Swift gifts

My Tuesday kids sewing group and I came up with this simple gift for Christmas. It takes only about 30 minutes to make and is ideal for little ones looking to make gifts for Christmas.

First, cut two strips of felt measuring 22.5 cms long and 11cms high and two circles with a radius of 7.5cms. We used a blue and purple piece of fabric.

Second, make a cylindrical shape out of the two strips and pin together, don't allow the fabric to overlap as you don't want it to be be bumpy. This shape will form the basis of the holder. We did a simple over stitch to secure it, which worked well. Trim any excess felt to ensure the two pieces are the same size.

Third, seal one end with blanket stitch. Pin the two pieces of felt together then attach the circles of felt to the other end also using a basic over stitch.

The project is suitable for children as young as six, as the stitches are very basic they will need help with pinning and trimming the felt.

You can add things to your holder like embriodery or buttons or felt applique, enjoy!

Dearly departed

I have been lucky enough to 'inherit' various haberdashery items from both my grandmothers. My paternal grandmother left me the most amazing button collection, the remnants of her children's wear factory, and my maternal grandmother left me this fabulous collection of cotton reels.  I say 'inherit' but really these items are just one of many that become part of an estate and need to be distributed thoughtfully.  

Happily they have each inspired me to create.  The buttons are used in my hair accessories (button bows to be precise) and the cotton reels will ensure that I never need buy cotton again as I have every shade imaginable!  

The lovely part about these items is that I think of both of my grandmothers every time I see their things in my sewing cupboard.  I think about their lives and the fact that they saved everything and wasted nothing and it makes me reflect on my own wastage and misuse of materials.  I do endeavour to recycle and reuse as much as I can and I think the key to this is to be well organised and have great storage where you can clearly label and categorise items.  

Amongst the collection was this hosiery darning thread, I marvel at the idea of mending tights. Now laddered tights are only good for staking plants in the garden, but in my grandmothers time they would have been painstakingly mended and mended again.

When we lived in the UK I used to collect the lids from the milk bottles and I even brought them with me to Australia to use in children's art projects and costumes.  Sadly they are all gone now and I wonder whether it would be ecologically sound to have my mother in law collect some more and post them to me?  Probably not as I am sure the carbon emissions would be breathtaking.

A bird box for the birthday girl

I made this for my littlest child for her birthday.  She loves 'posting' things, so this is perfect for her little imagination, needless to say she loves it!  I used some fabric from my Japanese fabric collection, re-cycled cardboard pieces and ribbon from an old shopping bag, so nothing needed to be bought for the project!  I should say that I saw this idea years ago in a magazine, (I think) so it is not an original idea but one that stayed in my memory and was crying out for being recreated!

Floating on the end of summer

On our summer holiday we made a family of birds, each bird representing a member of our family. The birds were made by creating a shape out of aluminium foil, then covering them with tissue paper and found feathers, grasses, leaves and gum nuts.

It was a great project that even our 2 year-old could get into. Nothing beats gluing! We made them into a mobile using sticks from the garden and string. They floated around on the deck making the holiday rental look more homely. The idea originated from Susie Cameron & Katrina Cook's wonderful book, Small Fry Outdoors.