Ah, The Works. How you tempt me with your cheap products. Many an hour have I spent standing gazing at your overstuffed shelves, pondering whether to purchase 6 packs of card for £5 and if I really need more pretty paper just because it’s very cheap.
After the success and delight I got from making the paper beads recently, I decided a £1.99 circle cutter from The Works might be a good investment. It looks very much like this:
In theory, this compass design is good idea. It does work and with a bit of practise cutting perfect circles is easy. The only problem I have is that you’re left with a teeny hole in the centre. Why not use the handy ‘paper saver’ it comes with? I hear you ask. Well, I would, says I, but it doesn’t stay put. Unless you put lots of pressure on it… and then not only does it make it harder to turn in a clean circle, it leaves little grooves in the paper. Instead of a little hole.
I am still debating whether it’s not just easier to cut circles out by hand with good old reliable scissors.
With just 4 weeks to go before the trip to Florida, I thought it may be a good idea to do a little window shopping before we head to Michaels. Otherwise we might be there all day. We probably still will be there all day.
Check out these thingumys for jewellery making fun. I think this is kind of like their Steampunk. I’m going to smoosh everything together and invent Steampunk Chic.
There’s also a huuuuge cakey bakey section, with all sorts of stuff that I’m pretty sure I will need. Turn store bought cookies into candy-coated treats? Yes please!
A Topping Tornado? Are you sure that’s safe for kids? I’d better get one and test it out.I have barely touched on the awesomeness that awaits us all. I. Cannot. Wait.
I’m not talking about those rolled paper beads that everyone does, because everyone does those. Not that there’s anything wrong with them; they are simple, fun and effective, thus the basis of their appeal.
It all started with the paper bead things in my Kirstie Book; they’re made by cutting lots of circles of the same size, folding them in half and sticking them together.
I have made these two already and have lots of ideas for projects:
The arrival of a new nephew last October prompted me to attempt some proper bunting. Just over 3 months later and it’s done! I got the Kirstie’s Homemade book for Christmas, which helped a lot- I mainly followed those instructions.
Shopping list:
Material
Cardboard
Ruler
Scissors
Spray Starch
Sewing machine/the patience to sew by hand
Cord or something to thread your flags on
The first thing you’ll need, of course, is material. A few years ago I bought what I thought at the time to be a lovely pair of blue and white striped trousers (£5, Mango, bargain). They went into my wardrobe and there they stayed until about two weeks ago, when I began cutting triangles from them. The bunting in the book was made from vintage fabric, with plain fabric for the backing. As I had plenty of the material I was using, I used that for everything, opting for horizontal striped one side and vertical on the other.
Now, you’re supposed to spray starch your fabric and iron beforecutting the triangles out, but I got carried away and ended up ironing each triangle separately afterwards. It was fine though!
You want the triangles to be even and matching in size; other than that, I really think it depends what you want the bunting for and ultimately how big you want it! Cut yourself a template from cardboard. Mine was roughly 18cm x 12cm. Then use it to cut triangles from your material; again, it really depends how much bunting you want. You can figure it out by the length of triangle tops and how much space you think you’ll be leaving in between.
Next job is putting a front with a back and sewing them together. If you’re going for a shabby chic look (as I usually am) then sew them with the backs together. If you like neat, you can sew them right sides together then turn them right way out- just make sure you don’t sew the short side beforehand!
So… where was I… sewing. Do up each of the long sides, meeting at the point, but stopping a good few centimetres from the top. (If you’re being neat, this is the point you’d turn it right way out). Then sew across the top of the short side, so you’ve got a gap between this and the side seams; this is where you’ll thread your cord through.
Now it’s time to string them all together! I used thin rope type stuff, that I found in my craft box. I’ve no idea where it came from, I’m afraid, but I thought it looked nice. I used a big blunt needle to thread mine through. Another way is to wrap tape round the end, so it doesn’t fray and can be pushed through easier. Just make sure they don’t all fall off the other end!
All that’s left to do then is decide how far apart you want them, the put a couple of little stitches in each to hold them in place.
I’ve recently completed a job lot of ten A5 sketch pads, all covered in the absolutely beautiful paper I bought in Florence. They look rather nice together, so I thought I’d share:
After having knitted a pair of boot cuffs as a Christmas present, it was requested that I also knit a pair of arm warmers, to match. I didn’t actually have much of the same wool left, so I knitted little glove things instead.
Here’s the pattern I use:
Cast on 40 stitches
Knit one row
Then start ribbing pattern; knit 3, purl 1
Do the opposite on the next row, i.e. knit 1, purl 3.
Keep this up until it’s the desired length, then cast off.
Then all you have to do is sew them up. I sewed about half and inch up from the top, left room for the thumb, then carried on sewing to the bottom. The buttons I added to match in with the boot cuffs:
You know sometimes you have what you think is a brilliant idea, so you look on t’internet for a bit of inspiration and find that it’s already out there?
What started it all off was something my mum was telling me about; she’d seen somewhere about making little bowls out of lace doilies (you can find a good tutorial here.) The idea is, basically, that you use an existing glass dish, cover in clingfilm, place your doily on and smother in PVA glue; so when it dries, you’ll have a cute little solid lacey bowl.
Now, I’ve been looking to do some Steampunk-inspired stuff, and have amassed a collection of various bits and pieces of old broken jewellery and watches etc. The only problem is, I’ve been at a loss where to start; I feel I need a single, solid piece to work from, as a base.
As is the way of brainwaves, I don’t know where this came from, but I had a thought: what if I took the whole lace & PVA idea, and made little solid lace shapes as a basis for my Steampunk experiments? Surely lace and cogs go? Of course they do! Check out these marvellous creations from those talented people selling on etsy:
