I found this post when browsing Pinterest and thought the idea was brilliant! so simple! I don't know about you but I have too many unused keys and a lack of racks, plus its great for when you can't think of ideas for men!
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This tea cosy is such an easy thing to make, even for knitting beginners. I found this pattern from "craftseller" magazine. The great thing about it is that it's copyright free. Knit a selvedge for a pretty chain look edge. Slip the last stitch of each row and knit the first stitch in each row in the back stitch. Cast on 45 sts -row1: k1,(k2,p2) repeat to last 4 sts, k2,p1,sl1 purlwise. -row2: repeat the following rows up to row 60 as row 1. -row61: (eyelet row): k1, (k2,yo,k2tog); repeat 9 times, k3, sl1 purlwise. -row62: k all sts. -row 63: cast off. Do the pattern twice to get both sides of the tea cosy. To make up: stitch the bottom corners together making sure the eyelets are at the top in both parts, close the side seams from the top down for about 8 cm(3 1/4 inch). Darn in loose ends. Sew the elastic around the bottom of the cosy, remember to stretch it before sewing. Thread the ribbon through the eyelets, pull together and make a bow across the top of the tea cosy. Trim the ends of the ribbon. I have always loved this decoration. It looks homemade yet always gives a sophisticated touch to anything it's attached to. I don't know if most of you already know how to do these but I think it's less common in Spain . The first thing to do preheat the oven at around 150º. Cut your orange slices about 3-4 mm I'm guessing . place a wire rack inside a baking sheet and lay the oranges with enough space between them so the air is going round nicely. Keep an eye on them, if necessary turn down the temperature. it's going to take between 6 - 12 hours so make sure you do as many as possible in one go. when ready and cooled down keep them in a sealed plastic bag/container. Here is my first attempt . They are not 100%. But it's a pretty good first try. :) I'm going to use these for cards and Christmas decorations :)
My sister has recently been visiting from Bali (Indonesia) and she brought me a beautiful gift, a big piece of fabric from Indonesia that I can cut up guilt free! Therefore today I am going to show you a very simple easy way to make a dress fit for any occasion. I have used this style of dress before and it is really very faltering. You do not need to be advanced at sewing to get this done. You are going to need:
for the skirt bit of the dress, just follow the curve line, the wider you make it the more pleats you will get. Once you have your template ready and cut out get your fabric ready. Make sure it is ironed and crease free. Fold to match what you want it to be the back and the front, and then fold again so that the 4 sides match up. Put your template in place ( I forgot to add the extra 1cm on the neck so adding it at this stage.. Cut around your fabric, DO NOT cut down the right side of the fabric, you would be cutting down the middle of the dress! I like to leave the length for last, so don't worry much about it just yet. So....it's sewing time! First stitch the armholes in, only fold it in 1 cm ( or whatever your Seam allowance was). If you iron it first it makes the job easier. Next fold along the neck line and sew about 1'5 cm in. or a little bit wider than your ribbon . Do this on both pieces, back and front neck. Pull the ribbon through both to end up on one of the sides to tie together.Do not cut it until you have finished and tried it on, Then you can judge how much you need. Next step might seem a little daunting to the inexperienced seamstress , don't worry, it's less complicated than it looks. You are now going to sew the elastic band from 1 armpit to the other. To do this you secure your first few stitches on the fabric, ( the interior side) and set your machine on zig-zag stitch. Pull your band to know how much it need to stretch to get to the other side and sew. Note: when using a sewing machine, it is best to secure your stitch by starting and ending doing a back and forth stitch. Match up the sides of the dress from the arm hole and sew along the sides. Try it on and choose your length.
And it's done!!! Your very own dress that nobody else will have !! I have a couple like these in different fabrics and they are just perfect for any occasion! just change accessories to make it more or less formal. As many of you know I have been doing "ST Werburghs Arts Trail" this weekend and I am ecstatic with peoples reactions to my display of soaps! Everyone was loving it and very interested with my approach about keeping things as natural as possible, if its not going to contribute anything good it needn't be there and this makes my soaps unique, delicately scented and with and organic and natural feel . Some people have been confused by the fact that you couldn't just take them all, or make an order and have them ready, so I will explain why: When making soap, they take 4-6 weeks to loose all the water and harden. For this reason I would like people to send me as many suggestions as possible for soaps that they would like to see as ideal Christmas gifts, I know its early for this thought, but I need to be 6 weeks ahead crazy enough.
Recently people are rediscovery their love of nature, as we live more comfortably with technology, our instinct still brings out our love to feel lots of green and wild flowers, herbs and plants inside the home. I recently found a very sweet and simple way of introducing another hint of nature in my humble abode . Whilst going for a walk with my young family in the middle of summer we picked some lovely looking berries, fresh lavender, and fun looking herbs. I then decided to test how well they would keep in some glass containers I had. As I kept some samples in the fresh air and some contained in the glass It very quickly became apparent that the berries were keeping much better in the jar. Now I have a mini collection with samples picked from my garden. (below) Rowan berries picked at the same time two weeks after. They have slowly started to wrinkle up a bit after two months, and I can´t promise they will keep well for ever, but I will just swap them for the seasonal berries I find, its a lovely personalized touch for my living room. Note: Containers can be found in craft shops for about 60-80 pence a unit.
