Sticks Jars and Superglue

Good morning campers

Last week craftclub set up base in Stephs house with a Pinterest inspired activity.....twig candle holders.

At first both Amy and I were sceptical. There is a lot of evidence that Pinterest ideas don't always translate in real life....like This.

 

But as Steph supplied us with tons of tea, chocolate and biscuits. we gave it the benefit of the doubt, and got stuck in. Although, Louis remained sceptical of the whole situation.

 

 

The results were actually quite reasonable.....

 

..and I think I'd do it again. Well done Steph for a great crafting time.

 

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Through the buttonhole, part 2

So, Esme showed you round her craft corner. Here's mine, also newly completed, in my spare bedroom. I took a trip to Ikea, looked at lots of desks and shelves, then realised when I got home that with a bit of rejigging I already had the things I needed at home, so didn't have to spend any money. 

So I have an old display cabinet that's great for displaying some cool china and trinkets that I've collected, but also has space to put things away, and a great 1960s desk with leather top that was being chucked out at some offices and my father in law rescued. Also CD shelves that are great for displaying the cool yarn.

Here's my Ikea sewing machine, ready for action:

And some cool bunting I got for Christmas, with my current favourite knitting and sewing books:

Pretty neat! Of course I always seem to end up actually crafting downstairs in front of the telly, or with my Miskin Makes pals, but it's great to have somewhere to keep it all together and show it off.

Through the buttonhole....

After many months of nagging and whining Mikey surrendered up his flight simulation corner, and I set up camp.....here's a peep into my very own craft haven.

It means I get to leave my sewing machine out, so it's ready at any moment I might be yearning to whizz up a homemade creation. Amen to that.

All my sewing and crochet books are easily found.

And I get to pretend I'm living in one of the perfectly set out houses, and Mollie Makes are doing an article on me. Is that weird?

Also......miniature sewing board! Hello! If that doesn't mean my life is complete I just don't know what does?

As I'm sure you've guessed, I'm quite proud of it. Where do you craft?

 

 

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And we're still here.

Yea, so it's been a while. Craftclub was held in Amy's house with a total of four crafters. This is what everyone made.....

Lou set up a dove making factory.

Amy made a majorly cute robin top. Molly's a lucky girl.

Steph made a magnificent psychadelic birthday card.

And I knitted.

 

Happy crafting everybody.

 

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Burda - no! Sewing a red toddler skirt

I've been trying to make a very simple skirt for my two year old for weeks now. The instructions in the Burda pattern have stumped me! In the end I resorted to youtube videos & Pinterest to learn how to sew a simple elasticated waist on this skirt.

So finally it is done.

Pretty good! Thank you internet.

And thanks for nothing, Burda!

Is it too early?

Afternoon. I've made a dress, but don't have any photos so I'll tell you about it another time. In the meantime, I've made this....

 

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Sunday at the Handmade Fair

Hello. I'm back.

 

Sunday I dragged Mikey to Hampton Court for the Handmade fair, which was great. Getting the 0630 Megabus was not so fun, but at least it was the Gold version, so we embraced the sense of adventure and were on our way with a complimentary muffin and bottle of water.

 

Hampton court is beautiful, and possibly the best part of it was the surroundings.

It was hard to imagine what it would be like as I'm pretty sure it's the first handmade fair to be held, and I was a bit concerned it would be really corporate (especially as it was sponsored by hobbycraft) but it wasn't. The majority of the stall holders were genuine small businesses. There were two large tents of stall holders, selling all sorts of handmade goodies, with quite a few fabric and wool venders.....it was quite overwhelming even. And there was A LOT of girls - poor Mikey.

We missed our first skills class unfortunately, but went to the Annie Sloan Chalk paint demonstration. Where we were guided through painting a candle stick.

It was fairly simple - i mean.....most people know how to use a paintbrush don't they?! But it was inspiring, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to start painting random bits of furniture around the house now. And I really liked Annie herself, especially when her answer to the question 'how do you clean/care for the furniture in the long run?' Was along the lines of....'I don't really think about that.....I guess I'm a bad person, but life is too short for stuff like that.' I like your attitude Annie Sloan!

 

Now Tilly was there, but I was too shy to say hello....and she was very busy teaching her sewing class. But we got this stalkerish photo, as proof of seeing her.

 

Other famous sewists spotting.....I also saw Lisa comfort off of Sew over it in the toilets. Pretty darn exciting.

On the way home we stopped off in clapham junction and went to this lovely coffee place called The birdhouse and had a lovely cup of tea.

 

All in all - a delightful day out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Stripey piggy in a stripey T-shirt

So the other day in the pub, Steph said.....'can you make a soft toy for Hamish's new nephew? Maybe a pig?'

And I said yes, probably.

And this is how it turned out.....

I searched through Pinterest and etsy, and ended up with shape below.

I had a bit of an issue deciding on the fabric because of the whole pigs-are pink-but-pink-is-for-girls problem. But some pink pinstripe shirt fabric was squished right into the bottom corner of my stash and it did the job nicely I think, once I did the once over with the old iron.

Amy had the great idea of using a drain cleaner thingy for his tail, and luckily I also had one of them left over from the craftclub challenge. Pretty darn cute.

Oink snort!

 

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Finished projects! Toddler hoodie, Tilly's Margot pjs, and Tilly's Delphine skirt. Oh and a little pig

This week has been a week of finishing things.

I started knitting this toddler hooded cardigan back in January. But as I have lots of other projects on the go at the same time it took me ages. So much that I had to restart the cardie in a bigger size.

But ta-da, it's finished, and it's a beauty.

Watering can - model's own

It's a Sirdar Tiny Tots jacket pattern for those that want to know, the Ravelry page is here and it's made with Sirdar Click DK with wool - I love the yarn it's orange and pink and red and white and will go with all those colours and more.

Also, I completed item three from Tilly's Love at First Stitch book - the Margot pyjamas. Nice huh? Nice funky fabric from Cardiff Market.

I also totally forgot a few weeks ago to post my photo of my completed Delphine skirt, also from Tilly's book. It got some lovely comments, my favourite was "I made some curtains for my lounge in the 80s in the very same fabric". Nice.

In other Miskin Makes news:

Mikey's raspberry trifle brought smiles to our faces

And Esme's wonderful piggy-wig is taking shape!

Arriving in one dress, leaving in another.

 

 

Ok, so we really proper stuffed our faces last week at craftclub. Mr Wheel sent round his incredibly delicious raspberry brownies, and I had also made a cheesecake. Like little piggies we were.

 

Which brings me onto my very first commission.....a pig shaped softie for a new-born. So I trawled through Pinterest and etsy, and made a pretty basic pig shape, and now I'm in the process of trying to develop it into a 3d shape. Photo coming soon.

 

Amy cracked on with her flowery jimjams, and if I'm not mistaken, they're very nearly finished.....with a probable photo of them coming soon too. In the mean time here's a 'craftclub-in-process' photo...

 

And now, as the title suggests, Beth was so prolific she arrived in this pink dress....

 

.....and went home in a new green number.

Clever girl!

 

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