Nini Makes

Making me smile

This tiny little face stitched up as a tester.

I'm making a new pattern and testing it - a birthday gift for Gracie. I love this fabric, it's from a huge piece of unbleached Egyptian cotton I bought a few years ago. It's beautiful for hand stitching but it's slightly course for turning tubes easily. I ordered some tools today that will hopefully help with this task, if not she will be scrapped and I'll try her on another fabric.

Browsing my button stash.

I've been shredding mountains of old papers, very boring work. If I were the organized type there wouldn't be mountains, just piles. The shredder keeps conking out which gives me plenty of time to poke through my buttons. These were the little beauties I brought back from Holland. Normally I know just what I'll use new supplies for, but not these, I'll probably keep them just to look at because they're so cheerful. Hand-carved wooden buttons always make me smile.

My little footballer.

And making me smile the most is my girl. Follow the arrow to see her because I wasn't quick enough with the camera and caught her with her head down. The only girl on either of the teams and it was so much fun to watch her, full of energy and spirit - I can't wait until the next game!

I hope my smiles reach all of you!

:)

Cheater's patchwork, a tutorial

Yet another project that uses up those scraps. These mini patchwork patches have multiple uses and are so easy it feels like a cheater's version of patchwork. They can be used to appliqué on t-shirts, for patching holes, stitching on to paper or cards or used as whole pieces of fabric to cover moleskines, make wallets, etc.

Supplies
Sewing machine * fabric scraps * small iron * fusible webbing * rotary cutter or scissors

How to
Determine the size you want the final piece of patchwork to be, cut out a piece of fabric that size and iron a piece of fusible webbing to it.

Cut out a variety of small squares of fabric, best to use a rotary cutter for accuracy. My squares are very small, about 13 mm or 1/2 an inch; larger squares would be even easier.

Peel the backing paper of the fusible webbing off of your base piece of fabric then begin lining up your squares (right-side-up) on to the side of the fabric that you removed the paper from (the "glue" side.) Line them up horizontally and vertically with no spaces between the squares forming a grid with them.

Next begin pressing your squares with a small hot iron, I used a Clover Mini Iron but a travel iron would work too. I found it easiest to do one line of squares at a time instead of trying to line up the whole grid.

When you have filled the area you want to cover with squares secure them using a zig-zag stitch with your sewing machine stitching along the gutters of the squares of your grid. Experiment with your zig-zag stitch width and length before stitching the patchwork.

Note: It's easiest to not clip the threads at the end of each line, just lift the presser foot and gently move the fabric to your next line.

To finish, trim the edges of your fabric or cut a shape out of it and adhere another piece of fusible webbing to the back of your finished patchwork - thus creating a finished, ready-to-use patch. When you remove the backing paper from your finished patch be sure it is completely cool before gently lifting it off.

I find I can iron these patches on to paper to make cards or iron them on to fabric with equal success. You will need to stitch around the outer edge on to the fabric or paper the patch is adhered to. This is also an easy way to create quick pieces of patchwork for making small sewn items like wallets, just skip the final step and leave off the last piece of fusible webbing.

Note: I use the Bondaweb brand of fusible webbing because in the UK it seems to be easiest to come by. If you've never used fusible webbing before simply follow the manufacturer's instructions for whichever brand you use.

**************************************************************************************************

I hope you give these a try. It's another project that becomes a little addictive, I started going mad with tiny squares when I first tried out this idea.

About the Clover Mini Iron
Of all the various forms of appliqué one of my favourites is using fusible webbing then stitching the edges, it makes a neat job of small pieces appliqué. I bought the mini iron mainly for this purpose. Mine was about £25 which has been a worthwhile investment as I use it a lot. Clover now make a new version (Clover Mini Iron II) which allows for different attachments.
If like me, you wouldn't need any of the attachments the new iron can accommodate there are now bargains to be found on the old models like mine - I've seen it as low as £7 on ebay.

Spinning

Let the great world spin for ever down the ringing grooves of change.
Tennyson

We are definitely in a spin, ringing the grooves of change around here. Not only the obvious changes, new home, new school but even more.

Gracie has been off school the last two days with a streaming cold. Today she was feeling better which meant a lot of artwork being made. Spin art, water colour painting, clay shape making and letter writing in calligraphy; and that was nearly all before lunchtime - clearly she's ready to go back to school.

