A trio of Christmas Cakes

Posted on December 15, 2017 by craftycreeky

I am gradually catching up with my Christmas preparations, cards are written and posted, parcels posted, presents are all bought or made (I think!!) tree is up and I have just got round to decorating the Christmas cakes…

Ideally Christmas cakes are made about 6-8 weeks before Christmas, to allow them to mature and give you time to feed them with alcohol! I don’t tend to feed mine, whereas my sister feeds hers so much you can’t eat it and drive! One year she asked me to decorate a cake for a special occasion, she’d been feeding it brandy for weeks, when I put it on a cake board it seemed to slump to one side, ‘Ruth’ I said, ‘this cake is drunk!’ Continue reading →

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A refashioned Christmas Wreath

Posted on December 12, 2017 by craftycreeky

A couple of Christmases ago someone on one of the quilting facebook pages I follow posted a photo of a beautiful Christmas wreath made from fabric, everyone went crazy over it and eventually she kindly wrote out some instructions which are still on Pat Sloan’s website as a free pattern. This was her wreath, isn’t it gorgeous…Fabric Wreath

I decided to make one, it is actually pretty easy as I remember, just circles of fabric folded into quarters and gathered along the curved edge, the ‘leaves’ were then just pinned into a polystyrene base. I decided to make some of them into Christmas rose type flowers as well, but I did struggle to get it to look right. I wrote about it here. Here was my finished wreath…A fabric Christmas Wreath

Whilst it has been on display each Christmas there was something about it that just didn’t work for me, it just didn’t look as good as I thought it should.

On Sunday I was sorting out some Christmas decorations and I decided to tackle it. I felt the main issue was the flowers, nice idea but it just didn’t work, so off came the flowers. Everything is just pinned on so it was pretty  easy to alter.Fabric Christmas Wreath

At first I was pinning them on pretty randomly, now some of you may remember I struggle with random!I hadn’t pinned many back on when I decided to make it a bit more organised, I pinned green ones on the outer and inner edges and the red ones down the centre.

It looks so much better, I feel it works now, so it’s proudly on display above the hearth.Fabric Christmas Wreath

 

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Stitching Santa

Posted on December 11, 2017 by craftycreeky

Every year Sheila from Sewchet organises a Stitching Secret Santa, there’s a sewing one and a knitting/crochet one, I did the sewing one last year and it was great fun, both putting together a nice little stitching present, and also on Christmas Day when you have one to open!

This year I’m way behind on Christmas, like I’ve only just bought my Christmas cards!! I’m usually really organised but in the autumn we had a pretty stressful time as my mum became increasingly frail and forgetful, needing lots of support and help. She’s now made the brave decision that she needs to go into a residential home, but of course all the good ones are full, so we’ve got extra help whilst we wait for a place…but I’m still way behind with Christmas and if I’m honest, not really into the Christmas mood yet, which isn’t me as I usually love Christmas.

Having got Grassington out of the way, I decided I needed to start putting together my Secret Santa present, my recipient and I follow each other, so hopefully I’ve picked things she likes…

I made a covered sketchbook, I like making these and I find notebooks so useful in my sewing room. I used a double ribbon with some beads threaded on as a fastener.Fabric covered journal

She does a lot of dressmaking, so I wrapped a pretty length of cotton fabric which is hopefully enough to make a summer top, together with a fat quarter with bees on, just because it’s pretty! I added a double pincushion, as a sewer can never have too many pincushions…

I then sorted lots of little presents…

On Otley market there’s a great stall that just sells buttons, I always fall for the little sewing machine buttons and the ‘handmade’ ones. I added a bird charm from my stash and a little pot of beads. Lengths of ribbon and lace nicely tucked under the ribbon holding the fabric neat. I love flower pins, I use them all the time with dressmaking, they’re longer, finer and if you drop them they are easy to spot!!

