Showing posts with label clouds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label clouds. Show all posts

Thursday, 23 April 2020

Felt Weather Mobile Tutorial: Assembling the Mobile

UPDATE: this project is now available as part of my Patreon pattern library.

Click here to find the Felt Weather Mobile Tutorial and to sign up to my Patreon. 

Subscribers get full access to a growing library of PDF patterns and tutorials, and emails whenever new projects are added. You can unsubscribe at any time. 

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P.S. Visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots of free projects.

Visit my shop to buy my printable PDF sewing patterns:

Tuesday, 21 April 2020

Felt Weather Mobile Tutorial: Sew a Felt Cloud or Raincloud!

UPDATE: this project is now available as part of my Patreon pattern library.

Click here to find the Felt Weather Mobile Tutorial and to sign up to my Patreon. 

Subscribers get full access to a growing library of PDF patterns and tutorials, and emails whenever new projects are added. You can unsubscribe at any time. 

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My baby mobile tutorial continues this week with a how to for making a fluffy felt cloud, with or without raindrops.

 
 
 

The weather mobile would make a special gift for a baby's nursery. You can also use the individual tutorials to make cute ornaments (just add a ribbon loop!) or things like brooches or patches.


Remember: as with all mobiles, this is a decoration not a toy so make sure you hang the finished project well out of reach of little fingers. 

 
P.S. Visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots of free projects.

Visit my shop to buy my printable PDF sewing patterns:

Friday, 26 January 2018

Felt Weather Mobile Tutorial

UPDATE: this project is now available as part of my Patreon pattern library.

Click here to find the Felt Weather Mobile Tutorial and to sign up to my Patreon. 

Subscribers get full access to a growing library of PDF patterns and tutorials, and emails whenever new projects are added. You can unsubscribe at any time. 

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 https://www.thevillagehaberdashery.co.uk/blog/2018/diy-felt-weather-baby-mobile
 https://www.thevillagehaberdashery.co.uk/blog/2018/diy-felt-weather-baby-mobile


I designed this mobile as a workshop project for The Village Haberdashery last year. Sadly the class didn't go ahead but happily the design is now a tutorial instead - hurrah!

 https://www.thevillagehaberdashery.co.uk/blog/2018/diy-felt-weather-baby-mobile
 
As well as making a full mobile, you could also use this tutorial for making individual felt rainbows, rain clouds and smiling suns. They'd make fab felt brooches or ornaments, or you could use them to decorate other projects - a felt rainbow would look awesome wherever you decide to stitch it.

 https://www.thevillagehaberdashery.co.uk/blog/2018/diy-felt-weather-baby-mobile
https://www.thevillagehaberdashery.co.uk/blog/2018/diy-felt-weather-baby-mobile
https://www.thevillagehaberdashery.co.uk/blog/2018/diy-felt-weather-baby-mobile


Visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots more projects.

Friday, 30 September 2016

Upcoming Class: Make a Felt Baby Mobile

UPDATE: this project is now available as part of my Patreon pattern library.

Click here to find the Felt Weather Mobile Tutorial and to sign up to my Patreon. 

Subscribers get full access to a growing library of PDF patterns and tutorials, and emails whenever new projects are added. You can unsubscribe at any time. 

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As you might remember, I'm teaching some sewing classes at The Village Haberdashery in London this autumn.

On Saturday 29th October we'll be making rainbows...

https://www.thevillagehaberdashery.co.uk/classes-and-workshops/classes/make-a-baby-mobile-out-of-felt-with-laura-howard

... and happy little felt suns...

https://www.thevillagehaberdashery.co.uk/classes-and-workshops/classes/make-a-baby-mobile-out-of-felt-with-laura-howard

... and lots of clouds, then combining them all to make weather-themed baby mobiles!

https://www.thevillagehaberdashery.co.uk/classes-and-workshops/classes/make-a-baby-mobile-out-of-felt-with-laura-howard

All the materials you'll need to make the mobile will be provided in the class fee. After learning how to make all the pieces and assemble the mobile, you'll get a copy of the pattern to take home so you can make more mobiles or cute things like rainbow brooches.

(It took me a while to perfect my rainbow-making method - I'm so pleased with how they turned out!)

 https://www.thevillagehaberdashery.co.uk/classes-and-workshops/classes/make-a-baby-mobile-out-of-felt-with-laura-howard

Click here for the full details of the baby mobile class, and to sign up. 

