How To: Felt Iced Biscuit Brooches

UPDATE: my felt party ring brooch tutorial is now available as a printable PDF pattern over on my Patreon. 

Subscribe to get instant access to a growing library of PDF embroidery patterns and craft tutorials, and updates when I add something new!

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The second tutorial this week is how to make felt iced ring biscuit (cookie) brooches. These are a fun, nostalgic gift for fans of tea & biscuits, or anyone who had these biscuits at their childhood birthday parties.

These biscuits also make cute Christmas ornaments - just add a loop of narrow ribbon instead of adding a clasp. The biscuit design would also look great appliqued on felt gifts like purses, or lavender sachets.

Remember not to give these brooches to / leave them within reach of any small children who may mistake them for actual food!

Subscribe to my newsletter for creative updates, and visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots of free projects.

Visit my shop to buy my printable PDF sewing patterns:

Buy Three Months of Blog Ads, Get 25% Off

Today I'm busy sewing, editing photos and drawing & scanning templates prepping for lots of fun free tutorials coming your way over the next few weeks and months.

I just wanted to do a quick post to let you guys know that I now offer a discount if you buy 3 months of ad space on my blog at once (90 days instead of the usual 30).

Click here for more info & to buy an ad. Add the ad you're interested in to the cart, proceed to checkout, then change the quantity to 3 and enter the promo code 90DAYS and you'll get a 25% discount off the total ad price.

And because it feels weird to have a blog post without a picture in it, here's one of the things in today's Flash Sale - a half price red poppy headband :)

How To: Felt Lucky Pants / Underpants / Knickers Badge

UPDATE: my lucky pants tutorial can now be found as a printable PDF pattern over on my Patreon. 

Subscribe to get instant access to a growing library of PDF embroidery patterns and craft tutorials, and updates when I add something new! 

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I've got three little felt tutorials to share with you guys this week... starting with today's project: making a lucky pair of felt underpants!

These cute felt brooches / badges are quick and easy to sew, and they make fun, silly gifts for people about to sit exams or anything else where they need a bit of extra luck.

   

Subscribe to my newsletter for creative updates, and visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots of free projects.

Visit my shop to buy my printable PDF sewing patterns:

Weekend Making

This weekend I've been continuing to make & finish little hats for The Big Knit...

...lots of yarn ends have been woven in & trimmed!

I've also been working on some tutorials (and editing lots of tutorial photos, yawn)...

... and sewing cherry blossoms, forget-me-nots and owls.

Remember, all this week I'm having special FLASH sales each day. Today's offers are Sunflower Headbands for £1.50, White Cherry Blossom Brooches for £5 (half price!) and Tea Rosette Brooches for £2.50 each or £9 for a set of 4.

You can check out the offers each day HERE (Etsy) or HERE (Big Cartel).

Felt Flowers & A Flash Sale

Remember that long list of crafty projects I had in progress? Well, today I'm trying to get a few things ticked off the list! I finished the swan mask and the owl masks, and now I'm making a start on sewing these forget-me-not and cherry blossom brooches:

I've also added a couple of items to my sale sections...

... the last Auricula Trio brooch...

.... and the last coal tit ornament.

Pssst! I'm going to have a fun week of flash sales, starting tomorrow.

Each day I'll be reducing a few designs in my Big Cartel & Etsy shops to a super low price for that day only ... I'll be announcing the items each day on my Facebook page & I'll also Tweet the links but you can always just visit the shops each day to see the bargains on offer :)

New Stuff in My Shop!

Amazingly, after blogging yesterday about how I needed to take some new product photos and get lots of things added to my shop... I have actually taken some new product photos and added lots of new things to my shop! Such efficiency.

There are some new cherry blossom headbands - sweet felt flowers & leaves with ribbon ties. Perfect for summer parties, these come in white & peach...

... and pink:

I've also listed a white & peach version of my cherry blossom trio brooch:

Then there's a whole bunch of bits and pieces I've sewn as samples for tutorials... which now all need a good home!

There are Christmas trees...

... and snowmen...

... and angels...

... and owls. 

It's a bit weird adding Christmas ornaments to my shop in July (especially when it's such hot and sunny weather!) but never mind :)

I've got a couple of larger items which I need to check postage prices for, but in the meantime you can find all the new additions HERE.

This Week I have mostly been Knitting.... Little Hats

My "just for fun" craft project of the moment involves using up some leftover yarn in my stash.

I've been knitting a few mini moss stitch squares and also making lots of little hats for The Big Knit:

As you can see, I've finished some already...

...but others need sewing together, their ends weaving in & their pompoms added... oh, and I've got a bit more yarn waiting to be knitted, too.

See those cute mini multi-coloured pompoms? My mum made them several years ago (way back in 2006 I think) when I knitted lots and lots of mini hats while I had the flu.

