Project 13: Peg bag

Posted on May 28th, 2011 by Maddy - No Comments

Peg BagNow the weather is a little but more perky I can hang my wet clothes outside. Of course, this meant I HAD to make a peg bag to aid me in this endeavour. With a trip to Beyond Fabrics I purchased a small hanger and some red binding to help make this project.

This pattern came from Sew!, again, though I chose the bird fabric instead of a floral print. I suppose ‘cheerful’ is the word that I should ‘tag’ most of my projects with – this birdy bag certainly is that.

Date day – Drink, Shop and do

Posted on May 28th, 2011 by Maddy - 1 Comment

Last Saturday was ‘date day’ so we went for a surprise, to me anyway, afternoon tea at Drink, Shop and Do. This vintage tea shop, located in King’s Cross, is surrounded by some very unlikely establishments; the doorway for the toilets also leads to a ‘adult’ book store. As if by magic, on stepping into the store you find yourself transported to a paradise for crafts.

The shop sells wool and crochet needles alongside tea cups and candy. The sweets are stored in a display that, to my mind, is an homage to the sweet shop in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The back of the shop leads to a tea shop, that turns into a bar in the evening. This is where everything, from the chairs that you sit on to the cake stand that your crustless sandwiches are served from, are up for sale. Our tea was even poured from  a vintage Diana and Charles pot, celebrating their wedding.

It is a ridiculously fun and silly establishment that managed to make even Matt feel ‘dainty’. I look forward to using the crochet needle I got from here on my next project, and I would love to return for their knit club and Sunday Scrabble days.

 

Project 12: Knitting Bag

Posted on March 20th, 2011 by Maddy - 1 Comment

My current work in progress is a knitting bag made from hexagonal squares. Its a great way to use up odd scraps of fabric from my projects so far. I’ve cut less than thirty hexagons so far but with 60 to make in total I think this one is going to take a bit of time.

So far it mostly involves tacking fabric onto paper cut out hexagons. It will be great practice if I eventually make a quilt too. Not sure how I’m going to source handles as nice as these though.

Project 11: Crochet Coaster

Posted on March 20th, 2011 by Maddy - No Comments

With help of some more great knitting video clips (ehow has some great instructions) I finished my pink and blue scarf. Though it just so happens that now it has started to get really sunny in London, I spent the first day in my garden patio since summer! So guess I’m stocked up for scarfs for next winter.

With my scarf complete I thought I should try my hand at some crochet with the help of a borrowed crochet book.  This is really great at showing details of each type of stitch, including step by step photos. Though some of the projects are a little dated, there’s a pretty hideous white crochet belt adorned in flowers, it is great how each project in the book increases with difficulty. The coaster is project number 1and although personally I’m not too keen on the idea of a fabric coaster, it is a great way to practice lots of different stitches.

 

Project 10: Knitting bag

Posted on March 20th, 2011 by Maddy - No Comments

Now that I have 1 pair of knitting needles and 1 crochet needle I am clearly in need of a method of storage. So it was time to try another Cath Kidston sewing pattern and create a zipped purse to keep my needles in.

This project took a bit longer than expected as what with the lining, binding inside and sewing a zip on without a zipper foot it is a whole lot more complicated than it at first seems.

The only glitch was that I don’t have a zipper foot but luckily Youtube was there in my hour of need (sewing a zipper without a zipper foot). I’ve already got a request to make one for my sister though this one will be longer in length to fit her longer needles. The tough part was picking which two fabrics go together for the outer and lining. Will have to pick something really nice for my sister.

Project 9: Knit a scarf

Posted on February 28th, 2011 by Maddy - 3 Comments

I’ve been knitting rapidly through the excellent film Son of Ranbow, the creepily good Being Human and a train journey from Leeds to London and gradually building up the stripes of my blue and pink scarf. You can definitely see where I’m progressing, where the most recent rows of stitches are considerably less holey than the earlier ones, but for my first knitting endeavour I’m quite happy.

It’s perfect to do in front of the telly. It’s equally perfect for getting out of  my boyfriend’s demonstrations when he wants to show me some new way of coding websites (django being his latest inspiration). I instead threaten to tell him about purling, casting off and other knitting related jargon. I guess programming and knitting are kinda similar?

That reminds me, I need to knit me a robot. Maybe some nice people at iknit will show me how to do this at one of their knitting groups, I’m trying to build up the courage to head down to one of these this week. I hope they are friendly. Its conveniently close to where I live  and since I have a few days of next week I reckon I should do a recce and check the store out – Wish me luck!

Learning to knit

Posted on February 28th, 2011 by Maddy - No Comments

While discussing everything craft with colleagues at work, a  knitting fever spread throughout our open plan office. Soon every woman on the floor was discussing their secret knitting, including knitting their children’s dolls clothes. Somehow I’d managed to convince them to set up a weekly knit circle on Wednesday lunchtimes. With one fatal flaw in my plan. I can’t knit.

So, while visiting Leeds, my super crafty friend Rose helped me pick out some wool and needles. We went to a very old fashioned knitting shop run by older ladies, far from the trendy pretentious stores that are wonderfully expensive in trendy parts of London. Rose patiently taught me how to start knitting and after several dropped stitches and cries of help later, I had started work on a pink and blue scarf.  Now I can start up that knitting club afterall – thanks Rose.

Project 8: Owl Cushion Cover

Posted on February 6th, 2011 by Maddy - 4 Comments

I had another go at making a cushion, this time stitching an owl onto the front that came from a card I was given by a friend. It was really nice to find another use for the owl and worked really well with the owl fabric that I picked up. It is nice to incorporate the yellow ric-rac into the the cushion too.

Like the last one I made, this cushion cover is a bit snug for the pillow.  I’m going to have to work on that for next time – it seems that the patterns in ‘Sew!’  are a little bit small for the cushions they recommend.  I’ll definitely have to get this sorted if I want to have a go at making a cushion good enough to give as a gift. I better keep practicing then.

Angus likes his toy

Posted on February 6th, 2011 by Maddy - No Comments

Finally my day off from work came round and I spent the day at my sister’s house hanging out with her and her baby. It was really fun spending the day with them both and seeing how Angus has grown. He is very alert and sings and laughs when he is read one of his storybooks.

It was great to give him the toy that I made for him, though we first had to take the button off in case it came loose. I think when I make Angus another toy I will definitely have to do strong stitches so that it can stand up to some serious play.

The last time I held Angus he cried when he saw that I wasn’t his mum but this time he seemed to like me, gave me some really cute smiles and has a curious yet adorable habit of bowing to the side as a way of saying ‘hello’. I think he liked the toy as here is little Angus giving ‘Gus the dog’ the thumbs up!

Project 7: Cushion Cover

Posted on January 30th, 2011 by Maddy - 2 Comments

It took me a while to think what to make with the bird patterned fabric I recently bought – making a peg bag seems a bit pre-emptive since the weather is too cold to hang clothes out and who really needs that fancy a peg bag anyway? To put the fabric to good use a cushion cover seemed a great solution.

Using the pattern from Sew!, I went off piste from Cath Kidston’s instructions to use striped ticking and floral fabric by going for yellow gingham and ‘It’s a hoot’ bird fabric. With this project marked at ‘thimble level 1′ (the easiest one!) it was quite a quick and fairly simple process to follow. Though it is a little snug for the cushion inside it came out OK. Matt, my boyfriend, is now under strict instructions not to use this cushion, as is his normal practice,  to rest his feet.