Felt Swan Mask: Free Sewing Tutorial

The third project in the trio of freebies I'm sharing with my newsletter subscribers at the moment is a tutorial for sewing a swan mask:

The tutorial includes templates and step by step instructions for sewing the mask... which I'd normally say would be great for wearing to costume parties and festivals but we can't really go to those at the moment, can we?

Dressing up can bring a lot of fun to lockdown life, though, I think: why not wear a swan mask on your next Zoom call? or disguise yourself as a swan to do the washing up? Everything's got to be more fun when you're a swan, right?!

You could also make this mask in grey felt...

... and there's loads of possibilities if you want to make a pretty swan princess mask. You could add sequins or those little sew-on gems, stitch a bit of embroidery, or even add a little crown to the top of the mask!

As well as the swan mask tutorial, if you sign up to my newsletter this month you'll also receive a stack of books embroidery pattern and a tutorial for sewing felt peony brooches.

 

 
Click here to read more about my newsletter and subscribe! Make sure you select the pattern newsletter option if you'd like a monthly (ish) free project pinging into your inbox.
 
Click here to visit my tutorial archive for lots more free patterns and other crafty projects.

New Flower Brooch Tutorial: Sew Some Felt Peonies!

Wanna sew some pretty felt peony brooches?

Sign up to my newsletter and you'll receive the pattern and step-by-step tutorial for free!

These layered felt flower brooches would look really lovely pinned to your jacket or cardi this summer. You can make them in one or two shades of peony pink, or just pick your fave colours or one that matches your favourite outfit.

 

The flowers would also look great on a headband, or you could make a few of them (maybe printing out the templates at different sizes?) and add them to a wreath.

They're quite easy to make, but you do have a few layers of felt to cut out. I think they're actually a perfect project to try if you feel your cutting skills need a bit of practice. It doesn't matter if peony petals are a bit wobbly, does it? However messily you cut out these layers the finished flowers will still look great.

Remember I always recommend investing in a pair of embroidery scissors to help you with cutting small or fiddly felt shapes - the small, narrow blades make it so much easier than using standard sewing scissors.

As well as the peony brooches tutorial, new subscribers to my newsletter will also receive a stack of books embroidery pattern and a tutorial for making a fun felt swan mask (I'll share some snaps of that tomorrow!).

Plus, if you sign up to to pattern segment of my newsletter you'll get a new free project in your inbox for every month you're signed up! Sometimes I don't quite manage the "monthly" part of the schedule, but I always get caught up in the end :)

Click here to read more about my newsletter and subscribe!
 
Click here to visit my tutorial archive for lots more free embroidery patterns and other crafty projects.

Stack of Books, Free Embroidery Pattern

The next freebie for my pattern newsletter subscribers is perfect for book lovers!

You can stitch this as it is, or add your own text to the spines to customise it. If you're a confident stitcher you could add the titles of your favourite books. For an easier, quicker project stick to the surnames of your favourite authors!

This pattern is fairly easy to sew with backstitch, though I'd recommend taking care as you sew all those straight lines. A bit of patience will make all the difference to the neatness of your finish. I'll be including two versions of the embroidery pattern: one with the book page lines added and one without in case you'd prefer to stitch those freehand.

I'll be sending the book stack pattern out to my pattern newsletter subscribers sometime in the next couple of days, then after that it'll be added to the new subscriber sign-up email. Currently you'll also get a free tutorial for sewing a cute felt teacup and teapot brooch when you subscribe. 

Click here to read more about my newsletter and subscribe!
 
Click here to visit my tutorial archive for lots more free embroidery patterns and other crafty projects.

Felt Teacup & Teapot Brooches Tutorial: Available Now!

I've finally shared a new tutorial with my pattern newsletter subscribers! Hurrah!

The latest free tutorial is a step-by-step guide to sewing cute felt teacup and teapot brooches:

These are so fun and easy to sew and make sweet gifts for tea lovers. You could even make a whole batch of them, have a tea party (once the lockdown is over, of course!!) and give a brooch to each of your guests as a memento.

