Getting Back Into Things

Well it's been awhile. I did return from holidays...a month ago actually!! It's just taken that long for me to get back into the swing of things. The boys started day care 2 days a week when we got back so that has been a big adjustment for all of us and despite now having 2 days a week to myself (until I get my teacher registration done and start working), I have spent most of them helping out at Pete's school or catching up on some much needed sleep. I can't believe how much I have slept!!! I must be catching up on the past 5 years of sleep deprivation. Ha!

Anyway, I did buy lots of goodies while I was away. I think I filled about half my new suitcase with fabric! There were also a bit of crafty bits including some needle felting items. When we flew home, it was an effort to balance out all of our stuff so we weren't over the weight limit!

I have started pulling it out and pre-shrinking/washing the stuff I need to use pretty soon but haven't gotten much further than that. I'll take a few pics of some of the really cute stuff for another post. Instead, I've been distracted by Mother's Day and getting some hats made for my boys. I can't post about my Mother's Day gift for my mum yet because she might see it but here's a little teaser.

I also received this exciting bundle of fur from my friend Emma at Fur Addiction.

It was so exciting pulling all this fur out of the box. It was literally stuffed to the limit with all of this furry goodness. I can wait to start using it for some projects I have in mind.

Well that's where I'm up to for now. I'm also waiting on an order from my favourite covered button store, Jackobindi. I have some new hair ties, earrings, cabochons and hair clips coming.

I will be doing my best to get some new items up in my store over the next week. It seems sooooo much easier to make them than to list them on etsy!

Happy crafting!

Fabric Easter Eggs Tutorial from Retro Mama

This gorgeous little Easter egg tutorial has been around for awhile now but I seem to forget about it every year until it is too late! I thought I would share it in the hope that I will remember about it for next year and hopefully you will remember too! You can find it here on Retro Mama's blog.

If you haven't discovered Retro Mama, go and check her out right now! She has some beautiful sewing patterns and uses such gorgeous fabrics. I love browsing through her blog and etsy store.

This tutorial is pretty quick and easy to whip up and is fantastic for using up your fabric scraps. I won't get to make any this year because I am currently sick and still have to make my boy's Easter chocolates (they are dairy and additive free) but these are so easy you might still have time!

Happy Easter to all of my lovely readers!

A New Year with New Adventures

This year is full of new things for our family. A new house, new hometown, new job, new kindy, new friends, new church, new goals, and lots of other new things.

Something new for me is that I have finally decided to go ahead and start creating some things to sell! That right! I am opening up an Etsy store!! I have thought about this and wanted to try it for such a long time and have finally decided to do something about it. I also need something bringing in money so I can buy more fabric and craft supplies. ;-)

I am also learning how to source craft supplies and fabric in the country. It is proving quite tricky! We moved to Mt Isa in Queensland's north west and sewing supplies up here are scarce! I am getting very good at scouring the internet and the best source of fabric I have found here so far are op shops! I bought this gorgeous vintage flat sheet last week.

Isn't it sweet?? I have lots of ideas running around in my head for this!

I also got this beautiful fabric! 

I'm not sure what I'm going to use this one for but I absolutely love asian prints and fabrics and couldn't pass it up! I am hoping to create lots of asian inspired items for my shop. 

Anyway, as you might have noticed, I love to try lots of different crafts and sewing projects so to start off with, I will be selling quite a variety of items while I discover my style. I am also fitting in my crafting around my 2 little boys and helping out my husband by creating teaching resources so I will only be listing items as I can make them. This might mean that some weeks it will only be 1-2 new items...other weeks it might be 10! Hopefully there won't be any many weeks with none.

I don't have the store open yet as I am doing some final touches but will let you know as soon as it opens! Keep checking back for updates!!

Baby Taggie Blanket

This is it! My baby taggie blanket. It's not really a blanket - it's more a toy than anything else. Babies just love tags so why not give them a heap to play with? I am really happy with how this turned out because it's not often that something I imagined and then set out to sew turns out on the first go. I just love the bright colours!

It's got cotton fabric (red spots) on one side and flannelette (blue dots) on the other. The ribbons are a mix of satin and textured ribbons and I added a velcro closing loop to one corner so that it can be attached to a pram, cot or whatever.

I hope my friend's baby enjoys it. I'll have to make one for my own little bubba! :-) It was so quick and easy to make. The materials are also quite cheap too so it makes a very affordable but special gift. I'll write out a tutorial for it and post that soon with lots of pics of each step.

Free Fabric Balls Tutorial

***UPDATE 15/03/12: I have finally gotten around to making up a pdf for my own pattern that I have since used after making the original green and blue fabric ball you will see in this tutorial. I have never been totally happy with the finished shapes when using free patterns I found online. They never gave a really nice, spherical ball. I know...I'm fussy! 

So I got hubby to help me with his wonderful computer skills and we came up with a pattern that is based off a perfect sphere and I'm very happy to say it has produced lovely, round balls! In the end, you will always get a little bit of irregularity cause that's the nature of stuffed toys but you just squash it back into shape and it looks great again. Here's a pic of a few I made Sam for Christmas! I put bells/rattles inside each one.

