A new craze - I'm hooked

I know I haven't posted for a while but I've been busy, we've had Christmas etc., so there was lots of family, lots of cooking and lots of DIY and crafty stuff. I've taught both daughter to crochet so REALLY busy.

One of the things I hate most is not doing anything, I have a very round bottom and like to do - a nightmare for me is a 2 week beach holiday. At home sitting down in the evening to relax I can't just do nothing, I plan projects knit or the latest thing is crochet. 

Remember when Granny crochet those horrible ponchos in the 70's and it was really naff and you had to do it in sewing class at school and all you ever finished so some horrible oven cloth or a table runner? Well, times have changed and after avoiding even the word crochet, I can't get enough it. 

On my daily dip into Pinterest I came across amigurumi, very cute small crocheted animals and I mean cute. You just need a few ends of wool and off you go, even if you haven't ever crocheted before all you need are a couple of basic stitches. The video below could be your first effort.

My first was a little teddy, the pattern is here, it took me about 3 hours start to finish.

Then both my daughters thought it was solo cute they HAD to learn to do it. So looked for a first project for them and here it is Mr Murasaki great fun, I now have a family of amigurumi on my desk.

And of course you need the pattern, here

Fabric Storage Bin

I went to a ladies bric-a-brac sale at the weekend and the stall at the entrance was doing a very brisk trade soI decided to have a look. Basically the were selling fabric Storage Bins of off sizes, I thought they were fun but, expensive. I was sure that they couldn't be that difficult to make and that I had all I needed already and I was right.

This storage bin took about 3 hours to make from working out how to do it and finishing it and was made from scraps and leftover material I already had. It's measures 25cm across, just right for keeping my knitting in - a felted bag which I'll share with you at a later date.

You can make them any size so I'm not going to put the measurements in but how to work out the sizes of the 2 pattern pieces you'll need:

Pattern Pieces

The Base: a circle, measuring Xcm across (in this case 25cm)

The Side: a rectangle: side 1, measuring the desired height including (in this case 30cm) turnover. Side 2, measuring the diameter of the base x 3.14 (25 x 3.14=78.50cm)

Material

Exterior material, cut 1 x base, 1 x the side rectangle
Interior material, cut 1 x base, 1 x the side rectangle
Interfacing, cut 2 of each. - I used a fairly heavy weight interfacing, to help stabilise the sides

Instructions:

Cut out all the pieces and iron on the interfacing on the wrong side of all the pieces. Starting with the exterior material, with right sides facing sew down the side seam and clip back the interfacing. If you don't it might get a bit lumpy and thick.

Carefully pin the base to the tube, again right sides together, you might find it easier to tack (loosely sew) them together before slowly and carefully sewing the pieces. Clip back the interfacing and snip small v's into the edge of the circle being careful not to cut into the stitching.

Repeat with the interior pieces.

No put the 2 pieces inside each other, right sides together, lining up the seams and sew the top of the storage bin together leaving a gap so that you can turn it the right way round.

Don't forget to clip the interfacing back before you turn it the right way round, once you've done that top-stitch the top edge. This also closes the gap in the top seam. Don't be tempted to miss the top-stitching, it really makes a difference to the finish of the whole thing.


Enjoy.

Amy Butler Bag

So I've had a lovely book sitting on my shelf for weeks, a book of Amy Butler bags with patterns and instructions and everything. The thing is it scared me, I love sewing, knitting and craft in general but, AB bags are soooo gorgeous I daren't even open it. Trouble is I also love bags, indeed I have a bit of an obsession with bags, don't care any kind. I have a draw overflowing with shopping bags, and a whole side of a double Ikea wardrobe full of them. So of course, I want an Amy Butler.

So I opened the book, beautiful the layout, the colours, the art-work and all the pattern pieces you don't even have to scale them up. Great, I spent hours looking longingly at the bags and flicking through the instructions before I decided on one, I found just the right fabric, agonised over what colour liner to put in it.

Decisions all made I opened the envelope in the back of the book and sorted the  pattern pieces and off I went. From start to finish I'd say it took about 5 hours, I've only made a couple of bags before so considering the finish you get it's not bad.

At the moment I enjoy carpet bags or tapestry bags so that's what I did and I'm very please with the results. But, I have a couple of comments about the instructions, make sure you read them all the way through before starting and that you understand exactly what to do. I found myself unpicking several times because I misunderstood the instructions. Also, make sure you check the pieces you need I found that one piece of the bag was just measurements in the book no pattern piece.










Despite the couple of reservations I am please with my cosmo bag, the finish is lovely and the inside has a couple of pockets in it.

Cute knitted Owl Hat

I haven't knitted anything for years, so I thought I'd give it a go again. Here's the result a really cute knitted hat.

Now I must admit it's not my own pattern I found it on Pinterest and loved it. It only took me 2 evening to knit and it was really relaxing chatting and knitting.... knit and bitch...such a good idea.

Anyway here's a link to the pattern, enjoy knitting it, I've certainly re-found a passion :)... Here's a close up of the motive for good measure.

Curtain Skirt

I haven't posted for a while so I thought it was time to get posting. My daughter is an avid leader of fashion for her peers and as such can soak up a large amount of time shopping and searching for style on the internet. Having said that once something is in her wardrobe it stays there and is usually combinable  with everything there, one of her favorite pieces at the moment is a picture skirt, it's a good shape fits perfectly and looks good. So as she didn't want to pay for another one, or wait for it to arrive from the States, she asked me to copy it. Link to my daughters blog: BATTAB

In the end the skirt cost me EUR5 to copy!! We found the bottom of some Ikea curtains that I'd taken up and I must admit the result is lovely :).

So here goes:

First thing to do is make a pattern, get a big sheet of paper, I used a newspaper - my favorite go to for pattern drawing, you can buy special paper but why bother. As the skirt fits perfectly and is only 2 panels (back and front) just lay it down and draw round it, adjust any measurements it need be, add 1.5cm all round for the seams and 5 cm for the hem, mark where the zip goes. Now you need to cut a piece for the waist band and interfacing, take the paper pattern lay it on a fresh sheet of paper and make a strip by copying the top 5 to 10cm this will give you an internal waistband.

Cut:

2x skirt panel

1x waistband in skirt fabric (on fold)

1x waistband in interfacing (on fold) without seam allowance

• Iron the interfacing onto the wrong side of the material waistband.
• zigzag round the cut out pieces.
• Lay the 2 panels together, right sides facing.
• Pin and sew together along the non-zip side.
• Open the seam and pin the interfacing on to the waist edge of the skirt, - again right side to right side.
• Sew along the top edge and trim the seam if necessary.
• Turn in the waistband and iron down.
• Sew the other seam to where the zip goes.
• Iron open the seam and carefully iron the rest of the 2 sides over.
• Pin and then tack (loosely sew) the zip into the skirt.
• Carefully machine sew the zip in - I find it easiest to adjust the needle to the side and do it slowly - to strengthen it machine over the bottom a couple of times.
• Turn up and sew the hem and tie the loose ends.

Where I've said iron, it is only a tip - but it does really make it easier. You can do this with any item og clothing!

ENJOY