Crafty Colour Palette #1 had to be what originally inspired my new project. 

It was this lovely tray that I got from IKEA! Every time I looked at it, I just kept thinking how the colours went together so well.  This is quite a large selection with 8 colours, but you could select a few or use them all.

Crafty Colour Palette #1: Colour list

Pale pink: DMC 603 / Anchor 62

Fuchsia: DMC 601 / Anchor 57

Orange: DMC 970 / Anchor 316

Red: DMC 349 / Anchor 13

Yellow: DMC 444 / Anchor 290

Light green: DMC 704 / Anchor 256

Dark green: DMC 700 / Anchor 228

Blue: DMC 3843 / Anchor 1089

What could I make?

There are so many things you could make with a rainbow colour palette! I picked out a few ideas from my Pinterest board, Stitch.

Make some hoop art with some very neat satin stitch – simple but so effective! (Embroidery by Jane Denton. Source: The Jealous Curator)

Try out a Sashiko inspired stitch on a quilt like this one (Source: Me and My Sister Designs):

You could also customise your clothes! Use vintage-style stitches to create a unique garment or give something a new lease of life.

Customisation doesn’t have to be complicated though! Add some rainbow style with some simple stitching. This is a dress that we recently bought for Little One and it has simple stitching around the bottom in rainbow colours. You could stitch this on a sewing machine if you’re not confident at sewing by hand. Dress from Mothercare (photo my own).

Got any other ideas for projects inspired by this colour palette? Share them in the comments below or get in touch via Instagram @craftycolourpalettes! Don’t forget that I’m looking for contributions to Crafty Colour Palettes – email me clare@hellohooray.com with your ideas!

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I spent a lot of my working at home days during my pregnancy sleeping – that was one thing I hadn’t really anticipated! I’m not going to lie, I lost a bit of enthusiasm for crafting and my blog which was a bit disheartening after all the effort I had been putting in to it. But in the last few weeks I regained my crafting mojo and was able to complete a few projects for Little One. The fabric buying ban was still in place (and still is, actually!) so I raided my stash for all the plain colours I have. So these are a mixture of mainly Kona cottons, Moda solids and a few other random ones I had. There are 21 colours altogether, and I used 3 squares of each – Tom helped me to work out how to lay them out so they were ‘random’, and I’m really pleased with how it turned out. It reminds me of Elmer the Patchwork Elephant! The backing fabric (pictured above) is ‘Mother Goose’ by Windham fabrics and it’s just gorgeous – I got it from Fabric Rehab with a birthday voucher (which certainly does not break the fabric buying ban haha!). As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to get it for this quilt.

I ended up with extra backing fabric and my Mum suggested making a cushion for tummy time – I found a tutorial online and it has turned out really well. I made some spare covers for it, which is why you’re probably thinking ‘but the one in the photo has cats on it!’ I’m going to do a separate review post about that pattern, so look out for that at some unspecified point in the future…!

I also managed to make some curtains for the nursery, using fabric from the duvet covers I had when I was younger. I loved them so much that I couldn’t part with them! It’s really nice to have been able to use them to make something for Little One.

Our nursery is quite small, so we kept everything white and decided to add lots of colour. My Dad very kindly came to re-wallpaper the room, and Tom did the painting. I think he’s all DIY-ed out now! Here are a few more pictures:

The piano stool has been useful in the nursery (added storage = bonus!), but I didn’t get the chance to paint it before Little One arrived. Something to add to the list of things I’d like to get around to at some point…

We are big fans of The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Dr. Seuss My Mum picked up these cute bookends in the charity shop she works in. They’re fab!

This mini wooden seaside was a gift from Grandma H and Grandad K – we call it Maryport in a tin (that’s what it came in). We spent quite a bit of time there as a family, so it’s lovely to have this in the nursery. Little One likes to look at it now that she can focus in on things a bit more. It’s a good job that crabs and seagulls aren’t this big in real life – not to scale here!

The lovely prints on the wall are from Miri Studio. We wanted to have some pictures in the nursery, and had a couple of these frames from Ikea already. Katy from Miri Studio makes them to fit these frames, so they were perfect! And it’s good to support artists from the UK. I love them all, but the cheeky squirrel is my favourite!

