Brilliant things mums give kids

April 26, 2012 DW12 Comments

There’s no pictures in this post I’m afraid, but I hope you’ll read it anyway – especially if you’re a mum.

I was tatting on the train on the way home from work tonight, thinking about things to make. My mind wondered to hair accessories – and then to a hairslide my mum made for me when I was little. What a hairslide! I loved it.

As a child I always had my hair in a bob. It was between chin and shoulder length, and quite ‘swishy’ – I’ve got very thick hair. One day my mum made me a special hairslide – I’m not sure what prompted that, now I think about it. It was platted in green and white cord across the top, stitched on to a flat metal hair slide, but with long pieces of cord that dangled into my hair, with beads on the end. Wait – I’ll draw it. Ignore the no pictures thing.

See what I mean? I can still feel it in my hair now. All dangly and brilliant. I thought it was the best thing ever. It WAS the best thing ever. It’s not the only thing my mum has ever made me of course.

She also made me dresses (when I was really little) an aran jumper (which she hated knitting, but was very well done), cakes and biscuits, a hot water bottle cover, cushions, some beautiful embroideries and lots of other things. (She also instilled the deep love of a good book).

Of course the very best thing she gave me, was her time.

We both enjoy crafty stuff, but mostly different crafty stuff. She does the most incredible embroidery, cross stitch, Hardanger and she’s really practical – so if there’s a need for a *thing* in fabric, she’ll figure a way to make it. Boxes, decorations, aprons, peg bags, iPod cases, that kind of thing. I’m not at all the same. I think I’m still working out what I like doing – tatting, for sure – and I’m liking learning to knit and use my sewing machine.

Growing up with a major part of my youth in the 80s, there was a real rejection of craft. Somehow, my family still had hobbies. I just grew up thinking that there was more to life than TV. Now I’m older, I can really appreciate what a gift that is to give to your children. I’m rarely bored – when I listen to friends who suddenly find them selves alone on a Saturday, or stuck in on a weeknight and forced to watch TV, I think how nice a spare evening to yourself sounds — a chance to *do* something! (Not to watch TV.)

So, Mum – thank you. Thank you for all the things you’ve made me, all the things I’ve made with your help, and all the things I’m thinking of making.

—
And apologies – for the lack of pictorial evidence, I just felt like posting this tonight.

Monkeys, crochet, tatting, sewing, triumph and failure

April 15, 2012 DW10 Comments

Yes, this post has something for everyone. Or at least something for everyone who likes a bit of craft – otherwise, look away now.

I was of course making a pig, last time I posted. It’s still at the head stage, because the Ipad refuses to display the second page of the pattern, and I’ve not really been sitting at my other mac, which displays it perfectly. I will finish it, but over Easter as I was away visiting family, I grabbed two balls of yarn and a hook and decided I’d try out some yarn I bought for monkey making a while back.

(Look at her there – relaxing mid-photoshoot! Honestly. It was quite hard to get her to pay any attentional at all.)

The yarn was £2.00 a ball and is Rowan hand knit cotton. I must admit, I don’t love it for this kind of thing, I’ve decided. Two main reasons:
• I crochet really tightly anyway (which is actually very good for making toys) but it makes some yarns tough on the fingers – and this is one of them.
• The stitch definition is a bit too good! Its an odd negative, I know, but I think sometimes the fact it shouts ‘I’ve been crocheted!’ can really get in the way of the character of the toy. Something a little fuzzier is probably better.
While I was away, I made all the boring no-brainer bits: ears, mouth, hands, feet and I started on the rest of the head. I finished the head in the week and today I forced myself to make all the limbs and sew it together. Sewing of course, being the worst job of all.

Usually I put scarves on my monkeys, but today, with sore fingers, I couldn’t face crocheting anything else. Out of the blue I decided to make a dress instead. The monkey is actually an odd colour in real life, and just as I was about to chop up some linen, my head said ‘umm, you’re doing this in a rush, with no idea what you’re doing. Use something you don’t care about’. For once I listened and used a bit of old sheet instead. I must admit, I’ve done a dreadful job on the dress sewing! It’s appalling – and worse – the monkey is trapped inside. I had to sew her in, which is something I really don’t like (it’s sloppy, I think). Having said that – Look at her! She’s hilarious. As I sat down to sew her in, I spotted the crochet flower – it’s been knocking about on my desk for ages – I crocheted it in tatting thread a while back.

