Has it really been a week??!??

Hello again!!

I seriously cannot believe that another week has gone by. I swear the days are getting shorter. 

Anyway before I get onto what I've been up to today I will fill you in on some little bunny clips that I made earlier in the week. 

I have seen many machine embroidered felt rabbit clips on the net and they are so cute and adorable. Since Easter is so close I wouldn't have time to get any of them so being the type of person I am..I made my own!! These are all hand drawn, hand cut, hand sewn and embroidered! 

Cute, hey?? I even sneaked one in my hair and it looks cute. I took some progress pics of a plain little bunny turning into having some character. 

So on to today...I went to the Stitches and Craft show at Rosehill!!

There is usually a 'craft show' on during Feb/March and for years and years it was the Stitches and Craft. To my knowledge I think it got sold to some new owners and pretty much went downhill from there including trying to change it's name once or twice. So now it is "back" to Stitches and Craft which used to be an AWESOME craft show but I have to say...today it was average. It was about half the size it usually is and there was only a couple of new and exciting products, most of it was the same old same old. And not that I am bagging "same old" because I like knowing that certain stallholders are going to be there if I need something particular but there were a lot missing that hadn't been replaced. 

Although I still did manage to spend a little bit of moolah on some goodies!

I got some cute lace trim that I can use on my clothing range. I got one in a mushroom/dusty pink colour, a cheerful soft yellow and two different designs in good old white.

I managed to pick up some cool fat 1/4's at Patchwork with Gail B (I love their stall!). I am thinking of using the rabbits and chickens specifically for some button hairties. Maybe even some yoyo clips with button centres. The I just ADORE the cat fabric and kinda bought it 'just because' and I don't really intend on cutting it. 
 

Last but not least....a pattern.

A pattern I fell in love with. 

I walked away from the stallempty handed intially even though I stood there 'ooh'ing and 'ahh'ing over their products. But I ended up going back and buy a pattern. I would have liked to get the kit but it was a tad out of my spendings for the day so I am going to wing it with the pattern. 

Whats the pattern you say? 

It's this cute cute cuuuuteee hot air balloon!!

Ok so maybe the picture doesn't do it justice but they are so damn cute and the stall actually had them made into a mobile which is even more cuteness but I loved the singular balloons as well. 

SO....I am going to attempt one and see how they go and hopefully I can bring something new to BB!

If not...well then I'll just have a whole heap of fabric hot air balloons 'floating' around in my craft room :)

Thats it from me for now!

TTFN xx

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas!

Well BB released a new Christmas design this year, a Reindeer....Rudolf to be exact! They have been so so popular but they are rather cute so I don't blame anyone either. Tempted to make myself one actually.

Due to this design being a bit more complicated than my others I had to put up the price to cover the extra time spent sewing and cutting and knotting and gluing etc etc. But I have also put together a quick pictorial showing the work that goes into one little rudolf the reindeer top!

I don't have a picture of this but all of my designs are...my designs! I look for pictures on the net and change them and adapt them to being made into an applique. Sometimes I even have to have different sizes of the design which is what I've had to do with this reindeer one.

So to begin the process I get my design and trace the pieces onto some bonding paper. Once all the pieces are roughly cut out I then iron (glue) them into the material that I want for each piece. In this case I had two antlers, a head and a nose. Once the pieces are cooled and bonded then I cut around each one.

For the reindeer I then iron the nose onto the head and sew around it. I tend to use a zigzag stitch instead of a straight stitch like some other businesses do. This is mainly because it will stop the pieces from fraying and give them a bit more 'wearing' durability. 

I then get my top and put all the pieces where I want them, making sure they are as even as possible before ironing (gluing) them in place. I even go to the point of measuring points to check they are the same distance on both sides. This is probably one of the reasons my tops take so long to make. I like to be precise!

All of my tops also come with interfacing on the back. Why?? Well I feel that this holds the shape of the design a bit better and again gives the top a bit more durability. So with this step I have to estimate a good size that will cover all parts of the design. I usually hold up the template to get an accurate "estimate".

Then back to some more sewing! I first sew around the antlers which are the trickiest due to the many curves and sharp turns. I am slowly getting the hang of them though! I then triple knot the threads at each end for security. Then I start sewing the head!

Once that is all done and dusted I have to cut away the excess interfacing at the back. This is a very careful and slow step as I have to becareful not to accidently cut through the top as well. I have done this before and it's not fun putting in all the hard work only to have to throw it away!

Ta-Da! We have a lovely little reindeer head with it's antlers and nose.

Next I have to lightly glue on the eyes to make sure they are nice and even and I am happy with the way they are sitting. Sew them on! I use three threads to sew on the eyes for extra security. Next the bows have to be made (by me) and heat sealed the edges and then sewn onto the reindeer. Doesn't she look pretty??

Some people choose to stop at this step and have a cute little reindeer singlet...BUT...to make it even more girly and pretty and dainty I add some little lace cap sleeves. So I cute the lace, line it up on the sleeves, pin it and then sew it! I am very anal about getting the two sides pretty even but lace is rather forgiving due to it's ruffle-ness (is that a word? Is now!) and I can get away with it if it's a mm or two different.

Now we have a beauuuutiful girly reindeer top complete with a cute bow and frilly lacey sleeves! Perfect for a hot aussie christmas day. 

Lace Bunting: Mini Tut and Personal Project

I do have a little bit of a secret fetish...bunting! I think it is just way too cute and very versatile. There is a lot more bunting going around in the handmade markets these days and they are being used for all sorts of things; bedrooms, engagement parties, weddings, birthdays and business signs!

A while ago I saw some really nice bunting made out of material doilies and I LOVED it! When I was out one day I was looking at the material doilies but it did seem like a lot of work and would take a bit of time...time I don't really have. So next to them I saw these paper doilies and that's when this idea was born! I will take you through a very brief mini tutorial on how I made my paper lace bunting!

What I used:
- Packet of paper doilies ( $1.50 for 20)
- Embroidery thread in colour of your choice
- Glue (I used my good old UHU glue sick)
- Old paper or place mat to glue on

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I separated around 10 doilies and then folded them all in half. The pattern didn't match up directly when I folded them but it doesn't really matter that much. Next I took my thread and measured approximately 30cm in and tied a tiny knot.

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I think took one of my folded doilies, put it on my place mat and lined one end of the fold with the tiny knot. I put glue on half making sure to have it all around the edges so that it will stay stuck together. Then I pushed the two sides together nice and firmly, trying to get rid of any creases or bubbles. Because the doilies are made of paper it goes a little bit wavey due to the glue but I think this looks fine.

I measured approximately 7cm from where the doilie ends and made another little knot. This is so I know where to start the next piece without too much hassel and the knots are barely even noticeable in the final product. Keep doing the above steps until you have the desired length or number of doilies you want! I used 7 doilies all up even though I was planning on using 10. Below are some pics I took of my lace bunting in use!

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I think that this is a very simple, effective and best of all CHEAP project! It would have taken me an hour at the most to complete it and it is easy enough to possibly keep kids entertained for a little longer.

Hope you liked it and I'd love to see any pics if you decide to make one too!

TTFN xoxo