April in Pictures: Fabric Shopping, Neglected Cups of Tea, a Sleepy Assistant and Crazy British Weather.

It's been a hectic few weeks here! I've been busy with tight deadlines and exciting travels and boring paperwork and all sorts of other stuff that has collectively got in the way of blogging!

Though I've not had time to sit down and put together a proper blog post for ages (as those of you who are bloggers yourselves will know, this stuff takes time! Take the photos, edit them, resize them, label them, upload them, write something interesting, proofread it, etc...) I have been sharing some snaps over on my new Instagram account.

I thought it would be nice to do a monthly round-up of the photos I shared on Instagram that didn't make it onto my blog. This way those of you who don't follow me on Instagram won't miss out, and I can waffle to my heart's content about what I've been up to instead of having to confine myself to a short and snappy caption that I've slooooowly typed on my smartphone keyboard (it's taking me a while to get used to that thing!!).

So, what did I get up to at the end of April?

I can rarely resist a nice bit of stationery and fell head over heels with this "Enchanting Forest" letter-writing set designed by Helen Dardik for Roger la Borde. Isn't it lush? As well as using it to write letters (of course) I've also been using the stickers to decorate other bits of post. So much prettiness.

Walking to the postbox a few days later, floral-sticker-covered-post in hand, it was lovely to spot these wildflowers growing along a fence. All those little specks of blue! Delightful.

 

Talking of flowers... I finally stitched the last few flowers onto this cushion which has been a work in progress for a while now. Have I found the time to take photos of the finished cushion? I have not. I must remember to actually do that because I am really rather chuffed with how this turned out. Although - I have to confess - I'm actually thinking about maybe adding some embroidery to this as well. I might leave it for a few months and see how I feel as that will be yet another time-consuming project to add to my To Make list!

When I'm sewing or doing other non-writing work, I listen to the same albums over and over. In late April I was listening to this one on repeat. I've had this tape for 25 years and still love it!

Escaping from my studio/office for a morning, I took a trip to Fabric Land to buy supplies for a couple of work projects. Fabric Land is not (sadly) a magical Narnia-esque world of fabric and enchanted haberdashery creatures but is actually a really great chain of sewing shops. They're an absolute treasure trove of stitch-y supplies and have helpful staff and a legendary website that's straight out of 1998. While I was in town I also popped into the knitting shop next door to buy some white yarn for my mini patchwork squares blanket. Online shopping is super convenient but nothing beats being able to buy what you need in a local shop.

 

I do a lot of working on things behind the scenes that I can't talk about, so it's always a joy when I get to finally spill the beans on a project. The six projects I contributed to Banners, Buntings, Garlands & Pennants were so much fun to make!

I gave one of these copies to my mum (she has a whole collection of books featuring my work) and the other now sits on what I half-jokingly refer to as "my ego shelf". The shelf is an ego-boosting collection of books by me, books featuring my projects, plus other nice things like the first magazine to ever feature my work in print and the photo book I made filled with six years of crafty photos.

I was completely obsessed with books when I was a kid, I spent so much time reading and dreamt of a day when I would have a house of my own with its own library (a whole room! filled with books!). Now I'm a grown up, I may not have the library I hoped for when I was a kid but a shelf of books I've been involved in creating is possibly even better.

My inner book nerd was also thrilled to spot myself (and the other contributors) listed in the index of Banners, Buntings, Garlands & Pennants. I've never been in an index before!

I work from the sofa a lot when I've got a large amount of sewing to do - it's so comfy, and my assistant keeps me company while I sew...

You can tell I was busy with work as I kept making tea and forgetting to drink it! This was the third cup that had gone cold that day as I rushed around drawing and stitching and writing and taking photos.

Part of the reason I was rushing about was to get ready for a trip to Northumberland with my mum. Planning trips in advance is very necessary, but they don't always fit in well around deadlines when the time rolls round!

We had some craaaazy weather on our trip, even for England. It hailed, it snowed, it rained, it was sunny, it hailed again! All the weather, all crammed into a few days. This was the view from our hotel room one afternoon...