A Christmas heart I made for Grassington was the final touch 🙂

After wrapping up all these goodies I felt much more Christmassy…just got to go and get the tree now and make my Christmas cake 🙂

Posted in Christmas, Crafts, Dressmaking, Serendipity | Tagged | 22 Comments

Stitch-a-long 2

Posted on December 10, 2017 by craftycreeky

Well three weeks have passed since I last showed you my project for the stitch-a-long, three weeks have flown by!! I’m making a cross-stitch block for a quilt which Kate Chiconi is making to be auctioned to raise money for ovarian cancer. Stitchers from all over the world have been making and sending her blocks of envelopes and postcards as the title of this years quilt is Signed, Tealed & Delivered. Teal is the ‘colour’ for ovarian cancer.

Three weeks ago it looked like this…I’ve actually managed to get a fair bit done, I’m stitching the lettering first and then catching up with the ring. I found it was too easy to miscount doing the circle first, even with the letters I have to concentrate as obviously with it being circular, every letter is different. It’s all stitched with DMC4030 which is a lovely variegated thread in teal, blue and green. The letters are stitched with one thread of 4030 and one thread of a plain teal which just darkens it slightly.

After three weeks of half an hour here and there and a couple of evenings it looks like this…

I was very relieved that the left side of lettering matched up perfectly with the cross-line, it would have been awful to find I was one stitch out! I’m really pleased with how it’s turning out, hopefully it will be finished by the New Year, then Kate can crack on with putting the quilt together.

There’s quite a few of us taking part in the stitch-a-long now, all stitching our own choice of project at our own speed, why now follow the links and see what everyone else has been stitching.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, LucyAnn, Kate, Jess, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose, Christina,

Kathy, Cindy, Helen, Steph, Linda, Catherine, Mary Margaret, Timothy,

Heidi, Connie, Jackie

By the way, I had my second craft fair today at Grassington (it’s a two weekend event) and it went much better, I sold some of the bigger items as well as the little decorations, so it was definitely worth my while. The problem is, you just can’t tell what will sell and what won’t 🙂

Posted in embroidery, Serendipity, Stitch-a-long | Tagged | 18 Comments

Two More Christmas Smalls!

Posted on December 9, 2017 by craftycreeky

I’m on a bit of a roll with these now! I’ve been stitching these two little projects over the last couple of weeks but I couldn’t show you until my daughter had returned from her travels so I could give her one.

I spotted the dachshund on Pinterest first and managed to trace it back to Etsy to a shop called Little Beach Hut, Sarah designs and sells both  patterns and kits for lots of cute little cross-stitch projects.

 

My daughter Helen has got a thing about dachshunds at the moment so I decided to stitch one as a tree decoration for an early present. Whilst I was ordering it I spotted a pug, as my son James has a pug called Eddie I just had to get that one too! Continue reading →

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Christmas Robin

Posted on December 6, 2017 by craftycreeky

The travelling Sketchbooks from Skipton Embroiderers Guild are on the move again and as our meeting is a week early this year to accommodate Christmas, I thought I’d better crack on with it!

The book I’m embroidering for this month is on the theme of garden birds, I’ve actually stitched for this book before, it was the first one I did, a little wren. There’s fewer of us doing it this time round so we’ve all got one repeat. I like doing birds so I’m happy to stitch another.Wren Embroidery

As it’s nearly Christmas I decided to stitch a robin. I had a look on Pinterest and found a basic shape I liked. I drew a simple outline on paper and cut it out. The fabric is a bit heavier than quilting cotton and coarser, I chose it because I like the snow effect from the gentle spots and the little tuft of grass the robin could stand next to. The fabric actually has hares on it but I could just get a big enough square out without cutting near the hares.

I drew round my outline with a pencil and then painted the fabric with watercolour to give a bit of depth to the embroidery.

I chose a few DMC threads,both variegated and plain and started with a simple stem-stitch outline. I then just started embroidering various areas, making it up as I went along. I used feather stitch and fly stitch interspersed with lots of french knots for the red and cream areas. The head is stitched with a lazy-daisy flower with the lower half in red and the top of the head in brown, the bead for the eye just nicely went in the centre.

