Up cycled baby grows

When you first meet me I promise your first instinct will not be 'wow what a maternal woman' it's much more likely to be 'wow how has this person survived on her own so long'. You think I'm kidding but my nearest and dearest often joke that I'm on day release and they are my carers.
My point: I'm probably the least likely person to be interested in baby clothes. Now I haven't gone to the lengths of Sarah Millican who accidentally collects baby clothes for when Cheryl Cole pops by but I do think they are cute.
This is not your invitation to suggest I start having babies, I know I'm a person in possession of a uterus that is still ornamental but I promise you, I'm merely making a statement.
My latest craft fix comes from taking the baby grow that the child has grown out of, (taking the clothes from babies while they are still wearing them is probably more frowned upon than taking candy right?) cutting it up and making it into something new. This something new happens to be a love heart made out of covered buttons using the baby grows. The parents pick the clothes so they get to treasure the memories for much longer than it's acceptable to keep the baby grow, if Sarah, you are reading this perhaps it's time the tiny jeans go, and you get a keepsake for their room. And it's not just for girls. When a colleague passed me a bag of boys clothes I had a mini melt down but then came up with the dinosaur you see at the bottom.
Both sets of mummies at least liked the pictures from what I could gather and it kept my hands from shoving cake into a reluctant face for at least a day so it's all good. Ok so the face wasn't reluctant. I want cake.

Round cushion

The last blog I did told the journey of a cushion from dad to daughter via brother and today's blog looks at what happened to the second of the pair. If you want to read it http://thefattycrafter.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/upcycled-cushion.html?m=1 is the link you need for the first cushion.
In short - massive cushion, didn't match, needed upcycling, done using purple, new cushion that matches, everyone is a winner.
So seeing as I used most of the jersey fabric on the first cushion I needed to come up with either more fabric or an alternative design. Now for those of you that know me will know how stingy I am so obviously I went with the later.
Following a pattern from a magazine I sewed blocks of rectangular fabric together. You're supposed to use four blocks of each colour but because I only had three in each I figured it would do. Told you I'm stingy.
I was a bit amazed that something that was rectangular would become a circle, I teach English not geometry afterall. Don't judge me too harshly.
I joined the ends of the large rectangle and then put Grey's on. This cushion is so simple that you can watch tv while putting it together.
I did a running stitch and pulled it tight. Job done for one end. Then I did it again for the other end. This was trickier, not impossible just tricker. Pull in together slightly so that you have a circle only big enough to put your hand in. Then stuff it. I used the stuffing from my other, old cushion but you can buy fresh stuff from almost any haberdashery. Then pull the thread to seal the second end of the cushion.
I used the thread that I still had on my needle to sew through the middle. It just gives the cushion more of a shape - you don't have to do this, if for example the episode of Grey's that you are watching has just reached the shooter episode where Gary Clarke walks into the lift with Christina. Feel free to pay close attention to that instead.
Depending on your preference what you do next will make your cushion all the more unique. I made hearts to cover the hole, I've seen buttons used and other shapes. It's up to you. Let me know how you get on.

Quick gift ideas part one

I've finally caught up with one of my best friends and been able to hand over some very delayed presents, but actually this is a good thing because now I can share them with you lovely bunch of coconuts and maybe you can use the idea for an up and coming gift swapping festival. Not dropping any hints but you could share this blog with some of your fellas, they need a nudge around February time.
This part of the gift looks pretty shoddy without its other half but I hope you'll appreciate it. The candle was bought but then embellished using jute string, dried orange pieces and cinnamon. It smells amazing already but when it's lit it's so much better. The candle cost very little to make and chances are you have everything you need to make it already in your craft stash or fruit bowl. I'm thinking dried apple would make a nice spring occasion alternative. Then the wash cloth (I've become American here because my blog is actually read more by Americans - yes I check the audience and thanks American followers - and also because the English equivalent of 'Flannel' just sounds awful, I mean how many of you are thinking of grandma's spit being rubbed off your face right now?) Anyway, then the wash cloth was just rolled and unrolled using a YouTube clip I found. It's supposed to be a rose for those of you that lack imagination.

Spoilt for choice

I've been making loads just recently which is really handy because I'm going to have loads of blogging material for you lovely lot when my life gets too busy to make stuff. I hope this never happens but I have to be realistic exam season is upon us. As such I was spoilt for choice when choosing a make for this blog but I've gone for a commission I made recently.
The pooch attached to this blog is a bespoke draught excluder. It's not the first one I've ever made but I think it might be my favourite.
What I love about this project is that as long as you can straight stitch you can make this cutie. You need to cut in straight lines too - sometimes the harder aspect of making. As my very wise mamma once said - if you cut out the fabric incorrectly no amount of sewing is going to put it right. But those are the only skills you need.
I love getting commissions because it means people think my makes are worth paying for, so if you fancy boosting my ego ever so slightly have a look through my blogs and let me know which one you might like and I will let you know how many silver coins I'm going to ask you to cross my palm with.

Confession of Craftaholic

It's my wedding anniversary today and that is something to celebrate. I haven't injured myself or anyone else and am still affectionate toward my husband. Enough sop, let's move onto the craft.

As most five year olds, the inner child in me gets very excited about presents. I warned my husband that I was never going to not want a gift and that he should probably remember this when I'm too tired or distracted to drop heavy hints. I am incredibly easy to buy for though so don't feel too bad for him. He on the other hand, along with having a unusual name, is impossible to buy for. His hobbies are so specialised I stand no chance of buying a gift of any real purpose or substance so I'm often left with the unenviable choice of money, I.O.U or voucher. I like receiving gifts but as any outer adult I like seeing the smile of a well thought out gift being appreciated too so imagine my dismay when the first year category is paper and under interrogation my fella decides an airsoft magazine - the paper kind not the load with BB's and shoot kind - would be the perfect gift. Without ordering from the Internet and paying double the price this is impossible. With only a week, ok more like two days, I was running out of options. Then it occurred to me, I just needed to consult my inner craftiness. I would make a magazine, it can't be that hard.

I gathered all the feature stories, reviews, funny pictures and recipes that I could. All good magazines have a recipe of some kind. Then came the putting together. Six hours worth of craft, a full roll of double sided tape and probably a full ink cartridge and the magazine was born.

Seeing how pleased my husband was with the magazine made all the hard work worth it.

Hard work? Who am I kidding, I loved making every page, I'm already looking forward to next year's challenge. Then it dawned on me, if crafting can be used to supply an airsoft fix maybe I really have reached the realm of craftaholicness. No that isn't a word, I will give myself a good talking to for that later.