How Tos Roundup 2015

I love sharing crafty How To ideas with a focus on upcycling or customising what you already have- I love a thrifty make! Today I'd like to share a look back at the How Tos I wrote for the blog in 2015 and ask if there are any How Tos you'd like to see on the blog in 2016? I am planning a How To Knit series with videos (watch this space!) but let me know if there's something else you'd like to see. Also, if you tried any of my How Tos last year I'd love to see, share your photos in the comments. Happy making!

Bead Embellished Gloves How To

Heart Shaped Liberty Fabric Scrap Shoes Clips How To

DIY Fabric and Chain Tassel Garland How To

Liberty Fabric Handmade Mother's Day Card How To

How To... Make Pretty Napkins Using Tea Towels and Pom Pom Trim

Chalk Painted Terracotta Plant Pots How To

How To... Thrifty Plant Name Labels

How To... Up-cycle a Top To Make Fabric Placemats

How To... Customised Canvas Bag

How To...Washi Tape Cake/Pudding Toppers

Pom Pom Present Toppers Gift Wrapping Idea

My Workshop With Suffolk East Embroiders Guild

A couple of weeks ago I was delighted to hold a workshop for the Suffolk East group of the Embroiders Guild in Ipswich. I had a fab evening with the 23 ladies and 1 gentleman making upcycled fabric needle books, felt beads and folded fabric flowers. Here are some photos from the evening...

The evening started with me demonstrating how to make folded fabric flowers using fabric scraps and embellished with a vintage button centre. I then demonstrated felt bead making, which could also be used as a flower centre or alternative "button" fastening for the needle books, as seen in my example here!

There was such a lovely atmosphere to the evening- the group meet once a month so there was a real social aspect to the evening- lots of chattering, tea drinking and biscuit eating throughout the workshop. My sort of crafting!

The group really got into making the needle felted beads and I demonstrated various variations and applications for using the beads

It was great to see the different ways the group interpreted the project and really made it their own

One lady in the group made some fabric hair slides to give to her Granddaughters, which was very sweet!

Thank you very much to the Suffolk East branch of The Embroiders Guild for inviting me to run a workshop for you and thank you to all the members of the group for being so welcoming and making it such an enjoyable evening!

Happy National Upcycling Day!

As part of National Recycling Week from 22-28th June, Gumtree are championing the work of upcyclers and celebrating National Upcycling Day today, 24th June! Find out more about National Upcycling Day here

I'm delighted that upcycling is being recognised in this way. I love the challenge of making things using upcycled materials- it's very satisfying to give a new life to materials that were destined to be thrown away, re-inventing them as something new to be treasured for years to come. I thought I'd share with you some ways that I  upcycle...

Photo by Green Craft Magazine

My upcycled jewellery pieces (including my Harris Tweed button brooches, above) are handmade using upcycled Harris Tweed, taken from worn garments and scraps from garment making. I also incorporate other fabrics which are upcycled from everything from clothes to curtains. In an age where we are encouraged to constantly buy into the latest trends and discard the old, I love to create jewellery with personality that will be treasured forever. Take a look at more upcycled jewellery pieces in my etsy shop 

If you would like to get crafty and do some upcycling yourself, check out the How To section of my blog where you will find many craft project tutorials made using upcycled materials, from a spray painted vintage tea tray to a photo frame decopatched with upcycled fabrics, to napkins upcycled from tea towels! 

Do you love to upcycle? I'd love to see your creations- share them in the comments below and we'll all celebrate National Upcycling Day together!

Adventures with Fair Isle part 2

My adventures in learning Fair Isle have continued today, in a beautifully sunny studio (seeing the sun makes everything that much better!). 

Following on from my last post, I'm at the starting point of developing a new collection. I'm not sure what direction this project is going to take me in at the moment- all I know is that my ultimate goal is to produce a new jewellery collection. Also, although I'd like Fair Isle to be the main focus, I would like it to be a little different. So today I've been experimenting and recycling! I've cut fabric strips from an old lace skirt, jersey fabric from an old tunic top and strips of blue mock silk scarves that a friend kindly donated to my cause and used these to knit in Fair Isle patterns. Here are the results!

Ok, so the first attempt at the seed stitch using the lace and the scarf fabric wasn't a great success, but I love the way the lace has knitted up

This is a seed stitch pattern that alternates two coloured strands across the rows- really liking this effect. I need to try this with more contrasting colours and fabrics so the effect stands out much more

A three coloured pattern- I will experiment with using different fabrics in this way to highlight the pattern more clearly