#JumpForJoyJuly Offer

I’m part of a small business huddle with a lovely group of other small businesses. Every couple of months there is an even on Instagram where each of the businesses taking part has an offer - a deal, discount or something else they want to share.

For #FindYourJanuaryJoy I offered a free embroidery pattern (you can find all the free patterns I’ve published since then here).

During #MakeMarchMagic I tried out offering an embroidery workshop for free.

I had a break for the May event but I’m now back for July and now it is my turn for my offer and I have a free 20-page ebook to help you get started with embroidery. Packed full of everything you need to know and lots of my hints and tips too.

Sign up here to get your free download.

Cat proof quilt

We have a cat. He's great. But we are first time cat owners and we didn't appreciate that cat hair GETS EVERYWHERE.

His favourite hobbies are eating and snoozing and in a futile attempt to minimise the amount of cat hair on bedding I thought I’d make a quilt top to protect the duvet on the spare bed.

If you want to make a simple quilt such as this one here’s how:

• Collect together fabrics in your selected colour way (my cat is white & ginger so I chose neutrals which should show his hairs less) if you can, collect a mix of plain, stripes, dots and other patterned fabric

• A cutting mat, rotary cutter and quilting ruler help make the cutting out process much easier and fun! I cut my fabric into 10cm squares (with a 1cm seam allowance the finished sized square was 8cm)

• Lay out the squares on the floor. I found that setting a few ‘rules’ helped me for example not having the stripes all going the same way, how many plain squares I wanted per row/column. The number of squares you have per fabric may also vary and you can decide on the number of squares of that fabric per row/column which also helps with the layout

• Step away from your laid out pattern and make a cup of tea, when you come back, look again at the layout and see if there is anything that needs to move around, especially with dominant colours or patterns which catch the eye first (but don’t forget the other sections which you may spot later and jar with you)

• Take a picture of your layout so you can make sure you are still happy with it later (and it can be used as a reference point if any of the squares get muddled up

• Pin the squares together in strips, use scrap paper pinned to each strip to number each one so that you can identify each piece

• Using a constant seam allowance (I used 1cm) stitch each square to the others in the strip

• Once each strip has been sewn, press the seam allowances flat

• Pin the strips together. If any seam allowances don’t match up across strips you can decide whether to live with the mismatch or unpick and re-sew

• Once all the strips have been sewn together you will have one large panel, press any new seams open so that the panel is completely flat

• I cut out backing from a cheap king sized sheet by laying the sheet flat on the floor and laying the panel on top and cutting with a generous seam allowance

• For my quilt I wasn’t looking for it to be too insulated so I didn’t include any wadding/batting, I just put an old sheet in the middle before pinning on the backing. I pinned the three layers together before tacking them together by hand as I find it easier to get the accuracy I’m looking for by hand rather than machine

• For the edge of the quilt I used bias binding that I made from the same fabric as one of the squares. (This is a useful tutorial for making your own bias binding.) Again I attached the bias binding by hand, you can use a machine but you will probably need a walking foot to handle the different layers of fabric.

Certification

I was taking part in an Instagram Challenge recently and the prompt was ‘hype yourself’. I found it quite difficult at first to think what to write and then I reflected on why this was and this is what I wrote.

For a long time I didn't think I was qualified to start my own creative business as I didn't even study art or textiles for GCSE. But I've reframed those thoughts, so here’s my attempt at hyping myself...⁠
⁠
- I have 25+ years of crafting experience and have designed and made hundreds of my own creations⁠
- I'm mostly self taught, meaning I'm adept in solving problems and developing my own techniques (I started long before YouTube could give you an instant tutorial)⁠
- my skills were developed through curiosity and experimentation, not to meet the needs of a syllabus so I've developed expertise rather than a superficial understanding⁠
- I've used many patterns and kits designed by others so I know what goes into making the best kits and writing the best instructions⁠
⁠
I pour all of that insight and experience into designing kits for my customers to encourage you to follow your creativity and curiosity.⁠
⁠
I also now have a qualification to back up all of my experience, having recently completed my Level 3 City & Guilds Accredited programme in Hand Embroidery (the certificate should be here this week!)

My certificate arrived this week and they also made a video from a selection of my work which you can watch below.

I think for now I’m happy that I’ve proved to myself I am capable and don’t feel the need to pursue any further qualifications but instead I want to spend the time on personal enquiry and experimentation as this is how I like to learn and play.

Sarah

12 Crafts of Christmas: Redfearn The Cat Decoration

The finale for the 12 Crafts of Christmas series is your chance to make your very own Redfearn The Cat. If you follow me on Instagram you may recognise him (he’s got his own Instagram Stories highlights if you want to catch up on his adventures).

