Time flies......

Confirmation Gifts

Last week saw thirty youngsters from our parish receiving the sacrament of Confirmation.  As we attend Mass on a weekly basis the children have known each other from birth - They've also all been in the Catholic school system since the age of five, so they really have grown up together.  Whilst I support my husband and children in their faith by attending church with them, I'm not actually religious myself, so I took a back seat in the whole process but my husband was a sponsor for one of the girls, Anna and her father did the same for George.  To mark the occasion, I stitched Anna up a little 'Dumpling Pouch' along with a matching appliquéd mirror. 

It can be easy as a parent to get caught up in the daily rush of life and I know I don't always take the time to sit back and  reflect upon my children's positive points. Instead I always seem to be constantly nagging about music practice, homework, revision...etc....etc.  However, they are actually really rather lovely and despite our dodgy parenting skills are even growing into decent human beings!  

One of the benefits of having an active faith is becoming part of an amazing extended 'family' and the support that this provides.  For us this also translates into weekends away where, as a group, we rent a holiday property in various stunning locations and thirty to forty of us just kick back and enjoy each other's company (along with lots of good food and alcohol!). We have been doing this for well over a decade and the picture below was taken on last year's jaunt to Robin Hood's Bay.  George is sitting at the front and just behind him is Anna.  At the back is Rebecca who is taking her GCSEs this year and is my daughter's 'God-sister' due to her mum being Alice's Godmother.  Sitting in front of her is Sita who is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.

       

Anna's dad took these pictures and looking at them reminds me of what a wonderful time we always have and this autumn's trip has already been booked!

Girls, unlike boys, are quite easy to buy or make gifts for, but Anna and her family came up trumps and gave George with a lovely print of the Magna Carta which we will now get framed.

The dumpling pouches are quick to stitch up and can be embellished in loads of different ways.  I used this tutorial from Keyka Lou Patterns which I think is the best one out there.  She offers a choice of two sizes and I stitched up the smaller one because it's so cute!

Baby Boy Personalised Bunting Tutorial

DIY Appliqued Onesie and Fabric Garland

This week I had the pleasure of stitching up a gift for a newborn baby boy.  He comes from a family who are very talented with a sewing machine and likely to be appreciative of a thrifted and stitched offering!  It cost mere pennies to make, having been created from old curtains, shirts and dresses.  The baby vest is sized 0-3 months and came from a bag of 'hand-me-downs' and will make a perfect little summer sleepsuit......should we actually get any hot weather this year!

I picked out upcycled fabrics in the classic combination of beige, light blue and navy and used a Varsity Font for a less 'babyish' look, thus hopefully prolonging its display life!

Tutorial

The first step is to make a template for your fabric letters and bunting flags. Simply use Microsoft Publisher/Word, or similar software, to create a 14 cm equilateral triangle and then resize your chosen font until the letters fit nicely in the middle of the triangle.  Print onto thin card and cut out.

Now take your card letters and turn them over before tracing around them onto the smooth side of a sheet of Bondaweb.  Iron onto the wrong side of the navy polka-dot fabric and cut out.....They will now be facing the right way round!    Cut the required number of pennant flags from the light blue and beige fabrics, not forgetting to cut out the same number of linings.

Peel the backing paper from your letters and place centrally onto the flag fronts and, once you're happy with the positioning, fix with a hot iron.

Using white thread sew around each of the letters at least twice to create a 'sketchy' feel.  Don't worry if you have a couple of wobbles as this all adds to the appeal of raw edge appliqué!

Place each appliquéd flag onto a triangle cut from your lining fabric, right sides together, and stitch the side seams leaving the top open.   Trim seam allowances and clip the bottom point to reduce bulk. 

Turn the flags right side out and use a chopstick or blunt stick to gently push out the points.  Press and then trim off the little 'ears' at the top of the flags creating a nice straight edge.

We now need to enclose the raw edges, the easiest method is to use pre-made purchased binding or even just fold some ribbon or canvas tape in half - I actually made this binding from one of my hubby's worn out work shirts, it matched the navy of the polka-dot fabric perfectly!

To apply bias-binding, open it out and stitch to the right side of your flags matching up the raw edges at the top.  Carry on sewing whilst placing your flags with an even spacing and leaving at least 10cm of tape at each end for hanging.  Then fold the binding over to the wrong side and catch into position with little hand-stitches, using the machined line as your guide.

This method ensures a neat finish on the right side of the flags with no visible stitching.

All done!

A handmade string of personalised bunting for your special baby!

Bunting is an easy sewing project which can be personalised for any taste.  I chose not to put any 'boy' pictures on this string as boats and tractors are grown out of so quickly, but for girls you can let your imagination, and sewing needle, have free reign!  I created these owl and butterfly versions for the daughters of a dear friend last year;

Should you not trust your appliqué or free-hand machine embroidery skills, you can even upcycle  vintage linens into stunning bunting garlands...

However, hopefully Arthur will be happy with an appliquéd baby-grow as compensation for the lack of pictures on his garland!

For Arthur - A* Baby!

I'll be posting a tutorial for Arthur's appliquéd baby vest as well as this cupcake version shortly;

So keep your eyes open!

Free Hand Machine Embroidery Treat Box

Buddly Crafts Design Team Makes

Over at the Buddly Crafts Blog the theme this month is 'Handmade Sweet Packaging' and, as the sewing and felting contributor, I whipped up this little free motion embroidered treat box;

It's a perfect project for beginners as it's such a small scale design and if the first one goes wrong you can discard it without too much waste - However, don't forget that a few wobbles are all part of the appeal of raw edge appliqué and free motion embroidery!

The full tutorial can be found here and the wooden display top box is available for purchase in the Buddly Crafts shop.   

A visit to the Buddly Blog, will also reveal these lovely makes by my fellow DT members;

Hand Painted Strawberry Box by Gill

Stencilled Sweetie Box by Kim

Acrylic Heart Box by Kyriakos  

Door Knob Crafts

A couple of weeks ago I was very flattered to be offered a sample of items by Trinca Ferro, specialists in the most gorgeous handles and knobs, suitable for furniture and craft projects.  I immediately whizzed over to their site and chose an eclectic mix of glass and ceramic styles and here they are;  

Aren't they lovely!

They stock a huge range with prices to suit all pockets from £2.30 to £25.00 and most styles cost around the £2.50 - £3.50 mark.  

I'm going to be using four of mine for some display cloches, using my 'Clock to Cloche' tutorial and Alice has her eye on the butterflies for her little antique wooden jewellery box.

But as soon as I saw this cut glass one I knew it would perfectly compliment my collection of Edwardian mother of pearl buttons, which were previously stored in a boring jam jar and I was right;

I simply spray painted the jar lid black and then drilled a hole in the top using my trusty Dremel hand drill.

 The cut glass knob just screwed in using the fittings supplied.

 Perfect for vintage treasures!

They would also look gogeous on a dressing room table in your boudoir!