Christmas Sewing

Today I have been using up some of my donated fabric, a friend of mine gave me a bag of fabric a while ago with offcuts in it as she knows I will use them up.  This particular piece today was the bottom piece from a curtain project I believe for her little boy.  I have already used some of the other bits and one piece was big enough to make my son a new blind for his room see it here.

I decided to make some Christmas stockings for my Etsy shop, I also added a personalised name tag. People will have to notify me of the name choice of course.  I thought it was a nice way to use up the fabric and I will also be doing a few gift ones.  I have more donated fabric in a different design, my husband said the other piece of fabric is not very Christmassy though!  It has pink and blue splodges on it, I'm sure I could make it festive with a few tree shapes or something.

Anyway here are todays makes, I enjoyed making them.

They are intended for any gender!  It always gets me how the little  boys at school think pink is just for girls and blue for boys, they are just colours and colours are for all of us I say.  I did put a boys name on this one however purely because it was a nice short name and I wasn't hand embroidering a long one that wasn't staying!

I wrote the name on in pencil then just stitched over it by hand, no specialised pen required although if you are afraid of hand stitching there are fabric pens you can buy to just write the names on.

There are now some very small bits of the star fabric left so I am wondering what tiny project I can make with those, maybe a little pencil case if I mix it with something else or a garland?  I vow to have used it by my next post.

It has  been a wet and dreary week this week, dog walking confined to the  pavement as the park is just sludge, heating turned up and feeling tired by 7.00pm.  I refuse to give in to it and stay up until my usual time as I know it is not real and just my body responding to the lack of light.   My husband has bought a stand for his bike so he can train on it when the weather is bad, it was not expensive so a good idea I think.  I do see people getting soaked as they cycle from work and I think no that is not for me, I need fine weather to get me outside on a bike.

I went to watch my friend and colleague in Shrek the musical at the Lyceum on Friday night they have been rehearsing hard for that for months, she said she will miss it now it is over and they have to audition each year to be in it.  That will be my one night out for a while now though I have to say I will not be buying a drink in the theatre again I will smuggle my own in, the prices were ridiculous and my drink wasn't even nice and to top it all you get to drink it from a plastic cup.  The last time we went for my husband's birthday  he had a bottle of water in his back pocket and they didn't check him, just my bag so note to self big pockets ;)

There has been an assortment of books started and cast aside recently, the most recent is 'Crushed' once again a book in the general section that I am sure is more for teenage girls, I got so far and could go no further.  I am at a point where there are so many books I really don't need to force myself to finish them.  I do have a bit of a problem with that and I think it started as a child, like I have failed if I don't finish it, so I am being ruthless as reading is supposed to be a pleasure not a chore.   I am currently reading 'This is Your Brain on Music' by Daniel Levitin, I've had it a few weeks and just renewed it as the other bad books have taken up too much of my time.

I'm off now to finish my jobs, ' The War of the Worlds' starts tonight so I am going to give that a go, back soon.  Take care.

Autumn Makes

I have made a quick long sleeved t-shirt today, these are the things I tend to do in the colder months as my sewing area is very cold even with the heating on!  My sewing table is in a room off the kitchen that has a tiled floor and at this time of year that is not a good choice unless you have under floor heating and I don't.  I suggested putting a rug under the sewing table and my chair earlier but my husband said the table won't sit properly on it.  As the dogs have the run of that room when we are out replacing the flooring is not an option in case of accidents.

Anyway I will give you a peak of the t-shirt now, no pattern required just cut around an existing one and I am enjoying doing v-necks now so this is another V-neck.  The fabric was bought a few weeks ago at John Lewis, I got away with .80 of a metres just to save a few pounds.  I loved the soft feel of the jersey and the little stars so I thought I would just go ahead and treat myself.

The fabric was lovely to sew as well, I just did a double fold on the sleeves and hem and the neckline has bias binding. This is going to be the season of the long sleeved t-shirt for me, I love craft cotton prints but these are the clothes I wear so there will be more comfy jersey sewing going on.

I am also making tops a little longer to keep out the cold, tucked in or left out are versatile.