Last year I bought some patterns for felt Christmas decorations from The Make Arcade and I’ve been happily stitching them up this year for the tree. But there was one creature missing from the tree - a felt cat.

We’ve had our cat Redfearn for 6 years and he’s a proper part of the family, so I’ve recreated him in felt!

You will need …

• Felt - Redfearn is ginger and white but select the colours for the cat you want to create

• Embroidery floss to match the colour of the felt

• Needle & pins

• Scissors

• Gold pleather/yellow felt (if you want to add the crown)

• Scrap paper and a pencil

How to …

• Print or trace the template at the bottom of this blog post.

• Cut out two shapes from your base colour (Redfearn’s base colour is white) & one shape from the accent colour (Redfearn’s accent colour is orange)

• From the accent shape cut out markings to best represent your cat (Redfearn has ginger ears, big ginger patches down his sides and a stripy tail) and lay these onto the base colour until you are happy with the positioning. Pin and stitch in place using backstitch and one strand of floss.

• Once all the accent felt pieces have been added, stitch on the face details. I used black floss so that the features stood out (Redfearn actually has white whiskers). I also added a pink nose from a piece of scrap pink felt but you could embroider this instead.

• Match up the back piece of base felt with the front piece and stitch all the way around using blanket stitch, I used two strands of floss for the blanket stitch. When you are at the top, stitch in a hanging thread - I used a short piece of embroidery floss (all 6 strands) with a double knot in the end and made sure I stitched through the knot to secure it in place.

• To add the crown take a small piece of pleather or felt about 1cm by 2cm and cut points in the top of the crown. Stitch in place (a jaunty angle looks great).

• Add your furry friend to the tree!

12 Crafts of Christmas: Scandi Figurine Decorations

I made these figures from a kit I bought from Flying Tiger a couple of years ago. I’ve not made it into one of their stores for a couple of months so I’m not sure if they have these or something similar in this year but here’s how to create something similar.

You will need …

• Large & small wooden beads

• Felt

• Embroidery floss

• Needle & pins

• Craft wire

• Glue gun

• Scissors

• Sharpies

How to …

• Cut a strip of felt about 2cm and long enough to wrap all the way round the wooden bead. Stitch it together at the back to create the hat. Sew running stitch at one end of the tube and pull tight to create the top of the had and secure the thread.

• Cut a two tunic shapes from the felt, embroider or decorate with a winter motif and stitch both sides of the tunic together leaving a gap at the bottom and at the end of the sleeves, don’t sew up the shoulders yet.

• Take the wire and snip a length to act as the arms. Thread on one small wooden bead, fold the wire over and twist at the wrist, snip off any excess wire. Repeat for the other hand.

• Stitch the hat onto the wooden bead (head) and secure the head to the centre of the wire by stitching or glue gunning. Close up the shoulder scenes of the tunic. If you want to add some hair take some hair coloured floss and plait it and tie off with a contrasting floss.

• The final touch is to add some eyes and mouth with black and pink sharpies.

12 Crafts of Christmas: Cross Stitch Cabin

Cross stitch is a fabulous craft for kids and it is how I started on my crafting journey, but I rarely cross stitch nowadays. So when this cross stitch project appeared in my Winter 2019 Craftpod box I knew it would be enjoyable and got stitching straight away.

If you want to stitch any cross stitch project you will need:

• Aida (a special even weave fabric for cross stitch)

• Embroidery floss

• Cross stitch needle (it’s a small tapestry needle with a blunt end)

• Embroidery hoop (although you can cross stitch without one if your Aida is stiff enough)

• Scissors

• Pattern

There are lots of great cross stitch designs out there which you can search for on Google or Pinterest. You might also be able to get free access digital magazines via your Library - there are quite a few different cross stitch magazines out there. But it’s also quite easy to design your own cross stitch pattern - I use a website called Stitch Fiddle.

If you love the Craftpod design then keep an eye on their Instagram as they sometimes release past projects as one off kits.

12 Crafts of Christmas: Holly Leaf Garland

I love how simple this project is and these garlands look great on a mantle piece or draped over a picture frame.

You will need …

• Green & red felt

• Thick thread such as perle cotton

• Scissors

• Needle with an eye big enough for the thread you use

How to …

• To create the holly leaves you can create yourself a template but they are quite easy to freestyle cut. Take a strip of felt the width you want your leaves and fold this in half longways. Make the first cut in a quarter arc from the centre fold to the edge. Then make a semi circle arc from the edge where you finished the first cut to further down the strip. Then make a final quarter arc cut from the point where you finished to the centre fold. You can vary the size and shape of the arcs and if you don’t like the look of any when you open them up you can trim them down until you are happy with the shape.

