Spring is in the air!

Sometimes we get to do some fun projects and this is one of them! When our beautiful friends at Heal's offered to kindly donated a few samples of their new fabrics to showcase through our own projects we jumped for joy!
The brief was to use the fabric samples to create things which we liked and where the fabric wasn't to be used rigidly for its original purpose.

You see...we're often told that certain fabrics are for specific projects but we've ignored all that! Besides who's to say that you can't use an upholstery fabric to create a skirt, a nice piece of head wear, jewellery or even a pin cushion?!

By now you'll know that we're not sticklers at following the rules so we decided to think outside the box by coming up with four Spring flavoured crafty projects you can easily make with not much experience though if you are a dab hand at sewing you'll glide through it!
So here's the first of the projects we made to show just how versatile Heal's fabrics can be and also to get you inspired to stitch yourself silly into the new season!

For project "numero uno" we went for something which is both practical and equally decorative which you can keep by your side when you move on to the next tutorials.
Also I quite love pincushions especially ones which aren't your stereotypical shape... so a birdie one is just right for me! Plus I seem to have accumulated quite a few as I have at least 3 of them in my studio, a few in my sewing box and a couple more dotted around the house. A girl can never have too many shoes pin cushions!

For this project we used the "Top Brass 2" Fabric by Zandra Rhodes and some natural linen to create a lovely two toned sewing accessory which will look great in any seamstresses sewing room!

This fabric is a heavy cotton canvas normally used for cushions and upholstery so it is quite nice and durable but pretty easy to sew though which is a bonus. However I did add some fusible interface fabric to keep it from fraying as this is a small object and because it was hand sewn was handled quite a bit.

This is what you'll need:
Iron & ironing board
Fusible interface
Scissors
Sewing needle and thread
fabric -we used two patterns but you could do a solid/plain coloured one using just one fabric
Poly-fill stuffing
2 beads (for the eyes)
Felt (beak)
Paper to make the pattern

To make this little bird follow the pattern bellow and see the on line tutorial via: www.lovethispic.com




By the way we used the tiniest piece of fabric so you could in fact initially make a cushion, reupholster a chair and so on and from the scraps make something else... like this!
Yeah, we really don't like throwing anything away and this little birdie will be most helpful when you get started on your other projects plus he'll remind you that all the other real birdies are grateful for a little less stuff in landfill!!!


Here are a few more ideas you can make from this pattern:
• Make a few to create a baby mobile on a twig frame.
• Or enlarge the pattern and make a handy door stop. Just fill with sand and it'll keep your door open for letting in the bird song!

Whatever you decide to make from this tutorial we hope that you've at least been inspired to make something! It's really easy so no excuses...


The little bird pin cushion was based on an on line tutorial for a bird toy available via amigurumik.com
The original designer retains the copyright of the design/pattern but we have adapted the use for our own project. 


Below is the step by step tutorial which has been modified by Craft Guerrilla.





So here's the tutorial...

Step 1: Print out or draw your pattern. Cut out the shapes...

 ©amigurumik.com

Step 2: At this point we ironed on some Fusible interface to the fabric...then pinned the paper pattern on and cut out the shapes.

 ©amigurumik.com

Step 3: Hand sew your birdie using a running stitch or a back stitch. (Please note though differing slightly from the photo as we did use smaller stitches quite closer to each other for a stronger/neater finish...you can still see how to build your shape!)

 ©amigurumik.com

Step 4: Leave a small opening and stuff with your poly-fill.  Close off with a ladder stitch. Make sure your birdie is nice and plump!!!

 ©amigurumik.com

Step 5: You can stuff your wings when making a larger birdie -as pictured- though for our pin cushion we just zig-zaged the edges then tack stitched it onto the body. Add the eyes and the felt beak...

 ©amigurumik.com

And...
Tah dah, that's your pin cushion done!!!

Boy Craft!

As a craft-loving mum of two children, a boy and a girl, I'm always on the look out for child friendly project ideas. They both enjoy creating various things but have such a big sense of achievement when they don't have any assistance from me. The market seems to be swamped with books for girls so I was delighted when I came across "Boy Craft". 

I left the book out in the living room and waited for my son to discover it. It didn't take long. He was very quickly immersed whist reading all about the different projects. He thought the book was 'cool' because he didn't have to 'share with any of the girls'! 

The first project he chose to make was the water bomb! We just used plain paper to practise but he agrees with me that using pages from an old comic is a great idea. The method is clear and easy to follow. I personally liked that the written instructions were accompanied with simple diagrams for each step. My son hadn't realised how we were going to get from a flat folded piece of paper to a 3D object. He was so surprised when he blew into it, "It's like magic!" I suspect he'll be making quite a few of these as water bombs when the weather warms up and he can play outside!