This year she has many more options for after school clubs and has chosen all sports: netball, judo, football and gymnastics (not all at the same time.) In the past she'd have opted for the art clubs but says she gets a lot of art at home and "I finally get a chance to play football!" Changing indeed.

She wanted me to show you her special spin art machine, an old favourite that she recently rediscovered. I looked for a salad spinner at boot fairs forever to make spin art with the children but never found one, luckily Gracie received this machine as a gift.

We had a lovely visit back to Kent at the weekend for a big birthday party (happy birthday Tim.) We had a chance to meet up with lots of other friends and I finally got my chance to cuddle baby Rufus and so did Tristan, he loves babies.

And Tristan just returned from two days away at an adventure and bonding session with his new classmates. He returned full of stories and though it was late when he returned we had a lengthy conversation about his time away before he fell into bed for an early start tomorrow. As he was talking I realized that this was a new type of conversation, a little boy wasn't explaining things to me, a more mature little man appears to be emerging. Though I'm not that familiar with this little man yet, I'm very happy to get to know him. Spin on!

****************************

For Lovers of Spin Art

I'm a spin art lover. It reminds me of happy days at the county fair where I could sidle up to a booth and make my own abstract masterpiece in minutes.

Make Your Own
If you've never tried the salad spinner version with children here's how it goes:

Use an old salad spinner and put a paper plate in the bottom of it, the plate should fit snugly. Make it spin, remove the lid while it's spinning and drip paint on the plate. If your spinner stops spinning when the lid is removed then put some big drops on the plate first then put the lid on and spin.

Paint that's slightly runny but not watery works best.

I've also toyed with the idea of rigging up my electric drill to create bigger art but I haven't finished figuring that one all out yet.

Many uses for the finished art
We've used the finished artwork for collage, gift cards and framed art. For the gift cards we cut shapes out of the finished spin art. For instance, we cut lots of petals and created a multi-coloured flower.
For the framed art we lined several finished pieces of spin art up together in four stacked rows to create a larger piece of art.

If I could find any samples of these ideas in our many boxes of junk/treasure, I would show you.

And for iPhone and iPod Touch users of course there's an app. It looks fun, not as fun as real paint, but fun enough to amuse yourself if you're unfortunate enough to be on a long commuter train journey with no book to read or sketchbook to fill. Oh and of course there's a Flickr group for art made with the Spin Art app.

If I had an iPhone, I might have to get it just so I could be whisked away to my 10 year old self at the county fair whenever my little heart desired :)

Have a great Wednesday!

Summertime is playtime, indoor edition

I've been feeling a little guilty about hubby and I not taking the children anywhere for a holiday over the summer because we're moving house. Then they remind me through their actions that children really just want to play. Of course this is England, summertime doesn't always equal sunshine so playtime often happens indoors.

The image above is from the latest article for The Green Parent. It's their education issue so I created a homemade bingo game children can make themselves. Bingo can be designed to help reinforce learning things like letter forms and sounds or math, even vocabulary. Kids love Bingo, even if they're learning something.

 

I may have mentioned that Gracie is dog mad. Not as in the foaming at the mouth, rabid kind, she just loves them, all of them, even if they act ferocious or are lacking in the cute department. A few days ago she pretended to be a dog - all morning. This included walking on all fours, drinking out of a bowl on the floor and whimpering for attention. We have no dog biscuits because we have no (real) dog and she was very upset to not receive any for performing tricks, so she decided to make her own.

She had to quit her doggy alter ego to bake because, as she rightly pointed out "Dogs don't bake." We have no bone shaped biscuit cutter so we drew a template that she cut around.

 

These are made from the simplest sugar cookie recipe and Gracie loves them. She refused to let anyone have the bone shaped biscuits and saved them for the next day she decides to be a dog. 

 

A house can not be full of moving boxes without children pilfering at least one for their own devices. On this morning (may have been afternoon, pajamas sometimes stay on that long around here) Gracie decided to build a little shop with one. When her brother joined in the shop became a kind of telephone/online ordering service; he then created a cardboard computer and showed her how to make our house phones ring so they could "call" each other.

 

More than a few card games have been enjoyed these past few weeks with friends, Go Fish being the favourite.

And over the last couple of days they've spent hours drawing, tracing and colouring Pokémon characters and demonstrating their "evolution" in an attempt to make me understand the whole game. I'm not much wiser but even more astonished at the amount of details, names, facts and figures they immediately commit to memory regarding the mythological beasts. Must be a way to harness the memory power put into Pokémon and apply it to something a little more necessary, like maybe the times tables!?

