craftjuice

shiny new top

Needing a nice new top for work, I made this shiny new top a few weeks ago. I cut a pattern from an existing Esprit shirt I have that I absolutely adore - flowing sleeve, slash neck, fitted at the waist. Perfectly me (although a few more sit-ups are in order me thinks!).  I've had this fabric for years sitting around that I rescued from a remnant bin - it's shiny and stretchy and perfect for this pattern.  I've worn it a couple of times with a 50's style knee length skirt and wide belt to work with my patent leather heels - love it.  I think I might buy some nice jersey and make a few more for Summer - only takes an hour or so to whip up as the back is the same as the front.

Now I just need a good A-line skirt pattern...any suggestions for a good one? (And I know Eileen is going to say, just draft your own, and I know you've shown me how, but I'm too scared!)

happy birthday mum!

At the risk of my Mum peeping at my blog in the next two hours before I head over to her house, here's two Ikea fabric tablecloths (loving the new range!) I've made Mum for her birthday today. 

Mum and Dad have just built a new awesome deck onto the back of their house and so I thought I'd make these to brighten up the outdoor furniture and so mum can 'keep it nice'.  I love the big grevillea-like yellow bursts - I thought that would be a good one for a cheery breakfast. And the fruity-leafy one for casual lunching perhaps.

Whilst at the temple-of-Swedish-design, I also picked her up some lovely candle holders and candles to pop all around her new outdoor area as well.  I'm pretty sure she's going to love them.

Happy Birthday Mum!  I love you!

scrabble ring and cuff link tutorial

 

Here's some shiny word nerd scrabble rings and cuff links I made over the weekend and finished off today.  They took a bit of trial and error, but they all worked out very well in the end - I was very pleased with them.  I've had quite a few requests for these since I've been wearing my own scrabble ring, so thought I should learn how to do it.

So you can craft your own ring, cuff link or brooch, I've made a tutorial here to show you what I did.

Enjoy!

messin with resin

Remember these?

The N ring is my favourite ring ever. Even though it's only worth one point (surely The N is worth more than that!?). It is amazing how many scrabble freaks walk among us. I wear it every day and get lots of lovely comments about it (usually followed with the phrase "oh, I love scrabble" in hushed tones) and people often ask if I made it. Nooo...

But I thought, well, why not give it a try? And so over the past few weeks, I've been buying up supplies and today bought some resin mix from Spotlight to cover the top of the tiles. 

This is pretty serious crafting. First I coated each tile in sealant. Then you mix two liquids together to get the resin and need to observe all manner of safety precautions - scarily, something I usually give no thought to when operating my sewing machine, using pointy knitting needles or running with scissors.  I found an old squeezy bottle to pour the resin in which made it very easy to squirt onto the tiles. It came out all bubbly, but after checking this tutorial, I knew to grab a trusty bendy straw and blow the bubbles out and it seemed to work quite well.

I've done a test batch and done them in different thicknesses to see what works best. I've popped them in the oven (lint free environment) and will check them after 24 hours to see how they went.  I think it's 48 hours to harden. If they turn out, I'll make another batch into rings and cuff links for my 'word nerd' friends.

(I'm pleased to report I didn't get any resin on my person, table, child or dog.)

button 'necklace' t-shirt

This week I had bought Miss M an extra little plain long sleeved shirt and thought I might jazz it up a bit with a button 'necklace'.

I stitched the 'necklace' on in running stitch with embroidery floss - it was a bit tricky as the shirt was so stretchy (you can see a few loose stitches there) but when she puts it on, it stretches out flat nicely.  I then just tied on a selection of colourful buttons like jewels and also added a 'bracelet' around the sleeve to match.

This is so easy and quick to do - Miss M and I had lovely fun with all my buttons on the floor and selecting which ones to go onto the shirt.

Miss M said it was "beautiful mum" and wanted to wear it the next day!

piggy purse

I've been dying to try out Nosey Nest's free piggy bank purse pattern and downloaded this freebie ages ago waiting for the right fabric.

The lovely Jacqui sent me two beautiful squares of Japanese linen - one pink and the other an adorable piggy design, plus some brown braid - perfect for this project! I finally made it up a few weeks ago.

Here's the back...

Here's the lining...(SO cute)

And little piggy snout...

oink! oink!

urban flannel quilt

With Mr B in San Diego and Miss M having a sleepover at Nannie and Peepa's after a long day at the  Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary (photo of Miss M and large snake around neck to come...) left to my own devices, I decided to keep my hands and mind busy today finish my Urban Flannel quilt.

I bought this beautiful and soft Urban Flannel material (designed by Valori Wells) at Peppermint Stitches and I topped up my backing flannel stash at Sew Sassy Boutique on Etsy.

There were eight large 30cm wide strips in a lovely jelly roll tied up with string - who could resist!? Such lovely colours and patterns (they also have it in blue, green and orange colourways). I loved the patterns so much I couldn't cut them up, so just sewed them together in large strips.  I used the little bird pattern for the backing.

Here's me sewing it up today...

To quilt I just 'stitched in the ditch' and then did one line of straight sewing at random intervals across each strip. My needle is a little fluffy...

I loved handsewing the binding on. It took me three hours of Channel V's 100 best hits of the 90's (Nirvana was number 1 with Smells Like Teen Spirit).

And I couldn't resist making a matching pillowcase! It ended up being a very efficient use of my fabric.

The quilt turned out very nicely - it ended up 105cm wide x 190cm long - single bed size.  A bit big for Miss M's converted cot bed, but I just tucked the excess under...

What do you think? I love it. And it's so soft and comfy - I might steal it to what TV on the couch tonight! 

And a lovely surprise for when Miss M gets home tomorrow.

Postscript: When Miss M saw her new bed set she exclaimed "OH my GOODNESS! It's wonderful! Thank you mummy - its beautiful!" and then went on to closely examine every pattern on the quilt. No better reward full of love than that :)

REread brooches

At the recent BrisStyle Market, I picked up a set of two owly brooches from this fine young Brisbane craftster, RERead.  One says 'it's' and the other says 'lovely'  - lovely. Each brooch is handmade from old children's books and other materials.

Due to high demand, her Etsy shop only has a few pieces at the moment, but you can check out her blog and see some of her other fantastic creations.  Best of all, RERead is giving away this lovely 'Harky!' bird brooch this month...head over and leave a comment!

Also available at the MoB Store at Brisbane City Hall...

birdcage cushions

This week I made these 'birdcage' cushion covers from some great graphical Ikea fabric.  I cut a 49cm square from the fabric and  used a bird applique template from one of my Marie Claire Idees books, cut in some red cotton, and machine stitched around.  Then I put in a zip on one side and sewed around. Wha la!

They were for a gorgeous girl at work who has had a really rough year so far, but just bought herself a lovely new apartment in the city. She is going for a black/white design look and I thought these would look nice. I designed them for her - a little bird feathering her nest and leaving the past behind to explore the world with new found confidence.

I was so pleased she really liked them!

toddler backpack tutorial video and pdf

My gorgeous and talented friend Jacqui has posted a fantastic video and PDF tutorial on how to make one of her great toddler backpacks!

Jacqui lives in Japan with her beautiful family and has a fantastic shop Mee A Bee on Etsy!  All Jacqui's great bags and products are very kid friendly in design and are always in the most lovely fabrics. As she has two boys, she always has some great 'boy-friendly' designs and patterns - which I know are hard to find!

Watch her video and make one of these great bags.  They would be awesome for a swimming bag, library bag, birthday gift or just to carry around all that kid stuff!