Another little make was a pumpkin pin cushion copied from Jo at Three Stories High she very kindly sent me the link at the bottom of my last post so I had a look and made one for myself.   I have to say I stabbed my fingers about four times trying to push the needle all the way through, there was a bit of cursing going on.  There are now some strategically placed pins covering the blood spots on the pumpkin.

To be honest I am not sure my version looks very pumpkin like but oh well it does the job.

There has been another bag created for my etsy shop, I popped that one on last week and also linked it to facebook.  That did give it an initial boost in views but they promptly went back down to just a few the next day.  I am trying all I can and reading all the tips, advice appreciated.

Earlier this week I finished The Salt Path, it was quite an emotional read so I now need something a bit uplifting to follow that up.  When I started the book I thought there was going to be more of a resolution for the couple and while they may have discovered a lot about themselves on this journey I am still astounded by the way they were wronged by a former friend.  If you have read this book you will understand what I am referring to, the idea that people can have their lives snatched from them in such a way is just too dreadful. 

As always book recommendations are welcome I always add your tips to my library reading list. That is all for now, I am off to find a film to watch on the T.V take care everyone. 

Free Craft

On the run up to Christmas (there I mentioned it!) I was wondering how many of you are searching for free crafts and patterns.  There are certainly many kits and ideas available to buy but isn't that moving away from the traditional idea of a frugal crafter?  I am not saying we shouldn't buy or treat ourselves to these items but ideally it is wonderful to use what we have or make something new from old when we can.

I have had denim and fabrics passed onto me from friends, my mother in law currently has some old handbags she has held onto because she knows I will unpick the zips and hardware from them, I was even given some vinyl floor samples once 'to do something with'.

It used to be the norm to salvage things and make new and then came the fast fashion years and everyone seemed to turn away from homemade.  Things are changing and people are beginning to see the value in reusing and buying items to last, the only downside is that charity shops are not as cheap as they used to be as they have grown in popularity.  This could have a negative effect as people may be turned off from buying a used item when they can get a new one for less, just a thought.

It is wonderful to see all the colourful quilts that fellow  bloggers are making and I think that has to be one of the best uses for scrap fabrics.  The designs are unique and totally eye catching, I have only done a little quilting and patchwork myself but the results always surprise me I feel no matter what your skill level we can all do something.  Many templates are available for free, here are some of my past scrap busting projects.

This is leaf is great for scraps.

My cathedral window is a bit wonky but colourful.

These two cushions are again a great way to use up scraps, the pink one is called pin wheel and takes a bit more work but I like it and have done a couple of those.  I think with any kind of patchwork you can make something bold and different, and better than anything you would find in the shops.

I don't how many of you out there this will appeal to but it is certainly worth a look and it is the range of free printables available on Papercraft inspirations  website.  Even if you are not into papercraft yourself you may have children to keep busy on the dark nights up to Christmas.  Some of the designs I am sure would keep young people busy for a couple of sessions if you go for the more adventurous designs and there is no rush to complete them just yet.

I am going to have a go at these cute penguin cards just as soon as I have figured out what is wrong with my ink.  That is the thing I suppose you have to have a printer but you don't have to print off every element on the download, some of the shapes could be cut out of recycled card.  I just thought this was handy to share as a free resource.

Love sewing magazine also have free pattern downloads find them here if you are looking for clothes patterns, these can run to a lot of paper though so if you are brave enough just deconstruct and old garment and use that as a pattern for fit.  Things like sleeve length and overall length do not really require a pattern and once you have done  it a few times you will wonder why you ever bought patterns.

I currently have fabric for a dress and a top but I have been holding out on making them yet, they are for my winter wardrobe and I know as soon as I make things I want to wear them so it is like saving a treat.   There is also a handbag cut out with a design pinned to it on my table also part of my current slow sewing.  If I had a rush of sales in bags I would crack on but there is no need currently for any rushing.

Today I made another experimental carrot cake, it is a bit odd.  I seem to do a couple of amazing cakes followed by a slightly odd one every now and then.  Maybe it is so I don't get too complacent about gf baking, who knows?

Well that is all for now, take care and  please share any free crafting links you know of in the comments below.