Crafty Christmas

By now you're probably all sick to the back teeth of hearing about Christmas but I wanted to quickly squeak this post in before the new year (couldn't write it any earlier as, true to form, most of these have been finished off over the hols).

So here are a couple of quick and easy Christmas bits I've made lately. Firstly I've been having fun with pompoms! I've always kept my old Pom Pom Pets set which I got for Christmas around 1988 (a (slightly) newer version of this), knowing that I would want to make pompoms again at some point in the future, and now was that time.

I started off by making a few red pompoms to hang on the tree like baubles, thus:

But then I got to thinking about stringing a load together to make a sort of garland, however the colours I chose do make it look a little ... Italian.

I also got my act together and used some of my festive fabric from my last post and made a rag wreath using The Girl's tutorial.

I managed to mix up inches and centimetres so my rags are a little bit on the small side but I don't think it's spoiled the overall effect too much.

I added a bow from a Christmas smellies set and hung it with some ribbon, ta-dah! I do rather love it (and can't stop stroking it), everyone should have a go at one of these next year!

Something that looks like a quick and easy make, but most certainly is NOT. The paper stars kit I got from Christy as part of the Faith, Hope & Charity Shopping Christmas swap. I've made three attempts using both the instructions provided and youtube videos, but I can't get past this stage!

Christy if you're reading this, could you let me know which youtube vids you found helpful please? They look so lovely when they're finished, I really want to make some!

Finally, I didn't make these little fellas but I thought they needed to be shown off! My great-aunty Olive made about 30 of them in the month of December - oh to be as prolific!!

So that's the last of my creative outbursts for 2011. I got some fabulous crafty presents from friends who clearly know me well so I look forward to getting stuck in.

I have three craft resolutions for 2012:

1. Learn to knit.
2. Be more selfish (Much less making things for other people. I learned to crochet over a year ago and the only thing I have to show for it is the first thing I made - a wonky scarf).
3. Enjoy it (This sort of ties in with the above. No more making things to tight deadlines so I end up hating them, I want to enjoy the process more).
Did you get any good crafty gifts this year? What are your resolutions?

Fabric Finds

I joined in with A Thrifty Mrs' 30 Day Declutter in November and as part of that I went through my sewing corner and sorted through ribbon and buttons and pins and tailors' chalks and zips and press studs and patterns .... It was interesting to go through the larger pieces of fabric as I'd forgotten I had a lot of them but I was still able to remember what I had in mind when I bought them, so I thought I'd do a little roundup of my Planned Projects:

This Amy Butler print was half price in the January sales this year and I thought it would make a nice simple shift dress for work.

I bought half a metre of each of these Christmassy ones in the same sale and had vague ideas of making festive bunting with them, but after seeing The Girl's wreath the other day I'm leaning towards one of those - much more fun!

This funny little scrap was from a charity shop. It's about FQ size and I thought it would be a good 'animal' fabric, perhaps for one of these patterns.

I bought this dotty olive fabric at the Knit & Stitch Show last year, thinking I'd make the dress from the pattern I bought that same day.

This is an 80s era duvet cover from a charity shop. I love a bit of converting-old-interiors-fabrics-into-clothes and have an image in my head of an A-line summer skirt with pockets in this material.

I bought this navy and white striped fabric a long time ago, long before the blogging when I'd just started my dressmaking class. I'd seen a skirt in a magazine that I thought I might be able to copy ... but still haven't got around to it.

This plainish cotton was a charity shop bargain - £4 for about three metres - and I think it would make a nice coffee date dress.

Another vintage bed sheet here, I thought this rose pattern would make a pretty summer dress in the same style as the one I made my friend recently.

I saw this fabric by chance on MiSi one day, again when I was doing the dressmaking course, and thought it would make a(nother) nice summer frock(!)

This is a huge yellow curtain; I thought the thick material would make a nice pinafore-style winter dress over a long sleeved top, but now I'm having my doubts - is it a bit TOO yellow?!

Sometimes I do buy fabrics with no specific ideas in mind, particularly any 60s-70s Dorma-style bedding, and this car boot sale double duvet cover was one such case, but it may be the first to get used. I'm thinking name bunting for a first birthday present for a little girl...

I don't buy fabric, sheets and curtains exclusively though. On my charity shop trips I do keep my eyes open for striking prints in the clothing sections too. I thought the contrasting patterns in this 'boho' skirt could be rearranged into a patchwork cushion or two.

