Monday 20 August 2012

Wedding date cushion - with applique and embroidered letters


Tom and Jess only wanted handmade presents or donations. So, of course, it was an excellent opportunity for me to make a huge cushion! I used lots of the left over bunting scraps to create the letters, which I appliquéd on using what my machine calles 'patchwork stitch'. It turns out some of the bunting material, and the yellow backing was perhaps a bit thin, so I had to do some hand touching up afterwards.


I printed out letter templates, cut them out and pinned them to material, ready to cut round. A fiddly job with some of the smaller letters, but here they are ready for sewing.


I should have realised at this point that the base material was perhaps a bit thin - you can see how easily it's creasing.


Sewing the letters - you can just see our adopted black cat Blur, who likes to help. For this cushion, I wanted to have a go using the fancier of the letter stitching options on my machine. Here's the practice run.



And here's the real thing - only a wee bit wonky!


Almost done- adding the zip using the zip foot on my machine.  Most places suggest you tack round zips to hold them in place as you sew, but I usually find that as long as the hems are well ironed, you can just hold it in place as you sew it in.


And finally, a couple of green heart shaped buttons I couldn't resist - these are from Our Patterned Hand on Broadway Market.



Buntingtastic - summer wedding crafts & creations

Bunting laid out in preperation

Two of my oldest friends got married recently and asked me to help out with some of the decor. Along with the groom's wonderful aunt Annie, and the bride's sister Anna, we sewed over 200 metres of bunting, and bought and hemmed lots of colourful material as table runners.

Bunting is one of those things that can be as easy and quick, or time consuming, as you make it. We chose to use pinking shears (or zig zag scissors) to cut out the triangles - this way they won't easily fray, but we don't need to spend hours hemming each triangle. We then used binding tape, folded in half and machined together, with the triangles slipped in every 8 inches.

Triangles cut and ready

It's lucky we made a lot, as the marquee was pretty big...


Setting up..



I'm not sure if it is possible to overdose on bunting, but we came pretty close...



You can see the bicycle wheel chandeliers, in between the normal ones, in this picture too. They looked great with solar powered fairy lights entwined around them after dark. You can also - just - see the colourful table runners. Anna and I made some of these each -  I got the material for the ones I made from Z Butt on Brick Lane - another recommendation from DIY Couture.


I was looking for sweetpea colours - as these were the flowers of the wedding, grown by various family friends. These were then cut into long strips of different widths and lengths and hemmed down each side and to a point at the end. 



Some speedy hemming! We laid them over the white table cloths to add some colour. 

Setting up - centrepieces etc still to add

I'm also rather proud of this ginger, brandy and cream creation I made as our contribution to the desserts. I'm not a great cook, but the nasturtiums from mum's garden really made it look pretty - and they're edible too!




The wedding went fantastically. Here's the happy couple on their wedding rickshaw being ridden away from the church by the best man, under a shower of dried flower petals.



And another, from behind, with a just married sign made by the best mans girlfriend Helen.



And, after a wonderful day, I had to share the amazing gift the couple gave me as a thank you. Tiny sewing machine earrings - which I plan to wear with my 'scissors' necklace :) Thanks Tom and Jess - it was a pleasure!











Monday 6 August 2012

Threaded letters - a peekaboo card


For the first time, I had a go using the embroidery settings on my machine to write these birthday messages for little Leo - on a simple felt card.  Lots of his favourite animals including owls and 'lilydirbs'.


And if you look under the flaps... you can tell Leo is Alex's nephew - silly faces and fluffy blonde hair all round!


And, while Leo was 2, Rich was 21, and I made him some felt numbers, with wooden buttons and secret dinosaurs peeking out too - you're never too old for hiding dinosaurs...