 

... and this was the view on the coast just a couple of days later! Chilly, yes, but gorgeously bright and clear.

I will, of course, be blogging about our visit to Northumberland as soon as I've got the photos edited. We were only there for a few days but we visited so many great places, I'm really looking forward to sharing them with you guys.

P.S. Follow me on Instagram for regular, colourful updates!

How To: Make a 3D Flower Picture with Felt & Fabric

I love flowers, you love flowers, everyone loves flowers, right? (Even if you're allergic, you've gotta admit they look nice!)

Today I'm sharing a "how to" for making a frame-able posy of felt and fabric flowers.

The 3D flowers are designed to be mounted in a box frame, with a tag attached on which you can write a phrase or message of your choice. This project originally appeared in docrafts Creativity magazine a couple of years ago, and was made using felt, fabric, buttons and other supplies from the docrafts range. 

I used a mix of felt and fabric to create my flowers, but you could use two shades of felt instead if you'd prefer. You can use any colours you like for making the flowers: select your shades and mix and match them throughout the posy. Placing contrasting colours together (e.g. blue fabric on pink felt) will help make the details of each flower pop!

 

You will need:

- the templates provided at the bottom of this post
- a selection of pretty fabrics (quilting cotton is ideal)
- co-ordinating felt
- co-ordinating buttons
- matching sewing threads
- green felt
- green sewing thread
- iron-on interfacing
- an iron and ironing board
- a gift tag
- some bakers twine
- a box frame*
- sewing scissors
- sewing needle and pins
- a pen (to write your message on the tag)
- sticky tape
- double sided tape
- craft scissors
- sturdy white card

*I used a frame sized to fit an 8 x 10 inch (20 x 25 cm) photo. If you’re using a different size frame you can resize the templates or make a different number of flowers to create a larger or smaller posy.

To make the picture:

1. Iron your chosen fabric to remove any creases. Cut a piece of iron-on interfacing that's large enough so you'll have room to cut out the five or six fabric pieces for one flower - don't cut out the petal shapes yet! Apply the interfacing to the back of one of your chosen fabrics, following the manufacturer’s instructions.

Repeat this step for each of the flowers.

Tip: applying the interfacing will help prevent the fabric edges from fraying. If you're using felt instead of fabric, skip this step.

2. Use the templates provided to cut out the pieces for each flower in the quantities shown. Each flower is made up of one felt flower back and a set of felt and fabric petals.

3. Follow the flower instructions (below) to make all four flowers, arranging them in a bunch to fit the frame.

4. Write your message on the tag. Then cut a length of twine, knot it onto the tag and tie it in a bow around the flower stems. Trim any excess twine.

5. Open up the frame and remove the card mount. Turn the mount over and line up a piece of white card to fit the mount (I used a piece of A4 card). Stick the card in place on the back of the mount with tape, then turn the mount over.

6. Arrange your posy on the backing card. Then, starting from the centre and working outwards, secure the posy and tag with pieces of double-sided tape.

To make each flower:

1. Place the fabric petals on top of the felt petals.

2. One by one, sew the petals to the backing circle so the petals slightly overlap.  Use running stitch and thread to match the fabric, sewing two thirds of the way up each fabric petal. Sew up the petal and then back down, filling in the gaps to create a continuous line of stitching.

3. Add a contrasting button to the centre of the flower, sewing it securely in place with a double thickness of the same thread.

4. Cut a narrow piece of pale green felt for the flower stalk – this should be approximately 1.5 cm wide and as long as you need for each flower’s stalk.  If required, use the template provided to cut a leaf from matching green felt.

5. Fold the long felt piece and pinch the fold between your fingers, sewing the edges together with whip stitch and matching thread. Your finished stalk will be slightly curved. If you want to add a leaf, sew it to the stalk with a couple of small stitches, hiding the knot at the back.

6. Sew the top of the stalk to the back of your flower, using whip stitch and sewing into the back of the flower but not through it. 

