A winter skirt

I've just finished making this corduroy A-line skirt. I've had the idea in my head for ages, so I'm so glad I finally made it. I'll be making a few more in smaller sizes. I seem to be in a bit of a slump lately, not knowing what I really want to be making to sell. Anyway...it'll come...one day!

My very tall 4 year old daughter

Hope you're all having a super day!

Cheers, Raewyn

Nooooooooo......................

I think my box of embroidery floss fell into the recycling box and now it's GONE! We have a cardboard box that we put all of our recycling into before throwing into the big bin, and I keep all my odds and ends neatly packed on the table next to the recycling box. I could scream....I'm going to scream.....wait for it.......AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Okay, I suppose it's not too bad. Nobody died, it's only embroidery floss. I'll just have to go to Spotlight tomorrow and buy some more. Makes me wonder what else I've lost thanks to the recycling box.

Hope you are all having a wonderful week. So happy the rain has stopped so we could start building our house. Yippeeee!

Cheers, Raewyn

Quick box corner fix-up

Don't you just hate it when a box's lid breaks in the corners? I HATE it! It can be a sentimental box or even just a puzzle or games box.

Well, here's my quick box corner fix up...

I love this box. A friend gave me a set of two and I just LOVE them! I keep lots of crafty odds and ends in here, but this lid has really been grating me lately.

So...I grabbed some glue, a small piece of twill tape (you can use anything really) and a button..

....And voila...my box lid corner is fixed. I love it!

Yay!

The button goes nicely on this box but you could add a little fabric flower or whatever will go with your box.

Cheers, hope you all have a super week!

Raewyn

How to make a fabric flower/brooch Tutorial

Somebody on the ilovestitches fb page asked me how to make these fabric flowers. How nice...I don't really have people asking me how to make stuff, so I'm rather chuffed to be able to be of some use. Here it is:

What you'll need:

felt,

scraps of fabric,

button,

a needle and thread,

and a glue gun

1. Cut a strip of fabric (mine is about 3cm x 60cm, but you can make it whatever length or width you like) I've done a straight one and a scalloped one, just so you can see.

2. Cut two felt circles (one big, one small)

3. Do a rough stitch all the way across the length of the fabric. The stitches don't have to be even or the same length or anything. Make sure you've secured the thread at the start of your stitching, by knotting the thread or just stitching over the first stitch a few times. Stitch all the way to the end of your strip of fabric.

4. Pull the thread until you can't put it anymore, just don't break it - that'll amount to some major frustration.

5. Once you've done that...on the wrong side of the fabric, thread the needle through anywhere (have a look above) and do a few stitches to secure the thread and make sure it won't come loose - because again...it could lead to frustration if that happens. (I can get so frustrated with stuff that I'll end up giving up on the project I'm busy with)

6. Stitch your fabric like above, to join the ends.

Putting it together:

Stitch your button onto the small circle,

glue the fabric flower onto the larger circle,

and then glue the small circle onto the fabric flower....

And....voila....a fabric flower!

Add a brooch pin to the back to make a brooch if you like, or attach it to a headband, or a bag. You could make some smaller ones and make little hair clips.

This should only take you about 10 minutes tops to make, if you don't get interrupted. And if you don't have a glue gun, go buy one. It's a great investment, you use it for so much (I think they only cost about $4 at the cheappy store)

Here's my ill little girl with the one on her headband. Mmmm....The pic does look a bit odd doesn't it? That's because I told her to put her head at an angle so I could balance the fabric flower on the headband so I could get a shot of it. I didn't glue it down because she wanted another one I had made on there.

So that's that then. If you have any questions, you're welcome to email me.

Hope you all have a fab weekend!

xox

A giveaway

This amazingly super crafty craftiest of them all....Vanessa, from v&co, is having a very lovely giveaway. Go here to enter. You'll be happy you did! Be sure to have a browse around her blog. She has go the most amazing tutorials - I love her tutorials!

Hope you're all having a super week!

Little girls bags

I've just finished making these bags, made from scraps of fabric I had left over from making kindy sheets. I might even have enough to make another 2. I'm selling them for $11 each and each bag comes with a fabric and felt flower brooch - FREE! - all part of my plight to make homemade more affordable, which I do admit is rather difficult considering the amount of time put into making it. The bag is about 21.5cm wide and long. And the strap is about 40cm from the top of the bag to the shoulder. The inside of the bag is white.

The fabric flower looks lovely attached to the strap of bag!

Like it? Buy it HERE!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

xox

Just a note to say.........

ilovestitches is on Facebook!

Yay!

Hope you all have a fab weekend!

xox

Cards in my shop

Finally....I've added more cards to my madeit store. I've decided to reduce my prices on everything in my shop. I seem to only sell a few things and then it goes really quiet. So I thought I would rather reduce my prices...sell....and keep busy, than just sell the odd thing here and there. Have you noticed how pricey some of these homemade things are on madeit and etsy? And yes..I know it is HANDMADE but still.... it should be affordable. I've decided I'm going to try do a bit of bargain hunting on madeit. Maybe it'll be a "under $20" thing or something like that. I'll start that this week some time.

In the meantime.........here are my latest cards!

These are all in my shop now....for $4.50 each.

Take a look!

Hope you're all having a fab week!

Raewyn

A bag for my darling sister...

Here's a bag I made for my sister for her birthday. I still need to collect a few more odds and ends to send to her in South Africa. If you fancy this bag...I still have loads more of this fabric left and can easily whip up a few more!

Hope you all have a fab evening!

xox

The weekend....

I did some financial damage at Spotlight over the weekend. I bought some upholstery fabric to make a bag for my sister, a few notions (quite a few), some wool felt and my most favourite buy...these 2 stamps. I've never done stamping before, but when I saw these stamps, I thought it's about time I did! I think they'll look so good stamped onto fabric and put onto a card!

I've also added another card to my madeit shop. Actually..it's a card and brooch set.

Here it is.....

It's perfect for a little girl's first birthday!

Take a look!

I'm constantly trying to think of a totally new and original craft or sewing idea, but I don't really come up with much. All the things I make are my own designs but I want to do something really good that will make people say..."AMAZING" to. Well... I was skyping a friend this morning and she has come up with the most fantastic original idea. I CANNOT wait to see how people are going to receive it!

Hope you all have a fabulous day!

xox

A skirt for Miss Fussy...

I finally finished this skirt for my 4 year old daughter. She is so fussy when it comes to what she'll wear. She hardly ever wears a pair of jeans..because as she says, "It's not beautiful!". I've tried to persuade her by telling her we can make it look beautiful with a pretty top, but she never falls for it. I wonder where she gets it from. Definitely not from me, I'm such a sloppy dresser, although I am improving. Now I'm only sloppy at home and I actually dress decently to go to the shops. I even put make-up on. Back to my fussy daughter.... I remember when she was about 18 months old, she would scream the house down when I dressed her in what I wanted her to wear. I would have to lift her up so she could see what was hanging there and then she would choose what to wear! I am learning now that if something has flowers or butterflies or sparkles on it.. it is most likely classified as beautiful. She says the skirt I made for her is beautiful!....aaaaahhh....at last... a breakthrough for me!

In other news... I have sold 3 of my fabric cards. I am unbelievably happy! I have listed a few more in my madeit shop. I'm hoping I can actually get somewhere with selling this year and selling these 3 cards has given me great motivation to carry on doing what I'm doing!

Take a look!

Hope you all have a super day!

xox