken from offcuts in textile factories, ranging in colour and pattern.  I had a few of these packs which I had bought for a rainy day (or rather until I came up with an idea on how best to use them) and so I raided these for blue cotton squares.

I started by sketching and cutting out the design of a whale on paper and cutting the square cotton patches in half to create rectangles.  These I separated by shade.  I was lucky that one of the pieces had a circle, which was perfect for the eye.

I arranged the rectangular pieces in lines over the paper whale pattern, trying to use those pieces with a white pattern to represent the underside of the whale.  These pieces were then sewn end-to-end to create long strips, which were then lined up side-by-side and sewn together.  The resulting patchwork was then trimmed to size and appliquéd onto the white sheet (I had already cut this to size and sewn a hem).

I kept the design of the letters simple to make life easier for myself.  I think the bold lettering works fine though, and at least is legible.  The orange fabric is something I had used as a sarong at one point, but hadn't been worn for several years.  I think the bright orange works well with the blue and the pattern of bright small flowers adds a feminine touch.

This banner got its first outing in Brighton, at the annual paddle round the pier event (the photo is one taken by my friend at Brighton Beach).  Women for Whales are continuing their campaign, so hopefully it will get a few more outings yet.

Oxfam's Ethical Collection recycled cotton squares can be bought here.

You can read about Women for Whales here.

A cushion to knock the spots off all others...

I love cushions (expect them to be a recurring theme).  A cushion is a small canvas on which to inject some personality, to have some fun with and take the risk of being a bit bolder, of trying something a bit different.

I wanted to create something special to give to a friend for her birthday.  Knowing she’s a fan of red and white spots I quickly decided that I would make her a cushion on this theme.  But I felt it needed something more.  A sprinkling of buttons might just be what was needed to lift this cushion to be a little bit special.  A quick raid on my and Mum’s button boxes supplied a good variety of red and white buttons.  Then it was just the small matter of finding the fabric.

My need to constantly make the “right” decision makes choosing fabrics for any project tricky, especially when I am making something to give as a present.  I have to work hard to remind myself that there is no right and wrong when it comes to fabric choices!

The initial idea in my mind had been plain red with perhaps a white fabric with small red spots.  However, it is rare that you will find exactly what you are looking for, and you need to enter a fabric shop with an open mind; flexibility is your friend here.  Enter with an open mind and time invested browsing the aisles of a well-stocked fabric shop can reward you with a winning combination of fabrics you would never have imagined walking away with.  Having pulled out various fabrics, holding up different whites to various reds to try to find that elusive “perfect” combination, I eventually made a decision.  A red/purple tinged stripe and an off-white with purple spots was not what I had planned on buying at all, but that was the combination that struck a chord.  I think it works; the patterns contrast but do not clash and I think it adds another layer of interest to the overall look of the cushion.  But judge for yourself…

First the planning:

I started by planning the size of the spots and laying these out with the buttons.  Once I had settled on the size of the spots, I could cut the fabric.

Then the assembly:

The spots were pinned and tacked in place before being machine appliquéd.  The buttons were sewn on by hand.  I then machined three and a bit sides of the cushion cover (correct sides together) before turning through, easing over the cushion pad and then hand stitching the fourth side closed.

And the finished cushion:

This is a cushion that is all about its looks.  And, perhaps surprisingly for a cushion adorned with buttons, it doesn’t scrimp on comfort either.  Most importantly, my friend seems to love it.

I went with a sprinkling of buttons to give this birthday cushion an extra little something; but what would you have adorning your ideal cushion?  I’d love to hear your ideas.