Sewing and knitting are back in fashion (to my mind they were never out of fashion). People are starting to realise that creating your own clothes and accessories is without doubt the finniest way to express themselves. If you are tempted to take up kitting and crochet there are many knitting books and crochet books out there to guide you.
What many people new to knitting and sewing may not realise is that you can create truly dazzling and unique things with only basic techniques. My waistcoats often receive compliments but the pattern is basic, it's the choice of fabrics that sets them apart. And so it is with knitting. Rico do a huge range of yarns than enable to create breath taking tops, bags scarves, hats and so much more using pretty basic techniques. The secret is in the yarn!
Rico Creative Cotton
The crochet and craft yearn. Rico Creative Cotton is the yarn of choice for making household items as well as the popular Patchwork Family Crochet animals. knitting as well as crochet. It forms a firm fabric with an even tension and is very comfortable to wear.
£1.99 for 50g
Rico Essentials Cotton Lurex
A fine cotton yarn, however this also has metallic lurex thread giving your project a glittering effect.
£3.69 for 50g
Rico Essentials Merino
An ultra fine DK (double Knit). Easy to knit with this yarn is renowned for giving very even knitting.
£3.99 for 50g
Rico Creative Pompom Print
One of the more unusual yarns out there. Useful for knitting truly unusual scarves or very cute tops and blankets.
Rico Creative Big Moment
Just one of these giant 200g balls will give you a beautiful scarf. The soft thick yarn subtly changes colour along it's length giving your work a soft cuddly and dreamy feel to it.
£14.99 for 200g
Rico Creative Micro Print
Another colour changing yarn. This acrylic yarn makes light and comfortable clothes that are also easy to care for.
£4.99 for 100g
Rico Creative Reflection
A light weight shimmering thread, available in regular or colour changing.
Clothes knitted from this thread take on a beautiful ethereal quality as the glimmer and shimmer in the light.
£3.49 for 50g
Rico Creative Filz Print
A strange little yarn. it has a very lose twist to it. Designed to be knitted up and the washed to turn it into felt.
£2.99 for 50g
Rico Creative Loopy-Pompom
Combining loopy yarn with pompom yarn.
Perfect for lightweight scarves for the spring and summer. In the brighter colours this also makes fantastic clubwear!
£6.99 for 100g
As you can see there are many types of yarn out there, each with their own unique uses giving very different results. If you are new to knitting and crochet, or if you want to expand your horizons in the realm of crafting , we recommend just getting a few balls of yarn and playing. Playing around with fabrics and yarns is not only fun, it's the best way to learn and discover new techniques.
We are now getting into November, from this point I start feeling very Christmasy. Last year I made up a Christmas Tree shaped table decoration following a pattern. I had intended to do the same for some fabric Christmas Baubles. However most commercial patterns required a polystyrene ball of an exact size, and then limited your choice of fabrics to felts. They also required a lot of spray gluing Spray glue and me do not get on. As a result I sat down and created my own template and instructions for a Christmas Bauble.
You will need: Fabric (around 20cm by 40cm) Needles Pins
Scissors
Thread Snips
Small piece of ribbon
Toy Stuffing
Thread
Print out and cut out the template (click on the image to get a high quality image, and then save and print, MS paint or any other basic paint package can shrink or expand it to the size you want, this one is 15 cm long)
Cut out 6 pattern pieces per bauble. You can make them all the same or use a mixture of fabrics. A seam allowance of half an inch (1.2cm) has been included
Place one pattern piece on top of another, right sides together and pin and then sew along one length. Repeat this for the other sections so you have three different sections, each consisting of two of the panel pieces.
Right sides together sew one section to another, and then the final section leaving a gap to turn the bauble right side out. Clip all the seams. You should now have a ball shaped piece of fabric, turn it right side out and begin stuffing.
Close up the bauble with a ladder stitch. A ladder stitch is formed by first anchoring a stitch from within the bauble and popping the needle out at the seam allowance. Then put the needle directly into the fold of seam allowance on the opposite side of the gap. Then on the same side of the gap bring your needle OUT of the seam allowance fold a little further up and sew directly across the gap. Repeat until you are at the top of the bauble and pull the thread tight gently.
Stitch a little loop of ribbon at the top and you have a bauble.
