How to make easy-peasy felt bow clips.

Did you read my late post about the Christmas Bazaar?  Well, I was given some red and green felt and Christmas fabric to make into stockings which I promptly asked, "Just stockings...." and started to list off all the Christmas felt goodies I could make.  So, I got carried away making fully lined, patchwork stockings and then decided that a felt paper chain wouldn't take that long really.  After cutting out all the strips, I got a phone call from from one of the organisers saying- in a nutshell- "that's nice dear but we were only going to charge £1 or £2 each.  I took a deep breath, reigned myself in and sat down trying to figure out what I could do with all these strips.  And so the felt bow clip was born. 

You will need:

Felt

metal hair clips

needle and thread

glue gun or really strong adhesive 

What to do:

1) Take standard felt rectangle and cut into strips about 1 inch wide.

2) Cut off about 1 inch from the end and save piece (this will wrap around the bow).

3) Bring the ends together and slightly overlap.

 

4) Hold in place and make a stitch through the three layers at one corner.

 

5) Do a couple of running stitches to the other side.

 

6) Pull the thread to gather, pinching with your fingers to hold the folds in place.

 

 

7) Run a few stitches through the centre folds to how felt in place.

 It's looking good so far!

 8) Take your tiny felt rectangle and cut to the desired width.  (I find that if this is too wide, it can be tricky to glue into place).

 

 9) Make sure your glue gun is nice and hot!  Place a small blob over the messy stitch, press on the end of the band and hold firmly as you tightly wrap the band around the bow.

 10) Another blob of glue to hold down the end and press for a few seconds until set.

 11) Finally, add a generous blob to a shiny clip and hold the bow in place until the glue sets- this really only takes a few seconds.

As I was making these for a Bazaar, I did all the prep and stitching first and then glue gunned the whole darn lot.  These seriously didn't take long to whip up and they ALL went within minutes!

Clip-a-dee-doo-dah Clips!

Last month I did a little post about Attic24's beautiful blog and how I have been inspired by her colour and creativity.  Well, the other day, I managed to send off a few Granny triangles for her Yarndale bunting project
(see http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/2013/07/yarndale-update.html). 
I forgot to take a pic but remembered to pop on pictures of my completed clips as they came from tiny bright circles I saw on her blog the other month.  These were a gift to my school fete and it was so lovely to see some of my girls wandering around wearing these!  I knocked up a few flowers as well and used just a bit of craft paper to hold them but I think they came out pretty good.  So, thank you Lucy for your inspirational blog and I will try to knock out a few more triangles before August! x

How to make the clips

You will need:

Any scraps of wool work great but DK cotton looked the best.

3.5 hook

clips

Circles

1. Ch 4 and ss into a ring.
2. Ch 2 and do 8dc around the ring.  SS and fasten off.
3. Attatch contrast colour, Ch 2 and do 2dc into each stitch- 16 stitches.  Fasten off.

Flowers

1. Ch 4 and ss into a ring.
2. Ch 2 and do 9dc around the ring and ss into first stitch.
3. Ch 5, skip one dc and ss into next dc.
4. Repeat step 3 around the flower to make 5 petals and ss into the base for final one.

Before I go, I thought I better add on a few other clip related pictures!  Yes, I have a lot of catch- up posts to do. (I'm even writing posts and holding off posting- July is going to look good on the post count!)

I'm sorry these are a bit fuzzy, they were a quick snap that I forgot to check.  Iphones are great but tricky to get the light right and mine is such an old phone now.  I saw a few die cast roses that twisted up easily and thought I would have a go myself.  The rose worked very well, I thought.  I added an extra felt circle on the back of the clip to disguise the use of a glue gun which also helped the clip stay fast in baby hair as it was for my little niece.  I tried a quick "Hello Kitty" bow on request by my baby but it turned out a bit pants- that's what you get when you rush...

1- Cut a flower shape with decreasing size petals swirling into the centre.

2- Roll around tightly.

3- Pop a few stitches through the base and up through the centre to hold. 

4- Cut a matching small circle for the back of the clip.

5- Attach using a glue gun.

By the way, the gorgeous blue flower came from a free brooch idea from "Mollie Makes".  These are folded flowers stitched onto a circle base.  It's so pretty that I've used it for several brooches as well. 

