Mothers Day & Easter Gifts
Be like Laura Lovegrove, the 'crafty' heroine of the novel, Laura's Handmade Life and make a handmade chick. It adds a touch of spring to your home and makes a lovely calorie free Mother's Day or Easter gift. Simply collect scrap fabrics, (outgrown children's clothes in spring yellows, green and lilac are excellent) buttons and fill with cushion wadding or even cut up old tights!
For the complete recipe (including template) for this and
another design, check out Laura's Handmade Life. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lauras-Handmade-Life-Amanda-Addison/dp/0751545341
Bookshelf-butterfly's review & spring chick!
http://bookshelf-butterfly.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/lauras-handmade-life-by-amanda-addison.html
For the complete recipe (including template) for this and
another design, check out Laura's Handmade Life. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lauras-Handmade-Life-Amanda-Addison/dp/0751545341
Bookshelf-butterfly's review & spring chick!
http://bookshelf-butterfly.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/lauras-handmade-life-by-amanda-addison.html
Festive Lavender Parcels
As readers of Laura’s Handmade Life will know, there is a pattern at the end of the book to make lavender hearts.
Here is the festive (red) updated version.
The main piece of fabric I used was a remnant bin bargain and the patterned corduroy handles are from an old dress. The parcels were filled with dried lavender and scraps of cushion wadding.
I’ve customised each cushion to co-ordinate with the different covers of Laura’sHandmade Life:
a poinsettia design (made from red suede, after shortening a skirt) for Taglia, Cuci, Ama; turquoise and lime buttons for Ein Cottage zum Verlieben; and yellow and pink for the English version. Likewise, you could match colours and flower motifs to make individual gifts for friends and family.
Christmas Carol Card - , Make me Joy now in this Fest
It’s already the time of year I mull over my Christmas card design motif, my opportunity to make and send a hand-made message to friends and family. Usually I raid my bags and boxes of scrap fabrics and papers and turn them in to a collage illustration: reindeers, the three kings, the holly and the ivy…
…but this year my inspiration came from browsing in my local Oxfam shop and leafing through racks of old sheet music, where I found William Walton’s, Make me Joy now in this Fest, a very English carol.
…so I combined some origami-style cutting and folding with a favourite swatch of fabric (once upon a time my daughter’s dress) and in to create the image of a Christmas carol card.
A final touch is to include the YouTube link to the carol as I love to link the joys of handmade with the digital age. Click on the red link below.
…but this year my inspiration came from browsing in my local Oxfam shop and leafing through racks of old sheet music, where I found William Walton’s, Make me Joy now in this Fest, a very English carol.
…so I combined some origami-style cutting and folding with a favourite swatch of fabric (once upon a time my daughter’s dress) and in to create the image of a Christmas carol card.
A final touch is to include the YouTube link to the carol as I love to link the joys of handmade with the digital age. Click on the red link below.
http://tinyurl.com/bvtj4fg
Crafty Christmas Ideas - and the story behind them
Or should I say, just how many things can you make from a discarded child's shirt? I couldn't bare to throw away my daughter's shirt and so began my Christmas making - which in the end turned into an activity where I needed assistance not just from my family, but some people in the village too.
Apple & Blackberry Preserve
The blackberries came from our freezer supply, picked by my son in early autumn and frozen. The apples were donated by Rose at Wheatfen (ours were all chopped and frozen and ready for pies!). The small jars came from Mike, our local bee keeper and the larger ones from our own bottle bank (that's the utility room!). And finally I was able to use up sections from my daughter's old shirt for lids, which she says remind her of a shepherd's headdress in the Christmas story.
The Cat
A perfect present for the young at heart. It follows the same simple template idea as the chick pattern in the back of Laura's Handmade Life. As with the chicks, the cats can be stuffed with wadding or chopped up old tights!
The Bookmarks
These will be my present of quantity this year. For me, a fabric bookmark, embroidered with family and friends' initials is the perfect gift (& light for the post!) for lovers of craft & reading.
Apple & Blackberry Preserve
The blackberries came from our freezer supply, picked by my son in early autumn and frozen. The apples were donated by Rose at Wheatfen (ours were all chopped and frozen and ready for pies!). The small jars came from Mike, our local bee keeper and the larger ones from our own bottle bank (that's the utility room!). And finally I was able to use up sections from my daughter's old shirt for lids, which she says remind her of a shepherd's headdress in the Christmas story.
The Cat
A perfect present for the young at heart. It follows the same simple template idea as the chick pattern in the back of Laura's Handmade Life. As with the chicks, the cats can be stuffed with wadding or chopped up old tights!
The Bookmarks
These will be my present of quantity this year. For me, a fabric bookmark, embroidered with family and friends' initials is the perfect gift (& light for the post!) for lovers of craft & reading.
Sari ribbon book marks
I could resist up-cycling some of my Indian ribbons into sparkling Christmas presents for friends and family who love reading and receiving a handmade gift. The ribbon fabric is suitably stiff and just needs a layer of light card sandwiched in the middle and a quick whizz on the sewing machine along the one length and both the widths. Any unused ribbons will be used to decorate the room for our art department Christmas party - appropriately with a gold theme.
Season's Greetings
I sorted through my fabric scraps and found satin, wadding, curtain net and lace, all of which make for great 'snowy' background to colourful, patterned fabrics to recreate your own fairytale scene. Good 'snow' stitches are french knots, star stitch and seed stitch. Happy stitching!
Mr Crafty's Christmas
My other half, Mr Crafty, has been busy in the wood shed, taking up the crafty Christmas baton and made this holly wreath table decoration. The body is moulded from chicken wire and filled with moss (easy for us, as much of our lawn is moss!). The next stage is to decorate with holly and then cover with gold spray paint. Stage two is to add some green holly for the natural look.
And if you’re feeling really creative you can use this as a centrepiece for some home-made mince pies. If you have an under ten year old in the house, this makes pastry making a whole lot easier, as they do enjoy either crumbling the butter and flour or the excitement of the food processor doing it!
And if you’re feeling really creative you can use this as a centrepiece for some home-made mince pies. If you have an under ten year old in the house, this makes pastry making a whole lot easier, as they do enjoy either crumbling the butter and flour or the excitement of the food processor doing it!
Fabulous Felt
I finally have a scrubbed clean pine kitchen table of my dreams after spending a day feltmaking! I used my favourite colours of crimson and turquoise to make a batch of brooches loosely based on stars, pointsettias and snowflakes. I'm not one for too much 'rubbing' and 'rolling' so I had to get out my felting and sewing needles to make my designs more sturdy. But then again, my favourite part is the decorating with old beads, buttons and and a few of my favourite stitches.
Valentine's Day
For that truly 'touchy' feely' card/picture I used fabric, threads, papers and the odd pipe cleaner!
Celebrate flowers in May - with a tulip inspired applique patch
A bit tulip obsessed this month. They're my favourite flowers - and everywhere at the moment. I was also inspired by the applique test in the Great British Sewing Bee. So here's my applique patch. I have some 'how to' instructions if anyone would like to test drive my pattern I'd be delighted.
Please contact me directly for the pattern.
Please contact me directly for the pattern.