Hmmm...these actually look a little wonky and out of shape. lol Maybe I need to get a better pic. But anyway, they are definitely better overall. I also have a couple of tips I have learnt that help to get a better ball.

1. Use a shorter than normal stitch length...about 1.5-2mm. This allows for firmer stuffing and seems to minimise breakage and give smoother seams.

2. Stuff it as much as you can! It looks so much better and retains a much better shape if it is firmly stuffed. Just keep stuffing until you can't fit any more in! I said to stuff it firmly in the original tutorial but I want to emphasise....stuff it EVEN MORE FIRMLY! My original ball really doesn't look that wonderful now.

You can download my free fabric ball pattern right here! Please feel free to make this for yourself, friends, or even to sell in small quantities!***

Well I finished my first project since starting this blog and am very excited to tell you how it went. I have been planning to make some fabric balls for my boys for Christmas and wanted to make a trial ball to see how I liked the pattern and if it worked. Here's what I found. I will probably have to post a 'perfected' version of this tutorial at a later date. You will discover that I can be a bit of a perfectionist at times...I just like my sewing to be neat. Although other times, I just want something finished so am not as picky. :-)

PLEASE NOTE: This is quite a simple project but I have just explained lots of little things in detail to make sure it is nice and clear and to help you get good results. So don't freak out if you think it is a bit long!! Also, the photos are from my trial and I used fabric I didn't care too much about so they're not the prettiest. I will make sure I take more photos next time when I use my good fabric. :-)

I am always trying to improve my tutorials so PLEASE feel free to comment if you have any suggestions or if you simply like it! Thanks!

Fabric Ball Tutorial

Requirements
- Fabric scraps of choice
- Sewing thread
- Filling
- Bell/Rattle (optional)


1. Print out your template and cut it out. The template includes a 1/4 inch seam allowance. I used a free template from Grand Revival but am in the process of creating my own so I will post that at a later date. Here is the post from Grand Revival and here is Grand Revival's template. Edit: Get my pattern here.

2. Pin template to your fabric and cut out 6 segments. I chose to cut out 2 segments each of 3 different fabrics. To get a nicer shaped ball, cut the pieces on the bias (at a 45 degree angle to the grain of the fabric).

3. Arrange your pieces in the order you want them to appear around the ball. For example, I used teddies, green, blue, teddies, green, blue. Then pair them up starting at the beginning. Eg. teddies and green, blue and teddies, green and blue. Place each pair of segments with right sides together and pin ready to sew the seams. Stitch down 1 side of each pair using a 1/4 inch seam. Press all seams open. Clip a little of the excess seam allowance off carefully near the ends so that when you sew the pieces together, the point where each piece meets isn't too bulky.

4. Place 1 side each from 2 pairs right sides together and pin. Make sure you choose the correct segments so that the ball follows the pattern if you chose to do one. Also make sure you pay careful attention to make sure the existing seams match up if you would like the end of your ball to look neat and all seams to meet up at one point. This can be fiddly but is well worth it. Once you have it pinned in place, stitch the new seam. Again carefully cut away excess seam allowance at each end and press the seam open. You will now have 4 segments joined together like the picture below.

5. Using the same method as in step 4, pin and stitch the last pair of segments on to 1 side of the first 4. Don't forget to continue your pattern of fabric and carefully line up the existing seams before sewing. Cut away excess seam allowance at each end and press seam open.

6. Pin the last 2 sides together lining up the existing seam allowances. Leave about a 2 inch gap in the middle for stuffing. Cut away any bulk in the seam allowance at each end and turn ball out the right way. If you can manage it without ironing major creases into the rest of the ball, press the ends where each segment meets. This will help them sit flat and look neater. Also press the seam open so that the section that was left open for stuffing has a clearly defined edge for when you sew it up later. Don't worry if the point where all the segments meet isn't neat...you will find a solution for hiding this in step 8.

7. Stuff the ball with polyfill or other soft stuffing. I found that if you stuff it firmly, it keeps a nicer shape. If you want to include a bell or rattle, insert it into the middle of the stuffing keeping it at the centre. Then stitch up the opening. Be careful to stitch along the ironed edge to keep the seam even. Otherwise you will get a wonky line along this seam that is quite visible once the ball is finished.

8. If you didn't manage to get the segments to match up properly, you can cover each end with a circle of fabric hand stitched over the ends. You could also use buttons or stitch on small iron on patches. It isn't too hard to sew it up neatly though so don't give up if you don't get it the first time. :-)

So that's it! The finished ball. I wasn't 100% happy with the shape which is why I am now drafting my own modified shape thanks to my wonderful husband who can make 3D graphics on the computer and then make a flat net for me to use. :-D Hopefully that will help me get a better sphere. Despite that though, Max got a hold of it and absolutely LOVES it so it just goes to show it doesn't have to be perfect.