Housework - Phooey, I'm too busy playing!

Firstly I have to welcome some new followers, Ola to the lovely ladies from Brazil who found me through Minha Casa Meu Mundo, Goeiendag/Bonjour to Roziemie from Belgium and finally G'day to Carmel who is a friend of my sister from Oz - and Carmel, I know Annette has told you that she taught me everything that I know, but this is wrong, she could never make the mess that I make when I am working!


Do you ever have one of those weeks where you just don't know where to turn cos you want to do everything?


Well, here are a pair of pure Alpaca handwarmers which I designed, Sharon at Roses and Rue had received a sample ball of just 100m, so after we had finished stroking it, I got to take it home and knit it up, hence designing a pair of handwarmers with a little heart motif and a picot edging tied with a narrow black velvet ribbon.  Let me know if you would like me to publish the pattern on the blog?

Sharon has also asked me to do some classes at the shop, so I am going to do a flower workshop - as you will know I can manage Kanzashi flowers, so I thought I should also master some other sorts of flowers which can be made into fridge magnets, so I have been playing with some handsewn flowers, including yoyos - yep I even have a yoyo maker - and I have been deconstructing a felt flower that a friend has which I think may join the fray (no pun intended as it will be in felt!).  I feel a set of mega flower-making tutorial coming up.  Do you think we could make five different flowers in two hours... I bet we could!

Then I popped into the shop on Saturday and Sharon was on a mission, she was going to master freestyle machine embroidery, so armed with the Poppy Treffry's book she was off.  I had to run back home to find some  embroidery hoops and then I got started too.  We really went for it, down went the running dogs (the little teeth you find on the plate under the foot) and then with no regard for our own safety off came the foot.  It was really liberating - the only way I can explain it is to say you move the fabric and not the needle... but it is such fun playing and so different from classic applique where you do not see any raw edges.

Please note the classic machinist - ironing board on in the background,
coffee by her right hand and book open in front of her.

And this was her very first time, sans dogs and sans feet,
I love the smoke coming out of the chimney

I am still working on my piece which is called hearts and flowers, it is a freehand picture of a bunch of flowers and hearts in a vase, I promise to post it up during the week so you can see what you think.

Now as tomorrow is Monday, go take a look at Handmade Monday on Wendy's 1st Unique to see what everyone has been up to... she is also the Queen of Camper Vans as you will find out when you read it :)


Finally can I take this opportunity to thank you all for reading my blog, this weekend, I went through the 10,000 hits mark, it still amazes me that so many of your read my meanderings in so many places.  Thank you everyone :) 


And because it made me smile when I went past yesterday, this is the school allotment for North Street Primary School, which is just around the corner from where I live - I love the huge scarecrows, they are super!

... BTW, you should have seen me with my camera thrust through the fence taking my snaps but the sight was too lovely to miss.

Flower Folding For Fun - An Alternative Kanzashi Tutorial

One of the great things about making things is that there are so many ways to arrive at the finished item, which is why I am posting a new tutorial on Kanzashi flowers.  For those of you who have not heard of them, they are a Japanese fabric folding technique to make flowers which were originally made to adorn the hair of Geisha girls.


Equipment


Fabric - cottons are great to start with  especially as they do not fray but as you become more skilled, try using silks too.
Cutting mat and ruler
Scissors and/or a rotary cutter
Needle and matching cotton
Pins
Cardboard
Iron and Ironing board
Glue Gun
£2 coin and a wine glass

Iron your fabrics and cut out 12 x 3" squares - this will make a flower with a 3" diameter, 12 square will make a really full flower - I have chosen to use two complimentary fabrics but you can use all the same fabrics or even more colours.

Fold your square in half diagonally and press with the iron, do not worry if your square is not absolutely right, these flowers are very forgiving.

Now fold the one corner from along the long axis to the point at the bottom.

And now repeat it with the other corner to make a diamond.

Turn the diamond over so that the folds are on the reverse side.

 Now, fold the right side into the middle.

And fold the other side into the middle

Pick up a pin and fold the two sides together along the vertical and place the pin through the centre and flip it over to see your very first petal.

Now repeat this for the other 11 petals, I tend to do this like a factory line and do them in groups of four.

Arrange your petals in the order you want to see them.

Now cut off the triangles at the ends off, cut them straight across to get rid of the excess fabric.

You need to thread your needle with a double thread and make a lovely big knot to secure it.  Put your needle through the thickest part of the petal.

Now pull the knotted end of the thread out and pulling the other end tight, tie the two ends together as tightly as you can.  Trim away the excess thread.

Gently ease the petals into place. Looks pretty rough eh, well we will soon sort that out.

Use your £2 coin to create a template to cover the back of your flower.  If you notice that you have not managed to capture all of the fabric, do not panic, you can either sew it in or use your glue gun.  Now cut out a larger piece of fabric using the wine glass base as your template.

Now do a running stitch around the template about a 1/4" in from the edge of the fabric, pull this tight and you have a covered button.

Now if you are using your flower as a brooch, decoration or bag embellishment you can glue the covered cardboard onto the flower.  If you are using it as a hair decoration, place your elastic under the covered  cardboard, then glue it... and because I go for a belt and braces approach, also sew the button onto the back of your flower.

To top off the flower, you can use an interesting button, or a covered button using the process we have just used to cover the cardboard, using your glue gun you can then attach the topper to the flower.


Now remember that wine glass, fill it with your favourite vin de plonk and sit back to admire your creative genius!


To see what wonderful things you can make and decorate with your flowers take a look at Dream Star's Blog - she is an inspiration!

Armed and Dangerous?

Do you ever have a week when you wonder what you actually did?  The days have gone past in a blur but you really don't think you have achieved anything... and then the day when you thought you would be allowed to slob about and chill is the busiest in the week.


Well, I was getting really disheartened with the job search as I did not get a contract role which I wanted but they are keen on me for two perm jobs which are available.  And it is possible that I may have a temp job to tide me over in between so hopefully things are getting better.


Anyway, Friday was my birthday and I thought, yippee, I will have a lie-in, but the fates conspired against me.  My friend Deborah needed a house sitter to wait for the BT man, so I was sitting in her lovely living room watching the tide come in whilst removing the sleeves from a dress.  Said dress was needed by my neighbour's daughter for a trip to Spain... little did I realise that I would have to get through three separate sets of seams to remove them but the dress did make it to suitcase in time for the trip.


Then Sally (who had the cushion last week) asked me to create Summer rag wreath for a chum with a local cafe, so I had to sort out a bunch of gingham and floral FQs to grace the walls of the Tea Garden... and this is what I managed:

I also found some smaller hearts and I am thinking of making some really jazzy rag wreaths to hang from door handles.

I also took charge of a new toy during the week, I am now officially armed and dangerous... stand well back I have a glue gun and after a little bit of practice, I am not afraid to use it!   Now if I can just work out how to stop it dribbling like a new baby, I will be chuffed to bits, but I have to admit to taking a perverse pleasure in picking off the excess.

To get some practice in I made a couple of Kanzashi Flower brooches, using the square technique rather than the circles and I have managed to make a 1.5" flower with a modicum of swearing but I think if I try the one inch flower the air will be blue.

I had a look through my stash and found some lovely silk that I bought from the Silk Route, which I think will make some even lovelier brooches, what do you think?

So on reflection, maybe just maybe, I did do more than I thought last week.  And if you want to see what the rest of the gang have been up to, take a look at Wendy's Handmade Monday, but be warned it is very addictive seeing what everyone has been up to!