These can be adorned with beading on the fabric or a trail of beads from the bottom, let your imagination go wild. For me apart from being fun to make these have the advantage of letting you tailor your ornaments to your room decor and make your tree a little more personal. The basic bauble can be made in 15 minutes or so, and then embellished at your leisure.
Last year I talked of the advantages of making an advent calender. Since then we have had requests to create a tutorial for those perhaps new to sewing and quilting for making these calenders I'm mainly a dressmaking and pretty new to quilting and craft projects myself. As a result this is a true beginners step by step guide. As ever with these little projects I've chosen a festive film to keep time with. In honour of the Christmas Train Calendar, I picked Polar Express.
The panel actually has sewing instructions written on them which is a great help to begin with.
Step one. Cut out the main panel AROUND the holly edge of the boarder. Top Tip. Always cut so the panel is on your left and the excess is on the right (if you are left handed reverse this) That way you can see the edge of the boarder clearly as you cut. The Panel is cut out by the time the Polar Express shows up
Step Two. Cut out the Calander pockets for the treats. These are in blocks of three. Here it is VITAL to read the instructions carefully to make sure you cut the correct line. In this case it's the SOLID lines, the dotted lines are used later for pleating. The instructions on the panel will tell you which to cut. When cutting out small sections it's advisable to check the following
1) That there are no other pieces of your sewing project UNDER what you are cutting that could get caught up in your scissors and cut where they would not want to be cut (yep, I've done this before)
2) If cutting by your computer always ensure your mouse cable is not UNDER what you are cutting (yep, cut the 'tail' off my mouse before as well)
Step three. Put on some Hot Chocolate for the Hot Chocolate song
Step Four. Press over the seam allowance for each pocket (or group of pockets). In this pattern the seam allowance is at the solid gold boarder. This takes time, it is better to do it correctly than to do it fast (and possible burn yourself in the process) This takes a good chunk of the film.
Step Five. Press in the box pleats. Place one solid gold line to the center dotted line and press. then do this for the second line.
And the Polar Express is at the North Pole. The visuals on the screen are inspiring, helping me to decide on metallic top stitching and beading.
Decisions!. At this point you can sew the pockets in place, and line and back of the calendar. However if you want to embellish things NOW is the time to do it. You can add beads to the design of the pockets. You can also add a wadding to the back of the calendar and top stitch along the designs of the pattern.
In this case I've added a red nose bead onto Rudolph And padded the outline of the train.
To have a padded outline on the train sew wadding onto the back of the panel and then top stitch over any lines you wish to emphasis. I used Metallic Thread for this. IT is Vital to use a metallic thread sewing needle for this. Metallic thread requires a larger eye than normal. Using a regular needle will make the thread split.
The film is almost over, however the hard parts of the project are complete. I would have been much faster but I liked the padded outlines of the train.
Step Six. Top stitch the pockets onto the panel. With single pockets just top stitch the sides and bottom. On groups of pockets stitch along the bottom and the outer edges. Spread the box pleats apart for a moment and top stitch along the dotted line.
Step Seven. Cut calico to back the panel. on what will be the outer side of the calico or craft cotton sew ribbon to the edges. Then right sides together sew the calico and the panel together. Pinning the ribbon to the calico (or craft cotton) will stop it getting sewn into the side seam by accident. Leave a gap at the bottom to turn the calendar right side out and finish with a ladder stitch
And you're finished :) You can embellish this project as much or as little as you like. Beading sequins and glitter can be used as little or as much as you like. It's worth noting the holy part of the boarder on the panel is 5/8 of an inch, perfect seam allowance guide. This then leaves the other layers of the boarder on show. Now all you have to do is fill it with nuts and treats, or if giving to a crafting friend little bits of Haberdashery.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and feel able to have a go yourself now. I must stress I am very new to craft sewing but enjoyed this immensely and I am very proud of the end result. IT must also be said I am gifted with the grace and dexterity of a baby hippopotamus . If I can create something like this, anyone can
:)
If there are any other tutorials you'd like to see then please post a response or find us on Facebook or Twitter
All kids love Halloween, all kids from age 0 to 110. Making costumes is fun, but you need to show them off. Some parents are concerned with letting their kids go door to door though. It is a shame to miss out on dressing up and having fun, so there is a simple answer. A Halloween party! Hosting a party can be as simple or as complicated as you like, but here are some tips taken from my experiences working as a party magician.