I used some of my stitch sample pages for ideas, which was reassuring in that I am now happy that once the stitch book is finished it will get used!  I’m particularly pleased with the back of my robin, this is fly stitch embroidered very close together, I started with a basic zigzag and then filled in the triangles.

The wings are embroidered with four rows of buttonhole stitch, the tail was simple straight stitches, these were too long on their own so I couched along the thread, it still needed a bit more so I whip stitched the straight stitches together, giving a sort of lattice sffect.

I like to embellish these little embroideries with a few beads, so I stitched some brown ones to the wings. I wanted to add some red ones too but I couldn’t work out where to place them, then I dropped three on the area by accident and the random effect just worked, so they were stitched where they landed!Robin Embroidery

I really like doing these little embroideries, it does make me think outside the box as I have to think up a design, rather than just seeing a pattern and stitching it. They only take a couple of evening maximum, I keep thinking I ought to stitch two, one for me and one for the books, I just never quite get round to it! Maybe next year…

Posted in Christmas, embroidery, Serendipity, The Travelling Sketchbook | Tagged , , , | 30 Comments

Christmas Smalls!

Posted on December 5, 2017 by craftycreeky

My OH laughs when he sees the newsfeed on my facebook page, it’s all quilts, sewing and embroidery! I joined a new facebook page recently called ‘All About Smalls’, it’s nothing to do with undies, just little pieces of embroidery, mainly cross-stitch. There’s some beautiful pieces shown and I particularly love the way they are finished, the attention to detail is amazing. Quite a few of the contributors obviously have quite a selection of ‘smalls’ as they have a ‘seasonal display’, I rather like this idea so I thought I’d make a few over the coming year…

With my first one I decided to make one which could double up as a Christmas card for my OH, I’m hoping he doesn’t decide to do his once a blue moon read of my blog today!

Whilst I was at the knitting and stitching show in Harrogate I kept looking for a little pattern or kit that was suitable but nothing inspired me. Last week I was in Hobbycraft and noticed a few Christmas cross-stitch kits in a display bin. I had a rummage around and found this one for £2, everything included!

It’s taken me a couple of evenings to stitch the design furtively whilst he was packing and preparing for his week away. Last night I decided to make it up. My original plan was to make it into a card and then after Christmas take it apart and make it into a little decoration. However I had a bit of a brainwave. I could make it into a flat ornament and then ‘hang’ it on the front of the card.

I decided to follow the instructions on ‘The Twisted Stitcher‘ website, she has lots of great tutorials on how to finish embroidered pieces. I decided the ‘Mounted Flat Ornament’ was what I wanted.

I chose to lace the embroidery onto backing card, I’m still not a great lover of using glue instead of lacing, particularly with embroideries. This is probably fortunate as I initially forgot to put some batting underneath the fabric to soften the finish, so I had to undo it and start again!

I did use glue for the back though so I could get as flat a finish as possible. I used a lovely green Christmas fabric left over from the fold and stitch wreath I made the other week. I fancied red initially but it somehow looked better with the green fabric. I added my hanging ribbon and then glued the front to the back, popping a book on top to make it adhere neatly.

All I needed now was a bit of trim around the edge. I rummaged in my trims drawer and in my embroidery stash box but couldn’t find anything, so I decided to make a length of cord. My original thought was to use a length of red and green from the kit, I had two 1m lengths left, I tied a knot in both ends, hooked one end over the spool holder of my sewing machine and slipped a pencil through the other end and started turning. It didn’t take long to twist it enough to make a cord. 2m of thread made about 30cm, just enough to go round…it just didn’t work though, I tried gold, I thought of adding beads. Then I hit on the idea of just using red thread, I made a second length of cord with just the red and it works. I used the basting glue that I got for applique for this as it has a very fine nozzle, it’s acid free and it stays on pretty firm.

A little bow on the top was the final touch. I’m really pleased with this and I’m quite looking forward to making a few more ‘smalls’ over the coming year.

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Advent has begun!

Posted on December 4, 2017 by craftycreeky

Yesterday it was the first Sunday in Advent, the day when Christmas officially starts in our house and the first decorations go up. I tend to do Christmas decorations in waves, Advent, then maybe the tree, and finally everything else. I was actually a week ahead of myself this year, proudly showing a photo of our Advent ring on facebook last weekend until someone pointed out it wasn’t til this Sunday!

