A few knitted stitches

are being done here amongst the sewing.


Toe up, two at a time socks

This photo was taken at the weekend and they have grown since then. The yarn is Knit Picks 'Essential Tweed' in Plum which I think is discontinued now. It came from deep in my stash and was a present from my friend CL in Canada a few years ago. It's a lovely soft yarn but hopefully will be strong due to the 25% nylon content. I'm using 2mm needles for a nice dense fabric.

Upcycling

When I first got my sewing machine last year for my birthday I really wanted to sew but to be honest I didn't really know where to start. I'd had a crafty weekend with Arianwen a couple of years before & made a Simple Tote from Simple Sewing by Lotta Jansdotter and also a very basic baby quilt (which still isn't finished) and another friend gave me a couple of lessons but that was the extent of my experience. I started collecting pretty fabric but it's expensive and when you don't know what you're doing quite daunting to cut into.

So I was fortunate to discover that a local charity for Creative Play for children & young people has 'upcycled ' fabric available for a small cost. My 15 year old daughter is studying Art at school and we went to kit her out with supplies and materials and I came back with a bag of fabrics. Most are from sample books of upholstery fabrics and if not reused in this way would probably go to landfill. This gave me the freedom to play with my sewing machine and enabled me to learn a lot. The Door stops in my last post were made with upholstery fabric that I got there and I'll be giving them the yellow one plus some other things I've made soon for display purposes to inspire others.

The Upcycling of fabric really appeals to me. Resources for it's manufacture, dyes etc have already been used so my crafting has minimal impact on the environment and it also saves money which is always important. With this in mind I've also been scouring charity shops as I want to make a quilt for our Super King bed and have found duvet covers to be a wonderful source of material:


100% Cotton Double Duvet cover originally from Ikea cost £5


100% Cotton King sized Duvet cover with 2 pillow cases originally from M&S cost £5


100% Cotton Double Duvet cover with 2 pillow cases cost £3

It's bizarre that every cotton duvet cover I've found so far is pink and green as these are the colours I want to use in my quilt. I've found polycotton covers in other colours but I only want 100% cotton fabrics.

I also found this skirt a few years ago before I started sewing but I'm sure you can understand why I bought it:


Lady bird skirt from Get Cutie

Lastly I'm going to leave you with a teaser of one of the items I've made to donate to the charity mentioned above:


will be revealed soon

Which one would you like?

This post is for Arianwen but I'd also love to hear what other readers think.

I've been playing with my sewing machine and some 'upcycled' heavy weight upholstery fabrics recently & couldn't resist trying the Door Stop pattern from Simple Sewing by Lotta Jansdotter:


green fabric door stop

or this one?

yellow fabric door stop

The first would compliment your carpets and the second your newly upholstered suite.

The flower details are really pretty:


yellow flowers


green flowers

So Arianwen would you like a door stop to prevent cats getting trapped in a room? Or (like cats) do you even have room in your home for more than one?

More Grumpy Fish

Last weekend I made a little extra present for my MIL's birthday to go with her Grumpy Fish Travel Organiser.


Drawstring bag

I thought that a little drawstring bag would be really useful when travelling to keep essentials together in a handbag or rucksack. This was the first time that I'd used the button hole function on my sewing machine and it's so easy!


close up of button hole

Now to learn how to make a drawstring bag with a circular base.....

Caroline's Crochet Hook Case

This is the last of the handmade Christmas presents that I made:


Crochet Hook Case

I started with this pattern and made myself a prototype. However it wasn't exactly what I was looking for so I changed a few things:

Caroline uses Clover Soft Touch hooks so I made it wider to accommodate the bulkier hooks.


Crochet Hook Case for Clover Soft Touch hooks

I also added an extra set of pockets to accommodate her hook collection as it grows:


Crochet Hook Case with double pocket

and the pockets on the right are wider to holder the bigger sizes:


Crochet Hook Case

I also had to angled the top flap due to the bulky nature of the hooks:


Crochet Hook Case open

as I didn't want fabric sticking out when it was folded up:


Crochet Hook Case with flap down

Finally I added fabric ties rather than a button as I thought it was more secure and less hassle when using it.

The verdict was that's it's perfect for her needs and she loves it



However I wish I'd bought more than half a metre of the fabrics....

Some knitting for a change

My mojo deserted me for a while (again) but at last I have finished something:


Jacques Cousteau Hat for DH

Pattern: Jacques Cousteau Hat
Yarn: Wendy Mode DK in Denim shade 227
Needles: 3.5mm
Time taken to knit: November 8th 2010 to January 15th 2011


Jacques Cousteau Hat decrease

I made him another hat last winter and although nice to look at it wasn't deep enough for him as he wants to be able to protect his neck on early morning walks with the dogs and this fits the bill.

I've also cast on for something else:


Purple toes....

Stop Press

There is a knitted Finished Object in the blueadt house!

Washing and blocking needs to be carried out before photographic evidence can be provided but the rumour has been confirmed by a reputable source.

So in the meantime


Frankie says Relax.....