Learning to let go and other adventures

I have been brave!

I've been thinking about it for ages, but never quite plucked up the courage...

But finally, after a bit of research in a self-help manual, I managed to relax and let go...

I dropped those feed dogs and had a go at free-motion machine embroidery!

The self-help manual was this one...

...which, needless to say can be found on Amazon.co.uk, amongst other places

I need to read it properly - I tend to look at the pretty, inspirational pictures and read a few key points before succumbing to the temptation to get stuck into a bit of stitch-y action.  It really would be sooo much better to be more attentive to the text, but hey!

I had had these frames sitting around for years, waiting for something to be created to replace the rather lacklustre prints.  I liked the washed-out, rough wooden frame and thought they would be perfect for what I wanted to do.

Some Liberty scraps were Bonda-webbed, cut and ironed on before the machine was set a-whirring.  Needless to say I was much too impatient to take step-by-step pictures of how I built this up, but at the end of session one, I had two pieces similar to this.  

I had discovered Sulky threads (I know I'm a bit late to the party there!) and bought a few to play around with - here see the varied shades in the sea and  sky and the grassy tufts. 

On the Sulky website there are some great looking tutorials which I may well have to dive into to improve my machine embroidery skills. Having stuck to up and down and wavy lines, I'm tempted to try this one out...

Oh for a row of life-size Liberty covered beach huts!

Bunting, either stitched or from impossibly small scraps of lawn, were added later, and a few hand-embroidered flowers...

I don't think I will be stopping at three of those threads and two pictures!

On Saturday I held another workshop.  Ginger biscuits and Cappuccino Cake were made and I waited for my five students.  This time I remembered my camera - I even took photos of my lovely participants,but forgot to ask if they would be okay to feature on my blog!  So instead, here is their fabulous work.  

Lastly, I took part in Very Berry Handmade's third ATC swap.  The theme was either Books or Spring .  My secret partner (now out of the bag as she has received her card) was Sue of Deerey Me! (pop over and have a look at her lovely blog, especially the 'Secret Garden' card she made for her partner).  Sue lives near Bath and as one of my favourite books is 'Pride and Prejudice'...

{Small pause for Mr Darcy dreaming

Er, sorry, no.

That's more like it!}

...I thought I'd try something related to that.  I found a very small scrap of very old fabric that I thought was a near a bit Regency-looking and then cut silhouettes from felt.  I printed off a P & P quote 'Her heart did whisper that he had done it for her' and combined them on the tiny piece of backing (buckram is what I used).  Normally I'd do more stitching, but somehow I didn't feel this would benefit from any more.

  

Baby bootees grow large

You may remember these from last year...

Made as part of my challenge to see how many items I could make from one shrunken jumper, they are based on Heather Bailey's Bitty Booties, which you can find out all about here.

Well, one of the girls in the charity shop wondered if it would be possible to make some to fit her.  I'm always up for a challenge!

The perfect opportunity came when a whole heap of woollies came into the shop recently.  They were well worn - picture threadbare elbows and grubby cuffs - as well as unwashed, and therefore most definitely not suitable for the shops.  I couldn't bear to see them head into the rag bag (all 100% wool, mostly hand wash or dry-clean only) so some came home with me and found themselves given the indignity of a hot wash tied into a pillowcase with a tennis ball or two! 

I found a slipper pattern in a Tilda book I have and used the sole pattern as a guide, then scaled up the shape of the upper from Heather Bailey's pattern.  I decided that one layer of the felt I had created would not have been warm enough, nor indeed hard-wearing enough, so used two different jumper backs to cut linings and outers for the slippers.  

Some embroidery was required to jazz up the slippers. I was hoping the rain would give way to snow if I stitched enough snowflakes so off I went!

In the end, not one flake of the pretty fluffy stuff has fallen on us here in Hampshire, but I did finish the slippers...

The sole and the uppers were stitched by machine first (on triple stretch stitch) then finished with blanket stitch.

I hope the recipient will like them when I take them in for her on Wednesday!

Trawlback Tuesday

Me and my camera have fallen out with each other!  I think maybe the gloom and the shortness of the days has got to the poor little thing...   

