Felt Novelties Part 2

It was a colleagues 50th birthday recently at work, and her immediate work mates had clubbed together to buy her a Radley Handbag.  Of course I was inspired by the Scottie Dog logo, and set about making a bag charm.  Using a pattern from a previous project, I cut out 2 halves in contrasting colours and blanket stitched them together and was going to leave it flat, but in the end decided to lightly stuff it.

I didn't like it left plain, so I cut out the felt hearts and embroidered them on to the sides, and chose the beads for the eyes.

Finally I made the collar and lead out of a piece of fine ribbon and attached to a lobster claw.

Wendy seemed really pleased with her Scottie Dog and hung it straight onto her handbag!

The photos were taken with my mobile phone at work as I forgot to take a picture at home.

Sarah xx

Handmade Felt Novelties Part 1

I sat on the sofa one evening and was inspired by my daughters notebook which had owls on it.  I started by sketching a rough idea, and then got out my wool mix felt to select the colours.

The main colours are blue and pink with big yellow felt and black embroidered eyes. I sewed all the parts together with a blanket stitch and stuffed it lightly with hollowfibre! The little beck stands slight proud, which was achieved by sewing the sides closer together so the beak was pushed out.

I think I need to do a little more to the wings and tail feathers, and will probably add some coloured felt feathers and embroider them on some how... another job for when I'm sat on the sofa watching tv.

I'm quite pleased with myself for making my own design instead of copying someone elses!

Sarah xx

Fabric Strawberries (Pin Cushions!)

Another thing I have been meaning to make for ages is Fabric Strawberries.  I'm sure I have seen lots on t'internet... but I decided to follow this pattern from Embroideroo.

Again I have used red fleece and also made one out of normal fabric.... just to see how it turned out.  I found the fleece lent itself very well as it has a little more give in it to shape itself to a strawberry.  The fabric one turned out well too, but the fleece is very tactile.

Attaching the felt leaves gave me an opportunity to use my hot glue gun, and I was rather pleased with the result, although I could do with a bit more practice with the gluing and rolling up the stem without getting the glue all over my fingers and everywhere else. I am still toying with making some more and adding some embroidered pips to the fleece version.

Sarah xx

Toadstool House

Something I have come across whilst blog hopping, is lots of delightful Toadstool Houses. I finally got around to making one a week or so ago. I used a pattern by The Little House by the Sea but substituted the red felt for fleece.  I also made up my own Door, Window and Greenery!

It took me a couple of hours, but I really enjoyed this project.

Sarah xx

Two More Scottie Dogs

I know I have revisited a couple of old projects again recently, but I like to make things again to try different methods or materials.

I made the white Scottie Dog exactly the same as the black one I first made (here) just because I enjoyed making it and wanted to make another one.

However, I made the Purple Scottie differently in 2 ways.  1 I made it smaller to see if it was fiddlier and 2 because I have bought some wool mix felt and I wanted to see how it made up into something. (The black and white Scotties are 100% Acrylic Felt).  The purple Scottie, was a little more fiddlier to make, but the purple wool felt made up lovely, and feels nice and soft.

And now I have a family of Scottie Dogs!

Sarah xx

Its Been Sooooooo Long..... But I Have Been Busy and Fabric Caddies

I have neglected my blog for a while, but I have been very busy.  I have been reading everyone else's blog's and have been inspired by all the makes.

One of the things I was dying to make was the fabric caddies which have been featured by lots of people on their blogs and in a magazine or two!

After a quick nose in a magazine at the craft shop, I went home and drew up my own pattern and  measurements etc, and I was quite surprised how quick and easy they were to make.

The outer fabric is from Dunelm Mill and the inner is cream felt. 

I've made a couple of each for now!

More soon!

Sarah xx

Scottie Dog

Whilst Blog hopping the other day, thanks to Nuttybabe I came across this lovely Scottie Dog Pattern. I immediately book marked it for a  future make.  However, I couldn't wait and I cut out the pattern and hand stitched it.

 I just had enough stuffing to fill it and finished it off with a gingham bow.

I had put small bead eyes on him, but decided to change them for the googly eyes.

Can't wait to make another one!


Sarah xx

Handmade Felt Doll

Whilst browsing the internet looking for things for my daughter to make out of felt, I came across this pattern for a felt doll http://nuno-runo.blogspot.com/2009/11/fashion-doll.html

I showed it to my daughter and she liked it, so between us we have made it. I made the doll and my daughter made the clothes.

We cut the felt pieces slightly larger than the pattern printed them. Its all hand sewn using a small blanket stitch and the eyes are two small beads.

If you are interested in Doll Making, the author of the Nuno Doll Blog has a website with all kinds of dolls and doll patterns http://dollmaker.nunodoll.com/

We really enjoyed making the doll, and it was really nice to work on a project with my daughter.

