Sew Much Done

Today I had another successful sewing afternoon. 4 things crossed off my 'To Do' List.
Two of them were mending jobs, but the other two I cut out the other day and sewed them up today.
I needed a couple of headbands, and having had some success with making them myself in the past, I wanted to try to improve my "pattern".
I tried 2 different techniques and am happy with how they turned out. The one with butterflies is actually purple, although it does look more blue from this photo.

And here I am wearing the green one.

A Lot of Felt!

So I've been doing a lot of work with felt lately - 25 felt brooches to be exact (although it ended up being 26 because I made a mistake on one).

These were for the wonderful women I know who are on LF8R Camp this week - the youth camp that my church runs every winter in conjunction with CYC Ministries at Forest Edge.

It wasn't the right thing for me to go this year, but I still wanted to be involved somehow, so I was very glad when I was asked to make these for the leaders.

I have no idea who got which one, but I had fun making them. Each one is unique, and I tried some new things, particularly on the hearts.

Since making these I have found a new pattern to try, so there are sure to be more pictures of felt brooches popping up in the future. And I'm on the hunt for unusual buttons to include in future projects, so if you're trying to get rid of a stash of buttons, please think of me, I'd love to take them off your hands.

Getting on with my Sewing List

So one of the best things I have done lately is to quit playing Facebook games. It means I have time to get on with some of the projects I haven't got around to for ages.
Just tonight I cut out 3 of my sewing projects and completed one of those 3.

My best friend bought a top at the OP Shop the last time we went OP Shopping together, but wanted the sleeves to be longer. I said, "Oh, I can do that!" On our way home we bought some matching fabric (at least as close as we could get it), and I measured her arms to work out what she wanted.

Finally tonight I got on with it and finished!!

I had to fit the sleeve extensions to the existing sleeve because of the elastic there, but it wasn't too hard once I worked out where they were to go. To "hide" the stitching, I stitched over the existing stitching for the elastic.

I'm really happy with the way it has turned out. I hope my best friend is too.

Making Your Own Rub-Ons

A while ago I purchased a product to make my own rub-ons, but the instructions were a bit confusing. Today I was thinking about using the product, and I noticed at the bottom of the instructions was a website you could go to to see how to use the stuff.
It wasn't quite as simple as type in the address and there it was. I had to hunt around for it a bit and finally found the following video on YouTube!

The presenter makes it look really easy.

Crochet Rug Progress

With cooler weather arriving, it was time to pull out my crochet rug and do some more work on it. I keep thinking I should finish it now, but then as I'm working on it I realise that it isn't big enough. I still can't comfortably tuck my toes in and have it fully over my lap.

So I have decided to keep going around and around and around and around a few more times. I still plan to learn shell edging for the edge. I still have plenty of wool, so that's not a problem.

I'm not sure what colour I was using when I last posted, but I am currently using purple. I've got another 2 and a bit rounds before I change again.

I've now used 7.6 balls of wool out of a total of 18.

Craft Table with Storage

I posted this on my other blog, but since it's craft related, I thought I would post it here too.

Guess where I've been looking again! Yes, Ikea Hacker!
This time the whole article was found on the original blog.

So, now I just need a craft room and this would be great. There is one thing though, this craft table is designed for someone to be standing up, while I prefer to sit while crafting. At least you can get to all your supplies easily.

On the original blog, they said that the shelves didn't fit their scrapbooking storage containers, so it may need some tweaking for your specific needs.

Finger Knitting

Finger Knitting was one of my favourite things to do as a child because it was quick, easy and I could do all sorts of things with it once I was finished.

I'm now working with children every day in an After School Care Program, and they have been finger knitting, since our supply of wool was replenished over the summer holidays (thanks to a friend who generously donated her spare wool).

Some of the girls had never done it before and wanted to learn, while others, who had been at the centre last year grabbed some wool and sat down to do it. However, there were a couple of methods being used.

As a child, I used the very simple method of  a single loop being made into a chain. Some of these girls were using a method involving all fingers, which looked more like knitting. I had never heard of this, so I got the girls to teach each other.