 

Still eagerly awaiting a new little babe around here who is running a bit late. Haven't heard from the mummy today, hoping maybe she's in a place where mobile phones aren't allowed and next time I talk to her she'll be holding her little one. Here's a tiny peek at the gift.

 

We move on Saturday rendering me Internet disabled until around the 10th of Sept - drat! Darn that British Telecom! I didn't use such polite language offline.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Sunny skies predicted for the week ahead... outdoor edition coming soon.

Quick craft

The chores of moving leave me little time to make things, lucky these necklaces take little time. I save special shells, stones and trinkets picked up here and there for projects like these but for the little girl gifts I use charms bought from a local bead shop. 

I started making these simple chains after following futuregirl's sweet bracelet tutorial a while back, remember these attempts to crochet? While I haven't advanced much yet I plan on learning more stitches and how to follow patterns soon. Margie's very fun merfish are on the list for what to try next. 

Only one photo was needed but I had fun taking these images. Gracie chatted away about how she was in the process of abseiling down the side of the house from the balcony when I interrupted her. She pretended to be frustrated but secretly enjoyed it, check out that teenager look on her face in the last one.

Get kids "hooked"

While G showed no interest in making these herself our sweet twelve year old neighbour wanted to learn and is now a crochet addict (I'm hoping she'll teach me new stitches soon.) 

Chain stitch necklaces have my three key ingredients for successful children's projects: they require simple materials, incorporate the child's own design or embellishment and they're quick to make - a perfect first foray with a hook :)

Dragonflies revisited, a tutorial

I love dragonflies and wanted to make them with my class but they're a little young to manage the wirework dragonflies I made with previous classes so we simplified by using recycled plastic to create the wings.

Supplies: scissors • hole-punch • permanent marker • recycled plastic (we used the lids from strawberry containers) • 2 pipe cleaners • coloured tissue paper • white glue • sequins and glitter optional

How to:

First use this wing template, or draw one of your own and trace around it four times onto plastic using a permanent marker. Cut out the four wings then glue pieces of tissue paper on to decorate them. Leave the wings to dry; the glue will make the tissue paper more translucent when dried. When the wings are dry, put a hole in the squared off end of each one with a hole-punch.

Note: I've drawn two wing shapes on the template, a simplified shape to make it easy for younger crafters to cut out as well as a slightly more realistic shaped wing.

Click on this diagram to see it close-up.

• To assemble thread one wing each onto the pipe cleaners. Push the wings about 4 cm down the pipe cleaners then twist the top of the two pipe cleaners together tightly a couple of times just above the wings.       
• Now tightly wrap the long end of one pipe cleaner around the wing two times close to where the wing was threaded and repeat with the other pipe cleaner.
• Twist the long ends together 3 or 4 times tightly under the wings then thread on the two remaining wings and repeat step 2.
• Twist tightly under the second set of wings and continue twisting down the length of the pipe cleaners making a small loop at the end completing a tail.
• Curl the short ends of the pipe cleaners into small loops to create the dragonfly eyes.
• Finish by adding a bit of glitter and sequins if you like.  

There are a lot of great books about dragonflies to be found in libraries, they're fascinating little creatures. Children always think it's amazing that dragonflies start their lives in water and they also marvel at their amazing colour variations. Look out for dragonflies and damselflies this time of year near ponds and lakes, they're a real treat to observe in nature.

If you give these a try let me know, I love to see children's interpretations of these projects, grown-ups too. Get a group of friends together and make several, they look fantastic hanging from the ceiling in one big swarm!

Have a great Friday :)

Ship Ahoy! Father's Day Card

These are the sea-faring cards my class made for Father's Day this year. Like the tie cards, this project is one that can be enjoyed by all age ranges - and although they're all based on the same template the childrens' choice of fabrics and assorted supplies make each card very individual.

As we have a limited time frame to work on projects in the class room we kept the decorating of the ships simple. If we'd had more time we might have added little people standing on deck and strings to mimic ropes for the rigging. 

