Archive for the category: tutorial

:: New ways with rick rack

Posted by Joelle on July 9, 2008 | Permalink

I’m a big fan of rick rack. I have a bag of it in my sewing box, but frankly, though I often take it out to see if it would enhance a bit of sewing, I never seem to find opportunities to use it. It seems often just a bit too twee and retro for what I’m after.

However, having stumbled across this blanket tutorial over at Purl Bee, I have found a rather charming way of using it. Instead of just stitching it on as zig zag trim, it is sandwiched between two layers with the tips pointing out. I guess that doesn’t take a huge leap of imagination, and it’s simple enough to do, but I wouldn’t have come up with it, so I thought I’d share the idea.

My blanket is for the soon-due baby of a friend. She’s going to be called Poppy, and will have a very stylish mother, so it seemed the perfect opportunity to use this lovely bold fabric from Marimekko. Oh how I love their prints! Add some orange jumbo rick rack, and a very well matched yellow green fleece from Ikea et voila. I’m thinking of quilting around the flower outlines. Good idea?

Categories: blogs, craft, tutorial
Tags: baby blanket, marimekko, rick rack

3 comments

:: It’s a wrap

Posted by Kerry on July 1, 2008 | Permalink

Beautiful bolero-style wrap by Bonzie

I would say that my absolute favourite thing to wear is a little cardigan/wrap/bolero - they’re so chic and dressy, and (unlike most of my other favourite things in this life) have at least some practical value.

I’ve been shopping around for a new one recently, and fell rather in love with the above. It’s by Irish indie fashion label Bonzie, whose Etsy store is filled with romantic, elegant delights.

Of course, being the kind of gal that I am, I couldn’t stop there. While it is undoubtedly a beautiful piece, I’m a) skint and b) in the mood for a new project, so I decided to find out how to make my own elegant evening wrap. After a bit of searching, I found this Threadbanger tutorial - with a few tweaks here and there, I think this’ll do the trick.

While I can’t guarantee the same beautiful results as the dreamy picture above, I can guarantee a couple of evenings out of the pub and a totally one of a kind garment. I hope to have a go at this during the next couple of weeks, so I’ll post the results when it’s ready. And I see absolutely no reason to stop coveting the above - I really don’t believe in the concept of too much of a good thing!

Bonzie

Categories: craft, tutorial
Tags: bolero, bonzie, cardigan, craft, etsy, jacket, sewing, threadbanger, wrap

5 comments

:: Inspiration

Posted by Joelle on May 1, 2008 | Permalink

Ayumill’s camera case
It’s funny how I go through a patch of not blogging much, not making much, doing mainly other things, and then pouf! all of a sudden ideas keep popping into my head and I can’t help it.

Here’s things that are making me feel excited today:

- really lovely camera case tutorial (pictured above) on Ayumill’s exciting new blog Pink Penguin, just crying out to me to make little quilted purses and clutch bags

- utterly charming broderie anglais pebbles from Stephanie Barnes upcoming picnic collection. I can’t fathom why these appeal quite so much to me, but they do

- Stuart Kovakolic’s amazing nine metre long Never Been mural

- cute and simple DIY paper sihouette tutorial by threepotatofour on Design*Sponge, giving me ideas for greetings cards.

Categories: blogs, craft, tutorial
Tags: inspiration

4 comments

:: Crochet with Kirsty

Posted by Kirsty on January 29, 2008 | Permalink

As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve just learned to crochet. I’m finding it really fascinating to learn and I thought that, as I’m at the beginning of my crocheted road, some of you might like to learn along with me. So, over the next few weeks/months/however long it takes me, I’ll be posting little tutorials of new techniques and tips that I’ve been trying my hand at.

The very first thing that I learnt to crochet was a square - yeah, forget the boring bits like making a chain or single crochet, try a square on your first day! You’ll be so pleased with yourself.

:: The Collage Table

Posted by Vanessa on January 4, 2008 | Permalink

Probably my favourite piece of furniture is my humble kitchen table, which Stephen and I made together (well, IKEA made a plain wooden table, but we gave it its new surface). It’s a collage table made out of excerpts of ‘The Believer’ and here’s how we made it… Read more…

Categories: craft, tutorial
Tags: collage, craft, reuseable, table

1 comment

:: Cirrus scarf

Posted by Kirsty on January 2, 2008 | Permalink

cirrus scarf wrapped

Despite being one of the first things I blogged about right at the beginning of December, I finished this little beauty with only a day to spare! I was so happy with it, though, that I decided to share. This is the first knitting pattern that I’ve ever written, and, luckily, it’s nice and simple to follow. Read more…

Categories: craft, tutorial
Tags: alpaca yarn, cables, free pattern, knitting

3 comments

:: A Christmas gift to you

Posted by Joelle on December 17, 2007 | Permalink

Mittens I thought, dear readers, that you deserved a Christmas present from us. Something handmade, something useful, something to encourage you to get crafty with coloured paper and wool. So, I present to you the mittens pattern I made for wrapping paper, cards and gift tags.

:: Present Challenge: The Results!

Posted by Vanessa on December 17, 2007 | Permalink

Like any huge fan of Christmas, I like to have as many as possible. On Saturday I held a Christmas dinner party - on which, more later (except for a small crisis over giblets, it went well). But today my boyfriend and I exchanged presents. We’d set one another a challenge to make one another Christmas presents for a $30 budget. I had NO IDEA what he would come up with so I was really delighted this morning to open a wall clock made from a copy of my favourite Shel Silverstein book, ‘The Giving Tree’!

Fortunately he was also pleased with his Road Trip Kit…

Roadtripkit

:: My Mum’s Yorkshires

Posted by Vanessa on December 8, 2007 | Permalink

Since I’ve been going on about them quite a bit, I thought I’d stick in my mum’s tried and tested recipe for Yorkshire puds here. For anyone on this side of the Atlantic who hasn’t encountered them before, they go with your Sunday dinner and are most akin to ‘biscuits’, and are used for soaking up delicious gravy. Trust me… yum.

Use: 1/2 pint of milk
1 cup or 4oz flour
1 egg
salt and pepper

if you’re making little individual ones, put one teaspoon of fat or oil into your container and bang it in the oven to get really hot. You’ll want to bake these at 180/400. Whisk the egg and milk together until really frothy - use your blender, if you have one. Then add in the flour and seasoning until you have a smooth mix. Pour equally into 12 yorkshire pud spaces, or into one large tray. You want to cook them for about 20 minutes, but don’t open your oven door before 15 minutes has passed or you risk making them sag in the middle (more than necessary for a good gravy dip). For a nice twist, add one spoonful of dijon or English mustard into the mixture - especially good if you’re having it with sausages, toad-in-the-hole style.

Categories: recipes, tutorial
Tags: basics, cooking, yorkshire puds

1 comment

:: Stacking fabric Christmas trees by Sarah Neuberger

Posted by Joelle on December 5, 2007 | Permalink

Stacked fabric Christmas trees by Sarah at the Small Object

One of my favourite craftspeople, Sarah Neuberger of The Small Object, has just posted a template and tutorial for the most wonderful little Christmas trees. They look fairly simple to make but oh so adorable in the pretty fabrics she has chosen. This is just one of lots of inspired ideas for handmade gitfts and decorations on her blog, and whilst you are visiting you should really check out all the lovely things in her shop.

Small object trees detail

With all the amazing Christmas craft projects popping up on so many of the blogs I read, I guess the pressure is on for me to share some of what I have been doing. I promise to do so soon!

Categories: christmas, craft, tutorial
Tags: christmas trees, craft, decorations, sewing, the small object, vintage fabrics

2 comments

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