Finished

Cushions are done, Just need to hand stitch the bottom opening closed.
I think they turned out OK.
My knitting needle roll finished.
I am happy with the way they turned out. Time to clean the sewing machine then lunch, then off to Spotlight for some fleecy fabric and then back to charity sewing. I am having a lovely day, i hope you are too.

Swap Angel

This is the two packages i made and have posted out to two people who did not receive their gifts from swaps they were in, and i decided to become their Angel Swap Partners. This is a swap where i don't get a package back, but made for just because! I think that most people when they enter an internet based exchange hope that they receive something but sometimes things do not turn out right and i felt sad to hear of bad stories and this was one that i read about, and being that they were both in Australia i felt i could help. They have my Thumb Pin Cushions, I hope they get in touch with me if they don't know what they are! they are made in the colours of their choosing. I hope they like them!

Swap Partners

This is the first thing i have made after my drastic clean out. This is a scissor holder complete with scissors and a pin holder with pins, all on a pink ribbon to have around your neck. The first of the 4 Internet Swap Partners i have this year. I hope she will like it!

More Paper

This is a sample of the paper i made yesterday


this is what it looked like this morning.
I tore the paper in half, turned one side over to show how they look on both sides.
i did some finely, some more coarsely some thick and some thin.

Paper

This is the paper from yesterday, it has dried quite nicely, this is from both sides, a little too much texture but not bad for a first attempt.

This is the rosemary from our front garden
I will be making the paper again but this time keeping it simple, just use one colour for the sheets and add colour and texture with plant material after it has been pulped. I should get better results this time around.
The same rosemary just stripped from the stems.

Handmade Paper

this is a sample of the first try out batch of paper. I have learnt a lot here,
1. It is a messy thing!, I had completely forgotten this.
2. Don't do too much all at once,
3. Add the extra fibres AFTER pulped.
4. Gold paper turns grey.


I have put the paper aside to dry over night, then if it is still damp then i will iron it. I have cleaned it all up, and watered my plants! well, the apple tree and looking forward to doing it all again tomorrow after reading more on the subject.
Most important thing is that i had fun.

Swap

I made this for the Christmas Tree Decoration Swap.
I also made 5 of my Thumb Pincushions for the Pincushion Swap (no picture) but you have seen them before.
It was great fun and one i will be happy to do again, All the swaps were different, all were great to see.

What I Have Been Making Today

This is the start of a pincushion for a swap at out Christmas Party using left over fabric from my dolls dresses.
The pin cushion is almost finished, the Trees are made in the same way as i had posted before but much simpler. They need to be sewn together down the middle, all 3 layers then stuffed and embellished, i will do that tomorrow. These are for our Christmas Party decorations at ACDA
These two miniatures when they are finished are going to be swap gifts. They need decorating.
I have enjoyed my break from the dolls today, Almost like a Holiday. I know the quality of the pictures are not so good because it is quite late, and day light is the best time to show pictures, but i needed a break and here they are.

Quicky Table Decoration

This is a variation on a table decoration i made for our Christmas party at our cloth doll club last year. Draw a tree template pattern piece, I chose cardboard folded in half and drew a tree. Cut out and open up. You have the center line already made. Trace this onto doubled fabric right sides together.
Do this two times more, trim, leaving an opening in the bottom for turning and stuffing. Remember to clip corners and points.
Turn right sides out. Pin all the layers together and sew right down the middle.
Stuff each segment I found it easier to do a little on each one filling the points as you go.
Bottom view of the tree stuffed. hand sew the openings closed.
Table top decoration finished. Now all you need to do is make a couple more and do them different sizes and embellish them how you want, beads and buttons come to mind.

Dog Bed

One of my sons friends came round with their dog the other day and left her tied up under the front veranda and i thought to myself, She needs a mat to lay on. So here it is. Using what i had on hand I made her one. It measures 60cm by 95cm.
The inside is foam padding covered with wool blanket, i then sewed them all together sandwich style using my over locker.
Then i made a cotton and plastic mat slip cover that has a taped enclosure so that it can be removed for cleaning easily. Nice and soft and cushion y, much better than the hard concrete veranda.

The Scream

This is a hand puppet i made for my sons' girlfriend, for her Art room when they were doing expressionism in particular Edvard Munch The Scream. The black body is made of speaker felt, a very thick material used in covering speakers. the rest is made of felt.

I Made This!

