gifts

Sewing Tutorial: Bee Pattern Patchwork Needle Sewing Case

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More bees are buzzing in with this sewing case

I loved using The Craft Cotton Company Sewing Bumblebee fabric on my bee embroidery hoop, and after seeing the spilt pins print in the Sewing Bumblebee fat quarter set (Navy) knew I had to make a sewing case for keeping all those loose needles and pins in from a project. It was perfect for the inside section, and I used the remaining patterns in the fat quarter to make a patchwork front and back.

Fabric was gifted by The Craft Cotton Company.

The tutorial to make one is available over on The Craft Cotton Company blog

Embroidered Hoop Adventures, Part 1: Fox

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Time for some embroidered hoop making adventures, into the woodland first with this very cute fox

I have had an idea for some embroidered hoops for a while now and have finally had a chance to sit down and draw up the patterns and start getting them made. They have come together surprisingly quickly as I thought it would take a lot longer to do the stitching, this is a bonus as it means I will be able to get more made in the time I have!.   I had some green Ombre Trends fabric by The Craft Cotton Company in my stash that was perfect for my first hoop make – a little fox.

I first drew out the outline of my fox on paper and went around in a dark marker so I could see the lines through the fabric. Next I traced the outline onto my fabric in pencil. I went around these outlines using a back stitch, and next filled in these outlines using different stitch patterns.

Finishing an embroidery hoop make with felt backing:

  • Once I had completed the fox I made sure it was aligned correctly in the hoop I wanted to put it in and made sure I tightened the hoop well.
  • I cut away the excess fabric at the back 4cm from the edge of the hoop and stitched around 2cm from the edge, pulling it tight to bring in the raw edges to the middle.
  • To cover the back I cut a piece of felt slightly smaller than the hoop and stitched this onto the back.
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  • I attached a ribbon loop  (30cm) to the top of the hoop through the hoop fastening along with a ribbon bow (55cm).
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Fruity Crochet Apple Coasters Pattern – Perfect For Teachers Gifts   

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I had an idea to make some apple coasters a long time ago, way way back when I made some apple tags, but I had completely forgotten about this until recently when I came across some green wool in my stash which was the same colour as these previous tags. I wasn’t going to wait any longer to get some made in case they got forgotten about again so I got cracking and put a pattern for some together.

I opted to just make three coasters to start, a front and back and a middle piece, but you could add in more middle pieces too if you wanted a few more coasters in the set. I opted to use green but you could use red if you prefer.

Crochet Apple coasters pattern:

Materials:

  • 4 mm hook
  • Green or red Dk wool
  • Cream/white DK wool
  • Brown DK wool

For the front and back coaster:

Starting in green.

Make a magic ring, ch1, 6sc into the ring.

Round 1: 2sc into each sc in the round.

Round 2: 2sc into the next stitch, sc. Repeat around.

Round 3: 2sc into the next stitch, 2sc. Repeat around.

Round 4: 2sc into the next stitch, 3sc. Repeat around.

Round 5: 2sc into the next stitch, 4sc. Repeat around.

Round 6: sc around.

Round 7: 2sc into the next stitch, 5sc. Repeat around.

Round 8: sc sround.

Round 9: slip stitch around into each sc.

Fasten off.

For the middle apple coasters:

Starting in cream/white.

Make a magic ring, ch1, 6sc into the ring.

Round 1: 2sc into each sc in the round.

Round 2: 2sc into the next stitch, sc. Repeat around.

Round 3: 2sc into the next stitch, 2sc. Repeat around.

Round 4: 2sc into the next stitch, 3sc. Repeat around.

Round 5: 2sc into the next stitch, 4sc. Repeat around.

Round 6: sc around.

Round 7: 2sc into the next stitch, 5sc. Repeat around.

Round 8: sc sround.

Change to green.

Round 9: slip stitch around into each sc.

Round 10: slip stitch around again into the previous rows slip stitches.

Stem:

Insert the hook at the top of the apple into a row down from the last row of the apple, ch 4, slip stitch into the 2nd chain from the hook and the remaining chain stitches, slip stitch at the base.

Leaf:

Row 1: ch2, 2sc into second ch from the hook.

Row 2: ch1 (doesn’t count as a stitch) 2sc into same stitch, sc.

Row 3: ch1 (doesn’t count as a stitch) sc along row.

Row 4: ch1 (doesn’t count as a stitch) sc2tog, sc.

Row 5: ch1 (doesn’t count as a stitch) sc2tog.

sc around the edge of the leaf.

Fasten off leaving a long thread to sew a line down the centre of the leaf and to attach to the stem.

Pips

Using the brown wool sew on 4 little pips 4 rounds up from the middle of the apple.