I knitted the hats and she made mini pompoms to match (teamwork!). She made a few too many and they were just too cute to throw away... but then I forgot all about them! Oops. I'm glad I found them while having a clearout earlier this year, so they can finally be put to the use they were made for.

My work to do list has been a bit dull this week - stuff like replying to emails and doing admin. All very important stuff, but not very blog-friendly. I've also been editing lots of photos for the new tutorials I'm working on. Photo editing is such a boring job but I'm really excited about sharing all these projects with you guys over the next few months!

I've also got some more photos to take and edit, as I've got a whole bunch of things that need to be added to my shop. There are a few new things, and lots of bits and pieces I've made for previous tutorials.

If you fancy giving some of that lot a new home, keep an eye on my blog... I'll write a post with photos & shop links when everything's been listed :)

A Finished Flock of Felt Birds

Over the weekend I finished all these felt bird brooches...

... you can find them in my shop, here. I've still got some birdies (bluetits and snowy owls) left to sew, but it's great to have this batch finished and out of my "work in progress" box.

There's rarely anything good on the telly when I sit down to do some sewing in the afternoons, so I usually sew while working my way through a DVD box set. Recently I've been re-watching lots of episodes of Doctor Who & Community, watching crime dramas with my mum and taking a trip down memory lane with some nostalgic VHS-viewing (so much fun!)

UPDATE: My robin and greenfinch designs are now available as sewing patterns, and I've got lots more birdies coming soon! Visit my shop to see all my printable PDF patterns:

A Peek at Super-Cute Felt Animals: Coming this September!

I got some really nice post today - an advance copy of my new book: Super-Cute Felt Animals.

It's so exciting to see the finished book, and I'm really pleased that I get to share a few photos of it with you today after months of keeping secrets :)

Just like my previous book, Super-Cute Felt, my new book contains 35 fun designs to hand stitch from felt. This time round, all the projects are mini - cute little projects that fit in the palm of your hand!

There's a whole menagerie of tiny animals for you to sew... as you can see from the cover, the projects include a giraffe, a hedgehog, a lion, a baby robin (part of a whole family of robins!), a cat, a snail and a few extras: acorns, a tree & a toadstool.

If you look closely at the spine, you can see there's also a sparkly fish:

Fancy a peek at a couple of the other projects in the book? These are a couple of my favourites:

A fox and cubs...

... and a cute little pigeon. 

I love all these little guys and I hope you will too!

Super-Cute Felt Animals will be published in September by CICO Books. It's available for pre-order on Amazon UK and Amazon USA.

For media / blogger enquiries, please contact publicity@cicobooks.co.uk

(P.S. The Amazon links in this post are affiliate links)

Bright Colours & Some Almost Finished Birds

My laptop is still having a few hiccups (I don't think it likes this hot weather!) but less time doing computer-y things means more time for sketching and sewing and other fun things.

I've been cutting out lots of bright felt shapes...

... the scraps left over from these are so colourful!

The abstract shapes are for a tutorial I'm planning (can you guess what it it's going to be??).

I've also been working on some other tutorials - sewing a step, photographing it, sewing another step, and so on - and editing some photos when my laptop has been behaving itself.

And I'm slowly getting that batch of bird brooches finished, doing a little bit of sewing each evening while watching some TV...

... it'll be great to have all these birdies finished and ticked off my to do list!

UPDATE: I'm gradually turning all my bird designs into sewing patterns! Visit my shop to see all my printable PDF patterns:

July Sponsors

It's time to meet my current sponsors!

The Amazings offers fun craft classes and courses run by"amazing elders" - over 50s with years of experience to share. There's a whole range of classes available, with local classes in London and video classes online. If you follow this link to sign up, you can get your first online class worth up to £20 completely free, hurrah!

Asking for Trouble sells illustrated stationery, accessories and gifts featuring cute characters inspired by Japanese kawaii:

 

 

 

Little Dorrit & Co. sells literary-themed embroidery patterns, with designs inspired by fairy tales and beloved books like Pride & Prejudice:

 

 

QRhinestones sells flat back crystal rhinestones for crafters who like a bit of bling:

Fuzzy Fish sells 30-70% wool blend felt and high quality acrylic felt - in charm packs, or by the metre:

The Dusty Attic sells handmade felt brooches and other accessories:

And Knitted Gems & Crafts sells knitted pin cushions, needle keeps and other crafts:

P.S. Interested in promoting your shop, company or blog? Ad spaces on my blog start from just $5 for 30 days (that's about £3.30!). Your shop will feature in a sponsor post like this one during the month(s) your ad is live and I also give new sponsors a shout out over on my Facebook page.

Click here for more info re: rates and my blog's traffic, and to buy an ad.