An Advent wreath is one of the traditions I’ve carried on from my childhood, when we were little we always had one and read a quarter of the nativity ladybird book each Sunday as we lit another candle. When my two were little we would light the candle, sing carols around the piano, three of us squeezed on the double piano stool! I had a pile of Christmas books, all sorts of stories including various Nativity books which the children could choose. It was a special time.

All of a sudden they are 20 and 22, flown the nest, but I still make an Advent wreath…

A few years ago I managed to buy a tall candelabra on Otley market, it’s got four arms and a central candle. It’s perfect for my Advent wreath, it’s a bit of a squeeze to get the oasis on, I had to shave a bit off the plastic holder this time! I use the central older for my Advent candle, so I can light it every night in theory…so long as I don’t forget about it on the first night and let it burn down to 6!!

I go around my garden and cut various sprigs of greenery. I’ve learnt over the years what lasts and what doesn’t. I tend to use eunonymous, eucalyptus, box, osmanthus instead of holly as the short sprigs work much better and it looks so similar to holly, fir and juniper, ivy off the back lane and a few red heads of sedum. I probably use far too much variegated leaves, but  hey, it’s Christmas! I used to have a rosemary shrub in the garden too which was always nice to use as you got the aroma too.

I tend to pick four sprigs of everything, so I can have a good spread of foliage. At this stage I just use fresh foliage from the garden, but as things start to look a bit sad, they get replaced with pine cones, baubles, mandarins, all sorts of fillers, that way it still looks good by Christmas Day. A set of Christmas lights finishes it off and gives a twinkle every evening, I think it looks quite magical with the lights turned out.

…and you’re all wondering how my stall went…

Here’s me all dressed up with my stall.

It went OK in that I sold quite a lot of Christmas decorations and a few other things too. It was a good learning curve too, how much stock you need for a 6′ table (I think I got that about right) how to display your goods, I’d bought a bare twig tree at the last minute, it worked brilliantly as decorations were at eye level, the tree twinkled and looked pretty so it caught peoples attention. My higher priced things such as cushions and coat-hangers were frequently admired but didn’t sell, which I think is a lesson in choosing your craft fair, this one was part of a much bigger event, people came in coachloads (72 coaches last Saturday!!) for a wander around a Christmassy village, lots of mulled wine and carol singers. I think I would do better at a more artist/craftworker based craft fair where visitors are there because they appreciate handmade products, there is one in Skipton in the summer which I might have a look at….and you don’t need to dress up!

The good thing is I can now spend this weeks annual leave sewing what I like (plus a few extra Christmas decorations) rather than sewing to restock for next Saturday’s fair!…there’s a silver lining to every cloud…and I might just get my Etsy shop up and running over Christmas, any tips on that one gratefully received!

My OH has just gone to Australia for a week (I know, a long way to go for a week, it’s just the way it worked out!) so it’s me, the dogs and my sewing machine alone for a week 🙂

 

Posted in Christmas, Crafts, Garden, Serendipity | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Grassington Dickensian Fair

Posted on December 1, 2017 by craftycreeky

Well I’ve got my first craft fair tomorrow at the Grassington Dickensian Fair. Grassington is a very pretty village up in the Dales and every year they hold a Dickensian Fair over two weekends in December, people come for miles around so I decided to take a stall in their indoor craft market on the two Saturdays. The theory being that firstly it would be exhausting doing a full weekend and secondly if I happen to sell a lot of stock I can do lots of sewing next week!!

I’ve been busy making things over the last couple of months, hindered by family needing to take priority, so I didn’t think I’d made enough, but actually when I set up a practice stall at  home the table looked pretty full.

I found it hard to decide what to make, there’s always that thought in the back of my mind that ‘what if it doesn’t sell!’ am I going to be left with large quantities of something. My original thought was bags and cushions. I made one bag but then decided against it, they actually take a fair bit of time and fabric and by the time you add interfacings, wadding, hardwear…it all adds up, there is also the factor that as most people now uses tote bags etc for shopping, there are lots of nice but inexpensive ones around.