1) Find a venue for hosting your party.
If you have a large space at home or not many people coming for the party then you should have no problem hosting at home. However hiring a venue may be a lot cheaper than you realize . Club together with other parents to hire a village hall or even the school hall. (one school hall I know costs £20 for 2 hours, between 10 parents that isn't much at all). Many village councils are even offering a reduced rate for Halloween parties to help keep kids safe and off the streets.
2)Decorating your party space.
There are packs available for decorating your party place but these can become expensive. Now would be a great time to start Halloween Bunting making. Black and Orange Poly Cotton makes great bunting. For a added touch cut out the pendants with pinking shears to give your bunting a zig zag edge. This will also help the bunting last longer. Covering furniture with white cloth can help stop it getting mucky, but also give the room an eerie Haunted house feel, like a house where everyone moved away long ago. Check on line for creepy stencils to download to make cardboard cut outs as well.
3)Music and Games
All the big shops do mix cd's of Halloween party music and princes start for £5 or so. As for games, if possible keep it non-elimination. Many people have started to complain about the lack of elimination games in schools as they can prepare kids for the little knocks in life. This may be true BUT if you have elimination games in your party you will have a bunch of kids sitting around twiddling their thumbs waiting for the game to end. This will not be fun for anyone. Here are some games to try.
Pass the Parcel Take a price, be it a toy Dinosaur or a sweet treat and wrap in one sheet of paper, then take another treat and place that on your parcel then wrap with paper again. Repeat until you have a layer for everyone. Play music and stop it at random points, a child unwraps and ill have one small treat, continue the music and stop again, if your quick you can make sure everyone gets a prize BUT no-one knows who will get the big one at the center.
A Monster's tail. You need a long scarf or decorate a strip of fabric about 3 metres long to look like a dragon's tail (think glitter for scales, or bright colour stripes. get the kids in a line and pop the hands of the kids on the shoulders of the kid in front of them. Wrap the fabric around the waist of the last kid leaving a tail of suitable length. Now the head of the dragon has to catch the tail . A great game with lots of space. when the head catch the tail they become the new tale, leaving a new kid upfront to be the head. if you have enough kids split them into teams with a prize for the first team team where every kid gets to be the head and tail.
The Balloon pass Challenge. Get the kids into two teams, and get them to stand in a row. Get a balloon for each team and make them pass the balloon from the front of the row to the back. When the balloon gets to the back the kid at the back runs to the front and then repeats the process. The first team where every kid has been to the front wins.Make the game harder by mixing up whether the balloons have to be passed over their heads or between their legs.
Apple Bobbing. The classic apple bob. Some schools have banned this fearing germs. According to the Health And Safety executive though there is nothing to fear. If you are screamish about the idea there is an alternative . Cut out apple shapes on pieces of paper, on one side write a challenge like "3 press ups" or "recite Mary had a little lamb backwards". Then pop a paperclip on each one and place them writing side down in a bowl. Attach a magnet to a piece of string and tie the string to a pencil to make a rod. Now the kids can go fishing for challenges.
If some kids are going to be at your party without their parents then make sure you have contact details for them. If you are partying in your own home spend 10 minutes taking the breakable items out of the room first. You will be a lot more relaxed if you're not panicking about your favourite vase. Chocolate is lovely but can be messy. If you avoid chocolaty treats you will be spending less time the next day trying to clean the carpet and sofa.
Being at parties is always fun, but hosting them can be amazing fun. So get together with friends and family now and start planning a little adventure for yourselves and those around you.
At Fabric8 we ran a Toy Making Competition some tinme ago. I've been inspired by some of the entries to make a little stuffed toy of my own. Although I've made stage costumes, wedding dresses and other wonderful things I've never made a teddy. I decided to use a pattern thats freely available to download off the net from http://www.wyrm.org.uk/cuddly/index.html . After reading the instructions I assembled the materials needed.
The pattern I downloaded was the beanbag Dragon and I have to admit I'm very impressed. The instructions are very clear. I used the seam guide to find the seams are 1/4 of an inch. The first step as ever is to cut out the pattern pieces and to lay them out on the fabric. I decided to recreate the dragon from my childhood back in Wales, "Magon the Dragon". I used red fun fur for the top of his body and pink for his underbelly and the inside of his ears.
