Thursday
June crafting
31. Loose trousers for Ivy. These are upcycled from a pair of my old pyjama trousers, and I made the pattern for the trousers myself, based on another pair of Ivy's and using my newly aquired pattern cutting skills (and tool!) from a course. She has to wear long trousers for Farm Adventurers to protect her legs while they are out and about, but her long trousers are either legging, which are tight and uncomfortable, or thick winter trousers. So this was a trial run for making her a whole load of these. The body/crotch is a bit too long, and the legs a bit short, so the pattern needs a bit of adjusting.
May crafting
25. Dinosaur applique top to sell (and it sold!)
26. Hot air balloon top for Ivy
27. Hot air balloon top to sell (also sold!)
28. Robot top to sell (sold!)
29. Silver leaf bracelet (a commission) based on the leaf pendant I'd made.
30. Copper leaf bracelet, also based on the pendant I'd made.
26. Hot air balloon top for Ivy
27. Hot air balloon top to sell (also sold!)
28. Robot top to sell (sold!)
29. Silver leaf bracelet (a commission) based on the leaf pendant I'd made.
30. Copper leaf bracelet, also based on the pendant I'd made.
April crafting
22. Robot top for Kwojo. When I made Ivy's original Robot top late year (or the year before?). She then told me that I needed to make one for Kwojo too. He was really keen, and Ivy kept reminding me (she has a good memory), so I finally did it! The robot is turquoise, as is the stitching around it. The button eyes are two different shades of green, and the heart is stitched in purple.
23. Robot top for Ivy. Because Ivy's grown out of her original robot top, and because I thought it would be cute if their robot tops coordinated! My figuring out the stitches on my machine has improved so much, this one is WAY better than the original! Her robot is also turquoise with turquoise stitching, but the eyes are purple and the heart is green.
24. Cork board. This was a project that Ivy and I started together, although she lost interest in it because of the multiple but repetitive stages involved. She chose the colour, and had the big responsibility of helping me paint it using Grown Up Paint (ie. acrylic), which she really enjoyed. When that was dry, we used a whole load of PVA to stick down the corks (which I'd cut in half with our bread knife, so they'd have a flat surface to glue down). We only had a few corks at a time, so it took a while to complete. It is now our tea menu, so we don't have to remember the 20 odd types of tea we have off the top of our head when offering people a drink.
24. Cork board. This was a project that Ivy and I started together, although she lost interest in it because of the multiple but repetitive stages involved. She chose the colour, and had the big responsibility of helping me paint it using Grown Up Paint (ie. acrylic), which she really enjoyed. When that was dry, we used a whole load of PVA to stick down the corks (which I'd cut in half with our bread knife, so they'd have a flat surface to glue down). We only had a few corks at a time, so it took a while to complete. It is now our tea menu, so we don't have to remember the 20 odd types of tea we have off the top of our head when offering people a drink.
March crafting
17. Dinosaur top for George's 3rd birthday
18. Silver bangle
19. Silver leaf pendant
20. Copper leaf pendant
21. "Thank You" greetings coaster for my Mum for Mothering Sunday (forgot to take a photo)
18. Silver bangle
19. Silver leaf pendant
20. Copper leaf pendant
21. "Thank You" greetings coaster for my Mum for Mothering Sunday (forgot to take a photo)
Friday
February crafting
9. 12 fish for Josh (I'll have to ask him for a photo sometime) as part of a skills swap (he's helping me with my business card design). These should have been simple enough but ended up being a bitch. I hand sewed about half because the thickness of material was making my machine very unhappy. I didn't mind the handsewing though as I was watching Dexter at the time.
10. Doily Lion applique top for Ivy. Inspiration from here and here. Mostly handsewing! (and watching Dexter..). I'm really pleased with it!
11. Oversized 'Greetings Coaster' for Kwojo as a late Christmas present. 100% handsewn (more Dexter...), with a some of our words to live by on: Wild and Free, and, Have Fun & Grow. I really like this. And I LOVE hand sewing words.
12. A needle book for Julia, also a late Christmas present. Very quick and satisfying to sew up! Machine sewn, as this is the point where I finished season 7 of Dexter.