Finally, I come to another little thrifty project- It really is getting a bit silly now.  Take one unravelled school hairband.  Wind on a favourite ribbon tightly and fix with a glue spot or superglue.  Stitch a quick embelishment from the odds and ends jar and have it ready just in time for a birthday party!  Big Madam was so pleased.  You do have to alternate between crafts for others and crafts for kids or else they get a bit grumpy for all the nice things leaving the house!

  



Christmas Feltie- Trees (in bulk)

Here's to Christmas and making decorations in bulk!  I really must get a wriggle on and create my own Felties designs as I always enjoy working in multiples.  My inspirational sisters encourage me to start my own little business.  And now that I have found a specific taste and a bit of a personal style, I think that 2013 Is the year to get the business ball rolling! So watch this space!

These darlings come from that lovely Fa La La favourite- Definately an all round classic!

Glow event at Bluewater

I went to my first craft event on Friday and had such a blast! These things are always far away day events that wouldn't be up my husband's and little girl's street. I had heard about the Glow event at Bluewater earlier this year as I was invited to teach there but, as it's on my day with my little tot, I decided not to go. Friday came and I thought I would pop in as I had jobs at Bluewater and I grinned the whole time!

I stocked up on healthy nibbles for my baby, milk and planned rest stops but she spent most of the time holding my hand and toddling around as I one-handed pushed the buggy. The Mermaid's Grotto was our favourite- I don't think we could make one pass without popping in and waving to all the fish and stroking the seaweed strands. The life-sized Mermaid and Fisherman are amazing don't you think? I love her hair and false eyelashes!

I met the wonderful Erika Knight who's books I learnt to crochet by and did finger knitting with Hannah on my knee. She is bringing out her own range of stunning wools and individual patterns for downloading which is a great idea. She also said that she's bringing out a new crochet book for Baby patterns which I must get.

I saw the exhibit of costumes from Downton abbey and managed to even quickly stitch my name into the world's longest embroidery- this was tricky as Hannah was again on my knee, babbling away and pretending to sew with the other ladies.

I did buy myself one treat. There was a stall demonstrating how to turn florist ribbon and tape into amazing flowers. The chap who demonstrated had all the right patter and made it look so effortless that you knew it would actually be really hard. He whipped up two flowers so quickly for my girls and spritzed them with perfume ( which is so 1970s). But it looked like something new and a craft I have never done before so I bought into it happily, knowing that I may flop but I would enjoy the process! I bought the starter kit which came with loads of different colour ribbon, tape, dvd of techniques and the special cutting tool. Then I spent a happy couple of hours getting to grips with it all. Guess what? It worked! I love the ones so far and will pop some pictures up when I have made a few bunches. With Mother's day coming up, I know what I'll be making...

It's sewing city over here!

Hello New Year!

It's so nice to have a break from Christmas for a while. I've been having a comfortable January hitting some long awaited projects- several of which I forgot to take pictures for sadly : (

A new hat for me, phone covers for hubbie and sister and lots of over due button-sewing and clothes mending. All these have been made much easier by a long-awaited (and much desired) craft cupboard! It may be small but it's my little space and I love it.

No more hunting for books on the edges of shelves and fishing around under the bed for boxes that never want to come back out unless you lift the darn bed...My buttons are in cute boxes, fat quarters neatly folded and my ribbons are now in a sweet little jar. There is even a bottom cupboard that fits in my sewing machine and larger cloth pieces as I am now getting really good at saving beautiful fabrics from old, worn out and outgrown clothes, buttons and trimmings instead of bundling the lot off to the local charity shop.

These two little Christmas felties are what I made in my spare Christmas holiday minutes. They're both from "Fa La La Felt" (see previous posts) and they have come out so beautifully. This is the kind of thing you can only do when nothing else is pressing as there is a lot of time taken for such a tiny object. They are so worth it now and I am loving how each pattern works up. I will tag my Fa La La projects so you can see how I'm working through this great book.February also sees "Hero Day" at my school. It's my own fault! I've organised a day to celebrate real life heroes past and present and one of the activities is dressing up for the children. I had my costume pretty much sorted until I remembered that Katie was going to need one too! So, I've been pillaging the local charity shops and got loads of cheap fabric and sheets and have been madly cutting and stitching up the costumes. I look forward to sharing these next month- I just hope I can get them finished in time....

Camping Madness!

