Project: Granny Square Cushion Cover

I recently took some fun crochet classes with Cat and a bunch of lovely ladies.  Our teacher was the hilarious Natalie from Poppy & Bee and for four weeks our Friday nights became quite "special" :)  More about that another time...

One of the things we learned to make were Granny Squares - who doesn't love Granny Squares?  I decided after a few that I'd make a bunch, join them together and create a cushion cover and it will become a birthday gift for my mother in law in February... And I'm a little slow as it only dawned on me recently that it's quite fitting as she goes by "Granny" to her grandchildren :)

So here is the end result:

Join Granny's, add border, make envelope back cushion cover, then attach Granny's to cover.  Voila.

Joining in with Crafty people here.
xx

Swapparoo 2

I received the package from my second Tilda swap buddy, Laura, over the weekend.

Here are the goodies I found inside:

Handmade Tilda skates:

And here's what I had sent:

Thanks Laura - it was great to receive your parcel and we'll put the items to good use!
xx

Do you know the Muffin Man?

The Muffin Man?
The Muffin Man!
Who lives on Drury lane?

My second Tilda Swap partner, Laura, received her package recently, and it contained these guys:

They were simple and fun to make, using the pattern and following the instructions in Crafting Christmas Gifts.

Joining up with inspirational people here.
xxx

Project: Reversible Window Drawstring Bag

Finally:

I've wanted to try making one of these for ages. The girls have oodles of little bitty toys that are currently grouped in snaplock bags to maintain some sort of order and tidiness... The plan is to replace the bags with
lovely fabric ones but I kept getting hung up on not being able to see what's in a bag without opening it. Hence the need for there to be a window.... I just had to get my head around how to do it. So the thinking cap came on and here's what I did: 

I drew up a plan that consisted of:
- 2 x 22cm squares
- 8 x 17x7cm rectangles
- 1 x 44x5cm strip
- 1 x 12x12cm plastic square
(Note: I always include 1cm seams all around.)
- Ribbon


First sew the rectangles together to form a square:


This forms the "frame" of the window. Do not however sew right to the "frame" edge. Allow about 1cm to fold in as a seam.


It would be a good idea to press these folded edges down with an iron to keep them in place.

The next part is a bit hard to explain or photograph as the plastic is clear but...

With the wrong side of one 'frame' facing you, place the plastic square over the hole.  It should cover the opening and go to the edges of the inside seams.

I dotted some craft/fabric glue in each corner to keep it in place. (I know, I'm super high tech...)

Then place the second frame on top of (again I dotted a bit of glue on each corner to hold all 3 layers together).  Line them up nice and squarely.  Pin along the outside edges to help hold it together.



Sew close to the edge around the plastic to secure it.  Window panel done.


Now we attached one of our large squares to one of the window panel.  Right sides together pin one square to the window panel.  (The window panel has two sides now of course, so I pinned up the side that I wasn't sewing onto for the moment.)  You can see the right side of your large square through the window :)


Sew along the the sides and bottom but leave the top open for now. *


Before we do the other side we attach the long narrow drawstring strip.

Turn the bag inside out.  I don't have a great photo for this next step but fold each end over twice (1cm in and then again), press. fold the strip down the middle of it's long side and press again.  

Now pin the strip around the opening of the bag.


Sew the strip on allowing for about a 1cm seam.  (My photo shows it smaller but don't do as I did, do as I say :) This was a learning process after all.)


Turn the bag inside out again.  Now we're going to attach the second square to the other side of the window panel like before. (see * above)

You will end up with what seems like two bags held together in the middle by the window itself. Trim the 4 bottom corners and turn the bag inside out again.  


Almost there.  The drawstring strip will be attached all the way around to one side of the bag and we need to join all the layers together.  Turn the seam for the inside layer in.  Match it with the bottom of the seam for the drawstring strip - in doing so the edges should line up with that of the outside layer (this is why we attached the drawstring strip at the normal seam allowance).

This may be easier to do if you press the outside layer/drawstring seam.  Once you've turned the inside seam inwards and pinned it down, you might want to press again to stop the fabric from moving once you start sewing.  (Be careful when you do any ironing to stay well clear of the plastic!!)


Sew all the way around the edge.  Tidy up any loose strands.


Decide which way round you would like it.


Knot the end of some ribbon or rope, feed it through the drawstring tube, knot the other end, fill it up and...Tada!


I'll be trying this again but with much bigger bags and am contemplating a zip for the top.  If you have a go I'd love to see your results!  Or if you have any questions please ask!  Sharing is caring :)

Joining up here.

xxx

Gutted...

Someone bought my dreamhouse... I was a second too late clicking the button and upping the bid!  We're talking a millisecond, if that... It's been an hour and I'm still feeling the pain........... :(

So So Gutted.... :(

Rugby Swapping ♥

On Friday we received not only one but TWO parcels!


Fun times around here : )

A couple of months ago we signed up for the Kids Rugby World Cup Country Swap hosted by the lovely Megan.  We offered to represent either South Africa or New Zealand depending on which country she was short on!  And in the end we represented my home country South Africa.

We had to wait until about lunch time when everyone was finally home and had some time to sit down and get into it.  And the girls loved every minute of unpacking their box of goodies!


Our swap partners don't have a blog (that I'm aware of!) so I wont take it upon myself to put their names out there, but THANK YOU! The girls loved it :)

And in return we had sent a few goodies purchased from some Auckland SA'can stores, home-made colouring book, fact sheet and softies.


An absolutely delightful swap to participate in!

Hope all the other participants have given, received, learned and enjoyed the experience too!
xxx

Swapping Goodness ♥

This post is dedicated to the lovely juvely Max.
My delightful and super crafty clever Handmade Tilda Christmas Swap partner.

I received this awesome package this morning and thanks to various appointments had to hold out till lunch time before I could rip into it!

Look at the lovely Tilda decorations she made!

And the rest of the loot!

And this one - aww - melting heart, so cute!

Thank you so very much Max!  It was lovely to have you as a partner and fun to receive and unpack your package!
Big hugs to you and Claud : )
xx

And an update:
Here's what was in the box sent to Max :)
I Love Swaps!

Tweet Tweet Birdie

My lovely and super creatively clever swap partner for Cat's Handmade Tilda Christmas Swap was Max.

She let me know she received her parcel on Friday which included these Tilda Birds. And they like them - so now I can share :)

A collection of 5 birds.  Very easy to make just following the pattern!


Outline on fabric, sew, trim it back, turn, stuff, add decorations, paint beak and eyes and they're done.
For the one above I used the same yellow "string" as for the first bird but braided it.  Because it's synthetic in nature a bit of heat fused the three strands together at each end.  Plain old craft glue keeps it in place around the neck. 

The pattern for these guys is from the Sew Pretty Christmas Homestyle book.

I borrowed a copy from the Library.


"Tweet tweet Birdie!" - Quote from Claud - Max's cutie pie :)


Joining in with gorgeous folk and their creations over here.
xx

Could this be the one?

I think I may have found the one...

The one I've been searching for, for months....

I think this might be the do-upper I've been waiting for! 

Mmmm, decisions, decisions.

Thoughts anyone?

What is up with...

This is a bit of a nothing post but the following has been bugging me like crazy... Every time I see it, I have one of those 'what the' moments and the brain simply cannot compute...



How on earth does that song fit with this ad?
Seriously???
SERIOUSLY???

:p