Tip: to make sure your posy will fit your frame, arrange the pieces as you go along using the frame’s mount as a guide.

Click here to view the template sheet, make sure you're viewing it full size then print it at 100%.

This tutorial is for personal use only: you can use it to stitch as many flowers as you want for yourself or as gifts, but please don't make any for sale. You may borrow a photo or two 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 post or share the pattern itself on your site. Thanks!

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Work In Progress: Sewing, Knitting, Mending & Sorting

As always, I've got lots of projects in progress...

This weekend I spent several relaxing hours sewing felt flowers onto this cushion cover, which I last worked on in November (!!).

Back in November I'd got so close to finishing this but it's been sitting in crafty limbo ever since.  All the flowers I'd pinned and tacked in place back then have now been properly stitched in position and I just need to add a few more small flowers at the edges to fill in the remaining gaps.

I've also re-started a much-neglected knitting project (visiting a knitting festival does tend to put one in the mood to knit!).

Let's not talk about how I was determined to get this finally finished in time for Christmas 2015 and it's now February 2016, okay??? Shhh, it can be our secret.

This weekend I've also been mending my much-beloved vintage coat. After sewing on a missing button, I'm now mending some tears in the lining and holes in the pockets. Not at all exciting - and sewing black on black is such a pain - but important!

Does a project count as "in progress" if you've just bought the materials for it? Because I think this one might technically be a new project as I've yet to start it (or even make a real plan for how I'm going to make it) but I have bought the fabrics and washed/ironed them.

Semantics aside, these lovelies are going to be a small quilt for summer picnics and (of course) trips to the beach.

I'm also continuing my ongoing "sort out everything in my studio" project. Everything is looking so neat and organised, it's quietly thrilling.

One of this weekend's tasks was to sort through my stash of sewing thread - you probably can't tell from this photo that this is the "after" photo but it is!

My most-used colours (which match the felt shades in my stash) are in the drawer on the left, and the rest are in the drawer on the right. Not the most complicated system, I'll grant you, but a system nonetheless :)

Meanwhile, the urge to sort and declutter is contagious and my mum has been bitten by the bug. I've been helping her clear out assorted cupboards and take things to charity shops... and I've ended up with some new/old things that she's decluttered!

I've inherited a few bits of vintage crockery that belonged to my grandparents, including these pretty dishes (one Poole, one Carlton Ware). Aren't they lovely?

 

I'm also now the proud owner of some craft supplies which were left over from our childhood crafting sessions, then forgotten about in the back of a cupboard. These tubes of glitter will be an especially useful addition to my crafty stash!
 

Right, that's enough waffling about WIPs... I'm off to make the most of my "extra day" by doing something crafty :)

The Destashing Continues!

I've posted lots of parcels of fabric and other crafty supplies in the past couple of weeks, but there are still plenty of crafty goodies to be found in my destash sale.

There are colourful fabrics, featuring butterflies, flowers, kitties, mushrooms and more:

An assortment of festive fabric:

 

 

And lovely hand screenprinted fabric panels:

There are also crafty bits and bobs like buttons and jingle bells:

 

 

Plus felt bundles, thick sheets of handmade felt and a selection of felted sweater pieces:

 

 Click here to visit my Etsy shop and see the whole selection of supplies available in my destash sale.

Take Photos, Edit, Repeat...

... that pretty much sums up my recent days!

I've been working on some tutorials (with lots of steps to photograph), and I'm also clearing out a whole bunch of craft supplies which all need sorting, measuring, weighing (and, of course, photographing) before I can add them to the destash sale over in my Etsy shop.

There'll be some colourful felt bundles...

... lots of fat quarters (and a few half yards, too)...

 

... an assortment of other fabric & felt pieces, and some other bits and bobs as well.

I'm calling this my "Laura looked at her huge stash of craft supplies and was brutally honest with herself about what she's actually going to use" sale. It includes things I bought years ago for projects which I've now totally abandoned (like my plan to make cushions... to match a sofa I now no longer own).