My other half has always been a bit loopy when it comes to camping. So, for those early years of courtship, I had to endure many cold, damp dashes to the toilet block all whilst tripping over invisible guideropes. Don't get me wrong, Ienjoyed those strange trips. Only when camping can you take the entire morning to make an egg and bacon sarnie for breakfast and wash up at a chatty sink area. But the time has past and I happily sit in our tiny warm caravan and beam as the rain pelts down on those poor, mad tenters. My poor husband has been missing it though and is over the moon that our little girl is now happily camping out with him. 4 weekend out of the last 7 have seen my two intrepid explorers grabbing pilows and lanterns to go exploring- it won't be long before she is introduced to the fishing lakes! I have been left with the baby "sigh" and had time in the evenings (Yay!) to do some little crafty jobs. It's been a wonderful time indulging in guilty tv pleasures of X factor and Sci-fi films, late night espresso and having all my craft boxes spread around me in chaos! First on the list was a new school hat for Katie. I wanted a cushy, big, warm, blokey hat that would cover her ears and last a good long time. Well, it does the job ampley as it fits me pretty darn good too!

These two are more gifts. The corsage was for Mum's birthday. I used my leftover bootie wool and some tiny soft grey beads. I accidently stitched the leaves on too far out and, even though it looks beautiful, it ended up HUGE. I mean, my Mum's not tall and she may be in danger of getting lost behind it!

The little felt Humbug is cute idea from a book Mum leant me the other week. It's a very detailed book with wool explored in many intricate forms- not for me though. I liked the humbugs though as you stitch together two squares, going around 3 sides. You stuff the pocket and stitch the final sdie by pushing the corners together to stitch the line that runs across in the oposite direction (does this make sense?)

I'm now working on some more wraps for Christmas as my Step-Mother-in-Law has been admiring my one as well as my litle girl who's been asking for her own since last year. It mean that my birthday money this year was used on wool for other people. I know all crafters will understand this madness- bags of lovely wool! I also got some great craft books which I can't wait to try. So, as the Mad Campers are off again, I will get back to my fun!!

Back from the wilderness!

Hello Peeps! Did anyone out there miss me?? I've just come back from a 2 week break in the Forest- of-Dean (pronounced "Far-rist" mostly) and, boy, did I miss my Wi-Fi. There was no signal for phone or internet in our little caravan which made catching up with friends and family particularly tricky. I had to use a pay phone- it's surprising how strange that felt...


Anyway, I took a whole bag of wool and patterns to work through but got very little done I must admit as, by the time the girls were down and we had eaten, it was way past 9pm and we were only good for a short read before turning our sofas into a bed again.




The joy of a teeny caravan! There's a certain Ballet that needs to be performed for every little task where both of you are looking after bouncy bundles of energy and trying to move around a small space. It normally involves one doing baby care whilst other is standing doing washing up and cooking and entertaining big sister with lots of swapping around. So getting out and about was definitely the key!



One of my highlights was accidentally coming across a craft group on the one evening we had a drink in the pub. I must admit that I gate-crashed these lovely ladies in "The Fountain" in Parkend and probably looked a bit crazed as I was having hook withdrawal symptoms. They politely listened to my wittering and I came away refreshed and eager to get my hooks out when we got back and settled for the night. Thank you Ladies! I'll be back in the Summer if it would be alright to say hello again?




I did manage to make these two little dears as gifts for my friend and her little girl- A Snail finger puppet and an owl from my lovely "Fa La La Felt" book which I'm really pleased with. Hope everyone had a lovely Easter break x

Week 8 Decoration- Felty chains again!

I've finished!! I know it's Wednesday but I couldn't post it uncompleted when I was almost there. I LOVE it and it was sooooo worth the effort. I must say, I'm a dab hand at blanket stitch now. You kind of have to after almost 2 weeks of work.

I loved stitching each chain by hand although I would consider using my sewing machine for a quicker gift one next time. I might come back to this another day...

Week 7 Decoration- Felty Chains!

Wow! It's Thursday already and I'm late, late, late darn it! I only started this project on Saturday and was holding off until Tuesday evening to get a bit more done when my laptop decided to develop a glitch. No Internet for 2 days was surprisingly stressful which is very sad really. I didn't realise just how much I pop on to check up little things. My iphone is even worse as I constantly have to answer those pointless questions that pop up every day.
Like: Who's the voice behind Sally from "Nightmare before Christmas?" (It's Maureen O'Hara who was the stepmother in Beetlejuice who did the possessed crazy dance at dinner!) Oh, and Danny Elfman -who seems to write music for everything- wrote the score for the film and

sang the part of Jack Skeleton... You see, pointless really.