I can’t tell you how long it has taken me to put this post together! A big thank you to Tom for the gift of time to be able to do it I’ll be returning the favour so he can do some composing! He has taken some extended leave thanks to shared parental leave, and it has just been wonderful having him around. Time is going so fast and it’s brilliant that he can be around to be with us. I can’t imagine what it would have been like if he had gone back to work after only two weeks – I have a lot of respect for everyone who does that. We’ve been able to muddle through the fog of the first few weeks together, and it’s so nice to be emerging from it and to be able to do a few more normal things. I’ve been getting back in to Instagram too, as well as posting a few things on my Facebook page, so you can pop over there to see more in between my blog posts if you like. It feels good to be back!

(I love this picture! It took a while to get it, but I got it! )

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A few weeks back, I was really excited to see that the latest book by What Delilah Did (created by Sophie Simpson) is about to be released. A limited number of advance copies of Secret Garden Embroidery (pictured above) were available to buy so I snapped one up! I know people always say that you should never judge a book by its cover, but this is one that you can instantly fall in love just by looking at the beautifully stitched bee and the sweet cover illustrations. These illustrations run right through the book, and the projects are all tied together with the story of Mrs Merriweather and her wonderful garden. I am a big fan of Sophie’s books and wanted to find out more about What Delilah Did, and I’m delighted to say that Sophie very kindly agreed to do a little interview for Hello! Hooray! to tell us all about it…

Tell us a little bit about What Delilah Did, and how you got started.

I started up the business about seven years ago after being made redundant. I had always known I wanted to work for myself and do something creative, so it was a blessing in disguise. I had just rediscovered cross stitch but couldn’t find any patterns I liked so I started to design my own – at that time the choice was between teddy bears, kittens and Disney characters, none of which I would let within a mile of my house! I opened a little online shop and blog to sell my patterns and original stitched pieces, and word spread quite quickly through design blogs, Flickr and the like – apparently I wasn’t the only young person wanting to stitch something a bit different.

After a year or so my mum told me about the Best of British Open Call at Liberty, and I put together a prototype range of kits to take along – they bought the whole range and launched the kits in their London store a few months later. I sold my kits through Liberty for the following three years and it provided the exposure and opportunities I needed to expand my customer base massively. I now sell my patterns, kits and books to customers all over the world via my website, www.whatdelilahdid.com, and through boutique haberdasheries and lifestyle shops throughout the UK.

Little Bug Magnets from Secret Garden Embroidery by Sophie Simpson – Credit Rachel Whiting

Describe your creative process – how do you develop your designs?

My designs almost always stem from how I want the end product to look or function, so I often begin with a particular kind of linen or type of frame or style of cushion in mind and then design something to fit it. For larger patterns I sketch out different versions of an image in black and white until I am happy with them and then transfer them to the computer to make them into something stitchable. If I am making a very small pattern though I generally prefer to just use a pencil and some graph paper and play with the crosses until I have something I like the look of. Once I have the chart, I start to test colours and fabrics until I come up with a combination I like – this can be the longest part of the process because for threads can look completely different once they are stitched, so even if a bundle of colours looked beautiful together in your hand, they may look hideous on the fabric. I also like to check that there are not too many lone stitches and awkward little fiddly sections as these can make patterns a nightmare to complete. I never release a pattern until I have stitched it myself and know that everything works.

Mr Magpie Cushion PDF Pattern – Credit What Delilah Did

What is your typical day like? Do you design and write full-time or do you fit it around a day job?

Running What Delilah Did has been my full time job for the past couple of years (and by ‘full time’, read ‘all the time’!), though before that I did have to fit it around a number of day/evening/weekend jobs until I was confident that it was strong enough to stand on its own two feet.

There isn’t really any such thing as a typical day for me; every day is so different. Things always take so much longer than I think they are going to, so more often than not I end up spending a whole day/week on one thing and just keep going until it is done. That might be photographing new products, updating my website, answering emails, putting orders together, working on a commission, or designing new patterns and kits. Actually getting time to stitch in the day is a rare luxury – I normally end up doing that part in the evenings. I have tried many times to change the way I work so that I have more of a routine, but I still haven’t managed it yet.

Gigantic Circus Letter PDF Patterns – Credit What Delilah Did

Where do you get your inspiration? Do you have any favourite crafters/artists/bloggers?

I actually follow very few blogs and other artists now, partly due to lack of time, but also because they can sometimes leave me feeling a little overwhelmed – there is so much amazing design about that it is all too easy to be swayed by what other people are doing or feel that your own work isn’t good enough. I feel much more inspired when I shut myself off from all of that and rely on my imagination.