 

Polkadot felt makes these brooches extra cute. I found mine on Etsy, but lots of craft stores sell it. I love these mini dots but I've made these brooches before with bigger spots and they looked just as nice. If you just have plain felt you could add dots with some simple embroidery, or maybe embroider a little flower instead.

 

This tutorial has been in progress for a couple of months now, they've been weird months and I'm so glad to have finally got this project finished and sent out to share with everyone. 

Not yet signed up to my newsletter? Subscribe now and get this tutorial for free! Right now you'll also get a free floral pattern, too. I'm also working hard at the moment to get properly caught up with my "monthly" freebies, so there should be a flurry of new projects heading out to subscribers over the next few weeks.

Click here to read more about my newsletter (as well as free patterns, you can sign up to hear what's new in my shop and here on my blog and get behind the scenes crafty updates).

Click here to visit my tutorial archive for lots more free patterns and project ideas.

Last Chance: Free Dove & Robin Christmas Ornament Tutorials

2020 has been such a bananas year for me that I'm running very behind with my "monthly" freebies for my pattern newsletter subscribers!

Luckily this lockdown is giving me lots of extra time to work on sewing projects, so I'm starting to get caught up and will be sending out a flurry of new patterns to subscribers in the coming weeks. I'll be sharing a tutorial for sewing felt teacup and teapot brooches very soon, then after that I'm planning projects based on books, spring flowers, and moths.

This means that now is your last chance to subscribe and download my current freebies: tutorials for sewing felt dove ornaments and little felt robins.

I'm planning on re-releasing these patterns in my shop later in the year, but the window to grab them for free is closing fast.

Click here for more info about my newsletter and to subscribe.

 

It feels a bit weird talking about Christmas crafting in April, but I know some of you have started sewing for the holidays already!

You'll find lots more Christmas tutorials and craft ideas in my free tutorial archive, and I've got a couple of Christmas patterns in my shop, too.

Stay Inside & Make Stuff

 

Hello! I hope you're doing okay? These are weird, scary times, huh?

This is just a very quick blog post to say that I'm going to be self-isolating to take care of my dad over the coming weeks/months and won't be making any trips to the Post Office any time soon. So my weekly sales are paused, and I've removed all the handstitched samples from my Etsy shop (my printable PDF sewing patterns will still be availavle from my Etsy and Folksy shops).

I'm hoping that this extra time spent at home will mean I'll get a whole bunch of new patterns in my shops soon (especially now we're starting to get good light for taking photos!). I'm also going to work hard catching up with the freebies for my newsletter subscribers, and I've got some fun stuff planned for here on my blog, too, which I hope you'll enjoy if you're stuck at home for a while.

In the meantime, I thought I'd re-release my "Stay Inside and Make Stuff" embroidery pattern for my pattern newsletter subscribers, as it feels super appropriate for this time of social distancing! (Plus I feel guilty about having not sent out a new pattern in ages - sorry guys!).

The pattern also includes templates for making a felt applique version of the floral wreath, and a "Go Outside and Get Inspired" embroidery pattern (I'm trying to get out at least once a day for a walk at the moment and am feeling very thankful for all the signs of spring in my neighbourhood).

  
Take care of yourselves xxx

Sewing Tutorial: Felt Teacup and Teapot Brooches

I'm running a little behind with 2020's first freebie for my pattern newsletter subscribers... so I thought I'd make it a double tutorial!

This year's first free project will be a step by step sewing tutorial for making cute little felt teacup brooches...

... and felt teapot brooches, too.

A felt teacup or teapot (or both) would look lovely pinned to your favourite jacket this spring, and one of the brooches would be a fab gift for the tea lovers in your life (along with some tea, of course!). You could also swap the brooch clasp for a hairclip to make Alice in Wonderland style hair accessories, or add a ribbon loop to make a cute teacup ornament.