My sons boots. I think it is called refashioning. They were a pair of Swede trousers from the opp shop and i cut them up and turned them up side down, chopped the top off and sewed them wrong sides to right sides for the turn down flap. All for a pirate costume.

Dog

This dog is called Spot. He was made from a brown coat from Savers as well as the brown fabric that started life as a mans jacket. The wool blanket stitch was from a variegated 8 ply wool. plastic safety eyes from Spotlight and his nose and claw marks black crochet cotton. Paw pads, and heart was felt fabric. made as a gift.

Art Room Makeover

These pictures are of my son's girlfriend School Art Room.
This is her first teaching post and we could not be any more happier. She is going to be AWESOME, (she already is). Where her desk is is a window. This window had nothing and so we took measurements and decided to make a hanging pocket. It has a wooden pole across the top and is attached to the frame of the window. It is also the first time i have seen it since i made it. I could not be happier the way it turned out. All the fabric in the next lot of pictures are secondhand sheets. This is what came first, by some strange magic the trim i had co-ordinated perfectly with her colour scheme.
The trim is from my own stash. It does not show up, but the pictures the centre of the trim is purple.

There is a story to go with it.
This was a roll of trim i bought when in England. I was with my step mum in a place called Dartford Market. We were going over fond memories when we saw a stall with a man looking miserable, His wares were all secondhand and it had just started snowing. He really stood out from the other more colourful stalls and i asked him how much for some trim. He told me, so I bought it. I then asked him how much for the lot! You should have seen my mums face when he told me and i said SOLD! Her jaw just dropped, and when she got over the shock and i told her why i did it, She could not stop laughing, It was really really good to see her relax like this, that in itsself was worth it. (70 pounds lighter in my pocket, all that i had) If you live in the U.K. you may know how much this is. (You can see why i am not in charge of money at home). This was about 5 or 6 years ago.

Well, 2 full black plastic garbage bags filled, He went home happy, and my mum looked 10 years younger and we were laughing. I said, there is No Way i can take this lot on a plane, i will keep a couple of bits and we will finish this expedition by taking the rest to opp shops for them to sell. Dartford had about 5 of these type shops.

We went into one and bought 3 large sports bags. So here we were, 2 large plastic bags and 3 empty sports bags sitting in a coffee shop dividing the "loot" into the 3 bags. The stuff now easier to manage we went walking to the other secondhand stores and donated a bag into each. It felt very very good. We felt like Mrs. Clause.
Back to the trim. This is the thing i decided to take home with me as a memory.

Chairs covered
After.

couch and seats were covered.
Before

The other chair covered and now i have a piece of trim left the size of a book mark and i could not be any happier.
This is what the chairs looked like before the make over.

Dolls House Continued

Dining Room Table.
Bed flat against the wall.


The stairs.

Flat lounge chair.

Lounge chair folded out.
Enough on this project for the day, I will keep you posted on the final thing later.

Fold up Dolls House

What is this?


and this?

It is a work in progress.. A fold up dolls house that is going to have fold up furniture.

At the moment it is just in the preliminary stage. The walls, floors and roof are made using cereal packet cardboard, too flimsy for the final product. It needs more furniture, No kitchen or toilet yet. the doors are not finished but i like to share what i have done right now.
The bed is made, the shower, a lounge chair and a dining room table. The stairs are done too.
It all folds up like an old fashioned Christmas tree decoration. The inspiration for this is my idea of portable and post able. (i want to send it overseas). The furniture is attached to the walls using velcro to enable you to move them around. It all joins together using the clips or hooks you find on trousers.

Using my new camera i am very happy with how the pictures look. This first picture is the Jumpers for the dolls I am making to put under the Christmas tree in K Mart. 70 made so far...
This next picture is the view of where my stash is held in the place called the bar. Notice the cat in the cat bed at the top? There are two beds here. This is on top of a childs wardrobe, it used to belong to my daughter when she was little. She is now in her mid 20s.
This is the large crate that the dolls and clothes go into as i do some work each day.

Just a couple of dolls so far, I will be working in earnest now that i have enough fabrics to do them.

Some examples of how i work, 10 sets of dolls dresses ready to sew. 3 sets of dolls bodies ready to turn and stuff. 10 sets of boys shirts and shorts ready to sew. This way I can vary what i do, Sometimes knitting, sometimes sewing.

Angel and Devil Chess set

This is another chess set i made and it is on two levels. This too was a gift for a friend for Christmas a couple of years ago.