Subscribe to My Patreon for Lots of Crafty Goodness!

I've been gradually adding lots of old newsletter projects and other crafty goodness to my Patreon pattern library.

If you subscribe you'll get access to all the PDF patterns I've added to the library so far, then you'll be notified via email whenever I add new ones. 

Here are some of the projects you can make when you subscribe...

Fun felt fondant fancy pincushions:

A felt duck brooch (there's a matching embroidery pattern, too!).

Nautical textile art:

A felt tree stump brooch:

 Floral hoop art celebrating staying inside and making stuff, and going outside to get inspired:

 A felt raincloud brooch:

 Felt fox and badger brooches:

Daffodil and narcissi embroidery patterns:

Christmas house embroidery patterns (a detailed and a simple version, both with a blank space so you can update the year or add your own custom text).

 And a decorative retro rag doll!

Click here for a preview of more of the many projects available in my Patreon pattern library!

Click here to visit my Patreon page and sign up.

The Joy of Vintage Tea Towels

I've always loved vintage textiles, and sell lots of different kinds in my shop, but in the past six months or so I have become completely obsessed with vintage tea towels!

 

There are a few brands out there still producing interesting and colourful tea towel designs but in my opinion nothing quite compares to the charms of the vintage designs, particularly the illustrations, colours, and patterns from the 1960s and 1970s. 

These wonderful retro designs would all be fabulous gifts, cheer up even the largest pile of drying up, and make amazing wall hangings. They'd also look great framed, like posters - and when you think of them like that you swiftly realise what a sadly neglected area of design this is. 

There are so many books and exhibitions about posters, and I'm sure most museums around the world have poster collections... but how many people are out there celebrating the art of the tea towel? Or could name a tea towel designer? Not nearly enough!

Tea towels are normally the sort of everyday textiles which usually get used and used and used until they fall apart and get thrown away (or added to the rag pile for cleaning with!). But luckily for us, they also used to be very collectable. 

People bought them as souvenirs from places they visited but they also collected other lovely designs they came across and kept them, unused, just as delightful things to get out and look at and enjoy from time to time. 

Which means that - almost like being able to time travel - you can now buy brand new genuine vintage tea towels! How cool is that?

My personal favourites usually involve flowers, or British wildlife...

 

 ... and I particularly love the older designs by Ulster (now known as "Ulster Weavers").

But honestly, there are just so many gorgeous designs to ooh over that my favourites change all the time.  

There are souvenir tea towels, of course (so many of those, from so many different places)...

 

... Christmas tea towels...

... charity tea towels...

...calendar tea towels (such a nice birthday gift for anyone born in those years!)...

... gloriously quirky old advertising tea towels, and lots more!

You'll find my currently available selection of vintage tea towels (along with lots of other vintage finds) in my shop, and I'll soon be opening a standalone shop just for the tea towels because they are kind of taking over my life.

I've also started a new Instagram account to showcase the joys of vintage tea towel design, where I'll be sharing one tea towel a day. Sometimes these will be ones I've already sold, sometimes they'll be new stock, but either way there will be a lot of gorgeous designs to ooh over.

For even more vintage tea towel goodness, I highly recommend The Virtual Tea Towel museum which is a delightful rabbit hole to fall down during your teabreaks!

Spring Leaves: Free Embroidery Pattern

Fancy a simple embroidery project to celebrate spring? Stitch a trio of little green leaves!

This leafy pattern is designed to fit nicely inside a 3 inch embroidery hoop, but using a 4 inch hoop when stitching will give you more room to work. It would look nice framed in a hoop (maybe with a loop of pretty green ribbon or ric rac attached to make a spring ornament?), or sewn as a motif onto larger projects. 

I've not had a chance to sew this myself but I'm thinking ALL THE GREENS. I'm planning on keeping things simple and sewing the whole design with backstitch - remember that smaller stitches will help you sew smooth curves.    

Click here to open the pattern in a new window, then print it at 100%. A hi-res PDF version of this pattern is also available in my Patreon pattern library.

This pattern was adapted from my felt spring leaves brooch tutorial (I do love a project variation!).

 

If you'd like to sew some more leaves, how about embroidered felt oak leaves...

 

 ... or a felt monstera leaf brooch?

 

This pattern is for non commercial use only: you can use it to stitch as many leaf trios as you want for yourself or as gifts, but please don't make any for sale. Thanks xx

Enjoyed this free pattern? Buy me a "coffee" and help support my blog!

P.S. Subscribe to my newsletter (currently taking a break but hopefully back soooon) for free patterns and visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots more creative projects.

Visit my shop to buy my printable PDF sewing patterns and lots more:

Tutorial: Sew Felt Spring Tree Brooches

Spring is coming! Celebrate the return of all things green and glorious - or just your love of trees - with today's sewing tutorial: a step by step guide to making a felt tree brooch.

These trees started off life as part of a tutorial for some autumn leaf and tree cards...

... then I couldn't resist doing a spring version, so I made some spring tree textile art...

... and shared some spring tree embroidery patterns:

Obviously I had to make some felt tree brooches, too! :)

You could also add ribbon loops to create little tree ornaments, or sew lots of trees for a spring forest garland. These would also make sweet motifs or patches to add to larger projects.

How to make a felt tree brooch:

1. Follow the steps in my spring tree textile art tutorial to sew your chosen tree design, using the templates linked to in that post. 

Instead of sewing the tree pieces to a piece of felt in an embroidery hoop you can just sew them to a piece of loose backing felt, but you may find having the felt held in the hoop makes it easier for you to add the embroidered details. If you're sewing your tree on loose felt there's no need to use tacking stitches to hold the tree shape in position, just use a pin instead.

If you're planning on making a few trees, try it one way then the other and see which method works best for you!

2. Remove the felt from your embroidery hoop (if you've used one) then cut out the tree shape, leaving a narrow border of the backing felt.

3. Use the tree shape as a template to cut out a matching matching shape from more of the backing felt. This plain shape will become the back of your brooch (or ornament, etc).

4. Turn the back of your brooch over, and add a brooch clasp. Sew it with a double thickness of sewing thread to match the backing felt.

5. Then hold the front and back of the brooch together and use more of the same thread to join them together, sewing flush around the tree shape with running stitch. And you're done! Arboreal felt goodness to pin to your jumper (sweater) or jacket this spring.

This tutorial is for non commercial use only: you can use it to stitch as many trees as you want for yourself or as gifts, but please don't make any for sale. Thanks xx

Enjoyed this free tutorial? Buy me a "coffee" and help support my blog!

P.S. Subscribe to my newsletter (currently taking a break but hopefully back soooon) for free patterns and visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots more creative projects.

Visit my shop to buy my printable PDF sewing patterns and lots more:

Felt Dog Brooch Craft Kits for Hawthorn Handmade

I am DELIGHTED to be able to tell you that I've designed some more felt craft kits for Hawthorn Handmade!

Last year they launched wildlife brooch sewing kits and flower brooch sewing kits, all designed by me, and now we've added dog brooches to the range. 

There's a Springer Spaniel...

... a Golden Retriever...

... and a Dachshund in a little cosy coat!

 

It was a very fun challenge capturing the character of each of these three breeds, and I'm really pleased with the end result. I love the thought of dog lovers around the world will have hours of crafty fun stitching these little guys!

Click here to shop the whole range of felt craft kits.