This autumn I'm also teaching classes on making a felt autumn wreath, and colourful Christmas ornaments inspired by vintage baubles - click here to see all the upcoming classes at The Village Haberdashery.

https://www.thevillagehaberdashery.co.uk/classes-and-workshops/classes/make-an-autumn-wreath-out-of-felt-with-laura-howard

Monday, 14 March 2016

Free Spring Craft Ideas: Butterflies, Flowers, Bunnies and More!

If you're in the mood for some spring-themed crafting, here are lots of free tutorials to keep you busy...

Make a butterfly mobile from felt + felt beads, or brightly coloured card:

http://bugsandfishes.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/how-to-butterfly-mobile.html

Use card to make butterfly napkin rings and other pretty accessories for a spring tea party:

http://bugsandfishes.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/how-to-butterfly-napkin-rings.html

Make a statement with big butterfly brooches, embellished with embroidery, sequins or mini buttons...

http://bugsandfishes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/how-to-felt-butterfly-brooches.html

Or use felt and pairs of matching buttons to make these simple butterfly brooches:

http://bugsandfishes.blogspot.co.uk/2009/01/how-to-butterfly-brooches.html

Decorate with doilies and butterfly shapes cut from sugar paper - make a big butterfly curtain like mine, or a smaller spring mobile. Doilies and butterflies are also a great combo for spring gift wrapping.

http://bugsandfishes.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/butterflies-for-spring.html

Sew a folk-inspired floral brooch from felt and fabric:

 http://bugsandfishes.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/how-to-felt-fabric-flower-brooch.html

 Use felt, pretty washi tape and a mini button to make a sweet and simple flower card:

http://bugsandfishes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/diy-felt-flower-card.html

 Stitch a flower in bright spring colours using this flower embroidery pattern:

http://bugsandfishes.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/free-flower-embroidery-pattern.html

Make a leafy felt brooch to pin to your jacket or spring sweater:

http://bugsandfishes.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/how-to-felt-spring-leaves-brooch.html

Wish someone luck with a felt four-leaf clover:

http://bugsandfishes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/diy-lucky-four-leaf-clover-card.html

Or send a spring "hello!" with this simple leaf card:

http://bugsandfishes.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/how-to-leaf-card.html

Sew a whole set of bunnies from pastel felt...

http://bugsandfishes.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/guest-post-felt-spring-bunnies-tutorial.html

... and use them to decorate a happy spring wreath:

http://bugsandfishes.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/guest-post-spring-bunny-wreath-tutorial.html

You could also make bunnies from card, with this bunny gift box tutorial I designed for Tesco Living.

If you're stuck indoors because of spring showers, why not make a cute raincloud mobile? Or a cloud brooch!


If you've got a friend who's feeling under the weather thanks to a spring cold, make them a card to say "get well soon"...

http://bugsandfishes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/diy-get-well-soon-card.html

... and if you really want to cheer them up, make them a rainbow box filled with sunshine!

http://bugsandfishes.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/how-to-make-box-of-sunshine.html

And last but by no means least, sew Mr & Mrs blackbird from felt - these would make cute brooches or little ornaments:

http://bugsandfishes.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/how-to-make-pair-of-felt-blackbirds.html

Follow the links to find each tutorial.You'll find lots more free step by step projects and crafty ideas in my tutorial archive. Happy crafting! :)

P.S. For even more projects, try my booksSuper-Cute Felt includes lots of spring designs to make from felt, including pansy hair clips, a bird on a branch necklace, a bunny brooch and a butterfly cushion:

http://bugsandfishes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html

And in Super-Cute Felt Animals you'll find Boris the beautiful butterfly, Richard the colourful rabbit, Sheelagh the shy sheep, and a whole family of chickens:

http://bugsandfishes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html

Monday, 11 November 2013

In My Workbox...

My "to sew" pile is currently full of stuff I can't show you yet!

In the meantime, here's some offcuts and leftovers from recent projects. Colourful felt scraps...


... and little paper clouds: 

Tuesday, 20 August 2013

Forget-Me-Not Brooches & a Raincloud Mobile

Thanks to me finishing a batch of them at the weekend... forget-me-not brooches are now back in my shops! You can find them in my Big Cartel shop & in my Etsy shop.


This batch has slightly different colour leaves to the previous ones I've made (a mossy green instead of a spring green), for the simple reason that I cut them out from the wrong colour felt! Oops. I think they still look great though!


I've also added a felt cloud mobile to my Etsy shop. This is the sample I stiched for my raincloud mobile tutorial. If you liked the tutorial but don't fancy sewing your own cloud, now's your chance :)

Saturday, 21 April 2012

How To: Felt Cloud Mobile

We've had lots of "April Showers" this week, so it seemed like a good time to share a tutorial for making a fun felt rain-cloud mobile. It's a perfect craft project for a rainy afternoon! 


