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.
Some of these have a fair bit of sewing involved, others have less but here is our totally Sewing Free Cushion Cover. Perfect for those new to crafting, and something you don't need a well stocked sewing room for. This can be done sitting on the floor watching television, or on the kitchen table. This project exploits an interesting property of Fleece. It does not fray. Thus we can cut a fringe of strips into the fleece without fear of it unraveling. Some fun furs have this property as well however the wrong side of fun fur would be on display and is unattractive.
You will need:
a cushion to cover (or a pillow, or a pillow sewn in half) Fleece Scissors Chalk Pins
Cushions pads suitable for this project can now be found in your local Fabric8 Shop
Place your cushion on a section of fleece right side up and draw around it. Then decide on the length of fringe you want, add a bit more for the knots and draw this added length around your cushion Finally draw a square on each corner of the larger rectangle that reaches to the cushion (see picture, click on it to enlarge)
Cut out the larger rectangle and then remove the corners you drew on the inside of the rectangle as well. Use this as a template to cut out a second piece of fleece.
Place one of the fleece shapes on top of the other, wrong sides together and pin together on the INSIDE of the small rectangle (the cushion sized middle of the shape).
Cut a fringe from the outside of the fabric to the line marked where the cushion will be. Try to make the fringes of uniform thickness (I went for 1 cm) you CAN mark out each individual cut but to be honest by the time you take into account where the scissors actually cuts you may as well do it all by eye. You DO need the same number of fringes on the top piece of fabric as on the bottom. This is why we cut the two layers of fabric at the same time. to make the fringes line up.
Place the cushion between the two layers of fleece. At one corner tie the last strip of one side of the top layer to the first strip of the other side of the bottom layer. This makes the fringe criss cross at the corners. Repeat for the other three corners.
Tie the strips of the fleece of the top layer to the bottom layer's strips as shown, going around the cushion Try to make the knots of even size and done up the same way each time. This gives a nice neat finish.
From start to finish this project takes less than an hour (depending on size of cushion).
This is a quick, cheap and easy way of making a cushion to match a room, and of pulling together different colours in a room. You could make these as a gift for a sports fans using the teams colours. This is also a fantastic project to introduce textile crafts to the kids if they are stuck at home during the holidays. Being able to make something for their room in colours they like (for example, to match a football team) can give children a real sense of achievement
Although in my case my cat has claimed my cushion as her very own.
In the past I've made some intricate stuffed fabric Pumpkins. Whilst many people liked these a lot of people said they were put off by the amount of time each pumpkin would take, and the amount of sewing. After some playing around I've managed to create a very simple, but in my opinion rather cool pumpkin pattern. Don't feel constrained to orange fabrics, you can make a very ethereal creation with a shimmering white or pale pink, or something festive with a Brocade.
Fold the fabric in half giving you a Square of 15cm by 15cm Stitch down the side opposite the fold
Sew two lines of parallel stitches at the bottom of the square. This is to perform a gather. You can do this perfectly well with hand sewing, just pull the threads tight and tease the fabrics into gathers. I used a sewing machine, anchoring the threads at one end with a back stitch but not at the other, then pulling the threads to make the gathers.
Once you've gathered the fabric like this top stitch between the two lines of stitching to secure the gathers. Fold right side out. You should now have a little bag with an open top and gathered bottom.
Fill the pumpkin with toy stuffing. You can use cut up scraps of wool or fabric to save money here, But a bag of toy stuffing costs under £4.00 and my bag has lasted me many many projects.
With a hand sewing needle run a stitch along the top of the pumpkin, pull this tight and secure to create a ball.
To shape the groves into the pumpkin secure some strong thread with a stitch at the top and wrap it to the bottom of the pumpkin pulling tight, secure with a stitch and wrap the thread to the to and secure with a stitch repeat for as many grooves as you like. I started with four, equally spaced.
Take two rectangles of green fabric to be the stem. I used 6cm by 4.5cm. Sew together along the long sides and one short side (leaving an opening for turning through and stuffing. The line of stitching at the top doesn't have to be straight, making it a little slanty can make the stem look more organic.
Turn through using a pencil (yes I DID spend 10 minutes trying to use my finger before I thought of the pencil) and then use the pencil to stuff the stem with toy stuffing.
Stitch the stem onto the top of the pumpkin using small stitches going around the base of the stem.
And behold a pumpkin. I thought this was cute, however my favorite pumpkins have more grooves so I added another set of four using the same method as the original grooves.
I am rather proud of my little pumpkin. There may seem to be a lot of steps but only because I wrote down EVERY little thing. You should be able to make up one of these little guys in 20 mintues or so. You could even cut out triangles in felt to make a Jack-o-lantern and glue it on with fabric glue. As well as Halloween these decorations could be used for an Autumn display or part of a costume (be it the green goblin or headless horseman)
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
:)
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October can be very confusing for the sewing enthusiast. We have Halloween rapidly approaching whilst Christmas is not far behind. Taking the fact that many think Christmas needs much longer to prepare for often means our Christmas sewing is blended in with vampire costumes and stuffed pumpkins. Having covered some Halloween sewing already I thought I would begin with some festive stitching. Christmas sewing projects take all shapes and sizes from Christmas Stockings to gifts and decorations. However the one thing we need to have prepared first in many cases is the Advent Candler. The start of December is now only 6 weeks away so I think it's OK to start getting a little excited by it. Whilst not on the website yet the shops now have their Christmas fabrics out on display. This includes the Stockings and Advent Calendars. Home made quilted advent calendars have many uses. Not only do they give you a choice what treat to pop into the quilted pockets but they can be chosen to compliment your other decorations. Not only are they fun and rewarding to make they can also become a family heirloom. They make great gifts and if you have a large family each child could have their own calendar stuffed with their personal favorite snacks or other treats.
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.
Halloween means many things to many people. For some it's a chance to grab some free sweets whilst for others it's a chance to let rip and show off an alter ego. For me it's all about the chance to make the sort of costumes I love to make, but would not normally fit in at say a wedding.
There are many advantages to making your own costumes as opposed to renting or buying. For example it CAN be cheaper, in my case it tends to cost about the same BUT it's of a much higher quality.
However for me the main advantage is it helps show my creativity. This isn't something to stress about. No-one really judges you, it's more about how you feel about yourself. Looking at an insane black and purple petticoat laying under layers of organza can give you a great sense of achievement.But creativity is not just a case of using fabrics we would normally not use, or extreme design. Halloween is an excuse to colour outside the lines, to through caution to the wind and to make yourself, or someone else, something spectacular.
There are many wonderful costume ideas in the pattern books, but you cold also make a plain outfit into a Halloween masterpiece by just adding trimming, ribbons or layering it with one of our translucent spiderweb fabrics
To help you on the way to creating your own master piece we have some free tutorials on the website
at http://www.fabric8online.co.uk/free-stuff
Here you can learn to make a cape, a cravat (for the CLASSIC Vampire, none of this sparkly stuff) or a Tu Tu or a cape.
To help you with your Halloween preparations we will be running a few mini blogs in the next week. From making petticoats and wings to organizing a Halloween Party!.
