Craft-Themed Jigsaw Puzzles for Sewing, Knitting, Quilting, and Crafting Fans!

I have totally fallen in love with jigsaw puzzles and was delighted to discover recently that you can buy crafting-themed jigsaws. They're so colourful and cosy, I adore them.

Obviously, when I set up my new Amazon Influencer page (a little "storefront" where I can curate lists of things I love and where if you end up buying something I earn a small amount of commission for the referral) a list of craft-themed puzzles was one of the first things I had to put together!

(In the US? Click here to view my page on Amazon.com)

There are puzzles decorated with art and craft supplies...

 

... sometimes with the addition of cats!

Puzzles featuring quilts and quilters...

 

 ... granny squares...

... and haberdashery shops.

There are also puzzles depicting dream creative workspaces, including a lots of cosy craft-filled sheds!

 

I want to move into that last picture immediately.  

Click here to view the whole list of puzzles on Amazon.co.uk, or click here to view a similar list I've put together on Amazon.com. (All the Amazon links in this post are affiliate links).

How To: Sew A Crochet Hook Roll

Today I'm sharing a tutorial for using felt, fabric and ribbon to make a roll for storing your crochet hooks or other creative tools like pencils, pens, or knitting needles.

 

This project originally appeared in docrafts Creativity magazine in 2014 and was made using cute heart fabric from this bundle, ribbon from this pack and coordinating felt.

The measurements listed are for a crochet hook wrap. To adapt this project to fit different tools you’ll need to draw your own templates. This is very easy! Just lay out your tools on a piece of squared paper and measure the size you need for the pocket. Then draw a larger rectangle for the wrap template, leaving at least 1cm space around the bottom and sides of the pocket and plenty of space for the tallest of your tools.

 

You will need:

- Patterned quilting cotton or other fabric
- Coordinating felt
- Sewing thread to match the fabric
- Thin wadding
- 1 metre ribbon
- Pins and a sewing needle
- Sewing scissors
- An iron and ironing board
- Paper, a pencil and a ruler
- Crochet hooks or other tools to fill the wrap
- Optional: air erasable fabric marker

To make the roll:

1. Use a pencil and ruler to draw and cut out two paper templates: a pocket template (13 x 22.5 cm) and a wrap template (17.5 x 24.5 cm).

2. Use the wrap template to cut out a piece of thin wadding. Then use the same template to cut out a piece of fabric, adding an extra inch of seam allowance around the edge.

3. Turn the fabric over so the “wrong” side is facing you and place the wadding on top. Then fold the excess fabric around the wadding, pinning it place. Secure the fabric with large tacking stitches and remove the pins.

4. Use the wrap template to cut out a piece of felt. Then use the pocket template to cut out two pieces of fabric with an extra half inch of seam allowance around each shape. Lightly mark the pocket shape on the back of each piece of fabric with a pencil.

5. Fold the edges of the fabric pocket pieces, tucking each corner in neatly and pressing them with an iron. Pin the edges in place and tack them, then remove the pins.

6. Place the two pocket pieces together, wrong sides together. Using thread that matches the fabric, sew along the top edge with blanket stitch, joining the pieces together.

7. Position the pocket on the felt, as pictured, and pin it in place. Use more matching thread to blanket stitch the other three sides, securing the pocket to the felt. Then remove the tacking stitches.

8. Place the two halves of the wrap together, so the felt covers the wadding and the edges line up neatly. Pin the layers together.

Tip: arrange the pins vertically so they won’t be in the way when you sew the lines in the next step.

9. Use matching thread and running stitch to sew a series of vertical lines along the pocket to create the slots for your tools. Sew through all the layers of the wrap, removing the pins as you sew.

For the crochet hook wrap, sew these lines approximately 2cm apart. For other tools, make the slots as large as you need. The heart fabric I used is perfect for this step as you can follow the pattern to help keep your lines straight but you may find it helpful to mark your stitching lines with a ruler and an air-erasable fabric marker.

