Applique textile picture - for Teddy

Well the gorgeous Teddy got his 'welcome new baby' picture at the ripe old age of 4 months old! I really enjoyed making this picture and thought I'd share the process with you, if you are interested in trying something like it your self.

The skills/materials used are:
- machine applique
- stash of fabrics - I've got plenty!
- using invisible stitching
- hand embroidery
- using 'doublesided' Bondaweb - holds fabric securely in place while you stitch around it
- fabric ink
- letter stamping kit - I use this one loads

1) The main picture of the elephant came from a Selvedge Magazine flyer. I drew the image to scale and then cut out each individual piece as a pattern piece. I choose my fabrics and attached Bondaweb to each piece, drew around the pattern piece and then ironed the pieces on to the elephant.

Ready for attaching to main fabric

2) I stitched the elephant to the main fabric using invisible stitch - taught to me by Quliter Dawn Cameron-Dicks. Here's the image from the reverse side.

3) I then added the other fabric pieces, which are only attached with Bondaweb, as the image is going to live behind glass, so did not need to be ultra secure.

4) Next I added some hand embroidery, using a range of stitches and matching tones. The picture was completed by the addition of flowers, circles cut from a gorgeous piece of fabric, which made the composition pleasing to my eye!

The only completed picture I have is a bit blurry....

Baby, baby, baby...bib

I've had this tutorial sitting in one of my Pinterest pages for a while now and have finally got round to making a snazzy chevron one made from Riley Blake fabric.

It's a really great tutorial by blooger Seeshesews.

Have a go!

A Wedding, love-letters, papers roses and a gift

I love it when things come together. 

I wanted to make a wedding gift. 

I had a stack of paper roses. 

I had two poems written for the wedding.

I watched Kneehighs Tristain and Yseult, pics here, and found a link to love-letters, new and old. 

This is what I made:

Here's a beautiful love-letter from the Corwall Record Office that inspired me to also print the poems in little heart shaped love letters.

The paper is so delicate & you can tell it's been unfolded, read and re-folded many times.

I cut wrapping paper to A4 size, flattened it and fed it through my printer carefully, in order to print the poems on such pretty paper. I'll show you how to make the heart notelets on another post.

Have a lovely summer!

Rolled book paper roses

I've wanted to make some of these for a while and now I have a glue-gun this task is easier to do. I use thie tutorial here by Loveleesscrappin who has a great collection of other vids for other paper crafts.

What to do with them? Dust-catchers? Think they may make it onto gifts, cards and other mixed media work.

Have a good weekend.

Alli x

N.B. No healthy books came to harm in the making of these roses - only tattered & broken books were used!

Origami gift boxes

Towers of boxes, ready to take gifts home in! I've used some sturdy paper for the white bottom box and some of my lovely gift wrap to make the lids. 

Here's a copy of the instructions - happy folding and creating! One word of warning, remember to make the lid larger at point 3 by not folding the edge all the way to the centre - on all 4 folds mind!

Enjoy.

Alli x

Kindle cover -Secret Santa gift....

Sssssh! It's a secret....I used this tutorial.

Fishy embroidery gift...

Here's the latest piece of embroidery I made while we were on holiday - a bit of hand sewing kept me close to my need to sew while away from my sewing machine!

Thank you!

When a friend gives you the gift of staying in their house for two weeks over the summer and the house is in Cornwall, you need to say more than 'Thank you', but this paper bunting, made from old and modern maps of Cornwall, was just one of the ways we showed our gratitude! 

We stuck the maps onto card, cut out the flags and stitched them onto some red binding.

The original idea comes from one of my fav blogs and can be found here : vlijtig.blogspot.co.uk

Happy September

Alli x

Belated Easter greetings...bunny boxes!

Hope your hols were full of chocolate and time with family and friends.


We made these cute boxes and filled them with mini chocolate eggs. You can enlarge the pattern and use the box to carry delicious cakes. The tutorial is on the Martha Stewart website here. The template is here.


Our creations were decorated with stampers and felts and we wrote Easter messages inside them. I think they will also be good for party favours....

A handbag?!

I have a lovely book, with lots of lovely, stylish bags by Amy Butler. I have a special event to go to and decided to make a bag.