Sewing Tutorial: Christmas Drawstring Bottle Bag

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Better solution for gifting bottles in this year rather than fighting with a piece of wrapping paper!

I always have problems wrapping up bottles as gifts, although to be honest anything that isn’t a square box tends to give me problems! I can never get the paper to look right without it tearing a few times and rather than just buying a paper bottle bag I thought I would make one.  I wanted to make something a bit different to my previous crochet bottle holder that I made so I thought I would do a fabric one using some very cute Craft Cotton Company penguin fabric.

I am really impressed with how this came out, I might do some smaller ones for some beer bottles I have as gift too – obviously I don’t have enough things I need to make in time for Christmas already!

Fabric was gifted by The Craft Cotton Company.

Drawstring bottle bag tutorial:  

Materials:

  • Christmas Fabric:
    • One piece 31cm x 29cm (Penguin pattern).
    • One piece 31cm x 9cm (zig zag pattern).
  • Scissors.
  • Pins.
  • Ribbon.

Assembly:

  • Place the zigzag fabric piece right sides together at the top of the penguin fabric with the bottom edge of the zigzag fabric lined up with the top edge of the penguin fabric and sew along to join.
  • Fold the fabric in half with the red zigzag fabric along the top of the bag and place right sides together.  Now starting 6 1/2 Inches from the top of the fabric sew down the side and along the bottom of the bag.  Turn out the right way.

  • Fold over the top edge by 1cm, and then on both the front and back side seams, fold in the raw edges by 1 cm.  Next fold the zigzag fabric inwards so it lines up with where you started sewing the front and back together – now pin and sew along the bottom edge. Now sew another line 2cm up from the previous line.
  • Thread through the ribbon for the drawstring, fold over the end of the ribbon a few times and sew to stop it fraying.
  • Slipstitch closed the side seam above the drawstring section.

Crochet Leopard Hat From Vanessa Mooncie’s Crochet Animal Hats

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Following in the leaps of the frog hat, sneaking in is a very cute leopard one

I really enjoyed making my frog hat from Vanessa Mooncie’s crocheted animal hats book and wanted to make a few more as Christmas gifts for friends. I managed to find a little time Inbetween some quilts I am making (and that are starting to take over!) to make a leopard one – this took me a little longer than the frog to finish as you have to make and sew on all the individual spots which takes a little while as there are quite a few. It was definitely worth the extra work though.  


For the ear flap ties I did a slightly different finish and plaited three strands of yellow wool.  
Now I’ve got the difficult decision of which animal to pick next – I like them all! 

Sewing Tutorial: Quilted Ipad Case – Great Gift Idea For Fathers Day

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My friend absolutely loved the case I made for her for her iPad (along with many of my other friends who have now put in a request for one to be made for their birthdays!) and asked if I could make one for her dad for Father’s Day, no problem I said, the only catch was that this was for a iPad mini so I needed a different pattern. As I was already doing a different sized pattern than I have previously I decided to change it slightly and make a case with a flap fastening.  

I had some spare fabric by the Cotton Craft Company from my octopuses and thought it would be great for this make so I checked with my friend who loved it and thought it would be perfect. I love this fabric – I will be getting some more when I see it next, you don’t often see fabrics which are perfect for male makes, most are too flowery or are not the right colours!
I hope they like it as much as me!


Ipad case pattern:

Materials:

  • For main case one piece of fabric 13 by 9 1/2 inches.
  • Contrasting flap fabric piece, 13 inches by 2 1/2 inches.
  • Button.
  • Lining piece for quilting and piece of batting 13 by 9 1/2 inches.
  • Lining for pocket – one piece of fabric 13 by 12 inches.
  • Piece of ribbon 6 inches long.
  • Pins.
  • Scissors.

Method:

  • Lie the flap piece along the top of the main pocket piece right sides together and sew along to attach.
  • Layer the lining piece for quilting and batting on top of the main pocket piece – avoiding the contrasting flap piece. Pin to secure then complete quilting in pattern desired, I did diagonal lines for this one, following the line in the gap between the anchors.
  • Place right sides together, pin and sew along the longest side at the bottom and up the side right to the top of the flap, but leaving the top flap side unstitched.
  • Turn right side out, it’s now ready for lining.
  • Take lining piece, place right sides together and sew down the side (the 11 1/2 inch side) and along the bottom (the 12 2/2 inch side), leaving the top unworked. Do not turn the lining, and place into the pocket.
  • Fold the top of the pocket in 1/4 of an inch and fold the lining 1/4 out so that the two folds meet on the inside, repeat the whole way around pinning as you go, Making sure in the centre of the back you also insert the two ends from the piece of ribbon making the loop for going over the button, then sew around close to the edge with the machine.
  • Sew buttons onto front of the fabric lining up with the location of the ribbon.