Polkadot or other patterned felt is optional when making these brooches but it looks super cute. If you just have plain felt you can easily add dots or other patterns with sequins, seed beads, or some simple embroidery.

If you've been following my work for a really long time you might remember these designs (and these photos) from the days when I sold lots of tea-themed brooches. It's so nice revisiting these old projects to share them with you guys and having a nostalgic browse back through my photo archives.

I used to make blue and red versions of the teacups and teapots, both on a zingy yellow felt background but you can of course make yours in any colours you fancy.

 

Choosing matching sewing thread will help your brooches turn out lovely and neat - I took this photo when I sat down to sew blue teacup brooches and had dozens of blue threads but none in the shade I needed!

Here are some teapots and flowers in progress - I love looking back at these colourful work-in-progress pics.

Since I took this photo back in 2008 the forget-me-nots have evolved into a design I included in my first book, and a version of the primrose design is now available in my shop as a printable pattern. Aaaaand of course now I'm working on a tutorial for the teapots,.

Want to sew some felt teapots or teacups?

Click here to read more about my newsletter and subscribe!

If you sign up to my monthly pattern newsletter you'll recieve a free project from me in your inbox approximately once a month, and you can also sign up to hear about what's new on my blog and in my shop.

Click here to visit my tutorial archive for lots more free patterns and project ideas.

Felt Doves: Sew Pretty Bird Ornaments for Your Christmas Tree

As I mentioned yesterday, this month I'm sending out TWO free festive sewing tutorials to the subscribers of my pattern newsletter.

In December you can learn to sew sweet little felt robins (follow the link if you missed yesterday's post!) and pretty felt doves:

 

 

 

The doves tutorial includes a step-by-step guide to sewing the ornaments, and templates for two sizes of the birds.

 

You can stitch plain white doves or add embellishments for extra loveliness. The bigger doves are particularly great to decorate as there's more space to work with!

I added sequins and beads, and also embroidered one of the doves' wings with some snowflakes.

 

I love how all of the doves I stitched turned out, but I'm particularly pleased with the snowflake one!

The ornaments are double sided, so you make two sides that are a mirror image of each other. Here's an in-progress pic of one of the sequinned doves:

Want to sew some dove ornaments for you Christmas tree, or to give as gifts this winter?

Click here to read more about my newsletter and subscribe!

You can choose to just sign up to my monthly pattern newsletter for regular(ish) free projects in your inbox, and/or sign up for crafty updates from me and my shops.

The dove and robin tutorials should be sent out to my current pattern newsletter subscribers this week (fingers crossed!) then they'll be available as a download for new subscribers until next month's project is released.

Click here to visit my tutorial archive for lots more free Christmas patterns and project ideas.

P.S. I talk about these designs as being Christmas craft projects, but of course you don't need to celebrate Christmas to want to sew a winter robin or a sparkly dove! If you're not a lover of Christmas I hope you'll forgive my linguistic habit and stitch yourself some felt birds anyway xx

Sew a Felt Robin Brooch or Ornament for Christmas!

This month subscribers to my free pattern newsletter will recieve not one but TWO free festive projects! Hurrah!

The first tutorial? A step by step guide to sewing a little felt robin:

You can make the robins as brooches or as decorations for your Christmas tree... with or without sequins :)

 

 

These little robins are an old design I used to sell in my shops many years ago. It's been so nice digging out the old templates and sewing some again! Here's an old work-in-progress photo from a busy winter:

Both of December's free projects will be sent out to my current pattern newsletter subscribers soon (hopefully this week!), then they'll be available as a download for new subscribers until next month's project is released.

Click here for more info my newsletter and subscribe!

If you sign up to my monthly pattern newsletter you'll recieve a free project from me in your inbox once a month, and you can also sign up to hear about what's new on my blog and in my shop (I'm sharing lots of behind the scenes updates at the moment).

Click here to visit my tutorial archive for lots more free Christmas tutorials and craft ideas.

P.S. I'll share pics of this month's second freebie tomorrow!