A Pair of Finished Gloves, A Nice Magazine & Some Useful Books

Over the past few days I've been working on my accounts (yawn), doing battle with my printer (grr) and working on some designs for some project proposals (yay).

I also finally finished the sparkly gloves I was knitting for my sister. I gave up on getting them finished in time for Christmas (that dark blue yarn is a pain to knit in the evenings, which is when I do most of my knitting) but I got them sewn together just in time for her to pack them in her suitcase. No time for photos (sorry!) so here's a snap of the leftover yarn instead:

When I've not been knitting in the evenings, I've been watching telly (the new seasons of The Bridge & Sherlock), reading books and flicking through the the latest issue of Crafty magazine...

 
... which includes a project designed by me. Look! There I am! :)

I've also been getting stuck into planning some Nice Days Out for this spring, with lots of looking at maps and flicking through my Art Fund guide. My Art Pass is great for the discounts it gets me, but it's also great for helping me focus when choosing things to do in London - the city is so big and there is so much to see and do, you can quickly become overwhelmed by all the different options! It's nice to be able to pick a place or two from the guide and then plan a day around them.

Also helping me with my planning = these two books about London's Hidden Walks.

I picked up a great leaflet recently that included suggested walks around the City of London, with lots of interesting bits of info about the buildings, parks, statues, etc along the route and I was thinking how great it would be to have such a thing for other areas of London, too... and then I spotted one of these books (volume 2) in a museum shop on my most recent Nice Day Out and realised it was just what I wanted!
 
The walks all look great, and the text is fun to read and really interesting (I looked up a few places I'd already been to and learned loads of things about them I didn't know before). I couldn't resist popping in to Foyles on my way home to buy a copy of volume 1 to complete the set!

Hello 2014!

I know it's a little late but Happy New Year, everyone!

2014 is already off to a good start here...

... I met a deadline yesterday (hurrah!)
... I've got some fun Nice Days Out planned for this week (yay!)
... lots of people are starting sky blankets inspired by my project (so thrilling!)

... and the new issue of Crafty Magazine is out today and it contains a project by me (woohoo!)

My project? Turning plain tape measures into cute hot air balloons!

These were lots of fun to sew... and I do love hot air balloons (they always remind me of my years living in Bristol - you see so many hot air balloons there).

If you can't find a copy of Crafty in a store near you, it's also available HERE.

Review: Crafty Magazine

Today I'm reviewing an issue of Crafty Magazine.

Rather shamefully, this post has been sitting half-finished my my drafts folder for so long (thanks to me being busy with some other projects) that the issue I'm reviewing is no longer in newsagents... but you can still buy copies from their online shop, and hopefully this review will give you a feel for what the magazine is like overall even if you can't get your hands on this specific issue. Anyway, enough about me being a bad blogger and on to the review...

Issue #6 of Crafty Magazine has a cute knitted fox bag on the cover, which is inspired by Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr Fox. I can't get enough of woodland animals at the moment and this bag is pretty adorable but sadly I think it might be a little bit beyond my own knitting skill level (for the moment, at least!).

Crafty starts with "What's New" - a few pages featuring things like cool new fabric, fun sewing-themed gifts, lovely handmade products and upcoming events and exhibitions with a crafty theme. 

 

There's also an events page with things coming up in October (remember, this issue came out a while ago!) around the UK, and a couple of pages of "Good Reads" which includes reviews of some new craft books but also an interview with one of the authors.

There are 26 "Makes" in this issue, covering a wide mix of different crafts: needlefelting, knitting, crochet, sewing, embroidery, jewellery-making, paper-crafting, cross-stitching, dip-dyeing, cooking, and more! All the projects are fun, modern and colourful (you guys know how much I love a nice bit of colour). Some are extracts from craft books while others have been specially designed for the magazine, but the standard of photography is high throughout. 

Rather predictably, the stitchy projects are the ones that appeal to me the most. I especially love these craft-themed merit badges...

 

... and this paisley embroidery, although don't know that I'd have the confidence to wear a shirt like this! I'd love to embroider the pattern on something like a cushion though.

All the projects have step by step instructions - some are more detailed, with step by step pics and/or stitch guides, and others are quicker "how tos" like these plant markers made from old forks and broken plates. 

This issue of Crafty comes with a free coaster-making kit.

Sadly, this kit includes that special kind of felt (stiff and paper thin) that I have only ever encountered in free-on-the-cover-of-magazines projects and which I would absolutely replace with felt from my own stash were I to make any of the coaster projects in the magazine.

But! I would absolutely prefer to buy a magazine where the freebie kit materials aren't top quality (and thus, are more affordable for the publisher to provide) because I wouldn't want the cover price to be pushed up just for the sake of a free kit I may not get round to making anyway. Also, the coaster is self-adhesive (you peel off a layer of plastic to reveal the sticky surface, like you do with double-sided tape) which is really great.

(NB the felt was flat when it came out of the pack, I managed to crease it before taking the photo)

The instructions that go along with the kit are really great! There are four different, fun designs included that you could make with the kit (plus two more availablle on Crafty's website) - so you've got lots of options for things you can make from the free supplies but also have 4+ projects you can make from felt in the future.

Another great thing about having several projects you can make from the same supplies is that you could buy a pack of plain coasters, some sheets of felt and some embroidery threads in these colours and make several different designs from them... instead of having to invest supplies to make one thing and then having lots left over.