Most of my inspiration comes from sources that are not directly related to artists and crafters: old houses, stories, period dramas, film scores… Most recently I have loved the styling and music in Far From the Madding Crowd and Wolf Hall. Often I will try to capture the feeling that I get from a film or piece of music, or take a particular element such as a colour or a shadow in a piece of cloth or a building, and then translate it into my own work. I listen to a lot of period film scores while I work, so that has a strong influence on me.

Bee Cushion PDF Pattern – Credit What Delilah Did

The garden in your latest book, Secret Garden Embroidery sounds wonderful! Is it based on a real place?

The garden itself is fictitious, but the house and the setting is real – it belonged to a kind old man who lived down our road when we were children. I’m not sure how faithful my memory is to the true interior; I still look at it through a child’s eyes so it would probably seem smaller and less rambling if I were to view the inside as an adult. The house still exists but it has been made over and no longer has the overgrown trees at the front, or the orchard, or the air of romantic dishevelment. The dark rabbit warren of rooms that I remember being inside have probably been knocked through to suit modern tastes – arguably more practical, but less charming to me. Despite that, I have always hankered after that house and if I was ever in a position to buy it I would snap it up in a heartbeat.

Projects from Secret Garden Embroidery by Sophie Simpson – Credit Rachel Whiting

Secret Garden Embroidery is your third book – can you tell us a little more about what goes into writing and getting your books published?

I adore books and had always wanted to write my own, though I never imagined they would be about embroidery back when I was dreaming of being an author! My first book, Storyland Cross Stitch, came about when an editor saw my work in Liberty, looked up my blog and then contacted me to ask if I was interested in making a book for her publishing house. At the time it came completely out of the blue, and in all honesty I would have no idea how to go about getting published if I hadn’t been approached by publishers in the first place. Almost all books are commissioned these days and it is incredibly rare to get an unsolicited manuscript published, so I feel very fortunate that I didn’t have to go down that route.

Photo credit: Storyland Cross Stitch – What Delilah Did

The books themselves take more work than I could ever have anticipated. It was marginally less daunting to approach Stitch the Halls! and Secret Garden Embroidery because I knew what to expect, but the amount of work involved is still pretty hardcore. The main problem is that the deadlines are just insane. Most publishers are under a lot of pressure to get books made quickly (bearing in mind that it can take almost a year between a finished book being submitted and it actually landing in the shops), and they just have no idea about how long things take to make. An embroiderer is given the same amount of time to make a collection of projects as a papercrafter, despite the fact that it takes about thirty times as long to make embroidery projects. I also make things worse for myself because I am very particular about how I want things to be, so I end up doing a lot of the work that would usually be done by the publisher, just to make sure it ends up how I want it. The books are a wonderful thing to do, but more so in hindsight than while you are actually making them against the clock!

Photo credit: Stitch the Halls – What Delilah Did

If you had to choose, what would be your favourite project that you have worked on?

The most enjoyable things to work on are my PDF patterns, because there are no deadlines, no briefs and I can take all the time I need to make exactly what I want, so they are my favourite thing to make. But the books are probably the things I am the most proud of; partly because of the work that went into them, but also because it is lovely to hold a tangible object in your hand; almost like a beautifully produced diary of what you did that year.

Mini Folk Letter PDF Patterns – Credit What Delilah Did

What does the future hold for What Delilah Did?

I have had my hands in so many different pies for the past few years that what I am really craving is something simple. Once my new studio is up and running I want to spend some time working the way I did at the beginning, making small quantities of lovely things for my shop with my imagination as the only limit.

Miss Millicent Hare from Secret Garden Embroidery by Sophie Simpson – Credit Rachel Whiting

Thank you so much for taking the time to natter to us, Sophie – I know you’re super busy with your new book and renovating your house, so I really appreciate it! If you love Sophie’s designs as much as I do, you can buy them in her shop, and the Little Bug Magnets and Miss Millicent Hare (featured above) are available as limited edition kits here. I am just starting work on one of the projects from the book, and will be writing a little review of it over the next couple of weeks or so, so be sure to look out for that. You can also find out more on the What Delilah Did blog, Facebook page, Flickr and Twitter feeds.

Secret Garden Embroidery is published on 11th June by Pavilion – but if you can’t wait until then, you might find an advance copy here!

All photos used with kind permission from Sophie Simpson/What Delilah Did.