Whatever it is, I just can't seem to get any decent photos out of it, so I decided to trawl back through my Picasa web albums and see if I could find something that hopefully I either never put on my blog, or that I posted so long ago that few people will have already seen it.

So here we are!  A useful reminder to me of a technique I haven't used for ages, and a nice thrifty one too, using as it does the tiniest scraps of leftover felt.  

Inspired by this old tea cosy...

I tried my hand at a felt flower collage...

See those tiny little felt discs?
A paper hole punch was used for those!

I'm going to get going on a few of these again very soon!

Here's one I made earlier...

Well, I may have been away from blogging, but that's not to say that I have been away from my other  pursuits.  My weeks have been filled with a fair few bits of craftiness, some of which were possibly partly to blame for my silence, because when you make these sorts of things in September, you can't really blog about them!  

I was thrilled when an already shrunken jumper, in a lovely festive hue,  came into the charity shop.  It wasn't an especially large one, but I was determined to squeeze as much as possible out of it.

First a bit of deconstruction took place...

After much consideration, I decided to make a snuggly cushion from the largest part of the front.  

I used a pre-cut reindeer I had purchased from Panduro last year (it was made from such thick felt that I peeled it into two!)  blanket stitched it on, and combined the red with some cream jumper scraps and some Nordic-looking ribbon over the seams.

The cushion was quickly snapped up, making £15 for the hospice!

Needless to say, there were plenty more scraps waiting to be given a new lease of life.

Some of last year's makes came to mind.   

The baby boot pattern came out, the red felt embellished with embroidered snowflakes.

I LOVE embroidering snowflakes!

I simply start with a six-pointed cross and then extend each arm, using a combination of simple stitches - straight stitches, lazy-daisies, feather stitches and French knots.  Each one is unique, as it should be!

Then the elf boots...

More snowflake embroidery...

More items flew out of my workroom and as they did so, my collecting tin filled with other people's pennies.

Needlecases...

Mug wraps and coasters...

Brooches and hair clips - loads of these...

I haven't sold everything yet, but when my collecting tin was emptied at the shop a couple of weeks ago, I was surprised and delighted to find it contained £80!  

Not bad for a shrunken jumper, eh?

Woo-hoo! Birthday Finish!

Today it is exactly a year since Mr U-t-B's clever daughter produced this lovely little man...

He has, since, done that baby thing of growing at an enormous rate and getting cleverer day by day.  He's rarely still long enough to take a decent photo, but he's a trendy little chap, with the most enormous eyes and a gorgeous smile.

I had an idea for his first birthday present w-a-a-a-a-y back, and even gave a sneak preview of the 'feasibility study/mock-up/prototype' early in 2013, when I was starting ABSOLUTELY NOTHING new, but feasibility studies, mock-ups and prototypes were permissible.  Ahem!

Sixteen-patch blocks...

Sailing boat blocks...

And embroidered blocks were my idea...

Anyway, the 'absolutely nothing new' idea has long floated beneath the Bridge of Abandoned Resolutions, but at least this is one project that has, most definitely, been finished...

Last week the sun shone long enough for me to take it outside for a few shots...

Emboldened by Gill's advice - do pop over and see her 'Bella's Quilt'which will make you squeal with delight! - I used my machine to quilt, in wavy lines.  I could use a little more practice with machine quilting, but overall it's okay, I think!

I still love the 'Sarah Jane - Out to Sea' fabrics I used, even if rather a lot of beheading went on in the creation of the blocks...

The embroidered blocks took a while, but they were worth the effort.

I used mostly chain stitch, in single or double lines.

I did have a big GRRRRRRR! moment when I washed the embroidered blocks to get rid of the soluble pen, and some of the red floss bled out!  I quickly rinsed and administered vinegar (which I'm led to believe stops colours bleeding)  but some damage was permanent.  I toyed with the idea of re-doing the blocks, but then thought that the marks will hopefully fade with time.  Some were embroidered round to become bubbles!

I now need to decide on a name for this quilt.  

'It's a Pirate's Life for Me'

'Piratically Perfect'

(a nod towards the bleedin' floss, and a reminder to pre-wash floss for important, washable things!)

or 

'I'd Rather Be Bucaneerin'!'

I can't choose.

What do you think?