 
The only real problem with the coaster projects is the templates which say "blow up to desired size". I don't mind enlarging templates (especially from a magazine so crammed with stuff as this one is) but it's always so much more helpful to see "blow up to X% or to desired size", where X will make templates big enough to make the item at the size shown in the photos. Also in the case of the coaster templates, the templates need to be exactly the same size as your coaster so your felt design will fit neatly on top, which is going to be tricky to achieve without being told what % to enlarge them by.

As well as craft projects, this issue also includes a sewing column written by Tilly from the Great British Sewing Bee, an interview with a feltmaker, and a lovely home tour...

... plus articles about The Colour Run (which looks so much fun that it almost makes me want to take up running just so I can take part in a future event) and super cool town Hebden Bridge.

There's also "The Crafty Guide to Business" which this issue focused on offering bespoke orders and a feature on craft bloggers who went from blogging to writing craft books.

One thing I really like about the content across the magazine is how many of the tutorials and other features have a "sidebar" with three things along the same theme. For example, alongside the paisley embroidery project there are three fabrics that feature paisley motifs, alongside the plant labels are three more plant label ideas from craft blogs (with the blog addresses included), alongside the needlefelting tutorial is info about three courses/books so you can learn more about needlefelting, and alongside the fox bag tutorial there are three fox-y shopping ideas.

Overall, this is a lovely magazine! It's jam-packed with content, with a really broad mix of crafty projects and a good balance between stuff to make and features to read... and it feels fresh and up-to-date, like a great blog.

Issue 7 (out now) looks great and seems to contain even more makes!

I especially love the look of this cross stitch lampshade project.

Crafty Magazine is £4.99 per issue, or you can subscribe here.  

[Disclaimer: the nice folks at Crafty Magazine sent me a free review copy of issue 6. I'm also currently working on a project for a future issue of the magazine but you guys know I'm always honest in my reviews!]

Book Review: Storyland Cross Stitch

Today I'm taking part in Crafty Magazine's blog tour celebrating the launch of a gorgeous new craft book: Storyland Cross Stitch by Sophie Simpson (the talented lady behind What Delilah Did).

I loved the look of the few pics I'd seen online of this book and I wasn't disappointed when my review copy arrived. Isn't the cover lovely?

The illustrations by Julianna Swaney have a charming folk-y feel to them...

... and the white cover is actually a dustjacket (printed on yummy textured paper) with a window on the front through which you can peek at the printed cover within.

Obviously when you buy a craft book you want the projects in the book to be attractive and inspirational and easy to follow and all that stuff but oooh how wonderful it is when you can have all those things contained in a book that's been beautifully put together & that is, in its own right, a lovely thing to own and to look at.

Storyland Cross Stitch contains 15 cross stitch projects (sometimes one design, sometimes a group of co-ordinating designs), plus a small starter pack of thread, a needle and some fabric in the back of the book so you can get stitching almost immediately.

There's an introductory guide to the equipment, materials and techniques you'll need, then the rest of the book is split into three sections: "projects for beginners", "practice makes perfect" and "projects for the brave and determined".

I think these section titles mostly relate to the stitching time involved in the featured designs - each chart helpfully gives you an estimated stitching time for the project so you know what you're getting yourself into! The designs in the book range from mini motifs on embroidered buttons that each take 15-20 minutes to stitch, to a crown cushion that takes approximately 30 hours to complete.

This cat mask is from the middle section (approx stitching time: 9 hours).

 

Each project is introduced with a short "story"...

 

... which is an idea that could easily have turned into something a bit twee, but the end result is actually very entertaining. The fairytale-style intros are charming & quirky tales of magic and fairies and enchanted forests, but they're also pretty funny and have a dark edge to them.

For example, the Bow & Arrow Needle Book introduction describes how the bow & arrow has "gained popularity" in Storyland  "following a celebrity endorsement by Robin Hood" ... "It has become a sort of status symbol, rather like this season's "It Bag".

 

"A word of warning though: there is a limit to what a bow and arrow can do, no matter how skilled the archer wielding them. There is magic in this place; things lurk here that no number of arrows could stop. So keep your wits about you..."
 

 

These little introductions perfectly match the storybook theme of the book, and I think their tone also reflects the style of the designs which aren't "cute" and "girly" at all (despite being a book inspired by fairy stories, and featuring things like princesses and unicorns), but instead are stylish and grown-up - often involving simple, slightly gothic silhouettes, and mostly stitched in a muted colour palette of black and browns and gold. There are two unicorns in the book but they're both stitched in black and one (according to the story) has had its head chopped off!

After the intro text we're given the instructions for making the items the motifs are stitched to (e.g. how to make the book cover that's decorated with a cross stitch coat of arms), followed by the chart(s) required for the cross stitch design itself.

The step by step instructions include a few helpful illustrations, and there are a few decorative illustrations dotted through the book too:

My favourite project from the book? It has to be this Wise Owl Cushion.

I'll probably start with something a bit less ambitious though! My mum really enjoys archery, so there may be a bow-and-arrow themed something getting stitched in time for Christmas :)

Storyland Cross Stitch is published by Collins & Brown. RRP £14.99. It's available from Amazon UK, Amazon USA, The Book Depository and many other bookshops. 

You can read the first post in the blog tour over at Crafty Magazine... and make sure you visit Teasemade tomorrow (August 7th)  for the next post in the tour.

You can also get 20% off all PDF patterns at What Delilah Did this week (ends Sunday 11th August) using the code CRAFTYMAG. 

[Disclaimer: the folks at Crafty Magazine sent me a review copy of this book. I've done some work for the book's publishers, Collins & Brown, before (they also publish the Mollie Makes books) but I am always honest in my reviews! The Amazon & Book Depository links in this post are affiliate links]