I makes a big difference I think. Without it, she looks like she’s in very drab school uniform. Having said all that, I quite like the overall effect, and so I’m going to ponder on it all and probably remake the dress, but better. I did a quick google search before hand incidentally, and found this tutorial. It’s not brilliant, but gave me enough confidence to have a go. I didn’t pin anything or measure anything… it shows. Next time.

If you wanted to crochet your own monkey, I used this pattern again, and just personalised it a bit as I went. So that’s the crochet – and the sort of triumph, on to the tatting / sewing / failure next.

Before Easter I thought I would try making a ‘lunch bag’ style bag, to put tatting on. Most of the tutorials I’ve seen have all been for bags in one colour, but I wanted side panels on mine.

Only thing is, I also lined it, and by the time I’d finished, it doesn’t really fold over properly, which is really annoying. I think it’s all too small for the thickness of the fabric.

I know it needs a button – but even with it, it’s a very clumsy looking thing – so back to the drawing board on that one.

Also, I’ve been trying out using tatting for a brooch – and I’m not keen on that either!

This is it 3/4 done – but I’m still thinking about whether to finish it or take it apart. I made the edging in the week (my own pattern, for once) – but it’s really there to hide the fact the circle isn’t perfect. So… how do people make and hem circular brooches? Actually, even as I typed that I think I probably know the answer to that one. They’re better at sewing than me 🙂

Never mind. You don’t know these things till you try ’em.

In other more exciting news – I’m learning to knit! I asked specifically for no chocolate this Easter, and so instead of an egg, my mum gave me a massive ball of practise yarn, a pair of needles and some of her time in teaching me. She’s a brilliant knitter, but doesn’t enjoy it, so it was very sweet of her to put herself through it. What a lovely present. I’ve been forcing myself to get that monkey finished all week, so I can get on with trying to knit a scarf! I’ve got the basics of knit and perl, and I can just about cast on and off (with a bit of prompting). Needless to say I have grand ambitions but like all these things, *trying* to take it one step at a time.

Phew.

Doing something (else) with my tatting

March 28, 2012 DW12 Comments

(side note – clicking any of these photos will make ’em bigger.)

Last year, when I decided I was producing a lot of tatting and it was about time to do something with it, I made some lavender bags. A complete sewing novice I thought they’d be a good place to start. Actually, they were… Tiny practice pieces, all a bit wonky, none of them with the motif actually in the middle. Luckily lavender smells lovely and if you squint a bit the wonkiness fades, so they do the job quite nicely.

After my quilting adventures, and an earlier attempt at a drawstring bag, I decided it was time to try something new with my tatting. Still all straight lines of course, but, you know – no point rushing in to curves!

I’m quite pleased with this. Made a few mistakes but learnt a bit too. I did have to unpick the sewing that holds in the drawstring about 5 times – it’s actually very tricky at that size on the machine. Next time I might do it by hand. I’ll also plan to sew on the tatting in advance rather than in the middle of everything, because I got so impatient with it!

I mentioned in my previous post that I finally sewed in the ends of a few pieces of tatting I’d had sitting about, including the Mary Konior pattern made in Valdini thread . I must admit, I really wasn’t that keen on the colours of it at all, but after blocking and sewing, I’ve changed my mind.

In the end, I just wanted to use it for something – anything really, and so I bashed out another lavender bag. I think I overstuff them usually, but this time I was a bit more sparing, and it makes it look a lot more professional! I think the linen knocks a bit of the garishness out of the colours – generally mutes it a bit. Now I’ve actually gone from not liking it much at all, to loving it!

So, all good. Room for improvement, but ok for a Sunday afternoon.

Conquering my sewing machine fear

December 29, 2011 DW6 Comments

I think this has been the year of the sewing machine, for me. I inherited a Singer from an elderly neighbour, and my parents gave it a bit of love and attention (it hadn’t been used for years) and so all together, it means rather a lot to me. I’ve always been a bit nervous of sewing machines, they have a habit of running away with you, but this one is perfect!

(All todays photos are terrible, incidentally. Camera only likes bright sunlight, and I haven’t got any.)

