• brown paper stitched heart - the gingerbread house
    Handmade gifts - Valentines Day crafts

    Brown paper stitched hearts

    February 10, 2015 - By 

    Today I’m sharing a DIY Valentine’s gift tutorial as part of the TSB Valentine’s Campaign. They offer  joint accounts  amongst other things, so why not make a sweet gift for your other half? These stitched hearts are perfect for hiding a note or Valentine treats. Here’s what I did. Materials needed for brown paper stitched hearts: brown paper, I used paper sandwich bags scissors heart shaped cookie cutter pink tic tac sweets or similar washi tape pinking shears letter stamps How to make brown paper stitched hearts: Take a large cookie cutter and draw around it on the brown paper…

  • book review - crafts - handmade

    The Big Comic Relief Crafternoon bookazine

    February 6, 2015 - By 

    I’m so happy The Great British Sewing Bee is back on. I really enjoyed the first episode last night and I’m awe of the contestants sewing skills. Some dress making skills are definitely on my wish list this year! I love to sew so was really excited to hear about the new Mollie Makes bookazine – The Big Comic Relief Crafternoon. This is a collaboration with Comic Relief (obvs!) and the bookazine features over 50 marvellous makes for Red Nose Day  (13th March 2015). I rushed out to buy a copy last week (Sainsbury’s Pinner if anyone is local to…

  • quilt - sewing

    Monthly Makes – January

    January 31, 2015 - By 

    There’s something about January that makes me want to stay in and hibernate with some sewing. It’s been so cold that I’ve been quite happy to spend my evenings working on my Union flag quilt – a gift for my 3 year old – hopefully before she leaves home. I’ve seen real progress with it this month and it’s grown quite a lot. I’ve also incorporated some fabrics from her old baby clothes so it’s turning into a real heirloom piece which I hope she will treasure. You can’t really see the scale of it from a photograph but each…

  • Dolls quilts - handmade - Patchwork & Quilting - sewing

    Decorating our home with quilts

    January 8, 2015 - By 

    Two new quilts have been added to my quilt gallery wall. Over the Christmas holiday I re-arranged some of the pieces to include my Wild Olive Winter Stitching Club piece which was a snowflake shaped quilted mat. I love the colours and unusual shape. I have also added my finished ticker tape quilt. Last year I wrote about the Hand Quilting workshop with Charlotte Newland I attended. We had to bring an unfinished quilt to work on and this little quilt was stuffed in my sewing box. Since I messed up the binding I just didn’t wanted to finish it off…

  • book review - crafts - handmade

    What I’m reading: Indigo by Nicola Gouldsmith

    January 4, 2015 - By 

    Indigo is one of the colours of the rainbow, as easily recognised as it is fashionable. From its origins as a naturally produced dye, most common in India, to its ubiquitous appearance in blue jeans today, indigo has travelled far and wide. Just before Christmas I was sent a copy of a new book called Indigo. Inside the author, Nicola Gouldsmith, shows you how to use indigo to dye fabric in different ways, including dip-dyeing, tie-dyeing and printing and stencilling, as well as basic plain dyeing. She then shows you how to use the results of your dyeing to make…

  • Paper bell garland for New Year
    handmade - Kids crafts - New Year crafts - tutorial

    Paper bell garland for New Year

    January 1, 2015 - By 

    The festivities have not dampened my children’s desire to craft. We managed to squeeze in another quick New Year craft which I wanted to tell you about. We made a sweet little paper bell garland for New Year.   Equipment needed to make a paper bell garland: gold coloured paper scissors pencil pipe cleaners sellotape twine How to make a paper bell garland: Find something large and circular to draw around, I picked an old coffee jar, and drew and cut out 6 circles. Find the top of each circle and make two folds to create the bell shape like…

  • crafts - gingerbread house - handmade - Handmade gifts - sewing

    Monthly Makes – December

    December 31, 2014 - By 

    I completely failed to make as many handmade gifts as I wanted too this year. As I got nearer and nearer to Christmas I persuaded myself to move items from my little handmade list into next year! Which means instead of rushing to make things I will be able to spend more time making handmade gifts in the New Year. There’s not much to report in my Monthly Makes. I made one wall hanging for my sister which I can finally share with you. I used a pattern from Home Quilt Home by Janet Clare, which is one of my…

  • Christmas - crafts - gingerbread - gingerbread house - handmade

    Felt Christmas Cookies and Gingerbread House

    December 23, 2014 - By 

    Today seems to be a great time to tell you about our felt gingerbread house. This is one of those projects that has been waiting to be finished for a while. I’m terrible at starting something and not finishing it! Felt Christmas Cookies and Gingerbread House I made it as much for myself as the children and we’ve all had fun getting it out and looking at it. Here’s our Felt Christmas Cookies and Gingerbread House I purchased the pattern from Jeanette Lim at umecrafts a while ago, she’s also the author of Big Little Felt Universe which is one…

  • Christmas - crafts - handmade

    Monday happy things

    December 22, 2014 - By 

    We survived Big Brother’s first term at Reception. This week we’ve had parties, lunches and just so much that I’m grateful for a 2 week holiday from all the running around. Let’s ignore the fact it’s Christmas and we have a household full of guests, at least I don’t have to go outside! Over the weekend I made a wreath for the Winter solstice. I like it’s simplicity compared to our Christmas decorations, just a ring of intertwined branches and a string of lights. I placed it in the dining room and put one of my new house-shaped tea light…