Sarah xx

Felt Tooth Fairy Pillows

I have really enjoyed making things out of felt lately. It seems to be a bit of a trend, in the crafting world (or maybe I'm just catching on). My Tooth Fairy pillows have been one of the most popular items on my craft stall and in my Misi shop. I decided to make a version in Felt.

I have managed to sell a couple before I managed to take a photo. However I have one left at the moment.

The felt on the reverse is the same colour as the pocket!

Sarah xx

Felt Butterfly Hanger Tutorial

After seeing one of my Felt Birdies, I was asked to make a felt butterfly for a girls bedroom. As I made a start I decided to make a photo record of my progress and perhaps make a tutorial... So here goes.

This is the finished item, although I was losing daylight when I took this photo, so its not the best...

Step 1. Gather the items needed.

Butterfly template. (Find a shape you like on the internet and trace it)

Felt in co-ordinating colours,

Embroidery thread again in co-ordinating colours. I split mine into 3 strands.

Felt shapes to embelished, I used shapes from a pack bought in Tesco, but you could cut out your own.

Seed and Bugle beads to decorate.

Stuffing. (Hollowfibre or toy stuffing is fine).

Ribbon to hang

Pins and Needle and Sewing Thread

2. Pin template to felt and cut out butterfly. I cut 1 in a light mauve and 1 in dark mauve.

3. Sew the felt shapes on in a symetrical design using a small running stitch. Cut a long piece of felt for the butterfly body, shaping as desired (rounding the ends etc.,) and sew using blanket stitch in the middle of the butterfly.

4. Sew Bugle and seed beads in place, again following the symetrical design.

5. Take the 2nd butterfly shape place behind the first, making sure they line up neatly.

6. Pin the two pieces together and sew through them around the butterfly body, taking care not to let the stitches show on the front.

7. Starting at the bottom middle, using a blanket stitch, start to sew through the two layers of felt, around one of the wings.

8. When you reach the top of the wing, attach the ribbon by incorporating it between the felt layers with the blanket stitch.

9. Stuff the wing lightly before completely sewing the wing shut. Repeat steps 7 and 8 for the other wing.

10. The reverse side should look like this.

11. The finished butterfly.

Let me know if anything is unclear and I will endeavour to help you out.

Felt Hair Slides

Another thing I have come across on my Blog Hopping is normal metal hair slides and clips converted into lovely hair accessories. I finally got around to buying some plain clips this week, and after viewing many tutorials and articles I made some... to my own design.

The top one is the first one I made and like most of the ones I've seen, has the motive on the end. This one is made from the metal hair slides that snap shut! I decided to be a bit different with the middle ones and sew the motive in the middle.

The bottom ones are made with Curl Clips or Alligator Clips. Ribbon is glued around the clip and then the design is glued to the clip.

I think both clip styles are equally effective and I might just make a few to sell on my craft stall!

Here are a few of the web pages where I got my inspriation...

http://www.purlbee.com/rose-barrettes/

http://angrychicken.typepad.com/angry_chicken/2007/06/this_house_is_w.html

http://weefolkart.com/?q=node/293

http://shop.giddygiddy.com/ This last site is selling their Felt hair clips, but the designs are fantastic and vast!

Sarah xx

Some More Crafty Pictures

Just a few more pictures of items I've made...

This is the 2nd Cupcake, the first one had dark brown cake and white cream and was bought at the School Fete last Saturday.

This is the Sarubobo baby with keyring attachment.

A felt flower... this originally had a face, but I didn't like it when I had finished, so unpicked it and embroidered on the dots.

Another felt birdie, black and white with a small card in the pocket!

Sarah xx

More Birdies

I've spent the most of the day making Birdies.

I had to go shopping this morning, and bought some cheap embroidery thread off the market for 20p a skein. A bargain, but I was a bit worried it was sub-standard, however I made the red one with this thread and it was fine!

I particularly like orange with green thread... I thought the colours contrasted nicely when I was sorting out the felt and embroidery thread. I also liked the pattern on the orange one, so repeated it for the pink one.

I'm having a stall at a school fete on Saturday, so I thought I might print some small thank you cards to go in the pockets... thinking teachers gifts.... maybe...

xx

Embroidered Felt Birdies

Whilst browsing the internet I've often come across Embroidered Felt Birds, so I decided to make my own. So I drew a template and made the first one... of course being me, I decided the first one wasn't quite right, so the second one is slight altered... I've left the top of the wing un-attached from the body so it forms a pocket... might put a note or little something in there???

I'm still working on a few design ideas, with scraps of felt I've got, so will post some more pics soon!