Lots of layers

New in my Etsy shop - a large layered flower brooch (almost 4 inches across) topped with a cute homemade felt button:

This design has been lurking in my "in progress" box for ages so it's lovely to get it finally finished, photographed and in the shop.

I've made two of them, but I'm not sure I can bring myself to part with the second one. It would look sooo nice on the lapel of my winter coat...

Button Love

I am so in love with these - at a massive 8cms wide they're the biggest buttons I've ever seen!I'm keeping a couple for myself as I just can't resist their gigantic buttony awesomeness, and the rest have been added to my craft supplies shop. UPDATE: wow, they sold out already! If you'd like your own button, fear not - I should have some more back in stock in a couple of weeks time :)

In other supply shop news... wooden embroidery hoops are now available in a choice of sizes: mini 3 inch hoops and (new!) 4 inch hoops.
You can buy them individually from my website or in packs of 3 or 6 over in my Etsy shop.

February Giveaway - twice the fun

I completely failed to do a giveaway last month (thanks to being distracted by snow and illness and assorted other things) so this month I'm giving away two things to make up for it :)

This month's prizes are the brooches featured in my recent tutorials, a cute brown owl brooch...
... and a sweet heart brooch:
To enter all you have to do is leave a comment on this post saying which brooch you'd like if you win: the heart or the owl.

Leave your comment before midnight (UK time) on Sunday 14th February and I'll pick two winners at random on Monday 15th Feb. I'm happy to ship internationally, so anyone can enter.

Please make sure you leave a name or pseudonym (no anonymous comments please) and be sure to come back next week to see if you got picked. Good luck!

How To: Felt Heart Brooch

As promised, here's a sweet project for Valentine's Day... inspired by the colours in my Valentines felt squares pack.
To make this heart brooch you will need:

- a needle, a pin, scissors, and a heart shape (draw your own or print the template at the bottom of this post)
- red, purple, pink and white felt
- white and purple thread
- a brooch clasp or safety pin

1. Pin the heart template to the red felt, and cut around it. Remove the pin and place the red heart on the pink felt, pin it in place and carefully cut around the heart leaving a border of pink "framing" it. Remove the pin, and repeat this process using the pink heart as a template on the purple felt. You'll now have three felt hearts, each one slightly larger than the last.

2. Use the largest (purple) heart as a template to cut out an identical piece - this will become the back of your brooch.
3. Take one of your purple heart shapes, and pin it to the white felt. Carefully cut a scalloped edge around the heart, cutting right up to the edge of the purple felt and taking care to make the semi-circles similar sizes. I practised this on a scrap piece of felt before I started as it can be a little fiddly, but luckily it still looks cute even when it comes out a bit irregular!

4. Now layer all your felt pieces (apart from your "back" purple heart) so all the shapes are neatly framed, and pin them together. Using white thread and a simple running stitch, sew them all together - start from the bottom point of the red heart, and make sure you leave a few millimetres between your stitches and the edge of the red felt.
5. Take your remaining felt piece (the second purple heart) and sew a brooch clasp or safety pin to it using a double thickness of purple thread.

6. Finally, hold the front and back pieces together making sure that the hearts match up (use the scalloped edge as a guide - if they're all visible your back piece is in the right place). Using more purple thread, slowly sew the front and back sections of your brooch together, following the edges of the purple hearts. If you keep as close to the pink heart shape as possible this will help to help keep your stitches hidden.
Double click the template below to view full size and print. If you print the template at 100% your brooch will be the same size as mine.

Please be nice and only use this tutorial for non-commercial use: you can use it for as many brooches as you like and to make gifts for friends but not to make anything which you then sell. Thanks!

Love Notes

I always include a little thankyou note when I parcel up my orders and whenever I have the time I love making a batch of handmade cards - decorated with stickers, shiny paper & fancy giftwrap.

This week I've been making use of some felt scraps to make these mini cards:
They're really easy to make - just cut out a simple heart shape and stick it to some bright card with double-sided sticky tape. Instant cuteness!

