Appliqued Sunglasses Cases

Sewing World Magazine August 2016

It's been an extremely busy summer for the Larkin household and family commitments left little or no time to blog and I'm now beyond behind in my posting!  Some of my work was published so long ago there now seems no point in sharing it, including an article about my notebook covers in the May 2016 issue of the Australian Homespun Magazine, "Australia's No.1 Craft magazine!" 

One slightly newer project however was in August's Sewing World Magazine, for a set of appliqued sunglasses cases.

There were four designs to chose from and whilst the magazine is no longer on the shelves the lovely folk over at Sewing World have made the project available to download for free over at their Inspired to Make page.

Happy Stitching!

Appliqued Paris Pouch

Eiffel Tower Embroidery

I've been pretty busy at the moment renovating a flat for my elderly parents-in-law to move into, so blogging has taken a backseat.  I have done a little bit of sewing though, mainly finishing the last of the teacher appreciation gifts for the wonderful educators who have guided my son towards his GCSEs.  This Paris themed pouch was, not surprisingly(!) for his lovely French teacher.  The lovely Paris map fabric was kindly sent to me in a online swap by 'Quirky Hannah' who blogs here.

Time Flies! - Appliqued Clock

Sewing World Magazine July 2016

The July issue of Sewing World Magazine is in the shops now and I was delighted to see that my appliqued linen clock made the front cover.  I took my inspiration from the gorgeous bookplates found in antique Victorian texts, when entomology was a popular pastime for the educated middle classes!    

I used a 30cm diameter clock making kit which made the whole process very straight forward and the resulting impressive timepiece would look really elegant displayed on the wall of a lounge or garden room. 

I also gave designer credit to my lovely son George who whipped out his protractor to draft the seconds increments at perfect 6 degree spacings - I hate maths and he loves it!

In keeping with most of my projects, the main technique used was free motion machine embroidery which is basically drawing with thread!  I love this type of raw edge applique as it is so adaptable and suitable for any design, modern or traditional.  I don't lower my feed dogs to achieve this result as I prefer to simply use an open-toed foot, so I guess strictly speaking mine isn't actually 'free motion'!

Suede and Fabric Pencil Pouch

Our Next Teacher Appreciation Gift

 

My latest zipper pouch is for a rather wonderful music teacher, who I previously wrote about in this post when I made him a gift thanking him for his triumphant school production of 'Guys and Dolls' - As you can see that journal had a somewhat 'quirky' feel to it, so this time I wanted to stitch up something rather more sophisticated!

SewforSoul Fabric Portrait

I chose a fabric with a lovely antique pen nib print, which cried out to be a pencil case, and for some added texture and interest contrasted it with a suede panel along the bottom.  I then whipped up a matching tassel for the final finishing touch. 

 Thank You Mr Grehan-Bradley!

'Grandad's Shed' Appliqued Journal Cover

Sewing World Magazine June 2016

The new June edition of Sewing World Magazine is in the shops now and is packed full of lovely summer projects, including my fabric journal cover featuring a very cute applique garden shed!

As it's nearly Father's Day, it's themed as the perfect present for a much loved Grandad (or Dad!) but could be easily customised by embroidering any name above the door making it suitable for your favourite gardener or horticulturalist!  

The back of the cover features a cute little watering can and personalised gift label.  Some jaunty summer bunting is the finishing touch, let's hope it encourages the sun to come out soon!

Happy Father's Day!

Upcycled Shabby Chic Tin Cans

Vintage Book Page Pen Pots

I took a little break from sewing this week and instead indulged myself with lots of lovely cutting and sticking, making these vintage style pen pots from old tin cans.  I used the same basic technique as my decoupage book page eggs, which remains one of my most popular posts of all time.

Would you believe they started out as cheap and tacky plastic eggs?!  

As the tin cans are intended to be used as desk tidies for stationery supplies, I decided to theme them around novelists and works of literature.  Not surprisingly I was unable to source any suitable printed paper napkins, so instead I stamped plain white serviettes using the stamp sets below;

The sets are 'Writers' by Cherry Pie, 'Jane Austen' by IndigoBlu and 'Gentleman' by Viva Decor

I used an old book of quotations, which had seen far better days, for the script background and then gave the cans a quick colour wash of watered down brown paint to enhance their 'foxed' antique finish. After this I carefully trimmed the stamped tissue images before sticking them to the cans with thinned white PVA glue (USA - Elmers).  This is sooo much cheaper than Modge Podge, just add water until the glue is the consistency of thin single cream.  The final step was to give each can a couple of coats of polyurethane varnish.

Unique upcycled craft storage tin cans!

A Gift For A Geography Teacher

Appliqued Globe Zipper Pouch

Our eldest child left school last week and that old cliché 'it only seems like yesterday he was a babe in arms' has never felt so true!  We have been incredibly lucky with all his teachers and we wanted to show our appreciation to the wonderful educators who have given him so much over the last five years.

This little applique zipper pouch is for his Geography teacher, who also teaches our daughter History and they both love him!  In fact Geography is one of the subjects George is hoping to continue for 'A' level in September.

A few years ago I made this pencil case for a friend, who had been promoted to Head of Geography, and the children suggested that Mr Mitchell would like a similar design.  

I took the children's idea (but made it a bit less fussy as it's for a man!) and whipped up a personalised pencil case.  I find it quite challenging stitching for men but hopefully he'll like it - And as a Geography teacher he will at least appreciate the fact that the fabric for both the main case and the lining came from upcycled work shirts which had seen better days!

Good luck to everyone sitting exams!