Bears 10 – Short Haired Mohair 5 inch Bears

I love making bears with good fabric and this mohair is lovely to work with.  I bought it before we started this years trip with the intention of concentrating on small bears.  I was diverted for a while by the Brighton bears but finally got round to making these.  I have been reading ‘Gone with the Wind’ too which is an epic and also diverted me.

I first made this short haired bear and thought he had turned out really well.

But though I say so myself, this shorter haired bear is nigh on perfect.

They are 5 inches tall (12.5 cm) with small cotter pin joints and glass eyes.

I made scruffy (left) previously and the new ones make him look a bit Neanderthal.

Bears 9 – Two more Brighton bears

 

All three together, blue bow, safety bear and two cotter pin bears with red bows.

I used the last of the cream fabric bought in Brighton to make two more 10 inch (25cm bears). 

Sadly I do not have any safety joints left so have had to make them with Cotter Pin joints, so not suitable for children.

The bear above has safety eyes.

This bear is totally child un-friendly with English Glass Eyes.

They are all the same pattern but look different.

The thick fur made the nose trimming more effective and gave them individuality.

They all have subtly different coloured paws and pads too, but you need to look close.

Cube Patchwork

 

The cube patchwork was a bit of an experiment.  I really like the idea of handmade patchwork as it is portable and easy to pick up and put down quickly.

I have admired other cube patchworks and eventually found a 60 degree template to make the pieces with.

The three blue colours match and in real life really stand out.  So much so that I am struggling to know what to do with it now.  It is too vivid to live with as part of a cushion and I think it may end up on the side of a bag.

I used ‘freezer paper’ to make the templates and then tacked them to the material and turned the edges.

Then I used small stitches to piece all the diamonds together.

I was surprised how quickly it came together and only took about 4 hours in total.

It is approx 18 inches across.

Any suggestions on what to do with it, gratefully received.

Bears 8 – Dover Bears

Over the last few weeks we have been holed up in marinas in some pretty shocking weather, so I had some time to finish some bears.

Another scrappy bear, this is the smallest yet at 50% original size.  He is super cute.  I thought this size may be the limit for the long curly mohair, but he turned out well.  The small ones have glass eyes and tiny joints, which makes them more suitable for adults.

I bought this cream fur in a delightful shop in the North Laines of Brighton.  The shop is run by a mother and daughter and the fabric is crammed to the roof. 

The top one is a 60% and the bottom one is a 80% version of the original pattern.  The larger one is fully child safe, but the smaller one (red tie) has glass eyes and small joints.

The long pile fur makes the top one look very fluffy.

Baby Blankets 2

 

I made this blanket for Lukas.  I had the bear material and the fleece and I used thick wadding to make it extra comfy.

It took quite some time to line up the bears on the ends and on the sides.

I used the machine to attached all the pieces together, but I hand sewed around the back to finish it off, to avoid seeing the stitches on the front.

Then added one of my labels by hand.

Pom-pom Bunting

 

You may think I have totally lost the plot this time.  I saw this in a shop window and just loved it.

I used tiny pom-pom makers to create the balls.  We had wool at Craft n Chat which had been donated and there were lots of different colours, so I just could not resist.  Annette and Karon also made a few for me.

It is now hanging under a shelf in my craft room, and makes me smile.

Bunting

Having wanted bunting in my craft room for a while I finally got round to making it.  I bought the material especially for this project as I thought it was perfect, english garden fabric.

I used a homemade triangle template to cut out the triangle fabric.  Then machine sewed around the pieces and turned them inside out.  Ironing the pieces makes them easier to assemble.  I used red bias tape for the string to assemble the bunting.

Love it.

Paper Craft 3 – 2 Boxes

Another two boxes to add to my set.  I let someone borrow one of the previous ones and someone fell in love with it so I said they could keep it and made some more.

These were substantial shoe boxes and had plain inners so I did not have to line the insides.

With a bit of thought you can use one piece of paper for the top and one piece for the bottom and virtually wrap the outside of the box like you would a gift.

They look great stacked up and keep my stuff organised.

Bears 7 – 3 Scrappy Bears

 

I cut out these bears before we went to Southampton to maintain the boat.  They help to pass the evenings.

Sonny’s Bear

The two tone bear is the very last of this material.  He was made fully child friendly, with safety eyes and joints.  This material is sooooo soft, I need to look out for some more.  It is not mohair but that means it is much more practical for little ones.

Golden Mohair Bear (60% the size of the original pattern)

Made from the scraps of Mohair from ‘Bethany’ he stands only 6 inches tall.  These are bears for grown ups as they have lots of small parts.

Curly Mohair Bear (60% the size of the original pattern)

Made from the scraps of the original ‘Scrappy’ bear I made 4 years ago.  Now that I have moved into small bears too I have revisited the scraps from previous bears and managed to scrape a 60% and a 50% bear (to be completed) out of the original curly mohair fur fabric.

See Bears 4, previously, for originals.

Denman Trip 2015–WI Lancashire Federation

Lancashire WI run a trip to the WI college Denman in Marcham in Oxfordshire every 18 months or so.