• To create the berries you can cut around a coin or just freestyle cut circles.

• Once you’ve cut a range of leaves and berries you can start threading them together to create a garland. Cut a length of thread as long as you want your garland to be and thread the needle. To add the leaves and berries stitch running stitch through each in turn and push them towards the end of the thread (but leaving at least 20cm from the end). The garland looks best if leaves and berries alternate and if you mix up the order of the leaves if you’ve used different colours.

12 Crafts of Christmas: Fabric Heart Decorations

This is a great project for using up scraps of fabric and give a Scandinavian flavour to your festive decorations.

You will need …

• Fabric

• Felt

• Buttons/Beads (optional)

• Ribbon/string

• Stuffing

• Needle & pins

• Thread

• Scissors

• Paper & pencil (for the templates

How to …

• Start by creating your templates, you will need one for the fabric and a smaller one of the felt. For the fabric template, don’t forget to add about 5mm seam allowance.

• Cut out your fabric and felt using the templates. You will need to cut out two from the fabric and one from the felt for each decoration you make.

• Take one of the fabric hearts and stitch on the felt and button/bead in the centre of the heart.

• Place the right sides of the fabric together. Take the ribbon or string and cut an appropriate length for a hanging loop. Fold the ribbon or string in half and place it between the two pieces of fabric so the ends of the loop are sticking out of the top centre of the heart slightly. With the ribbon or string sandwiched in this way, when you turn the heart the right way out the hanging loop will be securely fastened.

• Thread the needle and start stitching on the right hand bump and working in an anti clockwise direction. I recommend backstitch to make sure everything is securely stitched. When you get to the hanging thread make sure you stitch through the ribbon or string.

• Continue stitching all the way round but leave a gap of 2-3cm. Tie off the thread but don’t snip the end as you will continue using the thread later. Snip into the seam allowance every 1cm - but be careful not to snip into your stitching, this will help get a smooth finish.

• Turn right side out and make sure all the edges have been fully turned out. You could press the seam allowance if a smoother finish is needed.

• Carefully stuff the heart, you want some padding but don’t want it to be over stuffed. You could add some spices such as cinnamon or cloves in with the stuffing for some lovely Christmassy smells.

• Carefully stitch closed the opening using an invisible stitch.

12 Crafts of Christmas: Pine Cone Trees

I made this crafty project a couple of years ago at a WI meeting. It’s a great (albeit slightly messy) project that you could probably do with kids.

You will need …

• Pine cones

• Corks (and a knife to chop them up)

• Wooden star or other star embellishment

• Paint

• Glitter

• Paintbrush

• Glue gun

• Newspaper & old takeaway container

How to …

• First things first, get your newspaper down where you will be working

• I’d recommend starting by glue gunning the cork to the bottom of the pine cone as this will give you something to hold when decorating the cone. You may need to cut the cork in half to stop it toppling over.

• Once the glue holding the cork has dried its time to start decorating - start by painting the cone, I used green paint but you could use any colour

• While the paint is still wet you can dip the cone in the glitter if you just want glittery edges or sprinkle glitter all over if you want a fully sparkly look. Shake off any excess glitter and leave to dry.

• If you have wooden stars you can also paint and glitter these. Once the cone and the star have dried you can glue gun them together

12 Crafts of Christmas: Cardboard Trees

If you are getting as many online deliveries as I am at the moment you will have a lot of cardboard in your house. One of my favourite Christmas projects is to make these cardboard trees. I think they look great as they are, but you could paint them, cover them in left over wrapping paper or otherwise jazz them up.

You will need …

• Cardboard

• Paper scissors

• Scrap paper

• Pencil

• Ruler

How to …

• Start by creating your tree template on some scrap paper. My trees measure 10cm across the bottom and are 12cm high, each set of branches is 3cm high. You could also make these trees just as triangles.

• Draw round the template twice on your cardboard and cut out the tree shapes.

• You will then need to cut a slit in the trees about the same thickness as your cardboard. One tree should have a slit going from the top of the tree to the middle, and the other tree should have a slit from the bottom to the middle. One of these slits needs to be about 1cm longer than the other for them to slide together perfectly.

• Slide the tree with the slit in the bottom down through the tree with the slit in the top and make sure the two sections stand at right angles.

12 Crafts of Christmas: Needle Felted Robin

Needle felting involves knitting fibres together using a serrated needle. The motion of stabbing the needle up and down tangles the fibres together and the shafts on the wool interlock to make the fibres into something more solid.