When I was pregnant I decided to teach myself the principles of needlework, knitting, crocheting and all sorts of textile related crafts (!), and after being extra busy these last few weeks with markets, soap-making and running a house with a growing toddler I felt I needed a nice project for my self, not to sell and in no hurry, and this is when I rediscovered some blackwork samplers I made some time ago. The problem with blackwork is the same one as most needlework pieces, it's all too traditional , unexciting and just not a pretty picture when you repeat it all over too many time, but after all the hours of dedication and more hours on top of that, it just is a pity to put it all away once finished, or display a rather ugly piece of work around the house. So, as I do with most of my traditional crafts I add a twist to update the end result and turn it into a piece you will always feel proud to display. First I took my original blackwork sampler ( not too bad for a beginner) and with a marker I have that disappears when you dampen it I drew the outline of what I wanted. Sometimes to make things easier people work directly on the white cross stitch type fabric, you will always get a straight line, but then you are stuck with the fabric all over. Have a good thought about what you want and don't rush it, these pieces end up looking beautiful as long as you don't rush it. This piece of work is still a work in progress and I will be updating you with some pictures. The plan is to add some texture and traditional blackwork patterns inside some of the shapes...I'm very excited about this one :)
Today I have a very sweet and simple gift idea...and with it being so easy for the little ones to make, it's perfect as a mothers day gift idea. This quirky craft is called Soap Felting and what you are going to achieve is a pretty looking fluffy soap that works as a mild exfoliant as well as keeping your waste of soap down. Start off with what you need
This is when the sock becomes useful. Put your fleeced up soap inside the sock and push it to the end keeping it tight in there.
As the soap is being used it will be constantly be felting itself, which will help keep it all tight until you run out of soap, what you need to do is leave the fleece to dry,cut a hole and you can turn it into a face cloth or a cute little purse.
A sweet and simple craft easy to enjoy with the little ones and use up your odd bits of soap all at once! Hello everybody! Its a great Sunday and I am in a very different part of the country this time, I am having a bit of a holiday with my family in the most eastern point of England. loving the British summer for a change. Anyway, I wanted to show you just how easy I converted a broken down cabinet into my favorite piece of the house. I got this shelving unit from my neighbor, she was going to throw it away, although apparently it had been used for an iguana or some sort of reptile, so the shelves were gone and a glass had been fitter, but that is all going to change. So I start to practice and decide where I want everything to go.... and from now on, this is just like decoupaging (http://theoddoneoutcpv.weebly.com/1/category/decoupage/1.html) I chose this time some matte glue to give it the look I want . Everythign else is left to your imagination.
And here is the newest addition to my living room! All my blankets have a lovely place to stay now :) More and more often are words being added to our vocabulary that we sort of know and imagine what it means, but we can't quite fully understand. I find this with the difference between Re-Cycling and Up-cycling. Now, this entirely my opinion and could be found wrong, but this is the way I understand it:
Re-cycling is the of using of wasteful material for something else other than the dump, to avoid contaminating procedures such as incineration, during the process of recycling the object can be turned into another object incredibly different . Up-Cycling is the using of wasteful materials (an item ready to be thrown away) and by treating and mending the item improving the final result. I think that the two things that mark the difference between both definitions is that up-cycling doesn't involve changing the nature of the material and it end up with an improvement. Some people say there is a creature living in the washing machine that eats socks, but only one of a kind. However, I have hand washed socks and that hasn't stopped them from going missing ! I believe there must be another sock dimension that will only return socks once we have lost it's partner. Anywho... I , like most people, have a substantial amount of odd socks and broken ones ready for a better future. Now, I wanted to keep it simple and decided to make a socktopus, as you do. So I start by cutting 4 strips that will later become the legs The next thing I am going to do is sew together the sides of those legs. A sewing machine will make things quicker but can easily be done by hand, just remember this is for a child and will need to be bomb & pull resistant. DO NOT sew up up the end!, leave a little gap to be able to turn the socktopus inside-out. Note I like to leave some extra fabric at the bit where the feet will be, when you turn it inside out it will be extra padded and form little feet :) Now comes the tricky bit, turning the legs inside-out . I don't expect everybody to have a rouleau hoop. This tool helps you turn fabric tubes inside-out, the first few seconds using it get difficult and you wonder why you decided to use it, but after 3 seconds you remember why with its efficiency. However, the different ways of doing this step are infinite, you can tie a string to a safety pin, attach the pin to the end of the tube and pull the string, or a similar one by sewing to the end instead of using a pin, make your choice. Now that your legs are out the right way round , its time to put the eyes in place. I found a bag of about 5 pairs of eyes and teddy noses for about £1 in a junk shop. They will be more expensive but should be easily found in any craft shop. Very easy to use, you simply do a little tiny hole in the fabric where you want your eye, and put them in place making sure they are extra tight, once in place, its almost impossible they will come apart. Other eye options are to embroider them, felt is very effective and buttons are always sweet, but remember again, they have to be extra strongly sewed to the toy, children will test their resistance ! Next is the toy stuffing, that is not exactly the same wadding you would use for cushions or quilting. Toy stuffing comes in cheaper, is washable and comes in specially for children use, do not underestimate the amount you will fit in your toy , but still comes very cheaply, this toy took about £1 worth of stuffing. Once our creature is stuffed sew up the gap that was left. And then I decided he needed a little hat made with and extra bit of odd sock sewed onto his head tightly . And now you are the proud owner of a unique Socktopus! And here is his number 1 fan!
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The Odd One Outwith a background specialized in fashion and a passion for learning new things I can't resist creating something new constantly,.... finally it has come to a point where I would like to share with the world my little creations and hope that you enjoy them as much as I enjoy making them
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