…but I did make some cushions, six of them in fact. Last Christmas I made my children some with their initials on in black felt and a pompom trim. I didn’t want to do letters, but I used the applique idea and did one of a dachshund, making it with a flappy ear and button eyes. It’s turned out pretty cute. If it doesn’t sell my daughter wants this one! 

I also used the elephant pattern from Helen’s quilt to make a two cushions, again the ear is flapping and I also embroidered the tail. The backs of all the cushions have a button fastening, which gives a nice feature to the back I think.

I wanted to do a running hare but I couldn’t find a pattern the right size, so I did a moon gazing hare instead. The last two cushions are from a gorgeous agapanthus fabric from my stash.

One make I’m hoping will do well is silk padded coat-hangers. I really enjoyed making these and they are so pretty, they are decorated with gorgeous laces, silk roses, feathers, beads, buttons, pearls. Every lady should have one for that special occasion dress!! I’m particularly pleased with my idea of using an embroidery frame to display them!

I think one of my favourite ones is a black one with feathers on!

I made lots of Christmas tree decorations, embroidered, lacy, jingle bells, I’ve got a bare tree with twinkly lights on to display them on now too.

I also made several lengths of Christmas bunting, 4m lengths, looks very festive!

We’ve got to dress up too…I’m not keen on ‘fancy dress’! I was trying to decide what to wear when I remebered in the loft I have an evening dress from my 20’s which is actually a skirt and top in a stunning blue silk. I’ve also still got a silk dupion blouse I made in the 1980’s which due to it’s voluminous nature, still fits me! The skirt however was far too small, I’m now 2 stone heavier and my waist is about 6″ bigger judging by my attempts to try it on…I just needed a new waistband! I started to rummage in my silk scrap box. I’ve always kept any scrap which was big enough to cover a coathanger. If it was meant to be I would find a length of the blue silk….and there at the bottom was a piece of the bluesilk, plenty big enough to make a new waistband! It was a fairly quick job to unpick it and stitch a deeper, longer waistband on.

I’ve found a shawl to wear with it and a brooch I made a couple of years back. My OH is meant to dress up too. He’s Australian and reckons that as he was born in Melbourne, Victoria, he is a true Victorian and therefore doesn’t need to dress up….that isn’t washing with me, I’ve found his wedding waistcoat to wear!

Fingers crossed it will go OK tomorrow, it’s a bit nerve-wracking to say the least!

 

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Down the Rabbit Hole Quilt

Posted on November 26, 2017 by craftycreeky

It’s three weeks since I last showed you my Down the Rabbit Hole quilt, this is a monthly quilt-a-long by Sarah Fielke which started at the beginning of the year. I was doing well keeping up until the last couple of months when family needs have overtaken sewing, impounded by a craft fair I applied for ages ago which is at the beginning of December. It was perfect timing really when Kathy decided to start to hand-quilting quilt-a-long as it meant I had to do at least something every three weeks!

Three weeks ago I had just finished one of the last big borders of the quilt, apart from a few flowers which I will add later. This is what it looked like;

At the beginning of this week I finally got myself a bit more organised for the opposite border length, mainly because I could get a lift to work ( instead of the bus and train) even though it meant me arriving about 45 minutes early…that’s just extra sewing time!

So I got my applique prepared, glued, ready to start stitching, as a result over the last few days I’ve managed to stitch the flower in place, just got two rabbits to go. My applique work is definitely improving, I seem to have finally got the hang of points, corners and curves. This time I also managed to match the pattern on the background (ish…at least the pattern is at the same level!), an added bonus!

Hopefully, once this craft  fair is over and done with I can concentrate on a few other projects.

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below. Please follow the links to see all the hand quilting in progress.

Kathy, Bella, Lori, Kerry, Emma, Tracy, Deb, Connie, Deborah,  Susan , Jessisca  and Sherry

 

Posted in Serendipity | 26 Comments