I’ve tried needle felting a few times, and like any craft it takes practice - I’m still not very good at avoiding stabbing my fingers at the same time as the wool! As Im still a novice, the needle felting projects I’ve tried have been from kits. If you are more experienced needle felter you can source the wool roving and other materials yourself and create your own robin design.

For all the materials and full instructions this is the kit I used to make the robin.

12 Crafts of Christmas: Beaded Stars

I love traditional German style wooden decorations and these beaded stars fit in with that theme but you can use any type of bead from plain wooden to the sparkliest shiniest beads you can find. The smaller the bead, the fiddlier it will be to make them, but the bigger they are you may need to add some support such as wire through the bead holes to support the shape.

There are different styles of star that you can make, at the end of the tutorial for this star, I’ll point you in the direction of a couple of other tutorials for different shaped stars.

You will need …

• Thread, bead elastic or wire - I use perle cotton as this allows me to create enough tension to stop the star getting floppy

• Beads - the size, shape, colour and material are up to you but bigger beads will need more support/thicker thread

• Needle - the hole needs to be big enough for the thread to fit through while the needle (and thread) need to fit through the hole in the bead

• Scissors - to snip the thread

How to …

• Take a length of thread (I tend to leave it attached to the skein/reel so I can get extra length if needed)

• Thread on 5 beads and then thread the needle through the first bead to create a loop

• Now to add the first layer - this is worked in the gap between the beads in the centre circle

• Thread on 4 beads and the thread the needle back through the first bead you threaded on, pull tight and arrange into a diamond shape

• Be careful not to pierce the thread with the needle as it will make it difficult to get the tension needed

• Repeat this so you have 5 diamond shapes, you could stop here if you wished!

• Now to add the long points of the star, these are worked either side of the top if the diamonds you created in the previous layer

• Bring your needle up through one side of the diamond and thread on 7 beads.

• Pass the needle through the 4th bead to create a diamond shape at the top of the point, pull tight to avoid the arm going floppy

• Thread the needle back through the other side of the diamond on the previous layer and make sure the beads lie as you want to

• Pass the needle through the centre circle to the next small diamond and repeat

• When you’ve created all 5 arms, make sure you are happy with the tension and then tie off both ends of the thread by knotting between beads and threading the ends though enough beads to keep it secure, trim the ends

• Cut a length of handing thread and pass it through the top bead of one of the arms and knot the ends together

Here are a couple of examples of two other star shapes you can make with this technique, for tutorials on these shapes, take a look at this blog and this blog for tutorials.

12 Crafts of Christmas: Rudolph Candy Canes

For the third Christmas craft, I’ve selected something nice and simple. There are different ways you can create these candy canes eg using paper or pre-made eyes or pompoms so this is my take on making Rudolph.

You will need …

• candy canes

• brown & red yarn (you could replace yarn with coloured paper)

• stickers & black pen

• scissors & glue

How to …

• Lay out two candy canes so the curved parts are facing away from each other. Take the brown yarn and start wrapping around the canes to create the body of the reindeer. Once it has been wrapped tie off securely

• Make a red pom pom by wrapping yarn around a fork. Then take a length of red yarn and tie tightly in the middle of the fork. Trim the mini pompom to create Rudolph’s nose. Stick the nose in place on the brown body using glue.

• On the white stickers, draw eyes as shown in the picture. Cut out the eye shapes and stick them on the body above the nose. Use some extra glue if needed. You could you googly eyes in place of stickers.

12 Crafts of Christmas: Crochet Penguin

The second project to be featured in my 12 crafts of Christmas is this crochet penguin. This is a great project whether you are a beginner with crochet or more experienced. It’s good for beginners as there is just one stitch and all of the elements are based on a circle.

It can be made with DK yarn which you can find in many pound shops, a 4mm hook and a darning/tapestry needle.

And best of all it is a free pattern! Which can be found on the Lion Brand website. I didn’t use the toy safety eyes, instead I created them using a French knot.

If you’ve never crocheted before there are tons of free tutorials out there, this is a great starting place.

12 Crafts of Christmas: Stitched Christmas Card

In 2014 I set myself a challenge of sharing a Christmas craft project every day during December. ⁠It was tough to craft something everyday alongside work, socialising, shopping and other things making my life so busy. But it really helped to get me into a Christmassy mood!

⁠Christmas 2020 is going to be different to most years, if you need something to get you in the Christmassy mood or to keep you busy because you’re not out at Christmas parties then I’ll be showcasing 12 of my favourite Christmas projects every other day during December.

