handmade christmas: catnip sardines

As well as making presents for friends and family this Christmas I also made some presents for the furry friends in their lives.

Christmas for cats!



To make them I started by cutting out some felt sardine shapes from a paper template I made. I then sewed some little fabric pouches to hold some catnip that I bought online (highest potency apparently).

After that I embroidered on some markings and sewed on some felt eyes to give them a bit of character.



Finally I sewed around the edges, put the catnip pouches in the middle of each fish (for maximum protection from sharp claws and teeth) and added toy stuffing around the edge.

And voilà! A shoal of sardines.

And just look at these little fellas enjoying themselves...



Clockwise from top left: Tiffin, Eddie, Louis, Pixel, Harry & Holly. 

Sweet ones! They were a total hit I think. So much so that a few of them are fish no more.

I'm taking this as a good sign of appreciation.

handmade christmas: knitting needle cases

I was quite organised this year and decided to make a few Christmas presents for friends and family. I'm going to share them here over the next week or so, now that I don't have to keep them hush hush anymore.

It's been a while since I attempted any sewing projects as I often end up slightly disappointed with the results (big ambitions plus a lack of patience is my downfall) however I really wanted to make some knitting needle/crochet hook cases for both my mum and Ben's mum so I gave it another whirl.

I'd made something similar for Yumi once before too so I didn't think it was an overly ambitious project. And they turned out pretty nicely indeed!



I bought some lovely patterned fat quarters (I could get addicted to browsing in fabric shops) and used some vintage buttons that I had knocking around and managed to make these two needle rolls over the course of a quiet weekend.



My mum didn't realise hers was handmade when she opened it on Christmas day so I think that's a sign of sewing improvement!

Maybe I'll try and get on my sewing machine a bit more this year.

pay it forward packages

My pay it forward packages have now all been sent out (and have arrived at their destinations).
Here's a picture of the bundles i sent out to Lucy, Sally-Ann and Sarah.


They each contained the following handmade items:
• a scrabble tile magnet
• a plastic bag holder (handy for recycling)
• a looped flower brooch (made with a vintage loom i picked up at a flea market)
• a gift card with one of my illustrations

I really enjoyed putting the items together for this challenge and hope people continue to 'pay it forward' as it is such a fun idea.

x

shopping

these two items have just been added to my shop.


they are hand painted wooden parrots that i picked up in a local flea market & transformed into brooches.
a yellow parrot & a blue one!

x

i wish i could...

( skirts by emily, sugarmouseface & hannah )

lately i've been feeling a bit fed up with buying clothes from the high street - they are often very overpriced and everyone ends up wearing the same thing. i also hate it when i stop and think about what i'm wearing and realise most of my outfit was purchased from the same store.
i don't normally manage to find much in the way of nice clothes in the local charity shops so have decided the only way forward is to try and make my own clothes. I have been inspired by lots of wonderful handmade skirts spotted online (such as those above) and would love to be able to make something similar. unfortunately i am a bit useless in the (neat) sewing department. in the past i have had a few attempts at making/altering skirts - most of which have failed (i may share the pictures one day soon), but i feel just about ready to have another bash at it now.

all i need is a good tutorial.
i have bought a couple of sewing patterns from charity shops before but i find it hard to know where to start with them (they are a tad confusing).

so, if anyone knows of any handmade skirt tutorials to be found on the web then it would be great to hear from you.

and then i will get to work and make a skirt that is actually wearable (i hope).

x

floral

i made my mum some brooches today, for mothers day. they were made from a tutorial in this book (with some slight variations) and i made two in different colours so she'll always have one to match the outfit she's wearing (if she likes them that is, fingers crossed!)

i really like the Crafter Culture Handbook (a birthday present) and also created these thankyou cards the other day for my swap partners, which were based on another brooch tutorial in the book:



obviously i am into making matching pink and blue things at the moment!
i need to get making a mothers day card too - maybe that'll go on tomorrows 'to do' list (alongside getting her another little gift!).

yesterday i accompanied my friend daniel to a rather posh event at 'aquascutum' in london (free champagne and canapes, who could say no?!) so it was a rather splendid afternoon/evening out, and when we left we got a wonderful goodie bag with lots of v.nice bits and bobs - some magazines, a candle and some skin products (i like free things).

when i was in london i bought a splendid new skirt:



just look at that BIG wooden button! who could resist.

it was also mike's birthday yesterday, here is a little birthday greeting i made him:



that is about as far as my skills go in illustrator. i really need to improve - lessons would be good so i might look into that.

we are off out for a meal on saturday so i'm going to fix him up a nice card by then (and possibly make him a little something else too).

....and that is about all i have for show and tell today, so bye for now.

x