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It was actually really good to take stock of everything and sort things out – even though I did make a huge mess before I could get everything organised! I had various thoughts beforehand about how to carry out the inventory. This included having a notebook with everything written down in it, so the name of the fabric and the amount that I have, along with the type of fabric too. However, I don’t know about you, but whilst I can remember what some things are called or which collection they are from, I certainly can’t remember them all. Many bits of fabric I have are from years ago (before I was a dedicated crafter), so there was no real chance of me remembering. But then I had a cunning plan: what would be most helpful would be to have a photo inventory! That way, I can have it with me on my phone and then I can browse through it when I’m trying to match things and make decisions for projects. Bingo!

So I found all my boxes and bags of fabric and laid them out on the spare bed. I sorted into three piles: plains, patterns, and a pile of fabric that is already earmarked for a project. Most of this pile is things that I’ve got to make into clothes – I decided not to take individual photos of these so that I don’t end up accidentally using them for another project by mistake! I laid out a huge piece of white card as a background for the photos. White is best for anything like this, especially as I’ll be using the photos to match up fabric for projects. Starting with my fat quarter selection (which I keep in my vintage suitcase) I took photos of my fabric. Most of these photos have a maximum of 4 fabrics in them, and I tried to group some that went well together, for example the Christmassy ones. There are a few exceptions – like the photo below which shows the selection of fabrics that I used to make the quilted record mats (which you can see here). In my suitcase I also have a few metre pieces that can be used for baby quilt backings or other small projects, so I grouped these together too.[/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” interval=”3″ images=”7033,7035,7036,7053″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1425053180382{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]Next, I moved on to the other piles of large pieces of fabric. For the plains I stacked a few together to be able to get more in the photo. I’ll see how this works out when I actually use my inventory – I might have to take individual ones to get a better sense of the colours. Some of these fabrics are categorised by collection, just because they go together really well and it makes sense to know that they are by the same designer.[/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” interval=”3″ images=”7048,7049,7050,7051″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1425051340672{padding-top: 30px !important;}”]

Once I had taken all of my photos, I decided to organise them in my photo stream. By having them on here, they will be easily accessible and I can also add comments to each of the photos – this includes the length, or any details about the colour or fabric, which will come in handy! I just gave a rough measurement for most of the pieces, but you could be more precise and measure everything if you wish. Our internet decided to play up at this point, so I had a right old faff trying to get them from my computer and into the stream, but eventually they made it! I edited them a little just to get the colours right and brighten them lighting a bit, and I also square cropped them so that they fit nicely on the album overview screen. You can see how I’m using the comments section to add details in this next photo:[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1425051357108{padding-top: 30px !important;}”]

In addition to creating my inventory, I also made sure that my fabric stash was a bit more sorted. Not having a dedicated craft space means that this is really important – especially now that we have had to find a new home for lots of things that used to live in the old garage. So I organised my boxes a little better, keeping those fabrics for projects in mind in one box, with prints and plains in another and everything else that didn’t really have a home in my final box. I’m hoping that by being a little more organised, I can stop the spread of the stash…at least for a little while anyway! :-)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1425051368764{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]

How do you organise your fabric?[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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It is a little on the pricey side if you’re purchasing outside Holland, but as with the first book, I think it’s worth it. There are so many different papers, tags, stickers, bunting, postcards…the list goes on! It’s one of those things you won’t want to use for a while, but when you need the perfect paper for a special project, no doubt you’ll find it here. Below is a mini gallery of a few of my favourites, but it was so hard to choose![/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” interval=”3″ images=”6459,6460,6461,6462,6463,6464,6465,6466,6467,6458″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1417370704908{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]If you would like to buy a copy, you can get it on the Flow Magazine website. You might also want to consider getting the Flow Calendar for 2015 – its’ a quote a day with beautiful illustrations. Love it![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Halloween is just a couple of days away, but if you haven’t got your pumpkin sorted yet, don’t worry! I spotted this really cool owl pumpkin template on the Hobbycraft blog and knew that I would have to give it a go. I usually go for super smiley pumpkins and thought this would be something different to do this year – and, of course, I LOVE owls! 

You will need:

A medium-sized pumpkin

A sharp knife for carving the pumpkin

My secret carving weapon: a soup spoon!

A print out of the template (which can be downloaded from the blog – I reduced it to 60% of the original size)

Scissors or a craft knife to cut out the template

Some tape

A marker pen

A tea light (or LED safety alternative if you prefer)

Step 1

Carefully cut the top off the pumpkin and then scoop out the insides – this is what the soup spoon is for! They are brilliant for scooping

Step 2

Cut out the template and then tape it to the pumpkin. Draw along the inside of the lines to mark on where you need to carve the owl design and then carefully remove the template.

