Intimate Sewing with Jobie and Spo...

Sounds... interesting yes? So called due to a shared sewing machine, a short wire and a very squashy sofa that lead to us practically being joined at the hip throughout the whole crafting process! Here's the result of about 6 hours of crafting, chatting, pizza and crap TV...

Little houses - great for using up scraps and sooooo cute! Very simple in principle and easy(ish) to work out without a pattern. I do plan to re-do the top of the roof on mine as it's a bit wonky - too much stuffing? Will have a fiddle.

Next thing on the list, a few cards. Far fewer photos here as we were getting sleepy by this time!

All the goodies and our sign - better writing this time I think.

THANK YOU JO for letting me steal your fabric and your space and time. Looking forward to next month's adventure already :)
Happy crafting, S (and J!) x

Treasure bags

For anyone who works with, and probably those who have their own children you will no doubt know that, no matter how much you (and hopefully they!) tidy up, there are still lots and LOTS of 'bits' left out - building bricks, stray crayons, bits of string, the lid off a glue stick etc. 'Bits' inside is one thing but outside, where there is much more space, many more hiding places and an awful lot more dirt these 'bits' become an altogether different problem. In other words, if not collected soon, they will invariably become lost, too weather-worn or filthy to be of any use at all once finally found.
So, to get the kiddos to tidy them all up before the worst happens we have treasure bags!

 The netting is an attempt to make them a little calmer in contrast with the vibrant fabric and also makes them see through and hopefully a little easier to keep clean. So far, after one use (they are still full of 'treasure' in the photos) they seem to work well.
One of my colleagues pointed out that they would also make lovely peg bags.
Happy crafting! S. x

Recycled crafting

Oh my, a seriously busy week has swept me away from the world of crafting (and blogging for that matter!) so here is another summer holiday project. (I have had the chance to do a bit of sewing this week but as it is a top secret gift, I can't show it to you until October - not long now!)

I love wearing wool and for most of you who know me well you'll know I also love howies - lovely casual and sporty clothes, perfect fit, ethical and very well crafted. But, even the best of woolly jumpers, when worn for many years, will come to a sad end. What to do with a favourite sweater when it's begun to develop the odd hole and has admittedly shrunk a little (it's always the length of the arms - nothing ever fits my gangly arms!)? Why recycle it of course!

First step - Felting.
This is a simple process involving a 90-100% wool garment/blanket and a well sealed, draw-string bag - I made one from the lining of a charity shop skirt and an old shoe lace - and a very hot wash and then tumble dry. It really knits the fibers together so you're basically left with a much smaller, very cute jumper that you can cut up into bits without worrying about it unraveling. (NOTE: the bag is ESSENTIAL as, especially during the tumble drying phase, things start to get very fluffy and it will probably kill your washing machine if you don't use a bag.)

Step two - Making stuff!
I used a pattern from Amanda Blake Soule's gorgeous book Handmade Home to make a slightly knobbly but ever-so lovely hat for me and then made up a crown for Lexi (my niece) - it's going to be part of her birthday present (I'll show you the rest of that another time).

The hat is pretty much two semi-circles with a V shape cut out of the curve in each one and all stitched together. I added a little flower and of course a button - where would the world be without buttons! (And I love that it still says 'howies' :))

More buttons also feature on the crown which has a little bit of elastic to help with the fit.

All in all, a very enjoyable recycling experience.
Happy crafting all. :)
S. x

Wood for school

A few months ago now we (Cathy, our Reception teacher and myself) discovered the wonders of The Phoenix Resource Center in Northampton. For a total of £25 including lifetime membership we were able to wonder the isles of this magnificent place and pick of the shelves whatever we could use in school. Along with various fabrics, bags of sequins and buttons, notepads and whole lot of other fabulous stuff, we found a stack of wooden discs.

We were limited to five, so natural we took five, without any real idea of what we would do with them but feeling sure that they'd come in useful somewhere along the line. And they were! They started out being used as chopping boards in our ice cream parlour, then steering wheels for various vehicles before I had the urge to get the soldering iron out and make them, well, a little prettier. So, several months of on and off work and a million coats of varnish later, they are done.

(And yes, I know the '16' is missing, fear not, there is one on the other side!)

As they dry from the very last coat of varnish (thank God!) I'm still not entirely sure where they are going to go - somewhere in our outside provision. I'll take a few pics of them in situe when the time arrives.
Happy crafting. S