80 like minded ladies determined to have a good time and learn new things.  There were several course options including ‘Sing Abba’ for the theatrical and budding thespians, Silver Clay Jewelery, French Cooking in the excellent Cookery school (where I learned to make Jam and Preserves on the last trip), Sketching and Drawing, Blenheim History and Tour, Walking, and Machine Patchwork which I chose this time.

The tutor Christine Green was very infectious and soon had us thinking outside the box for her particular brand of scrap piece patchwork.  She also encouraged us to put items together without much measuring and go with the flow.

My first 4 squares were made from scraps I had brought with me, from the work-shirt quilt I made last year.

I then made two cushions (the red, white and blue ones on the right) using the log cabin technique and a block pattern.

Picture of the sewing room and everyone’s work displayed centre.

Our sewing group with tutor Christine (5th from the left).  Liz 2nd from left, me 3rd from left.

Liz’s freehand cushion, great colour and material selection.

Liz’s Log Cabin cushion, lovely colours and piped edges.

People think Denman courses are expensive, but once you factor in travel, food, beautiful room and tuition it is great value for money.  It’s less than £5 per week to save between trips.  No brainer.

Ladies spanning 5 decades learning, having fun and laughing together.  Truly Inspiring Women.

Bags 4 – Rucksack, Summer Tote and Sally’s Tote

Mick’s Rucksack

I made this rucksack for Mick from the Lisa Lam book ‘A bag for all Reasons’.

I used heavy duty fabric which cost just £1 per metre, I used 2 metres as the piping took quite a lot.

I also used 1 metre of another plasticised material for the interior to make it more water resistant for spills.

The edges of the 3 pocket flaps and the bottom of the bag were piped.  The piping was cut on the bias and reversed so that the slightly lighter grey inner colour was a contrast.  At one point going around the bottom of the bag with piping (2 layers), bag bottom and outer (2 layers) and straps (4 layers) my poor trusty machine was powering through 8 layers of fabric, without missing a beat.

I measured Mick for the strap length and also took a measurement from another bag he uses regularly.  When you buy a bag you tend to adjust the straps on the first wear and then leave them.  So I thought a bespoke bag could be made to measure.  And I did not have to bother with strap adjusters.

The inside has a zip pocket and a phone pocket combined.

I finally put grey cord through the top for the pull string.  Asking for grey cord in the week that ‘50 shades of grey’ was released was a giggle.

Sally’s Tote

Sally is Queen of our ‘Craft n Chat’ group, so a postage stamp design bag seemed appropriate.  She said is liked pinks and purples and this has those colours and more.

The bottom corners were really tricky to line up, but the extra work was worth it.

The lining is my favourite red spots with a flap pocket.

She was very pleased with it and made me a lovely lemon cake as a thanks.  A lovely bag for a lovely lady.

Summer Tote

I made this for myself out of some material I used previously to make a baby bag.  I used bag liner for the inside and put on a magnet fastener and zip pocket for added security.

Last years bag below put in sterling work but looks a bit tired now.

Craft Room Chair

The chair belonged to Mick’s Mum and Dad and lived in their bedroom.  When we got it we re-varnished it but left the seat covering alone.  The seat was covered with brown velour and when I started using it in my craft room I realised that the velour did not allow me to swing around easily.

I previously used this sewing material for a sewing bag for the boat and had only a small piece left.

I did not remove the velour but added a layer of wading and simply stapled the new fabric over the top with a staple gun.

A pretty chair with a new lease of life.

Lloyd Loom Box

I bought this ‘Lloyd Loom’ box at our local YMCA charity shop for £7.99.

The Lloyd Loom process was invented in 1917 by the American Marshall B. Lloyd, who twisted kraft paper round a metal wire, placed the paper threads on a loom and wove them into what was to become the traditional Lloyd Loom fabric.

Unfortunately I did not take a photo before we started to mend it.  It has a lurid 1970s green patterned fabric on the top.  The inside of the lid was broken and the outer shell of the box was a very shabby gold colour.

We removed the edging and the fabric and Mick bought a new piece of wood for the top.  He supervised me nailing the wood in place and then we were ready for paint.

While he was out I started to paint the inside of the box which had been green.  I had chosen cream coloured paint and soon realised that it would show up on the outside as it oozed through the weave of the box sides.  Oops.  So I also painted the outside cream too.  We then let it dry out thoroughly.

We had managed to find some gold paint which was not too expensive, as projects like this can become uneconomic very quickly when new paint etc. has to be bought.

We took the box outdoors and sprayed the outer and the edging we had removed earlier, having masked off the top first.

I covered the top using a £1 piece of fabric which is a good match to our curtains.  I used extra wadding to make it comfy and used the staple gun around the edges.  Mick then carefully nailed the edging piece back on using small brass nails in the original holes.

Mick is using it next to his end of the suite to use his mouse, and it is stuffed with sailing books.

The gold outer should fade with time and we are really pleased with the end result.

Lace Making 2 - Bookmark

Under Liz’s supervision I have made a bookmark, during our sessions at Pendle Stitches during February.

Picture shows the number of bobbins required.  14 pairs in all.

I wound the bobbins with Pink and Lillac thread.

The work is carried out diagonally along the pricked pattern, using cloth stitch.

At the end I gathered the loose ends and used a weaving technique to make the tail end.

Bookmark next to its pattern.

Finished bookmark.