Day 1 is this stitched Christmas card, it’s such a quick make and is great for sending a something personal and handmade to a friend or family member.⁠

What you need …

• Card (I used A6/C6 sized)

• Thread

• Needle (if using beads it will need to fit through the hole)

• Beads & sequins (optional)

• Scissors

• Scrap paper, pencil, ruler (to make the template)

• Paperclips

How to …

• Start by creating a tree template using scrap paper, a pencil and ruler. The size of your template will depend on the size of your card. I made my template by folding the paper in half and drawing a line about 4cm at a right angle to the fold, then measuring up 11cm and drawing a line to create a triangle 8.5cm by 11cm. I then measured notches 1cm apart as this would indicate where I made my holes in the card. Cut out the template

• Open the card out flat and place the template in the centre of the card, once you are happy with the position, use the paper clips to hold it in place.

• Using the needle (or a pin) start making holes in line with the notches. Make sure that you have the card open so you don’t pierce the back of the card. The easiest way to pierce the holes is to lay the card on a surface such as a cushion.

• Take a length of thread and thread the needle, make a neat knot in one end. Bring the needle through the bottom left hole you have just made from the back to the front. Thread on a bead and then take the thread across the card and pass the needle through the bottom right hole to the back. Make sure the thread is pulled tight, but no so tight that the card bends

• Bring the needle through the next hole up on the right hand side (being careful with tension). Thread on a bead and then pass the needle through the next hole depending on the option you want to stitch - you can either use parallel lines or zigzag lines.

• Continue stitching in this way until you’ve reached the top. If you have a sequin then attach this at the centre top point (I used a small bead to attach this, but you could use a smaller sequin or a French knot.

• Before you fasten off check the tension across at the threads is OK then tie a knot as close as possible to the card as you can. Trim off the tails of any knots. If you can’t get the knot secured as you want then a bit of tape can be used.

Recycled materials embroidery

I work a lot with recycled fabric such as old sheets and old shirts.

For my third and final assessed piece for my embroidery course we had a choice of six design briefs and when I saw the brief involving recycled materials I knew that was the brief for me. The brief involved designing something to hang in the foyer of the local council to promote recycling by showcasing what recycled materials could be turned into. The focus was on paper and plastic and the design I came up with was based around the recycle arrow symbol and a world map. To bring in the element about what recycled materials could be turned into around the edge were embroidered words of things that could be made.

I really loved working with the paper scraps and stitching these together, I think this created a great effect, as for the plastic and wording I would have taken this off as it looked much better without it, but it was needed to fulfil the brief!

Cambodia goldwork project

I’d wanted to visit Cambodia for a long time and in summer 2018 it actually happened. Once of the places we visited was the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh where I saw these fabulous gates and just had to snap a photo.

I’ve been wanting to make and embroidery based on this picture for a while. At first I tried printing the photo directly onto fabric but because I’d taken the photo on my iPhone the resolution wasn’t great. So instead I used a drawing app on my iPad to trace over the photo and create a line drawing. I got this printed on to fabric and it worked so much better.

Having seen so many beautiful gold Buddhas on my trip I knew that stitching in gold would be perfect and I love it!

Jungle wall hanging

Module 9 of my City & Guilds course was my second assessed piece which required me to create a wall hanging. I think because I’ve been sitting on the sofa staring at my houseplants too much during lockdown this is where the inspiration for this module has come from.

The original design, stitch sample and finished piece are shown below.

Floral pouch

Module 9 of my City & Guilds course we had free reign to design anything. A bit intimidating at first but I knew I wanted to make a useful object (as the next module required us to make a wall hanging).

Looking back at the designs I’d created in previous modules I came up with an abstract floral design with each ‘flower’ stitched in a different way. I also loved perfecting my woven picot stitches to create the leaves.

The design I created, the piece in progress and the finished item are below. I love how this turned out.

Sublimation printing and flocking workshop

I spotted the leaflet for this workshop during the visit to the Sandra Rhodes exhibition and when my other half was struggling to know what to get me for Christmas I handed him the leaflet.

I’ve not tried any kind of textile printing beyond fabric paints so was intrigued to try something new. The workshop was run by Nicole Line and we started by painting some flock paper.

We then moved on to working with sublimation papers which are papers with sublimation dyes already embedded that you can transfer to fabric using a heat press (or being very patient with a very hot iron). You can use paper templates, cut shapes from the paper or just create a collage from scraps.

After lunch we moved onto the flocking and experimented with a couple of different techniques. This included painting patterns with glue directly onto the fabric, screen printing glue onto the fabric and painting and flocking onto different textures. Once the glue has dried the flocking paper is placed over the glue and heat pressed together to transfer the textured flock to the fabric.