Then I remembered that once I had used 2 strands of wool at the same time and it looked beautiful and made a stronger cord. I looked for some instructions, but our internet search at work is restricted, so it has taken me until now, to find some simple intructions. Once again YouTube has come to the rescue. Have a look at this video.

A Little Bit of Stitching

Ok, so it's been a long time since I updated you on how I'm going with any of my cross stitch projects. So now that it's a new year, I thought I should at least say something about where I'm at.

My sister loved it that I am doing African Sunset for her. You might remember from my last post that I wasn't sure if she still liked it. It was nowhere near finished for her birthday, but I wrapped up what I'd done and gave it to her, saying that I would keep working on it. She told me that everytime she sees this design in a catalogue she cuts it out to keep, so I know I made the right choice.

You can see from the picture below how much I've done. It looks great, even without the back stitch done. However, I still have a long way to go.

I'm also still going with Hang in There Panda. I don't have enough of some of the thread colours, but the company it is from will send more (free of charge) if you request them. I have already had to request one colour and it took about 6 weeks to arrive, but now that I found another colour that I need I decided to do as much of the rest of the stitching as I could without it to see if there were any other colours I needed before I ordered it. That way they could send them all at once. But I haven't done anymore on it since I gave it to Mum because I was trying to get more of African Sunset done.

Then Christmas was approaching and I had some cute little mini cross stitches, complete with frames in Christmas designs. I like to have a new ornament or something every Christmas, so I decided to do one of these. I ended up almost getting 2 done by Christmas, but I still have a bit more stitching to do, so it will be my new one for next Christmas.

Below you will see the cute wreath that I did for Christmas 2011. I changed the pattern slightly, but I like it better the way I did it.



Finally, I have been making birthday party invitations. They were interesting because I decided I wouldn't buy anything new for them, but use what I had in my cardmaking/scrapbooking stash.

They have worked out beautifully, and I learned a bit about working with vellum - including printing on it and different ways to attatch it. Now I just need to find the dress to wear to the party, make the autograph book and do some baking.

Updates

Where do I start?
I have been doing stitching, crochet and making more felt brooches. I forgot to photograph the brooches before I gave them away to my girls on camp - LF8R Winter Teen Camp that my church runs with CYC. I was a leader again this year (my 2nd year) and I gave my 4 girls each a brooch. Most of them ended up using them in their hair for our 80's Prom, the last night of camp. They were gorgeous!

For my crochet rug, I am now back to purple, having finished the next section of blue and the 2 rounds of maroon that go in between. It's getting too big to photograph!

I didn't get 'Hang in There Panda' done in time for my Mum's birthday. I still wrapped it up, along with the picture, and will complete it as I have time. Part of the problem is a lack of thread being supplied. Thankfully the company will send you more thread if you run out. I did have to get some of one colour, however I have now run out of another colour. I don't need as much as they will send, but I can't just go out and match it, because they don't use standard threads. I'm going to do as much as I can, to see if I need more of any other colours before sending my order.

I'm still going with 'African Sunset', but there is no way I'll get it finished by the start of next month. I plan to do the same as I did with Mum, wrap what I've done and include the picture. Hopefully the person I'm giving it to still likes the picture. Not sure what I'll do otherwise.

I finally finished my course, and my new job starts on Monday! I'll be spending several hours everyday looking after primary school aged children in an After School Care Program! Some opportunities for craft will come up there, so that's good. Other than that, I just need to make some more time for stitching. One thing I'm doing is cutting back on my internet time. It's amazing how much time Facebook and other internet things take. It's a battle, but one I'm determined to win.

Puppets and Brooches

One of the requirements for my Children's Services course was to make a puppet that went with a song or nursery rhyme.
I chose 'Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary' as my rhyme, and this is my puppet:


To present her I used a basket which I put in silver bells, cockle shells and some little dolls. The effect is very nice. Today was the day we presented them. So now I just have to wait to see if I passed.

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I've also been making some more felt brooches. Five in all.



A nice thing about these brooches is that I was able to earn a little money for them.