Step 3

Carve out the design, making sure that you are as careful as possible. I realised as I was cutting that I had accidentally cut out one of the eye middles when I should have left it in – so I had to cut out the other one too! But I don’t think it matters too much.

Here’s my owl pumpkin when I’d finished!

There are one or two rough edges, but you can’t tell with the lights off and the tea light inside. Parts of this were a bit fiddly to carve, especially with the detail around the eyes. But take your time and you’ll have a really effective owl pumpkin.

Finally, don’t forget to head over to the Hobbycraft website for your last-minute Halloween craft essentials!

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I wanted to make something special for Donna, because I think it’s brilliant that she and her fellow Owls have taken on these roles, which are all voluntary. So I decided that Brownie badges were a good plan! Felt badges are really easy to make, and you can make the design as simple or as complicated as you can manage. So even if you don’t want to make owl badges you could make any felt badges in this way, so just follow the steps below.

You will need

Pencil and paper
Scissors (a pair for paper and a pair for fabric)
Some wool felt in various colours (I got mine here)
Matching thread
Pins and needle
Little pieces of fabric with a small print, matching the felt
Brooch backs (I got mine on eBay)

Step 1

Draw out your design and then cut out some little templates for each required piece (you might need to trace the design to do so). Pin the templates onto the felt and then carefully cut around each one. Layer them up to check that they are all the right size.

As I was making my owls, I changed my mind about the design – I cut body-sized pieces of fabric here instead of doing the separate scalloped pieces of felt that I had originally thought about. Don’t be afraid to change your design as you make, as I do it all the time!

Step 2

Next, I started stitching the pieces together. You might need to change thread a few times here, depending on how many colours you’ve used! I started with the beak because that was the smallest piece to get in the right place. I also stitched the head pieces on at this stage too.

Step 3

I decided that I wanted my owls to be on a background, because I wanted to stitch the pack name on each one. So at this point I cut out two oval-ish shapes of felt and then began to stitch the owl to one side of the badge.

As I got to the sides, I attached the wings at the same time. I obviously got carried away at this point, because I didn’t take any photos!

Step 4

I worked out where the lettering needed to be, and then marked it on with a fabric marker (ideally I should have used my dissolvable one, but I used a very fine quilt marker instead). Then I stitched over the letters using splitstitch, but you could use whatever you feel comfortable doing.

Step 5

The next step is to attach the brooch back to the other oval-ish piece of felt. Try to get it as central as possible!

Step 6

The final step is to attach the front and back of the badge, using a small running stitch.

Ta-dah! The badge is ready to wear. I also made a badge each for Snowy Owl and Tawny Owl too – I picked backing colours that would all work together. I really hope that the ladies like them, and wish them the best of luck running their new pack!

Post updated 23rd September 2024.

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We had a cup of tea and something to eat before we looked around – we wanted to make sure that we had the stamina! And also the showground was filling up, so we thought that this was a good plan before the queues got too big. Then we had a good potter around the stalls, and it was really difficult to know where to start! There were so many gorgeous things there, but one of my favourite stalls was Colouricious. They have the most beautiful hand carved wooden stamps, and they were doing some demonstrations of how you can stamp with paint and decolourant and used mixed media for different projects. I bought a set of blocks for printing and some decolourant too – can’t wait to have a go! My favourite stamp is this one – as you know, I just love owls!

Another lovely stall that we found was Farne Designs – they print beautiful textiles in Cornwall. We both bought a little selection of fabrics, and I got an embroidery kit for Mum for Christmas. Their stall was just so inviting – look at these fabrics!

One of the things that I was most excited about was meeting Stuart Hillard from the Great British Sewing Bee! For those of you who don’t know this programme, it has got so many people into sewing and making clothes and Stuart appeared on the first series. He was at the quilt show to sign his new book, and Mum has very kindly bought me it for Christmas so it will be fab to have a signed copy! Stuart was so lovely – he chatted to us like he had known us for years and was so welcoming. It really was a pleasure to meet him!

