Saturday 25 May 2013

Gift Wrap Giveaway!!!

Hi guys,
 
I thought it was about time for another giveaway- this time I thought I would make it a bit different though :) Usually I give away things you can add to your creations but this time I thought I would giveaway a bundle of items you can wrap your creations with so that you can have fun making them extra pretty for when you give them to people as gifts!
 
Here is the prize package:
 
 
- A packet of butterfly stickers (to decorate labels or notes :-)
- 5 crochet heart danglies (made by me, to tie onto bags etc...)
- 8 large coloured parcel labels
- 8 cute mini white labels
- 8 pink stripe candy gift bags
- And 3 little ladybird clips
 
Here are some close ups:


 
The giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere, any age!
 
All you have to do to enter is:
 
1. Be a follower
2. Leave a comment below
(Make sure to include some way for me to contact you in case you win e.g. a ravelry name or a blog/email address :-)
 
And if you want, just for fun you can mention in your comment your fave ever gift you have made someone :P
 
Giveaway entries are open 1st of June and the winner will be announced on the same day.
 
I hope you like the prizes and gooood luck!
 
See you soon,
 
Byeee
xxx

Monday 20 May 2013

Sunday style

Hello,
 
Today I thought I would show you my latest outfit I have finished- I haven't had a chance to wear but I got a bit excited to show you all so I displayed it on the mannequin :):
 
 
I didn't sew the hoodie from scratch, I just created this patchwork style heart and then sewed on some ribbon I pleated and some diamonds too, to add a bit of sparkle to go with the fairy/magic theme!

 
This is the knitted hair bow I made...

 
... and here is a close up of my playmobil unicorn necklace, hehehe it was very fun to make! :P

 
I will probably put up a quick picture when I do get a chance to actually wear it all :)
 
Some may say it is all a bit of a pink overload- true- but seen as it is my favourite colour I am happy with the look! :D
 
I can't wait to wear it all, I will probably put up a quick picture when I do get actually get a chance :-)
 
See you soon,
 
I hope you all have a lovely week,
 
Bye Bye xxx
 

Wednesday 15 May 2013

Stitched strawberry tutorial!

Hi everybody,

Today I bring you a summery (even though it keeps on raining!) tutorial on how to make a stitched strawberry :0) 

As I mentioned I made them with my textiles club and they are very fun and easy to make, I made all of these in just over an hour:


I am going to show you how to make the traditional style choc dipped strawberry in the picture- but as you can see you can get creative and pretty much use any scraps of fabric you have to get make crazy coloured berries!

To 'get your fruit on!' :P you will need:
  •  Any old off cuts/scraps of fabric (In red, green and brown if you want the choc-dipped strawberry)
  • Embroidery threads/cottons in different colours- depending on your chosen design
  • A small amount of toy stuffing
  • Scissors
  • A needle
  • A ruler for measuring
  • Craft glue- optional (you can choose to glue on the stalk/chocolate decoration if you wish)
  • Pinking shears- (optional)
And here are the steps:

1. Take your main chosen fabric and cut a semicircle of diameter (measurement across the top) 4 inches (10cm). But also of radius (measurement down) 4 inches ( 10cm ). So a kind of elongated semicircle really.


2. I you are making a dipped strawberry cut out a piece of your chosen dip fabric similar to that shown in the picture (otherwise just skip this step and follow the rest as normal for a plain strawberry):


Then fasten this to the main strawberry piece either using a small amount of craft glue or little stitches along the top edge of the dip piece (don't worry about down the sides or along the bottom- these are fastened later when you sew up the side)

3. Take a few strands of embroidery thread or doubled up sewing thread in seed colour and sew little seeds all over the main strawberry piece (you can do this after making the strawberry if you wish but it can be easier for fastening the thread if you do it now as you can use a knot hidden on the back to fasten the stitching).


