2023 - No Craft Spending - I WILL bust my stash and make pretty things!!!!!

plumduff55

"Best laid plans o' mice and men gang aft agley " In other words all my plans have been put on hold. I started feeling ill on Friday and tested positive for Covid yesterday morning. This is the first time I've had Covid and can't believe I've caught it so near to Christmas 😡. Luckily everything is done except one hat to be knitted and I'm sure the recipient will be fine if they have to wait a bit for it. 

Happy crafting xx

emsi_b

Oh no @plumduff55 how awful! Hope it doesn't hit you too hard. 

I have done 3 repairs today- a bit of darning on a handmade quilt my dog chewed , a patch sewn back on a pirate tattoo t shirt I made my son, and a repair to a lavender heart that came apart. Not counting them in the makes, but I am pleased to have got them done in front of the fire this afternoon!

Cupcakecraftscuddlycanine

So sorry to hear that @plumduff55 hope you manage to recover quickly 

emsi_b

Another repair to report. Hopefully some proper makes finished tomorrow- I have finally finished my shopping and just need to wrap now! I have a day off Thursday for that, so tomorrow is just for sewing.

daisy_1571

Pink12345 said:

Thank you everyone for your lovely comments

@Soontobeoap I love the combination of fabrics in the floral quilt.  The black really makes the other colours pop. The pink quilt is equally as nice.

@plumduff55.  The cardigan for your dgd is so adorable.  The quilt for your dil is fantastic, I admire your patience in machine quilting it, as its so large and unyielding, it had to be very difficult to do, particularly on a manual machine. Bags are a lovely gift, very suitable for teenagers, as its all about the makeup. 

@emsi_b Love the origami favour boxes, so simple but effective, I am sure you will sell them all at your craft fairs. Love the 80-birthday card.

@Florenceem, hope you are feeling better and ready to craft again.

@daisy_1571 Cards are lovely, your mum is quite the artist.  I really like the Christmas bell. Do you have a pattern for it?  As I have loads of Christmas fabric and a bag full of small pieces of batting that I could use up.

@Auti The little toadstool bag is so cute.

@greentiger I sent you a pm with instructions for wreath.  I recently sorted out my room that I use to store my crafting materials and I can understand the chaos you are going through, but you will be delighted when everything is in its place.  All your makes are lovely.

I haven’t done a lot of crafting as my back was playing up.  Bending over a table to cut fabric, was not doing it any good.  So, my DH and DS drove 80 miles return and bought me a second-hand metal framed table with a wooden top, the table top was too high for me to use comfortably, so my good friend’s husband, shortened the legs for me.  It’s at a perfect height now.

I have made another set of cutlery holders, a red fabric wreath, a Christmas stocking for my DS and several drawstring bags in various sizes to suit gifts for the family.  Just one more to make.  Later today I am going to experiment, making a couple of holders for Christmas gift cards.  In MSE terms I have sewn together lots and lots of bits of batting, bit like a giant jigsaw puzzle, enjoyable as its very forgiving.  I hope to use these pieces when I start making a quilt as you go, quilt, in the New Year.

Apologies this has taken me so long.   Cut out either 4 or 6 the bell shapes in xmas, or any other fabric, matching or contrasting.  Join 2 shapes together leaving a decent gap at the bottom.   Do the same with the others.  Turn them all through and push out the seams to get the bell shape.  Press.  Lay them on top of each other with either matching or contrasting sides meeting.   Put your hanging loop in between the layers at this stage.  Sew a straight line up the centre.   I start a little way up from the (open) bottom as it gives a little more ease when you stuff and sew up.  You will also note here that you have now halved your gap for stuffing, hence proportionally you need to leave a fairly wide turning/stuffing gap.   Carefully stuff using little bits and pushing them right up to top of the bell.
Sew up opening, adding a bell or bead on a hanging ribbon to look like the clanger if you prefer. 

Mum and I made these years ago as an item at a day workshop.  We use them as door or handle hangers, mum has 3 descending sizes hung on one ribbon as a wall decoration which looks really effective.   They look so different depending on material used and how many contrasts used plus whether you sew them as a 4 leaf or a 6 leaf.  I'll add pattern pic and a pic of the 4 and the 6.

Great for using up small bits of material too and they don't take a lot of stuffing materials.  You can add a bit perfume or xmas spices to the stuffing or direct to refresh each year

Daisy xxx

daisy_1571

 You can see the pattern is very basic lol

daisy_1571

a 6 and a 4.  In the 4 each leaf was made with a red and a pattern so they make this overall design. 

daisy_1571

the same material made as a 4 and as a 6

emsi_b

I finished a T shirt for my son on Tuesday, and almost finished a blouse for me- just need to do the buttonholes and sew on the buttons. It's been a very odd pattern. Really not sure I'd make it again- it uses bias binding to bind the arm holes, but not in a normal way at all. It all ends up hidden? Very strange. And it asks for such tiny fiddly hems! I have plenty of fabric, I might try binding the armholes normally next time, and adding a bit of length to have a less tiny hem. If of course it's a nice top! 🤣 will post photos when I've braved the buttonholes.

Now at 211/200

plumduff55

Hi everyone, I'm on the mend after my bout of Covid. I felt really ill for about 3 days and was in bed most of the time but after that I picked up very quickly. Just feeling tired now but not too tired to knit 😂😂😂.

Ive finished knitting son's hat and I'm sure he's going to love it. The green yarn is chunky and the dark grey is a double thickness of dk. It's worked well and will be super warm with all the stranded wool on the back. It'll be brilliant when he's out walking his dog. 

Here's a pic