I didn't slack off in march honestly!

So due to most of the things I made in march being presents for Gareth's birthday, I had to hold out on uploading photos off them for a little while. So I have not failed already in being more crafty this year, just been doing it in secret =).

1. First up, camera case =).

He wanted one so that he could put his camera in his bag rather then carrying a camera bag around. So this camera print fabric from fabric rehab (http://fabricrehab.co.uk/fabrics/cameras-jewel/)  was perfect =)  they were much bigger then I was expecting though.

Here's just a couple of pictures of the process I pretty much just drew around it on all sides and added a seam allowance. 

Then added a couple of layers of felt to the inside piece to give it some padding. 

And then did the same for the outside and added it to it con-sealing the felt in between the layers. 

Then adding a piece to go over the back and using Velcro so it can be easily opened and closed. 

2. This wasn't really a birthday present, more it annoys me when extra bags are used when they aren't needed.... I think this comes form working in a shop and people requesting separate bags when there goods will clearly fit in one bag.

 
















What could it be?

Why its a tote bag that folds away into itself =) with a little zip pocket on the outside ...to keep an emergency £5 in maybe?

And it was surprisingly easy to make =).

I found this on Pinterest a little while ago and new id make one some day, ill probably make more soon....

Here's where you can find the very good and easy to follow instructions from Sew mama Sew http://www.sewmamasew.com/2011/05/wallet-to-tote-on-the-go-tutorial/.

It came out smaller then I was hoping for, ill have to adjust the pattern next time to make larger ones.

That's all for now, still have more to catch up on though =). 

Hopefully the first of many

So in my re-found love for sewing I decided to to make myself a skirt... one of the (hopefully) easier pieces of clothing to attempts first =) 

  I chose this 2286 Learn-to-sew pattern by simplicity as even though I have made a dress before it was 6+ years ago when I was doing a fashion and textiles course at college. Where we had guidance through out the whole process and I haven't made anygthing since. I also liked that it had pockets =)

Also instead of doing A or B I combined them so that my skirt had pockets and the ribbon trim around the bottom, mainly as my fabric was quite patterned so I figured it would break up the pattern more =) -reducing the girly-flowery-ness of it (a bit).

 Closer picture of the pockets and little bow on the bottom.

Over all this was fairly simple to make, although the measurements told me to make a size 12, and it turned out far too big as I thought it would do, either I did smaller seam allowances then I should have or the fact I had to tighten the elastic allot was meant to happen. 

Might try one of the double layered ones next time .... or one of the other 3 patterns I have to try. 

Button tree cushion

So finished all my work for my deadline today last night, and figured I would complete one of those many planned but never happened projects - Button tree!!!! (cushion).

I've had the idea for this for a very long time now - the initial inspiration for this came from this button tree card -

http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/craft-idea/button-tree-card/IDEA01749 

which there is a picture of above our button fixture at work. 

I had also decided a while ago i wanted to do something with the spotty fabric as I love the colour so much =D 

So wala button tree cushion idea was born =) I also decided to sew on a my buttons for extra security - and here it is:

I looked around for basic tree outlines and then altered one I liked the shape of so that the branches weren't so wispy. 

For the cushion cover I used this video as a guide 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhZnHhbcN-Q

Although I gave my self a much larger seam allowance and also a larger over lap at the back.  I've used this before and found that the cushion has open apart at the back with the smaller over lap showing the filling. Might even add more buttons to the back to prevent this....

Instructable for this can be found here :  http://www.instructables.com/id/Button-tree-cushion/

Knitted hand warmers complete at last =)

So I found this instructable a while before x-mas and planned to make some for friends =) ...... it didn't happen instead I finally competed a pair by February and now I'm keeping them. 

http://www.instructables.com/id/Knitted-Fingerless-Gloves/

 I used what I think are 2.25mm double ended needless... (guessing from the previous projects I've used them four as I have no idea) And Regia 4 ply mosaik sock yarn in Istanbul colour. I had this wool in my stash, and had no idea how it would turn out when knitted but i actually really like the finished mish-mash of colour pattern =) hence why I'm keeping them. I still have another ball of this left and probably about a 3rd of the one i used... so could get about 3 pairs out of two balls if you felt like it ....

Planning to wear them over my touch screen gloves for extra toasty-ness =) bring on the snow!!!!!

Nintendo Ds Game Case

A whole day off and nothing to do. Time to complete one of those sewing projects that's on the to do list!

So today's creation is an easy to transport Ds game holder, that folds away nicely to a little bigger then my hand (and my hands are pretty tiny). 

It's sort of quilted but not really, it has a layer of felt in the middle just to make it a bit sturdier, and I did make my own binding tape to go around the edges, not that my sewing it on came out the neatest.  

 It can easily hold 16 games - even though I currently only have 3 ..... And I've spaced my pockets out quite a bit. The plastic pockets are made from an old clear pencil case. The idea from this came from this post on Instructables - 

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Case-for-Your-DS-Lite-Games/

 

I just tweaked it a little making it smaller and adding a button and ribbon to it so that I can fold it away. 

Now to buy more games to fill it with =)

Pinwheel pincushion

So I got to finish work an hour and half early this evening. So what to do with my evening? I've wanted a new pin cushion for ages as the one I had is very old and faded and believe it or not full of holes.... So I figured I would treat myself and make a new one =)








It was very simple to do I used the 2 1/2" half square big shot die for the top pin wheel pattern and a 4" square big shot die for the bottom. 


my pin wheel didn't line up perfectly but it's my first one so after two attempts i accepted what I had. 

also my corners aren't turned out perfectly =(. I forgot to cut the excess of the seams and couldn't be bothered to turn it inside out again as the hole I left to do so was tiny...... Lesson learnt for next time.

After throwing out all the slightly gluey pins from years of unblocking glue bottles I still have a LOT of pins left ....poor cushion starting to look like a hedgehog.....

Oh and I managed to consume a whole packet of jaffa cakes whilst doing this, so its a good thing my resolution is to be more crafty and not cut out the chocolaty goodness.....

Additions to squirtle

So after creating the case I needed a way to take extra hands with me to.

And so I've hand sewn two little pockets onto the back of his head.

My only regret is I didn't think of this sooner and integrated the pockets into his shell...  But never mind. 

But it works well :) - thank you gareth for the suggestion