10. Cut two pieces of ribbon, approx. 50cm each.

11. Hold the two ribbon pieces together so the right sides are facing each other and tuck the ends between the felt and wadding layers at one side of the wrap. Position the ribbons so they are halfway down the wrap and sticking out at a right angle from it then pin them to the felt.

12. Sew the ribbons in position with whip stitches, taking care to sew into the felt and not through it so your stitching is hidden. Remove the pin.

13. Stitch the edges of the wrap together with blanket stitch, sewing through the ribbon as you pass it. Then remove the tacking stitches from the wrap.

14. Fill the pocket with tools, and roll up the wrap. Tie the ribbon in a bow around the wrap then trim the ribbon ends as needed, cutting the ribbon at an angle to help prevent fraying.

This tutorial is for personal use only: you can use it to stitch as many tool wraps as you want for yourself or as gifts for friends. You may borrow a photo if you want to blog about this project, but remember to credit me and link back to the original source, and do not reproduce my entire tutorial on your site. Thanks!

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Unravel Festival of Knitting 2016

Last Friday, after a walk around the centre of Farnham (exploring the town's history and architecture), I headed to Farnham Maltings to visit Unravel: an annual "festival of knitting" which also celebrates crochet and other fiber arts.

As any regular reader of my blog could tell you, I am not the world's best knitter (or crocheter). I've made a couple of big projects like my Sky Blanket and my Granny Square Blanket but I mostly stick to very small, simple things like basic scarves and plain squares for patchwork blankets.

But I'd been to the textile-themed Thread festival at the Maltings a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it, so when an old friend said she was visiting Unravel and did I fancy coming along? Well, a day of nattering and tea and cake and lots and lots of yarn seemed like a pretty good plan to me.

There was a lot of beautiful yarn for sale, plus books and patterns and kits and knitting/crochet accessories and loads more crafty goodness. The whole building was jam-packed with stalls, but here are just a few that caught my eye.

The Little Grey Sheep had such a fabulous selection of colours! Passion for their product was something that radiated from every seller at the festival, and this family farm was no exception. They have a flock of sheep which they shear themselves, the fibre is washed and spun within the UK and then returned to the farm where it's hand-dyed in all those lovely colours.

Charming kits and patterns for your dog, from Redhound for Dogs. You'd be knitting the coats for the dog, of course, as I'm not sure even the most talented of pups could master knitting. 

(Do excuse these slightly blurry photos, my camera was struggling a little with the lighting!)

Fabulous pompom yarn (handmade in Chile) from Añañuca. How much fun would this be to knit with?? 

Needle felted awesomeness by Jenny Barnett. I love that little sign: You CAN make these.

 

Spin City had roving and other spinning supplies in some magical colours! And sparkles, too! Even the product names are magical: Mermaid's Hair, Cinderella's Slippers, Nebula.

Cute and quirky faux taxidermy and other knitted animal fun from Sincerely Louise. I especially love the triceratops and the little mole door stop.

More beautiful yarn in delicious colours, this time from John Arbon Textiles.

 

 

Finally, beautiful patterns and kits by Jane Crowfoot.

The flower blanket on the top right is called Frida's Flowers, and has been designed for a "crochet along" with yarn company Stylecraft. Kits to make the blanket will be available from March, and the free patterns will be published in instalments over 4 months, starting from early April.

I really don't need to start another project (especially one as big as a blanket) but I have to admit to being very tempted by this one!

Show & Tell #14

One of the best bits of my job is seeing what people have been making from my books and free tutorials. I love seeing the photos of finished projects that people share with me, and I love sharing them with you guys too as part of my ongoing (though somewhat infrequent) Show & Tell series.

It's been a while since my last Show & Tell post, so I've got lots of crafty goodness to show you...

Holly stitched a fab cassette phone case using my pattern from Mollie Makes #41.

Lisa shared this in-progress photo of an angel bear she was sewing from my first book, Super-Cute Felt. Her daughter helped trace the pattern and was "very insistent that the colours are as close as possible" to the ones in the photos.