There's two versions to choose from...

A happy cloud with cute button raindrops:



Or a sparkly cloud decorated with lots of sequins:



Or you can skip the decoration completely and make a simple mobile from plain felt shapes. (I decorated one side of my mobile with a smiley face & buttons, and the other side with sequins).

To make your mobile you will need...
- the templates provided at the bottom of this post
- turquoise or other blue felt to make raindrops
- grey or white felt for the cloud
- matching blue and grey/white sewing thread
- white or light blue ribbon
- polyester stuffing or felt/fabric scraps
- sewing scissors, pins, a needle

- for the happy cloud you will also need pretty blue buttons, black or navy blue embroidery thread/floss and a large needle
- for the sparkly cloud you will also need turquoise or other blue sequins, and a selection of silver sequins

1) Use the templates provided to cut out two cloud shapes from grey or white felt, and lots of blue raindrops. You'll need two teardrop-shaped pieces for each raindrop you want on your mobile (I cut out 14 shapes to make 7 raindrops).



2) Decorate one cloud shape - this will become the front of your mobile.

For the happy cloud, cut out two small blue circles to form the eyes and sew them in place with a couple of small stitches of dark embroidery thread/floss (black or navy blue). Use more of the embroidery thread to backstitch a smile. You could sew the smile freehand or draw it on in pencil first and then sew over the pencil line.

For the sparkly cloud, just sew on lots of silver sequins. You could use all one size and shape, or an assortment like I have, and use as many or as few sequins as you like in whatever arrangement you fancy! Use grey or white thread and three stitches per sequin. 

If you want to plan out the sequin arrangement before you sew them in place, lay out your sequins on the second felt cloud shape or the cloud template and transfer them to the first cloud shape one by one as you sew them in place. 


3) Decorate half your raindrops - either with blue buttons or blue sequins. Use matching blue thread to sew them in place, using three stitches per sequin and two or three stitches with double thickness thread per button.




4) Cut a length of narrow blue or white ribbon, fold it over to form a loop and sew it in place to the back of your decorated cloud piece using thread to match the felt cloud. I used 6mm wide ribbon & cut a piece of ribbon approx 32cms long.

Use whip stitches and sew slightly into the felt instead of all the way through it so your stitches don't show through on the front. Alternatively you can sew the ribbon loop to the undecorated backing cloud piece - make sure you sew it to the side which will be hidden when the two cloud shapes are sewn together!



5) Then cut three pieces of ribbon to sew your raindrops onto (I cut three 25cm lengths of ribbon). Make sure you include enough so your ribbon can overlap onto the felt cloud shape!

Arrange the raindrops how you want them, and then sew them in place along the ribbon. First sew the ribbon to one raindrop shape using thread to match the raindrops. As with sewing the loop to the cloud, use whip stitch sewing into the felt instead of through it.


Then put the second raindrop shape in place and sew them together by whip stitching around the edge with more matching thread. Finish your stitching as neatly as possible at the back of the raindrop, then move onto the next raindrop...



6) You should now have three strands of ribbon, with felt raindrops sewn onto them. Pin the ribbons in place so they're hanging from the bottom of one of your cloud pieces. It doesn't matter which cloud piece you sew them to, just make sure the decorate side of the raindrops is facing towards the side which will be the front of your mobile.


Sew the ribbons in place with whip stitch, remove the pins and trim any excess.



7) Put the front and back cloud pieces together so the "right" sides are facing outwards (i.e. the sides you want visible when the mobile is finished) and pin them together. Use matching white or grey thread to whip stitch around the edges (or use blanket stitch if you prefer) leaving a gap large enough for adding the stuffing in the next step.



8) Stuff the cloud lightly with polyester stuffing or small scraps of felt or fabric - just enough to give the cloud a nice shape without becoming overstuffed. I added small pieces of stuffing bit by bit to make sure each curve of the cloud had a bit of padding in it, and to ensure the cloud was evenly stuffed.

Then sew up the hole with more whip stitching (or blanket stitching) and finish your stitches neatly at the back. And you're finished!



Remember that all mobiles should be hung well out of reach of young children, and that if you hang your mobile in direct sunlight the felt will fade over time.

Double click the template / click to open it in a new tab / or click here in order to view it full size and print. To print the templates full size, make sure to set the image to print at 100% and your page to be "landscape".


This tutorial is for non commercial use only: you can use it for as many mobiles as you like for yourself or as gifts for friends but please don't make any for sale. It's okay to borrow a few photos if you want to blog about this project, but remember to credit me and link back to the original source, and do not reproduce my entire tutorial on your site or sell it in any form. Thanks!

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