Admin Season

After the madness of the months up to Christmas, spring is the season to gradually re-establish some order out of the chaos: restocking, reorganising, tidying, planning, filing and doing lots and lots of paperwork.It can get a bit dull, but I do my best not to attempt any on days when I'm feeling creative and itching to sew stuff. Admin might be at the top of my to do list at this time of year (and I do love to be organised) but making stuff always takes priority.

Felt for your Valentine

New in my shops today - a Valentine-themed felt pack:The pack contains felt squares in pinks, purples, reds and white, perfect for Valentine's Day crafting or other romantic projects. It's available from my website, my Etsy shop and my Folksy shop. I had hoped to get it listed weeks ago but life got in the way a little. Ah the best laid plans... Unfortunately this means if you're based in the US or other non-European destinations your felt may not arrive in time for Valentine's Day craftiness, but I'll do my best to get all orders posted as soon as possible.Psst - keep an eye out for a tutorial inspired by this felt pack, coming to the blog very soon.

Crimson Petals

I've been busy doing lots of admin this weekend, and working on a custom order for a wedding that includes lots of crimson corsage brooches...... made from an old wool sweater and lots and lots and lots of black beads!

I Love My Local Post Office...

... especially when they give us free mugs:The boyfriend (a.k.a my postal assistant) came home with these yesterday after posting a big pile of parcels. We post so much stuff that they gave us one each - his'n'hers mugs to drink tea in at the end of a long afternoon packing and posting.

Postal geek that I am, I think they're rather snazzy!

How To: Felt Owl Brooch

After showing you the sneak peek at this cute little guy yesterday I just had to sit down in my tea break this afternoon and write up the tutorial for how to make your own :)If you've been reading my blog since it started you may recognise him as he's based on an old & now discontinued design I used to sell in my Etsy shop a few years ago. I keep seeing owls popping up all over the place at the moment so it seemed like a good time to dig out my old pattern!

To make your owl brooch you will need:

- a needle, a pin, scissors, and the template at the bottom of this post
- two colours of felt to make the owl's body and wings (I used a dark chestnut brown and ginger)
- thread to match these two colours
- scraps of black, white and orange felt
- black, white and orange thread
- a brooch clasp or safety pin

Optional: polyester stuffing

1. Pin the owl body template to the felt you want to use and cut around it. Repeat this so you have two matching body pieces (a front and a back piece). Then cut out two wing pieces from the other colour you've chosen using the wing template. As the wing pieces are quite small you may find it easier, instead of using a pin, to just hold the template in place as you cut around it.

2. Cut out a small orange triangle to be a beak, and two small white circles & two tiny black circles to be the eyes. If you have difficulty cutting out the small circles try cutting a square slightly bigger than the size you want and then trimming it down to make a circle. You could also use black beads for the pupils.
3. Position the wings on one of the body shapes and sew them in place using matching thread and a simple running stitch.
4. Arrange the owl's beak and eyes until you're happy with their position then sew them in place. I used three orange stitches (one at each point of the triangle) for the beak, a couple of black stitches in the centre of each pupil, and even white stitches around the eyes.
5. Put that to one side, and get the plain "back" body piece. Sew a brooch clasp or safety pin to it using a double thickness of brown thread (I forgot to take a photo of this stage, sorry!).

6. Now hold the front and back pieces together and sew them together using more brown thread and a whip stitch. Start from "inside" the two pieces just below one wing and work round the edge, taking extra care to make your stitches neat over the wings as this is when they'll be most visible...
... then when you've sewn all the way round finish your stitches at the back of the brooch, and you've finished!
If you'd like a fat owl instead of a flat owl: when you reach the bottom of the second wing stop stitching and use the opening to stuff your owl with polyester stuffing (use a pencil to poke the stuffing into all the corners). When the owl is as fat as you want it, continue your whip stitches to close up the opening.

Here are some fat owls I made earlier!

Double click the template below to view full size and print:

If you print the template at 100% your owl will be the same size as mine. Cutting and sewing some of the small pieces for this design can be a bit fiddly - to make the shapes easier to work with (or if you just fancy making a larger owl!) print the template at a larger size.

Please be nice and only use this template for non-commercial use: you can use it for as many owls as you like and to make gifts for friends but not to make anything which you then sell. Thanks!