14. A doll for Leyla's 2nd birthday, in blue as that's her favourite colour. An improvement on Ivy's doll in a few ways, like no puckering of fabric around the neck. I also attempted shaping the head properly (rather than just stuffing it), but when the instructions say that the wool needs to really hard, it turns out they were right. So, the face is a bit flat and big, but it's ok. I quite like how the hair came out, tried to make it curly and wild like Leyla's.
15. Amber and silver pendant for myself. This may look simple enough in design, but I spent five weeks (3 hours per week in class) working on this, and at least five hours of that was spent filing to get the bezel to be the right shape for the stone. So much filing! I was very, very please to finish this. Also, this stone was given to me by my cousin for my 18th birthday, when I was doing a jewellery course the first time around. So, it feels great to have finally made something with it! Definitely for myself. This is actually the back, where I was more lazy about filing to get the right shape to fit the stone, so it's a bit sloppy. The front is much neater, honest!
16. Batik style card for my Dad's birthday, using layers of wax and ink and water colours. It came out nicely. I forgot to take a photo.
10. Doily Lion applique top for Ivy. Inspiration from here and here. Mostly handsewing! (and watching Dexter..). I'm really pleased with it!
12. A needle book for Julia, also a late Christmas present. Very quick and satisfying to sew up! Machine sewn, as this is the point where I finished season 7 of Dexter.
13. A snowdrop fairy to match our crocus fairy from last year. I like crafts that reflect the seasons, and it's especially nice when that is coming out of Winter and into Spring. Lovely to see the snowdrops and crocuses popping up around the parks and farm, so we bought some for our garden too. All handsewn (but no Dexter).
16. Batik style card for my Dad's birthday, using layers of wax and ink and water colours. It came out nicely. I forgot to take a photo.
Saturday
October, November, December crafting
October
Batik. I spent ages practising different images and patterns and techniques of wax on fabric. It was a lovely process actually as the hot wax smell filled my house and reminded me of when I learnt batik in Java. Anyway, I used machine dye and stupidly didn't pre-empt the fact that a 40*C wash would melt the wax. So, my pieces just came out blue with only a hint of pattern. No photos of that.
November
Birthday bunting for Steph! Complete with applique teapots, skull and crossbones, and uteri.
A greetings coaster for a friend far away.
A flower broach for Kwojo's Mum for Christmas. This was a combination on machine and hand sewing, including sewing on tiny beads. I did this while I was ill, and it was really nice to have something to focus on, and it turned out beautifully. I forgot to take a photo of it though :(
Rainbow (sort of) bunting for Kwojo's birthday. Because, you know, our house doesn't have enough bunting already...
A Steiner style doll for Ivy (birthday present)! I used the pattern from this book and the advice of the lovely Kerstin from Playfull Toyshop. I went for a really simple one and was suprised to have finished it the same day I started it! So pleased with it, and even want to make more (!).
December
Two matching Bunny tops, one for Eve for Christmas and the other for Ivy for her birthday. The nice thing about doing two is that the second one is so much quicker, easier and neater!
The feather garland that nearly didn't happen, because even though I'd made that practice feather for Steph way back in October, I couldn't seem to do it again. I spent so much time getting it wrong and wanting to cry, and then I just realised I could make a pattern for it. So I did and then it was straightforward. I was really, really pleased with these, and luckily Emmelie and Jake seem to like them too (Christmas present).
Skeleton tea cosy fo Steph. This is another project that I was really pleased with. I had the idea years ago to do a tea cosy that was like an x-ray of a teapot, but couldn't really figure out how to do it. Then this year I remembered, and found a way, and did it! So, normal teapot on one side, x-ray on the other, and godzilla fabric inside because why the hell not?!
Batik. I spent ages practising different images and patterns and techniques of wax on fabric. It was a lovely process actually as the hot wax smell filled my house and reminded me of when I learnt batik in Java. Anyway, I used machine dye and stupidly didn't pre-empt the fact that a 40*C wash would melt the wax. So, my pieces just came out blue with only a hint of pattern. No photos of that.
November
Birthday bunting for Steph! Complete with applique teapots, skull and crossbones, and uteri.
A silver ring for Kwojo. Hammered for texture, and silver pieces soldered on. It fits! Phew.
Little felt mouse for Ivy (a birthday present). Started at Steiner playgroup, finished at home.