Kate bought a big bundle of felt from my shop and used it to create two colourful patchwork projects, which she shared as tutorials on her blog.

Felt patchwork table mats...

... and a rather fabulous felt patchwork blanket.

 

Louise emailed me these photos of a cute woodland garland she'd sewn using patterns from my second book, Super-Cute Felt Animals. It looks like lots of happy hours of sewing went into this!

 

Liz used my vintage felt baubles tutorial to decorate her Christmas cards last year. Look at all those baubles!

Liz said she made the ornaments "then attached them to cards using a brad, so the recipients can take the ornaments off and keep them when they are done with the card" She "made the cards from a very heavy cardstock so they wouldn't tip over" and "sewed on the coordinating borders with my machine". Such a great idea.

Linda wrote a lovely review of Super-Cute Felt Animals. "The day the book arrived in the mail our granddaughter was here and we had a wonderful time looking through the book and picking out animals I would make for her. She chose a cat and a dog"

Instead of stitching eyes (which can be quite fiddly at this scale) Linda added cute googly eyes instead.

She also stitched a pair of blackbirds using my free pattern.

The delightfully named "A Foolish Twit" tweeted photos of a whole bunch of things she's been making from my books. She said "Without your patterns I would never have got back in to crafting, now I love it!" which makes me very happy.

She combined two projects in Super-Cute Felt to make this bee needlecase...

 

... stitched lots of safari animals from Super-Cute Felt Animals...

... and made a whole army of mice finger puppets (I wonder what the collective noun would be for finger puppets?). You can also spot one of my floral projects in the bottom pic - patterns for the mice and the flowers can both be found in Super-Cute Felt.
 

My previous Show & Tell post was all about the sky blankets other people have been making, inspired by my sky blanket.

Here's Leanne's finished blanket - congrats, Leanne!

 

Amy is making a fab crochet version of the sky blanket, crocheting a granny square a day and using cheerful yellow yarn for sunny days instead of sticking with shades of blue.

She's blogging about the blanket as it grows. It's looking great, and has a surprising amount of yellow in it.

Amy wrote "I can't actually say just how much I love this project - it is great seeing how it grows, as I have no idea what colour the squares are going to be from one day to the next" ... "this blanket is bringing me nothing but pleasure" - which sounds a lot like how I felt when making my sky blanket. Such fun!

And last but by no means least, Polly stitched a tree stump pincushion using this guest tutorial shared on my blog by the talented Manuela.

Polly adapted the pattern slightly, using French knots to add the white spots on the toadstools which look great. She says "I'm really pleased I made this! I like having practical items which are also visually pleasing, and this makes me happy every time I use it." What more can you ask for from a crafty project?

You can see see all the previous show and tell posts here. My archive of free patterns and tutorials can be found here and you can read more about my books here.   

If you want to share what you've been making from my patterns (or from supplies you bought from me back when I still sold them, or when I've done a destash sale) please do get in touch. If you just want to share your work privately and don't want to be included in a future Show & Tell post that's totally okay! :)

You can leave a comment and link here on this post, send me an message via my contact form or share a photo over on my Facebook page.

Please note: the Amazon links in this post are affiliate links. 

Cosy Knits Needed...

Today I'm sharing a message from my crafty friend Sally, who is looking for people to knit and crochet things for a very good cause:

"Got some bits of yarn hanging around? I work with a charity who, among other things, provides a food bank for people in the East Lancashire area. We'd really like to be able to give out hats and gloves, maybe the occasional blanket with the food. Could you knit or crochet something for our collection, for men, women or children of any age? 

Send them to or drop them in at Pendle Helping Hands, c/o Barrowford Primary School, Rushton Street, Barrowford, Lancs. Thank you"

If you need any more info or have any questions, you can get in touch with Pendle Helping Hands via their Facebook page. If you live a long way from East Lancashire, maybe there's a charity near you that needs a hand this winter? :)