After we had spent up, we looked around the exhibition quilts. I can’t begin to tell you how inspiring they were – all the quilters are so incredibly talented, and the attention to detail is amazing. I love that people had incorporated different techniques into their quilts (including felting – look out for the planets quilt in my gallery below) and there were so many different styles. I went away with so many ideas, although I’m nowhere near good enough to create anything like these! The first quilt here won the ‘Best in Show’ and was by Liz Villalobos from Newcastle (quilted by Kay Bell) – simply stunning! I tried my best to take photos of all the labels so that I could credit all the quilters here, but I did miss one or tow (sorry). Click on the photos to see the quilter’s details.[/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” interval=”3″ images=”5720,5721,5722,5724,5723,5728,5725,5726,5733,5729,5738,5730,5731,5737″ img_size=”large” column_number=”2″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1412354012241{padding-top: 30px !important;}”]Very inspiring, I’m sure you’ll agree! We left talking about all of the lovely things we’d like to be able to do with quilting one day… On the way home we met a lovely lady called Jennie at Harrogate station – she had also been to the show and had picked up some supplies for Christmas! Jennie has a Facebook page, so do pop over and say hello! Making a new friend was certainly a great end to the day! :-)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

The post The Great Northern Quilt Show 2014 appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

We were immediately greeted by some art work by Francisco De Pajaro, who has been working on various pieces around Darlington this week and was doing the same around the site today. They are so much fun, and it was great to spot them throughout the day![/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”flexslider_slide” interval=”3″ images=”5581,5582,5583,5584″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1411851233983{padding-top: 30px !important;}”]Right from the beginning of the day, there was such a lovely atmosphere and SO much going on. We started at the Arena and main stage and pottered around the stalls there. I loved the Charity Shop DJ where people could choose cheesy tunes from a box of LPs from local charity shops, and have a go at DJing.

 [/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”flexslider_slide” interval=”3″ images=”5587,5588,5589″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1411847878771{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]Next, we headed into the Beehive – just look at that writing! I love the retro styling of Lingfield Point.

There were some fabulous stalls in there, and I was super organised and got a couple of Christmas presents. It was here where we bumped into curators of the Festival of Thrift, Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway! I explained that I’m a part of the School of Thrift, and they very kindly agreed to having their photo taken – thank you so much to you both!

After that we left them to rummage through some LPs and continued on our way. We came across a stall from The Beehive Brand, which had the most beautiful knitted garments in traditional patterns. I can’t really describe how beautiful they were, so you’ll have to take a look : [/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”flexslider_slide” interval=”3″ images=”5596,5597,5598,5595″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1411851507792{padding-top: 30px !important;}”]The Beehive Brand was established in 1785, but after a period of decline has recently been bought by Andrea Freeman, who’s passion for this exciting project really shines through. Not only is she recycling the old brand, but the old patterns too, and new garments using old patterns are being gradually released once more. I’m really excited to see how the brand develops! If you’d like to find out more, visit her website.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1411850503131{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]Here are a few more photos from around the site! Look out for the tea ladies with the invisible dog (if, indeed, you can ‘look out’ for an invisible dog!) if you’re going tomorrow – they’re hilarious![/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”flexslider_slide” interval=”3″ images=”5602,5603,5604,5605,5606″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1411849392734{padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”][/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”flexslider_slide” interval=”3″ images=”5607,5608,5609,5610,5611,5612,5613,5614,5615″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1411849832037{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]Mum had a go at weaving, and made this to add to the huge spider’s web – fab!

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]There were so many lovely stalls around the event, but I was really pleased to catch up with my friend Victoria, aka Dizzy Miss James! We met a few years ago at a craft fair and it has been wonderful to see her shop develop. She designed all of these little guys herself – aren’t they adorable!?

It was also brilliant to meet some new people at the event, including Angela from Maison Royale – her stall was fabulous and she was so lovely to chat to! You see that gorgeous arrow light? That will be hanging in our new kitchen in a few months! Yes!

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1411851452668{padding-top: 30px !important;}”]I took so many more photos, but I don’t want to give everything away! If you’re in the area tomorrow then you MUST go along. And don’t forget to tag your photos on social media – #FOT14

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I’ve been planning this crafty project for months now (as is often the case) and last weekend I finally got around to making it! If I’m going travelling then I usually want to take some sort of crafty stuff to be working on while I’m away, but this usually means that I end up looking like a bag lady with my various bags of crafty goodness. So, I thought it would be a good idea to have a suitcase to put it all in! I originally bought a vintage teal suitcase which is beautiful, but I didn’t want to mess it up and I couldn’t decide which fabric to use (thankfully, the lovely Boomdeeadda has done an amazing post about jazzing up vintage suitcases, so I’ll be doing that another time!). I stumbled across this lovely Cath Kidston suitcase (in the sale – even better!) and thought that this would be a good place to start. It’s more compact than my teal suitcase, so this might be better for travelling light – not that I ever really do that!

