Thursday, March 27, 2014

a couple of days later

 
Well yes it is a bit more than a couple of days later
since I said I would come back and let you
you know who was the winner of the
Amigurumi World Seriously Cute Crochet Book but....

 
I've had the most dreadful flu.
 
I haven't sewn or crocheted.
 
I haven't glued or painted.

 
But I put some little bells in plastic eggs and strung
them up from a pretty food cover

 
and then I went back to bed.
 
The winner of the book is ....
Melody!
Please email me Melody with your address.
Thanks everyone else for entering I do appreciate it.
 
Now I'm going back to bed.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

601 posts amigurumi book giveaway

 
Do you crochet?
I do but I can't follow a pattern no matter how much I try.

 
This cute book full of seriously cute creatures
would be just the thing to up my game.

 
If you are a Australian follower of this blog and would like to win
this book just leave a comment here, so easy!
 
I'll draw the winner in a couple of days , good luck!
 
This giveaway is now closed but thanks for your interest.

Friday, March 14, 2014

pineapple tutorial

 
So you'd like to make a pineapple?
 
 You will need about 1/2 a metre of pineapple
coloured fabric to make yourself 74 x 3" prairie points.
 
For the prairie points you cut a neat 3" square and
fold point to point and press. 
 Fold again to form the triangle and press again.
 
There are plenty of tutorials for making
large quantities of prairie points around just ask Mr Google.

 
You will also need a base that measures 15cm high x 35cm long.
 
 
Start by sewing a row of points along the bottom
with the points aligning with the edge.
Tuck each point into the one on the left.

 
Continue doing rows and rows with your stitching
close to the top so that it is easily covered by the next row.
Position your points so the ones above are evenly
spaced between the ones below.
Don't worry about overlapping the edges as these will
be trimmed off later.
Keep adding rows until you reach about 5cm from the top.

 
You need to use some green scrap fabric for the leaves.
Draw and cut out some templates from cardboard
as shown above.
 

 
Trace your greenery onto doubled green fabric.
You can do the whole lot and stitch around all of them
before cutting around them and turning them
right side out.
You will need 8 small leaves and 5 large ones.

 
Turn under the top edge 2cm and pin the small leaves
along the front and space the larger leaves behind.
Stitch right along securing the leaves.

 
With right sides facing join edges and sew
about 1cm in to make the back seam.
Now you'll need to trim all the excess bits of points
to neaten it all up a bit.

 
Cut a 12cm diameter circle from your main fabric.
Pin it to the bottom edge of your pineapple taking
care you don't catch any points.
Usually after I pin the base I tack around it by hand
before machine sewing as I found it easier to pull the
pins out.

 
Now it should look like this!
 
Start stuffing.
 
When you have done all your stuffing just secure the top
by tacking around beneath the leaves and pulling tight to gather.
Keep stitching through all your top layers so everything
stays together because anytime anyone sees your
pineapple they have to play with it.
 
Flip the bottom, small leaves down so they cover the top row
of prairie points stitching.
You can add a few tiny stitches to keep them down if you like.
 
 

 
 What do you think ?
Will you be making a pineapple?
 
 
Thanks for visiting, it's nice to have you here. 

Sunday, March 9, 2014

while the cat's away

 
Before my husband went away recently
I asked him very nicely to paint over the mustard and blue
in the lounge room with white.
Oh and while he's at it why not those daggy brown bookshelves!
After all my husband is a housepainter I'm not just a nag.
 
He was not out the door ten minutes before I'd
mixed up some cornflour with a bit of tap water to make a paste.


 
I then boiled the kettle and mixed the boiling water
into the paste until it looked like this.
Thick but not too thick.

 
I trimmed one of my favourite vintage sheets.
 
Then I painted the back of the shelves with the cornflour mix
and put the cut pieces of sheet on the wet mix.

 
It turned out a treat!

 
I am so very happy with the result and
because it was so simple I'll be doing it again.

 
Now I just have to sort the books and load them back on.
 
But I think I'll take my time with that because I just like
looking at my new shelves just the way they are.

Monday, March 3, 2014

Happy Birthday to me have a present!

 
Hello there it's my birthday!
For today only all patterns in my
bigcartel store are 1/2 price!
That's right 50% off !
Just enter the code word BIRTHDAY at checkout.
So easy !
Go here to shop and have a great day.