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Showing posts from October, 2007

Greeny from Butterick B4516

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I finished sewing this top from Butterick pattern B4516 I really need to learn how to alter patterns so that I don't have loose armholes. I also need to change it so it has a smaller neck. But its a living and learning experience! I do like the colour and its great to wear under cardies and jackets to work!

A beautiful dress

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I saw this in a shop in town - and love the colour and style! Doesn't it hang great?

Art from old tights!

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I have a pair of tights I love but unfortunately on my way to work I got a hole in them. (Damn zips on knee high boots, grrr.) So I took them home and washed them. I hate throwing things out (is there a pattern emerging?). I had two canvases on frames and decided to give art creation a go! So step one. Find tights/pantyhose you like with a nice pattern (preferably preused so you don't go adding to the landfill/general waste). Get a small ish canvas on a frame (it can be bigger than the one in the picture as tights stretch) and assemble a scissors! Next place the canvas into the tights and find a spot that you haven't ripped! Move it around until it looks good. Cut the toe off and the leg leaving about 1 inch/ 5 cm on either side of the canvas. This is roughly what it should look like. Affix each end of your tights to the wrong side of the canvas using a tack. I've used a large thumb tack here so you can see it properly but you can use small thumb tacks or small nail

And another one...

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I figured out what was really wrong with my top and made a sash in remnant satin (yea, for remnant bins) for it. I think it works so much better now! I'm almost finished the skirt that broke my sewing machine :) I just need to hem and attach an eye and hook. I'll post it when its done but I used the left over material and lining to make another tote bag. I figure I'll use less plastic bags if I have alternatives I want to bring with me. I didn't use any interfacing for the handles so they're not as comfy as I would like. Still doing the job though as I've been using it all week. Finally for this installment. I created a care instructions card for my Aunt's scarf, which is now all wrapped up and addressed and just waiting for the appropriate postage! Have a great weekend everyone!

A crafty Sunday

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I bought a lot of remnant material in Spotlight yesterday and there was one pattern I didn't like so I was going to make placemats. But as I was going to a houseparty this evening and I want to spread the use of reusable bags, I made up a tote to carry some cupcakes I was taking with me! Big enough to carry a few books so hopefully some use will be made out of it! I made the base fairly big (below) and lined the bag with the same material. It was thermal lined curtain material. And inside are my cupcakes! I iced them using icing sugar made with lemon juice and topped with rind. And a close up of my cupcakes! I'll try to post a picture of all my remnants but some of them are still drying (of course you have to wash them first).

A cushion, a top, a wash cloth and a few more cards

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My flatmate has a particular fondness for cord. I made this cushion to help her out (and get to grips with my new sewing machine!). I think the buttons work quite well. And two photographs of the top I finished in Monday night's dress making class. I think it looks much much better tucked in and would probably benefit from a large chunk taken off the end but it'll do for now! There was a special on cotton yarn in my local shop and I was on the look out for something that would be suitable for a wash cloth. This is the first time (since primary school) that I used double crochet so while it didn't work out wonderfully - it was a first attempt that will keep my face clean! The next one I'm working on at the moment looks so much better. Finally, a series of thank you cards for people who have helped me out over the last while and a birthday card for my aunt (to go with the green scarf !). A productive day! (And I even got some real work done as well. Why is that the

A few Christmas cards

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The first three cards use a set of stickers that were really cheap in my local craft shop. I think they're quite effective. I really like the first one. It reverses the colours - a really bright landscape (three scraps of handmade and metallic paper) and a white out background. This was the main design for my christmas cards last year. I mocked up the stick tree using lines in photoshop and then photocopied the design onto card. I used tracing paper over it and added jewels and a ribbon. These guys are a set of stickers I was given for my birthday last year (thanks, E). Not a lot of labour involved but again I like the look of them! I may have a problem hoarding scraps. The translucent orange on the second one is a recycled sweet wrapper and the jewels on the last one were on a tshirt at one stage. I think the ribbon came from somewhere else too. Better reuse than recycle I suppose!

My first quilt (in progress)

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I've started a quilt! Yeap and very happy about it too! It will be made of three coloured blocks made from old sheets via a charity shop. I'm quite excited about it and its taking shape faster than I expected. Though it isn't the most exciting thing in the world to cut out the squares so that's what's holding the process up!

A round up of old projects

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I've been clearing out my computer and looking at my old craft photographs. I loved this T shirt and have spent the last year trying to find t shirts I like the fit of that I can play around with. It was cross stitched using waste canvas. This design for the dinosaur is from a great pixel art picture , I just converted each square into a cross stitch. I made up the design for the caveman as the dinosaur was a little too low down! I learnt a valuable lesson about spacing! Not the greatest photograph, but it'll have to do! I haven't been able to make a lot of cards since I arrived in the Southern Hemisphere as I hadn't realised how much I relied on the stuff I've accumulated over the last few years. I also think I over dosed on making cards as I was making wedding invites for friends. But here's a few I'm proud of! I'm a huge fan of recycling nice paper packaging and the last card is from a Monsoon paper bag - I love their colours! A definite pink them

Finishing projects

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Spring is strange here. A few weeks ago I wore shorts to work, then it changed to doubling my nightware so I wasn't woken by the cold at night. So I should fit in use of my mittens before the summer begins in earnest. The mittens are a bit asymmetrical but they fit and I didn't work to a pattern so that's just the risks you take! I'll be visiting the Northern Hemisphere at Christmas so I might get some more wear out of them then. I finished my aunt's scarf and added a few buttons to finish it off properly. I like the scarf and hope she does too. If I didn't have so many scarves I might make another one for in a similar colour (that green wouldn't do me any good). And one more because I'm very proud! I also made a little bag that doesn't have any interfacing so it will roll up nice and neat And a close up of the lining. Recognize the fabric flower? Yeap, I found it a home !

A new Tie

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Today has been a good and a bad craft day. Grrr. I'd promised my flatmate that I would make him a tie to match a dress I had just finished so we could go out some night together and look particularly pathetic. He'd been on at me for a while so this morning I got up bright and early and took apart a tie he hates. So. The next step was unpicking the thing to use as a template. There were a few surprises. I didn't know they had padding (obvious in hindsight!). And there was a weird little bumpy thing at the end too. And this is the material! Can't really see why this is so much better as a tie. All pinned up and ready to sew. All sewed up and the padding from the old tie inserted. I needed some lining so I cut out bits of an old pair of trousers (don't tell my flatmate!). And the finish product. :) I also stopped off at the jewelery store near my work on the way home. I needed to get a pair of red earrings but I haven't been able to get a set I like. So obv