The machine isn’t complicated, it’s a 1930s Singer, and it only goes as fast as you want it to. Only does one stitch, and you can’t really change the tension. (Or you can try, but it doesn’t like it much). I’ve made a lot of lavender bags this year, but I also started my first patchwork quilt. It’s now at the quilting stage, and while it’s not *perfect* it’s going ok.

This is a corner of the quilt sandwich. I bought the batting from a shop I think I discovered through the local Ravelry group – Thread Bear. They were so helpful – showed me the different types of batting they had, made sure I got the right amount for my rather randomly sized quilt. They were also just… kind. They didn’t go ‘oh my god, what have you DONE?!’ which is what I was expecting, because I’ve just been teaching myself as I went along, nor were they patronising, which, I would imagine would be pretty easy looking at my, errr… skills. Even the other customers were nice. So, if you need anything, I would recommend them.

I’m about half way through the quilting – it’s not easy, as I don’t have a walking foot, so you kind of have to use your whole body to get the layers through the machine – but hey, I’m getting there!

I needed to check I could actually get three layers through the machine, so I tested it with this fabric basket. It’s made of patchwork from two old sheets, and some linen. I was beside myself when I finished it – it stands up! I love it! No idea what I’ll use it for, but who cares! I made it using this very easy tutorial.

Once I’d finished that, and looked at the colours, I thought I would make one last gift for someone who likes motorsport – it’s a container really to put another gift inside, using the same sheets and some cream quilting cotton I had anyway:

We haven’t swapped presents yet, so he hasn’t seen it, but I hope he likes it. I used some iron-on interfacing for the bottom, as the cotton isn’t that thick. It’s lined with the grey cotton inside. I know… ridiculous, but I was pleased with it.

So, I still have the quilt to finish – need to finish the quilting itself, make the binding and then actually bind it. Having said all that, I’m starting to think about my next one! In the meantime, I’m about half way through crocheting the Tiramisu Baby Blanket for a pregnant-due-soon friend.

I should really stop writing this, and get on with it.

PS. Following the scarf conundrum, my mum liked them both, and so I gave her them both in the end!

Everything at once

September 18, 2011 DW5 Comments

I should be doing the garden. I’ve been saying that since around 11am, and it’s just gone 4pm. I started making a pinwheel quilt this morning, and I must admit, I’ve been having a lovely time. Doesn’t mean I haven’t gone wrong and unpicked things, or that all my edges match up the way they should, but never mind.

I mentioned before that I treated myself to a rotary blade and a Hera marker – I also bought some fabric at the same time. I’m *very* new to sewing machines, so thought a pinwheel quilt would be a nice place to start. All straight lines, and if it ends up a bit wonky, well it’s not the end of the world.

I’ve made about 9 pieces so far (with breaks for a bacon sarnie, a quick watch of instructional Youtube video and a phone call). I’m using my hand-cranked Singer – and today I actually managed to work out how to get it to wind thread on to the bobbin too! Very exciting. Such a lovely machine – and it makes the most beautiful sound as you sew.

I’ve also been crocheting in the last week or so. I finished a scarf I was making – the pattern is on Ravelry.

In the end I added 2 rows of single crochet and a round of picots, as it felt a bit unfinished without. It’s very warm – the yarn is Debbie Bliss Andes – which is baby alpaca and silk. Had I realised I’d need 6 skeins I’d’ve chosen something a bit cheaper! (Luckily Kemps has a sale right on time.)

(The above shot is the scarf unblocked – I don’t think I’ll block it…)

I actually made it long enough to wrap around my neck twice. I had an internal battle over wanting to get it finished and wanting to make it long enough to wear the way I’d rather wear scarves. In the end, it took a little longer but I’m looking forward to wearing it.

I never took finished photos of the broomstick lace scarf either. For some reason, it doesn’t photograph well – but this is a shot of the edging. I added picots to that too – for a couple of reasons actually. Again, it felt more finished to me (less like a stitch swatch), but also, there are longish single bare threads on the edges, due to the nature of the stitch. I was worried that I’d end up catching them, so this was partly for protection too.

I love this scarf (my first) but I should’ve forced myself to make it longer. It’s a wee bit short.

Anyway – the garden calls. First though, I just need to cut some fabric for another tatted lavender bag, before I put stuff away… Lets hope it’s not started getting dark before the time I step outside.