Applique dinosaur top for Ivy (a birthday present). This was ridiculously difficult and I spent more time unpicking stitches than I did sewing. I hand stitched in the end because the shape was too complicated not to make a mess of on the machine. But it was quite nice to do, and reminded me that I do really like hand sewing even if I can't figure out why.
A flower broach for Kwojo's Mum for Christmas. This was a combination on machine and hand sewing, including sewing on tiny beads. I did this while I was ill, and it was really nice to have something to focus on, and it turned out beautifully. I forgot to take a photo of it though :(
Rainbow (sort of) bunting for Kwojo's birthday. Because, you know, our house doesn't have enough bunting already...
A Steiner style doll for Ivy (birthday present)! I used the pattern from this book and the advice of the lovely Kerstin from Playfull Toyshop. I went for a really simple one and was suprised to have finished it the same day I started it! So pleased with it, and even want to make more (!).
December
Two matching Bunny tops, one for Eve for Christmas and the other for Ivy for her birthday. The nice thing about doing two is that the second one is so much quicker, easier and neater!
The feather garland that nearly didn't happen, because even though I'd made that practice feather for Steph way back in October, I couldn't seem to do it again. I spent so much time getting it wrong and wanting to cry, and then I just realised I could make a pattern for it. So I did and then it was straightforward. I was really, really pleased with these, and luckily Emmelie and Jake seem to like them too (Christmas present).
Skeleton tea cosy fo Steph. This is another project that I was really pleased with. I had the idea years ago to do a tea cosy that was like an x-ray of a teapot, but couldn't really figure out how to do it. Then this year I remembered, and found a way, and did it! So, normal teapot on one side, x-ray on the other, and godzilla fabric inside because why the hell not?!
A drum stick bag for Kwojo (which he requested).
And an applique tea pot top for a 3rd birthday (not Ivy's).
Sunday
January crafting
My creative-a-day finished projects for 2014. Trying to do these posts monthly again. This year with numbers!
1. Birthday card for my Mum. This may have been the bunting design again? No photo.
2. Dinosaur birthday card for Ivy. Yes, her birthday was not in January, but at least I had it finished by her party (which is more than can be said for last years, which doesn't yet exist...).
3. Dinosaur reversible circle skirt for Ivy. I love the colliding of gender stereotypes in a single garment, skirts are so girly, dinosaurs are put in the 'boys things' pile. My girl loves dinosaurs.
4. January 2011 in our family photo album. Yes I am exactly three years behind now. This is my favourite page, the writing says "These pages sum up the early days well; sleeping, breastfeeding, nappy changes and gazing at our sweet baby!"
5 & 6. Two crocheted scarves for two small people. A Christmas present, ooops.
7. Applique dinosaur top for one of Ivy's friends, who also likes dinosaurs. I actually made this one in time for his birthday, by the way.
8. Felted leggings for Ivy. A project started at our Steiner playgroup (in November maybe?) and finally finished. Made by sewing together the arms of an old wool jumper that had been hot washed to felt it. They are really cosy and she actually likes wearing them, which surprised me a little.
1. Birthday card for my Mum. This may have been the bunting design again? No photo.
2. Dinosaur birthday card for Ivy. Yes, her birthday was not in January, but at least I had it finished by her party (which is more than can be said for last years, which doesn't yet exist...).
3. Dinosaur reversible circle skirt for Ivy. I love the colliding of gender stereotypes in a single garment, skirts are so girly, dinosaurs are put in the 'boys things' pile. My girl loves dinosaurs.
4. January 2011 in our family photo album. Yes I am exactly three years behind now. This is my favourite page, the writing says "These pages sum up the early days well; sleeping, breastfeeding, nappy changes and gazing at our sweet baby!"
5 & 6. Two crocheted scarves for two small people. A Christmas present, ooops.
7. Applique dinosaur top for one of Ivy's friends, who also likes dinosaurs. I actually made this one in time for his birthday, by the way.
8. Felted leggings for Ivy. A project started at our Steiner playgroup (in November maybe?) and finally finished. Made by sewing together the arms of an old wool jumper that had been hot washed to felt it. They are really cosy and she actually likes wearing them, which surprised me a little.
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