He then flicked through the book again and decided he wanted to make a bat! I didn't have any old fashioned pegs but a local friend came to my rescue. He really enjoyed making this but needed some help with the overall shape of the wings because he had trouble enlarging the template from the back of the book. It's a shame it couldn't be full sized but it was an obstacle easily overcome with a bit of my help.  Once he made his bat, he decided that the idea would work well as a butterfly. He is planning on making a seagull next and hanging them all on a mobile in his bedroom! 

From a mum's point of view, I think the projects are great. There are some quick and easy ones to make, but also some that are a bit more fiddly. I like that it isn't full of stereotypical things for boys. Yes there is a section on 'Creepy Craft' but this is accompanied by 'Stitch Craft' and 'Wool Craft'. Some of the projects need some advance planning with a few tools and materials but I reckon most of them can be made with supplies that can be recycled from the average household. As the name of the book suggests, this is primarily full of projects that would appeal more to boys but my daughter is keen to try out a few of them! 

When buying books like this, I'm always a bit dubious if they will be worth the money. With this one, if you take into consideration the number of hours of entertainment it contains, i am certain it is worth every penny!

All in all, this gets a big thumbs up from the whole family!

X 

Nicola 

And here's the special offer for our lovely readers...

To order Boycraft by Sara Duchars and Sarah Marks for £10 including UK P&P, telephone 01903 828503 or email mailorders@lbsltd.co.uk, quoting the offer code APG99 and the book ISBN 9780711234895.

Phone Case Knitting Tutorial

Alas, now the weather is warming up, the need for cosy knits is fading faster than you can say "where's the suntan lotion?"
Here's something you can make at any time of year to protect your precious phone from bumps and scratches (but not from being dropped down the toilet), using a devilishly simple way of knitting in the round on ordinary needles.

Read on for our fully-illustrated instructions, or click here to download the no-nonsense 1 sheet pdf version.

Pattern by No Idle Han. Many thanks to Penny Vickers for her astute pattern testing and Sayed Hasan for his photographic expertise.

Difficulty level: average
Sizing: One size fits most smart phones (approx. 14cm circumference)

..and you're done!

Join the merriment!

Calling all London makers... We're opening up membership to all lovely London based designer makers! We'd love to share our success and what better way is there then by adding your very own banner to our membership page onto our highly visited web site? Yup, It's a great deal as all you need to do is pay a petite yearly membership fee and we'll add your banner with a direct link back to you!

It's that easy... plus there's no strings attached. If you look at it as an ad then that's pretty much what we're offering but you'll be showing your hand made talents to a captive and receptive audience... yes we get tons of hand made lovers visiting our website every day so yes... get in touch! E-mail: craftguerrilla@yahoo.com

*Please note that there is an aesthetic criteria which we follow and so we ask that you send us a few images or the link to your site so we can check if it's appropriate! Because we want our designer makers to be in the company of other bright sparks we choose only the best and most promising designer maker talent. But don't be offended if your items /products aren't quite what we are after... we really don't want to turn anyone down but in order to keep the quality and originality on par with what we already offer then we need to chose accordingly! Honestly it's only a matter of taste so... it's nothing personal!!!

Also we do not accept other craft groups/collectives, craft market providers or craft event/workshop providers or third parties who work as an agent for a designer. This is solely for designer makers!

Craft Guerrilla blog opportunity:
However we do also have advertising space on the blog for independent retailers who sell hand made gifts, galleries, fabric shops and haberdashers as well as craft book publishers, zine makers and creative magazines! We will not accept any high street companies or companies who sell massed produced products. Get in touch for fees and T&C's. 

 

The Great Sewing Bee!

Calling all sewers, Love Productions is on the look out for some new sewing talent for the upcoming series of The Great British Sewing Bee!

I know,  it seems like it was only yesterday that we put the call out for this series but time does really whizz by! I so wish my dress making was up to scratch but alas this past year it wasn't really a priority but I must learn to make more clothes. Properly! As I've mentioned many a times before I can sew but I really wouldn't feel comfortable having anyone scrutinize my work too closely as it might just unravel with one glance from the judges! They are amazing but they kind of scare me too.

Seamstressing and tailoring is an art and I'm still perfecting it so maybe in a couple of years so... I'll leave it to you talented people. For now!

 

All you need is enthusiasm, a bit of talent and some sewing skills, man or woman,

as long as you have a passion for sewing then this might be your chance to escape from behind the sewing machine and onto the Great British television screen!

So if you know your way around a hem and the difference between cotton and spandex then contact sewing@loveproductions.co.uk to find out more.

Applications will close at midnight
Sunday 16th of March 2014
http://loveproductions.co.uk/