Instead of all this loveliness sitting neglected in my stash for several more years, I hope it can find new homes and finally get made into new things!

With luck, I should have all this crafty goodness listed in a couple of days. I'll announce here on my blog when the listings are live in my shop :)

#Crafting365 Days 36-48: The Joys of Embroidery, and of Orange

Time for another #Crafting365 catch up! Time flies when you're having lots of crafty fun...

On day 36, I cut my hair. I'm not sure if DIY haircuts really count as a creative task, but I am counting this one anyway! A bit messy, but not too bad and my hair has been looooooong for ages, it's a nice change to have it shorter again.

Day 37 was all about embroidery. You know that feeling when all of a sudden you just have to work on a particular project RIGHT NOW? I just could not resist the urge to work on some embroidery... so I sketched a whole bunch of new patterns and started stitching up this one which has been on my To Stitch list for, like, ever.

On day 38 I dug some pretty fabric out of my stash to plan something new. I adore these colours together.

The embroidery obsession continued on day 39. I thought I didn't have the right sized hoop to stitch up the patterns I'd sketched earlier (I think I used to own the size I needed but used the hoop to make a mobile? and then forgot to buy a new hoop to replace the one I'd cannibalized for my project? That seems like something I would do, anyway) ... but it turned out I had a bigger hoop that worked okay, hurrah hurrah.

On day 40 I started a new shade of yarn for my happy rainbow blanket: a lovely zingy orange. I am loving orange at the moment, and was actually wearing my orange cardigan (pictured at the top of the post) while knitting these squares :)

The orange-square-knitting continued slowly over the next few days, but I squeezed in some other crafty things too. I spent the afternoon of day 41 sticking lots of things into my "things that are too beautiful or interesting to throw away" scrapbooks. It's been such an age since I've added to my scrapbooks, I used up a whole glue stick adding all the new clippings!

Then on day 42 I was doing some filing and rediscovered a vintage pattern that had been "lost" for ages (because I'd put it in my filing pile along with accounts paperwork, etc, instead of a place where you'd think to look for an embroidery pattern - oops!). I'm delighted to have found this again and am really looking forward to stitching it. The pattern is designed for tapestry wools, but I'm probably just going to stitch it up with standard embroidery thread/floss. I'm also quite tempted to adapt the pattern to make a felt applique of some kind? Decisions, decisions.

By day 43, I was building up a nice pile of the orange blanket squares...

... and was finishing up the orange yarn on day 44. I'm knitting large garter stitch squares from each ball of yarn, and using the leftovers to knit mini moss stitch squares for my random patchwork blanket. Sticking with my orange obsession, my next chosen colour = a bright satsuma orange. So cheerful!

Day 45 saw more blanket square knitting, and more embroidery. My handwriting can be a little illegible at times, even when I write "neatly". My mum thought this pattern said "Poe the PEST..." and, well, she has a point, doesn't she? (It actually reads Be the BEST version of YOU). Terrible handwriting aside, I do love stitching handwritten text - though it does involve lots of teeny stitches to get round all those curves.

I finished my trio of embroidered designs on day 46 (I'll blog about the finished pieces soon, I promise!). The fabric I'm stitching on is so pale, I've taken care to keep the back of my work neat and to not carry any threads between sections.

 

I was feeling a bit sleepy on day 47 so I opted for something super simple: adding some more blocks of stitching to my scrappy cross stitch project.

When I do some cross stitch or embroidery and end up with a bit of thread/floss left over that's too short to really be worth keeping but long enough that it could be used to stitch a few stitches, I set it aside. Then when I've collected a few threads I use them to add some more blocks of colour to my patchwork project. I am so pleased with how this is turning out, and I adore how it's growing organically over time depending on the other makes I've been working on and what threads happened to be left over.

Then yesterday (day 48) I was gripped by the sudden urge to make something leafy and autumnal, so I grabbed some felt and got snipping! Fingers crossed this turns out how I'm picturing it in my head...