4. Now you should have something like this:


5. Fold in half with right sides facing inwards.


6. Now using a matching colour thread sew little running stitches all the way from the base of the strawberry all the way along the curved edge slightly in from the edge. Stop when you reach the top edge- don't sew along the top, just leave the needle and thread attached at the corner as you will be using this to fasten up the top later.


7. Turn your strawberry the right way out and stuff until it is nice and juicy! :oP


8. Next using small running stitches again sew all the way around the open top edge and then pull gently to gather up and then fasten off the thread so the top is closed securely.


9. Take your stalk fabric and cut about a 1 inch by 1 inch square using pinking shears (3.5cm x 3.5cm)


You can then cut out further little triangles from the edges of the square to create a realistic looking stalk:


Alternatively if you don't have pinking shears you can just experiment cutting out different star style shape pieces for stalks, or just cut a normal square and then cut extra triangles until you are happy with the effect

10. Finally sew your stalk to the top of your strawberry over the gathered area using a matching coloured thread and small stitches in the centre of the stalk piece (alternatively you can glue it on if you wish)

And Viola!

You have your own piece of fruity loveliness:


Each one you make is always slightly different- just like the real thing, which is part of the fun :P

And now you can keep going and make tons more if you want- they can be little gifts, decorations, made into accessories etc... I think I am going to try putting several in an old jam jar and putting a bit of ribbon round the top- I think that would look very pretty :)



I hope you like the tutorial :D

See you all soon,

Byeee xxxx

P.s. If anyone makes some of the strawberries and wants to send me a picture I would love to see them (iitki@hotmail.co.uk) and if anyone thinks of any more cool ideas on how to use them please do leave a comment- I have made quite a few so any more ideas on how to use them would be a help!

Bye :-P

Friday 10 May 2013

My lovely class :)

Hello,
 
Today was my last ever day at 6th form (just my exams to go in a month and then I am off to uni!).....
 
...... and also my last ever day of the textiles club I run for the Year sevens at the school.
I have been running it for a few months and a lovely little group have been coming, we have made pin cushions, fabric flowers, ribbon flowers, stitched heart decorations and cards and I have had a really great teaching them :)
 
Today I brought some lollipops for them and we made stitched strawberries as our finale project. I was blown away though as they had got together and made me this fabulous card and bought me a sewing kit and scissors too, and some of them had made me extra little handmade gifts too!
 
Look, look, look!:
 

 
Hehehe, the strawberry on the keyring is what we were making today (if anyone wants a tutorial for the strawberries I could post one up- they are very easy- you can let me know :)

 
I have started using this pin cushion already :-)


 
The gifts and card are so amazing, I love them soo much- and my sweet little class :o)
 
The sewing kit will be coming to uni with me- I'm sure it will come in very handy as it seems to have everryyythinggg!
 
See you all soon- I feel emotional again!,
 
Bye xxx

Tuesday 7 May 2013

Hamtaro and friends!- adorable but forgotten

Hi,
 
A while ago now I discovered the little Japanese hamster character Hamtaro (Illustrated by Ritsuko Kawai) but recently I did quite a bit more research and watched some episodes of it and found out he had a whole host of adorable friends too- and I got a bit addicted!
 
Image from: here
 
I searched on Ebay and managed to pick up this little Hamtaro Ham Ham house playset which came with tons of figures, oooh I love it :3
 
 
I was sad to find out though that Hamtaro is a bit of a forgotten character- I don't think any episodes are being made any more and pretty much all of the official Hamtaro products are not being produced anymore :(  (That's why I was so happy I managed to pick up my little house!)
 
But Hamtaro and friends are way too adorable to be forgotten!
 
As I say I got a bit addicted and..... here's the result...

 
 
Crochet hamster faces! :P They are so fun to make- I made up the pattern a couple of days ago- eventually I want to make the whole crew (so far I have only done Hamtaro, Bijou and Cappy :)
 
Hehehehe :P I'm off to make another couple now!
 
Lol, see you all soon,
 
Byeeeeeee xxxxxxxx :)