And my most recent find has been this fabulous XXL Hawaiian shirt, which I'd love to turn into a beach bag somehow.

Are you as hopeless as me for buying fabric faster than you can sew it? Do you think my ideas are good ones or is there anything else you'd do with my stash that I haven't thought of? I need more ideas obviously so I can procrastinate some more!

FH&CS Christmas Swap

*Please excuse the poor quality pictures which are to follow, I've given up on hoping for decent daylight and just used my flash*

I was gutted when I saw I'd missed the Faith, Hope and Charity Shopping swap earlier in the year so when Lakota announced a Christmas swap I made sure I got in quick! I was paired with the lovely ChrisTea and Cakes who was new to me but whose blog I've loved having a nose around - baking, crochet & general craftiness, and secondhand shopping ... what more could you want?!

There were a few ground rules for the swap:
1. No more than a £12 spend
2. 3-5 items only
3. One item must be secondhand
4. One item must be handmade
5. One item must be a Christmas decoration

I loved the challenge created by these caveats and the relatively low budget, it got the old cogs whirring for sure.

Here is what I sent Christy:



A handmade bunting cushion:


Some handmade granny square lavender sachets:


A secondhand festive Pyrex gravy boat which I could easily have kept for myself:

A Christmas decoration which I stupidly got the lady to wrap for me in the shop (you can see a picture here), and some Christmas themed choccies.

But most importantly(!), here is what I received, all wrapped in brown paper and ribbon in a cherub storage box:

A pretty handmade card with a fabulous star on, which I was pleased Christy explained in her post - will be getting some of those!:

A fab handmade initial picture made using a secondhand frame:
A beautiful secondhand teacup and plate set which I may use for tea and crumpets if I can bring myself to, otherwise it may have to be decorative only!:


Some fabulously glitzy birdy decorations:


A handmade crocheted cherries brooch (my favourite item!):

And finally, a Mystery Item - a kit for making stars from strips of paper:

Christy warned me that the instructions aren't the best and I can concur now that I've had a go myself but hopefully with a little help from YouTube there'll be a few extra little decs on the tree by next weekend!

I've really enjoyed taking part in this swap - thanks so much to Lakota for organising it, and to Christy for my wonderful gifts!

Photo Scavenger Hunt: November

Only a few days late! Here goes:

1. A Poppy:

2. Memorial:

Potato Famine Memorial in Dublin

3. Silhouette:

Early morning flight home from Ireland.

4. Something you have made:

Pile of little grannies, bit of a work in progress.

5. Something purple:

Another technicolour sunrise, we get a lot of them here!

6. Warmth:

Wow. It was so much harder to photograph fire than I'd anticipated!

7. Polka dots:

My ancient Cath Kidston duvet cover, bought before I'd ever heard of her. Ahh, imagine a world without total CK saturation...

8. A lucky charm:

Lots of Lucky Leprechauns in Dublin Airport.

9. Comfort food:

Anything hot and buttery counts as comfort food for me!

10. A staircase:

More a 'set of steps' than a staircase but they were the nicest ones I could find (the Town Hall).

11. Something that lights up:

Anglepoise lamp at work.

12. A self-portrait:

I must have taken about 150 shots before working out that I look loads nicer when I smile.

Many thanks as always to Kathy for coming up with the list, and if you fancy joining us in December, it's gonna be a challenge!!

"And maybe tonight after work we can go and drink some vodka..."

Did you know today is Wear your Old Band T-Shirt to Work Day?

This is my oldest surviving band T-shirt, from a Hefner gig I went to in Newcastle in Spring 2001, the end of my first year of uni. Entry on the door was £8 - you'd be hard pushed to see a band for four times that these days!

Today I've teamed my t-shirt with skinny black trousers, black brogues and a black and blue striped cardie and long blonde hair. Ten years ago it would have been long RED hair, one of those awful rainbow hippy cardigans, navy or plum coloured cord flares, with hems wide enough to cover my size 8 feet making me look like a character from Pigeon Street, and of course my Adidas Gazelles.

My music tastes haven't changed in that time though and I still love me a bit of Hefner. They're not THAT well known but if you like a bit of lo-fi indie pop with intelligent, witty, more-than-occasionally crude lyrics, check them out.

Are you wearing an old band T-shirt to work today? How has your style changed since you first bought it?