I decided to put some fabric pockets on the inside of the lid, which I can use for storing scissors, thread and other little bits and bobs. I treated myself to some lovely Cath Kidston fabric and ribbon to match too The pockets are attached with velcro, which means that if I change my mind about the layout at a later date, I can just make some new ones! I measured a length of velcro (the spiky hook side) to fit the width of the lid, and then used some double-sided sticky tape to stick it to the lid. I chose to put it fairly near to the top but not right at the top, as I’ll need to be able to get my hands in the pockets!

The next stage was to make the fabric pockets. I measured the size of the biggest pocket based on the size of my pinking shears and fabric scissors, as I always need these with me when I travel. This worked out at

I hemmed the edges of the pockets using contrasting red thread.

Next, I cut out two strips of the other side of the velcro (the fluffy side) to fit the width of the pocket and attached it just below the hem at the top and bottom.

Then I sewed the sides together, clipped the corners and then turned it inside out! I repeated these steps with the other pockets, made from different fabrics. For the long pocket at the top, I sewed at equal intervals to create 3 smaller pockets.

The pockets might need pressing before you attach them, just to get rid of any creases. Then you can stick them in before attaching a length of ribbon along the bottom and sides of the suitcase – this is so that you can tie in any loose items that you put in the bottom.
I just used double-sided sticky tape to do this (in several strips is easier, and you might want to get someone else to help too!)

Then all that is left to do is to fill it up!

These suitcases are great, and you could customise them in lots of different ways. A travelling art set? A travelling LEGO kit (you could use little tupperware boxes perhaps)? A travelling doll house? The possibilities are endless and it would make a great gift! If you have a go at making your own, do let me know and send me a photo/link!

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This weekend I went to York to spend some time with Mum and Dad before our wedding, which is now less than 2 weeks away! Mum wanted us to do something crafty and booked us into a workshop at Softpots on Stonegate. Softpots is run by the lovely Annie Austen-Meek, who invented the concept over ten years ago, originally to transport plants practically and safely. Softpots are flexible and are kinder to plants, allowing them to ‘breathe’ and drain freely. Not only are they practical but beautiful, and it is very therapeutic making them.

We spent an hour with Annie and she showed us the basic techniques of making softpots, how to decorate them, which shapes to use and what does and does not work for a softpot. The workshop was incredibly informative and invigorating, and just left us wanting to make more! We made two pots each in just one hour, and in fact, are already planning our next pots! Here we are with our creations:

We’re so pleased with our pots – I’m particularly proud of my pink softpot, which I have nicknamed ‘The Mystic Beetroot’!

I love the hanging softpots too – the whole concept is so versatile:

Annie has also created The Softpot Garden, where you can admire and even buy your own softpot to take home. It’s like a little oasis in the centre of York!

You can make your own softpot in workshop sessions starting at £10, and we would highly recommend it! Check out the website or find out more on Facebook. Thank you again, Annie – we hope to come back and make more softpots with you!

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Photo credit: glorioustreats.com

Last week, I wrote a post about the variety of online tutorials available on how to make bunting, but for some reason it wouldn’t upload and then it deleted itself! So now I’m going to try to recreate it…I really want to have a go at making some bunting for our garden at some point this year. Hopefully, we’ll actually be able to use our garden this year – last year it rained most of the time!

The first tutorial I found is from Glorious Treats and is an online tutorial for ‘double-sided’ bunting. The instructions are really clear and the step-by-step photos are also really helpful. Another tutorial for a similar style bunting can be found at the Making Spot although this link does take you to a limited view – you have to buy the rest of the tutorial. But I did find this one at Send A Cow which includes a template – looks like it would be fairly easy to follow!

Photo credit: housetohome.co.uk

A slightly simpler tutorial can be found at House to Home – this version is ‘single-sided’ bunting, so there isn’t quite as much sewing! But I don’t think that this alters the effect and it looks just as beautiful.

And if you don’t want to do any sewing, you could always try this tutorial from Doing It In Style – a great idea!

I’m still collecting bits of material to use for my bunting but I think I’ll go with the ‘single-sided’ version. Can’t wait to get started!

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Every year we go on a lovely walk from Crosspool in Sheffield to Bamford in Derbyshire, which has become known as ‘The Tinsel Tour’. Tom and his friends started it years ago and yesterday was the 11th Tour (we worked out that it was probably my 6th). The main aim of the walk is to get to a lovely pub called The Yorkshire Bridge Inn where we have lunch before moving on to other pubs. Yesterday, however, was the wettest Tinsel Tour on record and we were all absolutely soaked to the bone, so we stayed at the Yorkshire Bridge for most of the afternoon!

