More Makes!

When I started this blog I had hardly any crafting to show. Now, I have little else and it's in danger of getting a little 'samey'. I need to start carrying my camera around again!  However, it does mean that I've been busy making - which is a good thing.

Like the granny cushion from my last post, these 2 drawstring bags are made from donated materials and are destined for the stitching group stall at the school fete.

This one, though, is made from my own recycled materials and has been added to my shop, along with a couple of other items.

This is another item for the stitching group. This time it's for one of the group members who commissioned me to make it for her. She's been looking for a silver/grey bag for ages and asked me to make her one after seeing a similar one I made. This one has a zip fastening and a removable flower brooch.

The local Mother's Union is also having a craft stall at the school fete and one of their members asked me to make a few small things that she would buy from me to add to their stall.

I'm having stalls of my own at a couple of up-coming events in the next few months too so I need to get crafting for myself now. I will, however, try to add more variety to my posts.

Bye for now
Teresa x

2014 Use My Books Challenge!

The consensus seems to be that this phone cover is the favourite. It was also the one that my friend, J, bought for herself (along with one of the other cases, to give to a friend of hers). Can you see the difference in it from the last post, though? J wasn't keen on the loop fastening (not because of the look of it, but the fiddly-ness) so I replaced it with a flap that has a press-stud fastening.

And this cushion is what the pile of grannies from the last post ended up as. It will now be added to my stitching group's stock for the school fete in May.

The design was inspired by a combinations of patterns in this book, which I bought last year with birthday money.

I've bent the rules in my 2014 Challenge to include cookery books, because, like my craft books, I don't get enough use out of these either. I tend to stick to the same familiar cook books (or not use them at all) when there is plenty of inspiration in the rest. 

The chocolate brownies are from this book, and yes, they were cooked in the slow cooker! My son and his girlfriend bought this book for my birthday, last year. I didn't follow the recipe exactly because I only had a quarter of the required cocoa, and no chocolate chips (I added ground almonds to make up the cocoa). They turned out fine though. I think they'd have been too chocolatey with all the cocoa, if that's possible!

Bye for now
Teresa x

Latest Makes!

Here's my latest selection of makes :

After I did a talk and craft stall at my Ladies Group I was asked to make a phone cover. I've not made phone covers before because there are so many different sized phones and devises these days I didn't really know where to start. Making them to order is better because I can measure the particular devise and make it accordingly.  As you can see, I made three completely different covers to give my friend a wide choice. Which is your favourite? It would be good to know what is popular.

I had a picture in my head for this zipped case, but this is not quite 'it'. It's OK though and will go on my next stall.

This one, however, is much more as I envisaged. A while back I sent for a pile of samples from an online seller of organic cotton fabrics. This is a selection of the samples (just the checks and stripes) randomly patchworked together. Actually, I 'randomly' cut out  the patches and 'randomly' laid them out to sew but, when I finished the bag and turned it the right way out, the 2 squares in the middle of the edges, on both sides of the back and front, were the same! What are the chances of that!

Bye for now
Teresa x

P.S. Don't forget to let me know which phone case you prefer (or maybe you have another idea to add).

Lessons Learned!

A pile of grannies!

My stitching group put a call out for unwanted crafting materials so we could make things to raise money for local causes. These granny squares above are the start of something I'm making with some of the donated yarn. I think I've made a final decision, and it's going to be a cushion.

Felt creations

These cute little cosies were made by son's girlfriend, Grace, at college, where they were also selling their crafts for charity. Being a beginner at sewing, these 2 were rejected from the stall so she put a couple of ££s in the pot and brought them home for me! I think they're very sweet, and not bad for a beginner; I've seen a lot worse for sale on craft stalls! Grace made me laugh when she told me how she and a fellow beginner kept pulling the thread completely off the needle when they were sewing, and how her friend didn't realise and kept on sewing - with no thread. I remember doing the same when I started sewing and it made me think about why I don't still do it. So, the next time I sewed I concentrated on what I was doing, and realised that I automatically held the thread between my 2 middle fingers as soon as it popped through the fabric. It made me realise how much detail I'd have to go into if I decided to teach workshops, especially if there are complete beginners present.

Some supplies I picked up at a flea market when OH and I went out for the day for my birthday.

The subject of how we learnt to knit came up at the stitching group the other week. Some said they learnt in school, with a rhyme about a rabbit and a hole that I'd never heard before. I remember sewing in school, but not knitting (my great aunt Kate taught me). As the conversation moved on to other skills learnt at school, it was clear there was quite a difference between us, with members coming from different corners of the country. One had been instructed in how to lay a fire and use a twin-tub, which surprised the rest of us!!

We held a wedding party last week for people who didn't/couldn't come to Florida for the wedding itself. The groom's mother did the food while I made the cakes. I made a big cake to display the cake topper from Disney World, and cup cakes for the guests. This is my solution to the dilemma of how to transport 70 cup cakes in a car for a 30min journey. The big cake and 3 'boxes' of cupcakes went in the boot (trunk) while the three of us in the car each held a tray with 2 boxes. Maybe I was being ultra careful, but I learnt my lesson when transporting only a quarter of this number to the Hen Party, without boxes.

Bye for now
Teresa x

P.S. My camera seems to make purple look blue. The blue in the granny squares and the felt cosies is actually a lovely deep purple.