Showing posts with label Sewing Pattern. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sewing Pattern. Show all posts

Thursday, 21 June 2012

Creative, Recycling Bed Time Reading

Each week I am going to wright a book review on one of the books I am currently reading. This week I am starting with a great book on recycling your old clothes.

Junky Styling Wardrobe Surgery Book Review

This book written by Annika Sanders & Kerry Seager is a fantastic book for people who want to learn how to create a new outfit from an old outfit in their wardrobe they no longer want to wear. For example how to reconstruct old trousers into a stylish skirt or how to reconstruct a shirt into an a wrap top ideal for wearing out for a meal or blinging up for a wedding outfit. 
Not only are there fantastic projects for you to try out with very clear step by step instructions but also the book is full of great ideas you can make once you have learnt the basics on how to destruct a piece of clothing and reconstruct it together into a different design.

So off to the wardrobe I go to start taking part all those old outfits apart and create myself a whole new wardrobe without spending a penny. Oh how my hubby will love that!
Happy reading the Junky Styling book and creating your new wardrobe.
xxx

Thursday, 10 May 2012

Time For A Cuppa

In the studio yesterday I sat in my Grandmothers chair to stuff and sew up some lavender houses I fancied a cup of coffee sorry I am not a big tea drinker and I realized that with all the coasters I had made over time I had never made one for my studio. So you can guess what happened next, I put down what i was doing and started to draw up a design to make a coaster for my desk and here is the result.



I love the rawness of the my design and how it looks like any of my children could of written on it for me. My cup fits perfectly on it and now i can enjoy a cup of coffee while being create.

While I was making this coaster I thought you might like to give it ago so here are some step by step instructions. Hope you have loads of fun and make sure you take TIME FOR A CUPPA while you are busy being creative.

What you need
  • Scrape fabric
  • Wading
  • Scissors
  • Needle
  • Thread
  • Sewing Machine (Optional)
  • Pins 
1) Draw on a piece of card the size shape you would like your coaster to be. I choose a heart shape because I love hearts. Remember you need to draw your shape bigger than you want it to be because you are going to be sewing a back to it. You need to allow for 1/4 inch gap for stitching.

2) Cut out your shape and draw around your template on to your scrap fabric. You need to cut 2 out for front and back.


3) Now its time to decorate one of your shapes. On mine from another piece of scrap fabric I cut out a heart and placed it on top. But you could leave it plain if you would like or decorate it with another shape, flower, bird etc... (Please remember that what ever you decide to do it needs to be flat as you are placing a cup on top of it.)

4) Now you need to sew your shape on top. I used a sewing machine but you can also hand sew your shape if you prefer. 


5) You an either leave your design like that or you can add a saying . I decided to add TIME FOR A CUPPA. Joined up writing does not come natural to me so I practiced the my writing on a piece of scrap paper first. You can either hand sew your saying on to your coaster or like I did you can use free motion embroidery with your sewing machine like I did. It is completely up to you and there is no right way or wrong way.   


6) You now need to cut you wading a little bit bigger than your coaster and stack all the pieces together. Wading on the bottom, top of coaster with your design facing you and them the back of your coaster on top right side down so the wrong side of the fabric is facing you. If that makes seance, I am not very good at explaining things. Pin it all together and sew all the way around remembering to leave a inch gap on one of the sides to turn your coaster inside out. Once you have sewn it all together trim you excess wading. 

7) Turn your coaster inside out and iron it flat. Now tuck the gap together and pin. Sew all the way around your coaster close to the edge giving it a nice finish. 


Wella you have finished your lovely coaster. I would love to see your own coaster creations and I would love to share them with everyone. You can send me a picture on facebook at www.facebook.com/emusupcycledgifts ,Twitter at www.twitter.com/EmusGifts or email me at info@emusupcycledgifts.com. I am so looking forward to seeing them.

Thanks for stopping by

XX