Willow Weaving – Reindeer and Xmas Stall Trial

Annette and I have been signing up for Willow Weaving courses at the WI in Leyland for 2 years.  We finally got accepted as they have been massively over-subscribed.  The subject matter was not really our design of choice but off we went with open minds, armed with secateurs and gloves.

12 ladies assembling the bodies, which were 3 rings attached together by longer strands with cable ties and string.

Body with head taking shape

Adding the legs, lots of comments of a Jurassic nature at this stage.

Finally we snip out the cable ties and string as the weaving keeps it together.

Annette with her reindeer

Me with my finished article.

Outdoors with added nose bobble

Close up.

The course was run by Joevanka Gregory of Creative with Nature which is located in Todmorden.  She has a workshop and runs courses.  Google creativewithnature for further info.

So, what to do with a Willow Reindeer when you don’t have a garden!!!

Answer – Use him as a feature for your upcoming xmas stall.

With hanging xmas decorations and battery operated LED lights.

With bears aboard!

Bears sat on a pot stand I bought in a charity shop for £3.

Stockings, bunting, pin cushions and needle cases. 

Also featuring Ruth’s hand crocheted Gillet which she is selling as it turned out to be the wrong size for her once complete (size 16-18) if anyone is interested £40, it’s super cosy.

Whole stall mocked up prior to xmas fair stall at West Bradford Village Hall on Sunday the 20th November – open 10 til 4pm.

Christmas 2016 – Various

I am having a stall at West Bradford Village Hall Christmas Craft Fair on Sunday the 20th November 2016 (open 10-4pm).

I am hoping to sell some bears and I have also been making small things to sell for small amounts of money.  Hope they go down well.

Christmas Stockings

Large Felt stocking (50cm) with candy stripe cotton lining and felt tree decorations with baubles

Medium felt stockings (20cm) with linings and felt lettering and snowman decoration.

Medium cotton stockings with gingerbread man patterned fabric.

12 small stocking tree decorations with various hearts decorations.

2 Elf Boot tree felt decorations

6 holly and berry felt tree decorations

Close of of Holly Decoration, I really like these.

Dog Bandanas made from gingerbread man patterned fabric, with candy stripe reverse fabric.

Christmas Bunting with spotty reverse.

Pin cushions and needle cases.  Two sets of each of the above.

Pin cushions are surrounded by ‘Keep Calm and Craft On’ ribbon and feature sewing design buttons in the centre.

 

Small cotton draw string gift bags.  Ideal for gifting bears.

Bears 14 – Machine Sewn and Hand Finished

Both bears were made of faux fur.  It has a long pile and was therefore best for larger bears.  They are about 40cms tall and took a substantial amount of stuffing.

As the bears were so much larger than the hand sewn ones I make during the summer I decided to sew them by machine.  It is very tricky and I had to jam the fur under the sewing machine foot to start each seam.  Once it was going it was fine.  There are many curves on a bear and my machining skills improved, along with my slow corner sewing skills.  The Foot paws were the hardest part.  The ears and face are hand sewn as usual.  My friend said it was like when Bob Dylan went electric, me making bears on a machine!

They both have safety joints and safety eyes. 

I was very pleased with the outcome and will be interested to see how they are received.

They are still not suitable for small children, but better than the small ones.

Bears 13 – Summer 2016

These are the bears I made during our summer sail to France.

The three large bears at the back are faux fur, bought again in Brighton, I suspect the end of the bolt of fabric I bought last year.  The blue bows are child friendly and red one is less so. 

The bows on the others bare no significance, as they are all unsuitable for small children.

I had ordered three shades of Mohair fabric prior to departure, Cinnamon, Ice Grey and Cream.

The Cinnamon and Ice Grey had a longer pile and worked best on the medium sized bears (second row).

The cream worked well on small bears as the pile was very short (front row).

I tried a tiny bear with the cream fabric (centre front), he was very hard to make and has a startled look.

They are still taking me at least 6-8 hours to make. 

Bags 6 – Anne’s and Small Boat Bag

The spotty bag was made for a friends birthday.  It is similar to previous bags I have made but I just wanted to show the bag finished as it is such lovely fabric.  Bit more substantial as it was for a present.  I lined it with foam backed curtain lining, or bag lining, as I call it, and added a small spotty pocket inside.

I was especially proud of this stitching to secure the handles.  It can all go so wrong right at the end.

The denim bag was made on board this year as I did not have a small handbag to take out at night.  Mick’s trouser legs were used this time.  I did make a large one, but have mislaid the photos so will have to retake them.

The main body is the bottom of a leg from a pair of jeans.

The lining was very pretty strawberry fabric that I have had for ages.  I bought the beige webbing for the handle on a market stall and sewed red ribbon down the centre of the webbing to make it a bit less drab.

I then made 11 Suffolk Puffs and added various buttons in the centres of the puffs as they were being sewn to the bag.  A Suffolk Puff is a circle of fabric, edged by a running stitch and then drawn together into the middle and secured.

The bag came in really useful during the summer and is now the resident small boat bag.

See sailing blog for details of life afloat www.fleurofpendle.blogspot.co.uk