Doing something with my tatting

May 8, 2011 DW5 Comments

So, last week (the week before?) I mentioned I’d been tatting and chatting a bit, making some Mary Konior posy designs. I’ve also finished the pieces I was doing on my commute, so I thought for once i should do something with them.

At the end of last year, I was given a 1930s Singer sewing machine. It’s hand cranked, very gentle, and to be honest, all you really need to do is turn the handle – it’ll guide the fabric through pretty straight on it’s own. I’m scared of sewing machines on the whole, but I do love this one. It was given to me on the death of a neighbour of mine – she’d been a neighbour for about 30 years. Also, my parents went to a great deal of trouble to get it all fixed up and working again, so I love it because it’s simple, beautiful and sentimental.

As you can see, I’m taking it pretty slowly! I decided to make some lavender bags…

The top ones are smaller, so they have little hang tags to go on a hanger. The ones directly above are slightly larger and I finished these off with ‘piping’ – which is actually just a crocheted linen chain. I hand-stitched that and I think it was worth it – does finish them off quite nicely. I’m half tempted to tat a border for them, but they’re quite small, and I have a feeling a border might overwhelm them. They’re just to slip in a drawer to make your clothes smell nice.

How big are they? We’ll here’s a little helper for scale:

And finally, the whole lot. They smell amazing – I bought the lavender, as it’s too early to pick in the uk. I have some left too, so I’ll get tatting and make some more.

The good thing about these, is that at least they have a use… Even if you give them to people and they don’t really like the look of them, they can still chuck ’em in a drawer and they’ll do what they’re meant to (make things smell nice). Otherwise I have a terrible habit of just chucking the tatting in the drawer as it is, and that’s not a lot of use to anyone…

Now I just have to ween myself off the posy pattern. As I do most of my tatting in transit, it has to be *the* ideal pattern. I know I’ve said that before, but actually, the more I do it, the more I love it.

Trying out puncetto

February 27, 2011 DW4 Comments

I haven’t posted in a while, not because I haven’t been doing anything, more because I haven’t been able to take pictures of the things I’ve been doing. My camera only functions when the light is 100% perfect, which in a UK winter is… never, actually.

I’ve been fiddling with stuff, to be honest. Having a go. So I don’t have anything spectacular to report, but I’ll report it anyway in bits and pieces.

First up, puncetto. Puncetto is a form of needle lace. I’ve mentioned needle lace before – but until recently, still not got round to having a go. There are of course loads of different types, but I someone mentioned using a puncetto technique to finish a tatted piece over on Flickr, and it piqued my interest. Also, the lovely lady who blogs at No Moose Today has been making leaps and bounds in progress herself, and so I thought I’d try it.

I do love this video:

You have to love a video that shows you the tiniest fraction and then PING! she’s done yards and yards of the stuff. It’s also gobsmackingly frustrating as you think you’ll be able to pick up how she does it, but it always cuts away just as you think you’re getting somewhere. To be fair though, it’s not meant to be an instructional video.

Anyway. I managed to pick up the general idea – the foundation chain is almost like embroidering chain stitch in mid air. I also found these tutorials, which are very helpful – although I make the foundation chain like the lady in the video, not as the tutorials suggest – personally, I found it much easier.

I don’t have a pattern, and so far I’ve only mucked about. I got this far:

Tatters will spot that this is Lizbeth thread, size 20. I’m not sure it’s right for this, but it’s pretty chunky so made it very manageable. I wasn’t working to a pattern here, literally just thinking ‘Ill try this next’ – and I think I’ve got the stitching correct.

That is as far as I’ve got though – because it dawned on me that even if I got to be great at this – what would I *do* with it? I already tat for love, not the finished result, so thought maybe I should nip this in the bud… for now at least.

I posted about all this really so anyone looking for puncetto tutorials could follow the link and find them.

Tatted snowflakes in action

December 23, 2010 DW2 Comments

What with the actual snow, I got a bit behind in sending out my tatted snowflakes. This is good and bad. Mainly good – it means I have a few for my own tree!

I must admit, I took a step back and was really very pleasantly surprised by how nice they look. I’m not claiming to be the world’s greatest tatter or anything – but they really are pretty. Tatting works so well for snowflakes. If you were going to invent a snowflakey art, you’d probably invent tatting.