First I needed to select some fabric...I couldn't resist this 'Big Bloom' fabric from local shop Poppy Patchwork

Pleating the fabric was an exercise in dodging being scalded by the iron, but the result was gorgeous.

Assembling all the pieces and the zip

 My favourite bit about making a bag in when you pull the whole bag out through a small opening in the lining, termed 'The birth of a bag' by a friend. You have to have faith that you've matched everything perfectly and stitched it well...stitching faith.

Give the whole thing a big press...more scalding opportunities

Both sides of the finished bag

All it needs now is a name and an outing! Ideas on a name? Fleur? Big Bloom?!

Have a lovely weekend. Alli x

Paper bird house pattern

Last year I posted about these paper birdhouses, here, inspired by the project on artist Claire Legget's blog here.

I made another one recently for a friend's birthday and I had to remind myself of the dimensions etc...so I've made a pattern including dimensions for all the pieces. Claire gives instructions on her blog at the link above.

my latest paper birdhouse

Now you can have a go too!

Hearts - lavender filled

I admit it, I watched the re-run of a Kirsty's Homemade Christmas and stole this idea from her! K made a garland, dangling stitched and stuffed hearts (this was in the craft section, not food) 


I wanted to make some hearts and use up some of the odds and ends of fabric I had from bunting projects. So I patched the fabric and fused it on some 'double-sided' Bondaweb, then cut the heart shapes out. 

1) Stitch the hearts in a running stitch with a jaunty thread
2) Leave a gap so you can stuff with lavender
3) Stitch up hole
4) Use recycled ribbon (saved from packaging around fleecy pjs) and stitch a button on each side of the hearts to hold ribbon in place
5) Fuse the outer edges of the hearts together with an iron, I used 'double-sided' Bondaweb - then cut a decorative edging around the heart with pinking scissors.


A scented lush heart!

A moody, arty image of scented hearts...

Here's Kirstie's version...a real winter warmer.

Applique cushion

Sometimes I have an idea in my head of something I want to make, but I just can't find the time to get to it. That's what this project was like, but when I found the space it came together really quickly.


I had 
- some Linen fabric from IKEA
- a bag of odds and ends of ribbons from one of my fav local craft shops, Creativity 
- plain cushion from Primarni...
- small piece of fabric, left over from making a make-up bag and some fabric baskets from Fabric Rehab

The finished cover

I decided that the theme was flower/seed heads - the ribbons made perfect stems and I cut shapes from the fabric remnant to make the seed heads. Finally, I whizzed around it all with a secure zig zag stitch. Lush!

A moody Hipstamatic version!

Here's the fabric in question in another life...

Wish I could get some more of this fabric....

So, use fabric to help you create images, layer up the shapes and see what you create.

Happy creating! Alli x

Bunting - for a dog owner!

Vic's sister has a dog called Mo - he's cute (I've seen the pictures) and Vic commissioned me to make this special bunting for her sis, Sas!

I made cute felt bones to add to the doggie theme. You can see them better on the following print!

Fab doggie fabric came from two of my favourite fabric shops - 

Fabric Rehab for Whiskers and Tails, Green

Whilst Fancy Moon supplied me with Park & Ride Tea, Alexander Henry.

I'm pleased with the result!

Happy Friday x

Festive feastie bits!

There is a score through most of the items on the list, and these little treats, made yesterday, packaged today, have been put in with Christmas pressies! Phew!


I started making these when my friend, Sophie, gave us some one Christmas.


I've use these two recipes - Fruity Christmas biscotti from the BBC Goodfood site and the decadent chocolate one, Cherry Chocolate Biscotti, from allrecipes.co.uk.

We had to test them -
hence the gaps!

All wrapped up and ready to go!

Happy baking!

Basic printing with the kiddies!

Looking at the growing pile of saved polystyrene bases reminded me how much pizza we had eaten and also the need to use the bases for basic printing. Here's what we produced:

You need block print ink and at least 2 rollers -
one for ink and one dry for pressing the image onto paper

Our original designs drawn onto polystyrene squares
from pizza bases

Drying results

Hettie's disco dancing snowman

Rachel's snowy cat

Me flowers

 We were inspired by these pictures and this link.


Next year I plan to print and make my Christmas cards...bit late now!


A good place to buy the ink, roller and paper is Artrageous in Bristol. Have fun....x