Some pieces such as the wings need 4 copies cut instead of two. When working with such small pattern pieces it's easy to lose a piece when you clear out the scrap fabrics, so make sure to keep all the pieces safe including the wing and ear pieces which you had to unpin from the pattern paper so you could cut out the second copies (yes I DID accidently throw my wings in the bin when tidying away the scraps).
The head is the first piece to be assembled and I think looks very cute. I found it amazing how much shape the neck piece adds to the face. This picture was taken BEFORE the head was stuffed which I think goes some way to showing how much shaping the neck piece does.
The wings are made next, and the lines of the wings are top-stitched on. This gives them a lot more definition. The two top sections are then tacked onto their wings and then the top sections are sewn together, leaving a small gap for turning out. One of the two tail pieces is sewn on the top section as well.
Next the inside of the back legs are sewn onto the bottom of the body. Care must be taken to make sure the right leg is on the right side. Here you can see that I didn't take enough care and thus the feet wouldn't not match up when sewing the top to the bottom. (never learn from mistakes, learn from someone else's :) )
Once the top and bottom of the dragon are sewn together you need to sew the head on. I found it easier to push the head into the neck cavity and sew along the neckline by hand. (right sides together of course). I always use a machine were possible but even I found it much quicker to do this short bit of sewing by hand.
And there you have it, one very cute fuzzy dragon. Of course this one wont be in the toy competition as I'm a staff member. But anyone else can download a patterns and make one for the competition. You can express your creativity in many ways with these and other patterns. Try different fabrics, add embroidery, maybe use beading as well. You have 3 more weeks to get an entry into us and this little fella only took a few hours to make. Surprise us, and maybe yourselves as well.
I have realized that one important part of our work at Fabric8 has been neglected on this blog. Knitting!. I don't knit, it's a sad fact. I did have a go at making a Tom Baker Doctor Who Scarf, but my girlfriend had to rescue it. I was lamenting this fact to the Manager of the Colchester branch, Tina. She kindly offered to share some of her knowledge and insights into the world of knitting with me. I am going to start crocheting next week though. So I shall now hand you over to the most knowledgeable, Tina.
What yarn to use.
Many patterns specify a particular yarn. This is to increase that company's sales. However as long as you use the correct weight of yarn the project will turn out as required. Different yarns have different qualities that may determine what the finished look is going to be.
Acrylic. This is cheap alternative. I personally would only use a basic acrylic for either young children's clothes as it is not advisable to give them someting with a high wool content due to the fibre lose that might
cause choking or for toys. The drawback of acrylic is once it is washed it is unlikely to retain its former state.
Wool/Acrylic mix. The addition of a little bit of wool prevents the stretching often seen in pure acrylic options. The last time I used this was on a new aran jumper for me.
High content wool mixes and pure wools.Debbie Bliss and other companies (mainly upper end of the knitting market) select these type of yarns). If looked after these can be worn as new (or nearly new) for over a decade. One such garment I knitting for my then fiance (now husband) is as new after 18 years. The high wool content allows the garment to retain its original shape after careful washing.
Silk/ Bamboo yarnsSilk has this wonderful sheen that is unmistakable. it is lovely to work
with. Examples of Silk yarns currently availavle is called Grace by Designer yarns (it is the Louisa Harding branding) If you don't like silk then try Bamboo yarn such as Sirdar's Baby Bamboo or Debbie Bliss Prima ranges. A note of caution, if you are allergic to wool check the band on the Bamboo ranges
for wool content. There is one available without the addition of wool but only available to order.
Cotton/ Mercerized cottonfor cool summer garments. Mercerized cotton have a slight sheen to them and a slight elasticity which will help hold the garment's shape. Currently working with this yarn on a cardigan. Yarn is by Rico called essentials cotton DK. this particular yarn is going a long way so more economically
than at first glance (£2.95/ 50g ball)
Chenillethis gives a garment a velvety luxurious look to it. It is more difficult to achieve a steady tension so would only recommend for those knitters with a bit of experience.
So there you have it, a basic crash course in Wool, or Yarns. Later this week we will show you one or two useful tools to make knitting easier. With the weather being very bad and the feeling of winter months not being far away it may be time to take up a hobby you can do whilst chatting or watching TV. The warm fuzzy socks or stylish tops and hats being a fringe benefit to the joy of creating something while relaxing.
Rico Creative Pompom Print 