I loved Jon’s book of patterns. Having said that, I got really fixated on this one design (above) as once I had it memorised it was the ideal commuter-flake! (I tat most on the train). Once the Christmas rush is over, I’ll try a few more. I love the fact lots of them use split rings etc – techniques I’d sort of learnt but had yet to use. There’s so much work that’s been put into the design and writing of the book, it’s really fantastic to be able to buy it and support/say thanks to someone who contributes so much to the community. If you’re in the mood for some new patterns I’d strongly recommend it.

Needle lace… What’s that?

December 17, 2009May 10, 2011 DW5 Comments

To continue my slightly odd obsession with lace making for another post, recently I looked up lace making courses in my area. I’m not sure why, as I’ve mentioned previously, lace making with bobbins isn’t something I think I have the time (or space) to do. Really I think I was just wondering what kind of things were available locally. I’m often quite mean about the town I live in – and to be honest, it’s no where near as bad as all that. We have wide open green spaces, and that’s one of the things I like about it most.

Anyway. To my surprise I found a lace making course near me. You could learn three types of lace, needle lace, bobbin lace and knitted lace. I can’t knit and it’s not something I’m looking to learn at the moment – but I was curious about needle lace. What is it? Is it tatted lace, but with a needle?

On further investigation, (also known as asking my mother) I found a book on needle lace. It looked like a 1970s horror. A cross between embroidery, and… I’m not even sure what else, odd miniature weaving or something. Which confirmed it. It wasn’t something I wanted to do.

But I’m very nosey at times, and further investigation online lead me to this page: Antique needlepoint lace, from the collection of Marla Mallett.

That’s more what I was expecting! That’s not a 1970s nightmare, it’s intricate and beautiful. There’s also a lot of different types of needle lace it seems.

Incase you’re interested, this is my favourite.

It’s called Reticello. (Or Reticella – is one plural? My Italian is non existent). It is, I think, a cross between cut and drawn threadwork. Initial investigations haven’t got me very far (but then I’ve not had a huge amount of time to look).

The odd thing is, I came across a blog the other day, quite by accident where someone is teaching herself. It looks great! Mica, I am most impressed. I’ve put further investigations on hold at the moment as I’ve got a lot of other stuff I should be doing, but I’ll see what else I can find out in the new year.

UPDATE: Incase anyone doesn’t read the comments, there’s a needlelace tutorial here!

Everyone’s got to start somewhere

October 7, 2009October 12, 2009 DW2 Comments

And so, I shall start here.

A few weeks ago a friend of mine was talking about embroidery. She wanted to start a new hobby, didn’t fancy knitting or crochet, but did fancy sewing. A tattooed lady herself, she fancied needleworking a tattoo-style illustration.

I’m not a good needleworker. I have done some tapestry in the past, but I just don’t seem to have the patience for embroidery. It doesn’t mean I don’t like other people’s though…

I’ve already sent her the links now, but had I got round to starting this blog a wee bit sooner, these are some links I would’ve shared with both you and she simultaneously.

Subversive Crossstitch
Yup, you probably know this one already – great traditional-style charts filled with wonderful sentiments such as:

Sublime Stitching
Another new twist on an old craft, Sublime Stitching feels more ‘freehand’. Embroidering straight onto any kind of fabric (rather than cross-stitch fabric specifically), with a range of patterns from tattoos to 1950’s pin-ups

Making up your own subversive statements
This page is interesting – it’s pixel fonts – some of which are drawn to look like embroidery. You could buy a pixel font, and use it to create your own sampler pattern to work from….

Or of course, you could work in something like Photoshop, and draw out your own pattern, pixel-for-stitch.

Urban Crossstitch
Self-described as ‘street stitchers with style’, UC have a variety of kits based on Banksy Graffiti and iconic things like space invaders. There’s a touch of the ‘Subversive Crossstitch’ about them too…

Three dimensional embroidery
Flickr is always a good place to look for cool crafty stuff – and actually, I haven’t passed on this link to my friend as I’ve only just found it – but how cool is this, by Kristin Krause :

A day of the dead pillow, embroidered with thread and sequins.

I think the thing with starting up with a new craft, is – as Carina says – the chance to

And, more to the point, enjoy it. (I keep seeing lots of people demonstrating how speedily they can do x/y/z craft – but for me, someone who crafts occasionally and just for the hell of it, it’s a real joy to be able to take my time.)

Phew. There. Done. My first post.

Occasional Crafter

Crafting, occasionally.

Category: Needlework