Craft Fair at St. Cuthbert's

On Saturday I was at St. Cuthbert's Hall in Bedford sharing a stall with my two chums Tracey and Gemma. We were selling some of our handmade Christmas decorations.
I was selling some crochet discs that I had stiffened and threaded with ribbons, some little birds, embroidered trees and illustrated soldier characters as hanging decorations. Gemma was selling some origami stars (one made from over 30 pieces of individually cut pieces of paper). Tracey stole the show with her amazing felt decorations. Her gingerbread men flew off the stall and even appeared in the local newspaper. They were beautifully stitched and all had gorgeous little beaded details and ribbon. The day was a success, there were lots of stalls all selling lovely gifts for Chrimbo and all made by Bedfordians.

More illustration with sewing

I'm still playing around with the sewing machine. It's rewarding to create illustrations that are tangible. I work digitally during the day, creating files through mouse, tablet and monitor screen... But ultimately creating an image that you can't hold. My designs go abroad to get printed into cards, so I seldom see let alone hold the finished product. Therefore it's quite therapeutic for me and arguably a natural reaction to my daily routine to make something perceptible by touch as well as by sight. Made directly with my own hands.

Experimenting for Christmas

This Christmas I'll be doing a craft fair with some old school friends, just for fun. I have a lot of scrap linen in my house, so I've made some quick Christmas trees which look quite cute as festive decorations. The material is thin, so I'll have to be careful with the embroidery. The hanging hearts I made a few years ago, but I think I'll make some more for the fair. Now I can use my sewing machine, I can churn a lot of these out quite quickly and neatly.

Lion Wallet Experiment

This is a coin purse I made. The image was created in photoshop and printed on heat iron transfer paper then ironed on to the linen. Overall it looks quite dull, but an image with more contrast with stronger colours would stand out against the beige background. I like the way you can see the texture of the material through the lion.

Making little coin purses was easy and fun. Having a new found confidence with a sewing machine means I will potentially be able to use illustrations in a new way. Sewing the zipper on with the zip foot was the most difficult part.

crochet scarf

Here is a picture of my new homemade scarf. It's nice and long (just over 7 ft) and it's made from 11 crocheted squares. I went to a crochet class in Bedford last year and I love sitting in front of the telly crocheting away. My sister is expecting a baby so a blanket will be made for her at some point. I've also been crocheting circles for Christmas decorations, but I need to experiment with ways to stiffen them effectively.

Owl Embroidery

I have been so lazy this summer, my blog is so out of date! Over at Bunnycup embroidery, Ashlea has been busier than ever and she has a new set of cute owls on her site. She's made them look so trendy and bright with her choice of colours. I would love one on some pjs!

Hand-Embroidered Ferret

I have been looking at some illustrations by Jenny Hart recently and it inspired me to go out and do some hand embroidery. This ferret is from my sketchbook, a drawing that developed into the ferret toy that I made. I just traced the image in pencil straight onto some material. The stitches were thick enough to cover the pencil marks. It was addictive and I'm in the process of stitching out another character from my sketchbook.

Cat embroidery designs

The latest set of Bunnycup embroidery designs have been drawn. 12 cute cats in this set in a variety of different kitty markings and situations, just need to wait and see how they stitch out!

Conceited Little Critters

I think these two have a haughty look to their hand-embroidered faces. Jack thinks they're nonchalant but I don't think they're apathetic little things... I think they're looking down their noses.

Handmade Dinosaurs

Oh no! The weather forecast for Saturday is thunder storms! Not very good for my craft stall at the summer fayre. I hope they've got their predictions all wrong.
I've photographed some of my newest critters, so I'll have lots of pictures to post over the next few weeks. I've decided to slow down with the sewing now, it's wearing me out and I think I have plenty of things for the weekend. It was a big worry for me... Not having enough items to sell. Now the problem is if people decide not to turn up because of rain! Grrr. At least if nobody shows or buys anything then I can list them on-line at my Etsy shop. I've been neglecting that for a bit, but normal service will resume by August.

Hare Plushie

Using the same material from the jumper that I made my newest dragon with I decided to have a go at making a rabbit. I used the same pattern as the fox but change it slightly. I really should have sketched more profiles of rabbits to use in the pattern before I rushed into making the toy though. His head turned out to be very fawn-like. His nose is too long, but the triangular felt shape I've sewn on the tip hopefully makes it recognisable enough for this critter to be the bunny I intended.

Handmade Hearts

With so much scrappy bits and pieces of yarn and fabric, lonely buttons, lace and broken necklace beads cluttering up the crafty corner of our miniscule flat, I thought I'd try putting these things to good use. A heart shaped decoration seemed appropriate as Valentine's Day is on the horizon. I suppose these little stuffed hearts would make pretty nifty things to put on a wrapped gift.

Felt Fox Toy

Christmas has been really busy, but I found some time to experiment with a new pattern. The fox is based on the squirrel pattern, but his nose is much longer and the dragon toy pattern. He is about 5.5 inches tall and I ended up stitching him together really quickly. You can tell I rushed the sewing a bit, but I was impatient and wanted to see if the idea would work. I think his head is a bit flat at the back., with the next one I'll try and make it rounder.

Experimental Owl Toys

Owls are everywhere in the new DIY arts and craft scene, try looking up "owls" on Etsy! Probably because the individual parts of a pattern are so easy to figure-out and they're quick to sew. Once constructed though, they look pretty kooky. That's their charm. I found it fun to try different colour cominations and patterns. These owls are of my own pattern and are hand-sewn. They took about 4 or 5 hours to make each. I want to try making different birds wearing different styles of hats in the future.

Another Dragon toy

This one is of the same pattern as the first dragon toy I made, but he's made from a sock. The material has stretched out much more, making him chubbier. His head is bigger and so this makes him look a bit like a moomin.