Back to the project now. This felty paper chain was an idea I found on

http://paper-and-string.blogspot.com/p/tutorials_01.html

I've been eying it up for a while and decided to make it a two-week project. My husband looked at all the strips I cut ready and promptly declared that it would take me forever. But, as usual, just by doing a little bit each night the chain is growing nicely. I think sometimes people see these projects as too much hard work, but all crafters know that spending your time doing something you love where you end up with something to treasure is so worth the effort and time.

I'm loving it so far, especially using contrasting colours for the blanket stitch. It means my blanket stitch is really improving as wonky stitches look a little naff. I'm not aiming to decorate an entire room but make a length to go along the top of my dresser. I can't wait to see how it will look next week!

Week 6 Decoration- Tiny Felt Robin

Look at this!! I am so proud of this little guy as it is the first design that I've made that is a perfect match to the pattern.

1. I sketched out a robin from a google photo and traced each different section onto plain paper.


2. I cut out the teeny pieces and used sticky tape to hold them onto the felt. (This was a tip I got from a previous website. It makes it easier to cut very small pieces neatly, the felt piece comes away when the shape is cut out and the tape left on the template strenthens it)


3. I used silver, red and brown thread to embroider the details and then stitched all the pieces together. I added a plain, fine ribbon to keep the focus on the little guy

The whole thing from cutting to finishing took just over 40 minutes which I was surprised by, I must say! I wanted to scan in my pattern but my scanners gone phooey so I hope this picture will do.
FREEBIE ALERT
So, instead of a pattern to offer, I am going to start my first Freebie Giveaway. One condition though. I want to get up to 10 followers. When I have 10, I will put names into a hat and send this little guy out to you. So, if you want him, spread the word and help me complete my dastardly plan "Mwah- ha-ha!"

Just a few little bits and pieces...

I've not been posting as much this month- Sorry! I'm not losing interest, honest. It's just that we've all been having the worst month with either 1,2,3 or 4 of us ill at the same time. The washing machine has been on permanently and we have all been a bit sorry for ourselves. I haven't picked up my craft basket until today as, finally, all of us seem to be on the mend- Yippee.

My poor Christmas project had to sit on the back burners which I've been feeling guilty about, I must say. With back-to-work days and the lure of other projects, I have made the decision to downsize the project to a "once a month" piece. Thinking about it, I may have struggled to find homes for 52 Christmas decorations so it's probably the right decision.

Let me make it up by sharing a few bits and bobs I've been meaning to post for you now...

1- Ever since I found out that some of my nearest and dearest were expecting, I've been planning and starting my baby box. I wanted to make a pre-baby gift as a one-off for one yummy mummy. This teeny badge popped into my head as I couldn't stop singing the "Baby on Board" song sung by the Barbers shop quartet in the Simpsons. It ended up just over an inch wide and the wide safety pin in the back means it will pin onto bags, over straps and on tops easily.

2- Have you come across this online magazine! It's beautiful I must say. It's full of inspirational ideas, interviews with Bloggers and new craft enterprises and lots of advice on starting out in business. There are also some lovely free projects in a variety of techniques such as sugar craft, sewing, paper flowers (and I've only read 2 past issues!) The photography is elegant and fresh and new issues are sent to your email. There are ongoing new feeds on the website and items for sale. I keep dipping into it when I have time to sit back with a cup of coffee and perhaps a slice of cake- wonderful!

http://www.ukhandmade.co.uk/magazine

3. I started making these Baby blankets during the half term break 6 weeks ago using an Erika Knight pattern from "Essential Crochet". I used it for my own little girl using Sirdar Snuggly and it made a beautiful, fine blanket. This time I used chunky wool. This wool was King Cole washable chunky wool which is lovely and soft and has made two thick and warm blankets. Blue for a boy and Yellow for a "don't know"!

Week 6 decoration- Crochet Gingerbread girl

Fred and Ginger are together! I can imagine them swirling around the dance floor...Ok,ok, maybe not- and I'm not making a top hat and cane either- but they are very sweet together. Just a little tweak to turn a boy into a girl and Hey-Presto!

My Christmas drawer may need to turn into a Christmas box soon. We have so little storage space at home though that I don't know where it would go. Time to spring clean I guess...