We usually wear our Santa hats for the walk, and for the 10th anniversary last year we did it in fancy dress – I went as a present made from a large box, which was ok for walking but not for sitting! This year we all wore Christmas jumpers, which gave me the opportunity to make my own (hooray!). I bought the jumper from good old Marks and Spencer and drew out a template for Rudolph, checking that it was the right size.

I used dark brown felt for his antlers and some beige corduroy for his face to give a different texture. I decided to use googly eyes and a pom-pom for a nose (which took ages to make – thanks to Tom for his help!). I used my sewing machine for this but it did take a while to sew some bits, particularly the antlers. But I’m so pleased with the finished jumper! Will definitely have to wear it on Christmas Day!

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ipad case

Yesterday I posted a tutorial about how to make your own ipad case, but due to a technological hitch I couldn’t include all of the photos that I wanted to (sorry – maybe it was the person doing it rather than the technology!). So I came up with the idea of creating a pdf document with the instructions and extra photos to help – fingers crossed this works…

If you’d like to download a copy, please click on this link SMCSLT Make Your Own Ipad Case Tutorial.

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You will need:

A piece of cotton 38 x 60cm for the lining
4oz wadding, measuring 40 x 60cm (I split it in half so it wasn’t quite as thick)
A piece of cotton duck fabric (or other fabric for the outside) measuring around 44 x 64 cm
Cotton (in a colour to match or contrast with your material)
Ribbon (enough to loop around the button when you’ve sewn it on, so measure later)
An iron
Sharp scissors or pinking shears
Pins

Step 1: Cut out your piece of cotton for the lining. Place the ipad on the fabric and work out where the top of the hem should be (I allowed a couple of centimetres to make sure that the case covers the ipad). Pin securely along the top hems and then sew, before pinning the sides together and sewing them together.

Step 2: Place the ipad inside the lining and then wrap the wadding around to fit. Trim off any excess. Then place all of this on top of the outer material that you would like to use, and cut to size (allowing excess for hems).

Step 3: Take the outer material and fold so that the patterned sides are together. Turn back to make the top hem a couple of centimetres higher than the lining, pin and press with an iron (I didn’t sew the top hem here – I did it when I attached the lining to make it a bit neater). Place the ipad with the lining and wadding in the middle of the material and pin down the sides. Remove and sew down the side edges.

Step 4: Turn the outer layer inside out and place the ipad, lining and wadding inside (this may take a few minutes as you need to make sure that everything is in the right place before sewing!). Pin the lining to the outer layer, making sure the the top hem of the lining overlaps with the outer layer a little.

Step 5: Before sewing the lining and outer layers together, place the button where you would like it to be and sew it on. Then measure out a length of ribbon, making sure that you can tuck it in between the lining and outer layer and that it will be secure around the button. Hand stitch it in place.Step 6: Now you need to attach the lining. Don’t be worried if the lining seems much smaller here – hand stitch or machine stitch as far along the straight edges as you can, without stitching over the side hems.

Step 7: The final thing to do is to sew over the top of the case, from the outer edges until you reach the hem of the lining. This should be hand stitched, and you probably only need to sew around a centimetre in. Make sure you go over the top of the case (see photo).

Ta-dah! You now have your own unique ipad case! I like the contrast of the vintage style fabric with the ultra modern technology

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Please note: you can find a more up-to-date version of this post here (with step-by-step instructions!).

I don’t really consider myself to be much of a flower arranger at all, but I found a wonderful step-by-step guide by A Practical Wedding which is so clear and easy to follow. To make a bouquet you will need some florist’s tape, ribbon and a couple of floristry pins in addition to your choice of flowers. I also bought a pair of florist’s scissors which made removing thorns and trimming the flowers much easier in comparison to using my orange-handled kitchen scissors. I didn’t have a huge choice of flowers (because it is almost the middle of November), so I settled with white roses and spray carnations.

Preparing the flowers took about 10 minutes, and it’s really important that you remove all of the foliage and any thorns. It only took about another 10-15 minutes to finish the rest of the bouquet, and it was so much fun! Even though the bouquet is simple I’m so pleased with the effect, and the natural beauty of the flowers really comes through. Next August there will be a much wider choice available, and I’ll go down to York Market the day before and buy a variety to make bouquets – so the flowers will be seasonal, beautiful and I can support local traders too. Now I’ve done a trial run I can’t wait to make the real thing!

Post updated 24th June 2016.

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