To make them you'll need these supplies:

Scraps of fabric, old lace or ribbons • cereal boxes or other card stock • white glue • scissors • brown paper (we used pieces cut from old magazines) • a twig or a stick • card stock for the folded card • corrugated cardboard or foam mounting stickers

1. Begin by tracing this template on to the back of a cereal box then cut out the three shapes. The shapes are simplified to make them easy for little hands to cut but if you have limited time like I did, pre-cut the shapes for the children.
2. Glue scraps of fabric to the sails, leave to dry then trim off any excess fabric from around the edges.
3. Glue scraps of brown paper or fabric to the boat leave to dry then trim off any excess brown paper from around the edges.
4. Cut out 6 small squares (about a cm square) of the corrugated cardboard. Glue two squares to the back of each piece of the ship. Spread them apart for balance and don't place them too near the edges.
5. Put glue on the small squares, turn the pieces of the ship over and put them into position on the card. The ship parts will now be set off of the page and allow you to glue the stick for the mast behind them. (Alternatively use foam stickers instead of cardboard squares)
6. Glue the mast on then cut out a small triangle of fabric and glue it to the top of the mast for a flag. 
7. Draw some waves for the sea and write a message inside the card.

I hope you try it out, my class really enjoyed putting these together and we'll definitely be making a few up at home for daddy and the grandpas.

Stitch a postcard

I like to stitch cards and postcards to make greetings that are a little bit different. It's another way to use up scraps of fabric, lace and buttons. The one above has gone off to my husband's uncle and aunt, our hosts during our recent trip to Holland.

As this is a postcard, I wanted the design to have a postcard feel about it. I also added ribbon when I mounted it so that it could be hung. Then I wrote a message on the reverse like a regular postcard, but this one will go in an envelope to protect it.

Here's a very easy way to mount a small, stitched piece of art and turn it into a postcard or mini wall hanging.

You'll need: a piece of art or wording stitched on to lightweight fabric • heavy card stock or mount board • normal card stock • a craft knife and cutting mat • a length of ribbon • craft glue • double sided tape (not the narrow type in the roll on dispenser) • regular clear tape

1. Stitch an image or a message on to lightweight fabric.
2. Cut out a piece of heavy card stock with a craft knife or utility knife to mount it on (I use the backing from used sketch pads.) The heavy card should be about an inch (3 cm) smaller than the image area of your fabric art.
3. Place the artwork image side down on a table then place the heavy card on top of it making sure it's positioned in the center. Place a piece of double sided tape along two opposite edges of the heavy card stock.
4. Starting in the middle of one edge, pull the artwork over the card so it sticks to the tape, then stick the rest of that edge and repeat on the opposite side.
5. Follow by sticking the remaining two edges in the same way.
6. Neaten up the corners and tape them down flat with normal tape.
7. Add a ribbon by gluing the two ends down at the top. (The ribbon will be sandwiched between the mounted art and the backing.) NOTE: If I've made steps 2 - 7 sound harder than they are, click here for a quickly drawn diagram.
8. Cut a normal piece of card stock out slightly smaller than the mounted artwork. Put craft glue around each edge and place it over the back of the mounted art.
9. Place a book on top to help it dry flat or put clothes pegs around the edges.

Now post it off and make the recipient smile :)

A big thank you for all the kind comments regarding Tristan's trip away, I appreciate all of your sweet sentiments. I'm happy to report that I'm coping, which hasn't even involved red wine consumption, but maybe a little lot of chocolate. Really, I'm completely void of self control at the moment, but I'm considering it medicinal!

P.S.  Back soon with a Father's Day card project I recently made with my class. If you need a card project sooner, take a look at this one from previous years.

 

Sprinting into year 3

Technically this giveaway should be in May, but we'll be away in Holland visiting some family next week during our school half-term break. I'll draw a name or do the number generator thing the evening of June first.

This contest is open to everyone everywhere, blog or no blog, from the UK to Kathmandu. Simply leave a comment on this post to enter. As usual, be sure to enter an email address not just a Typepad profile or I may have no way to contact you if you win (email addresses are not visible to blog readers.)

The winner will receive the following:

1. Grandma's bed pincushion, the prize cushion may not be the one pictured, I'm working on a couple more with the same materials. I will ship the winner my best version.

2. Ten squares of Liberty cotton fabrics (the ones pictured) all are at least 14 cm (5.5 inches) square.

3. Over a metre of antique, handmade lace trim; perfect for a pillow case or to edge a shelf.

4. A set of four large mother of pearl buttons (one inch) and two matching etched glass buttons.

5. A surprise gift from our trip to Holland (I can tell you it won't be cheese and as this is a family blog, it won't be from the Red Light District either.) The little Dutch doll pictured is not included in the prize package, she's simply a representative.

About Grandma: turns out it wasn't Grandma after all, it was a big, bad wolf. But Grandma is fine and the wolf won't be harming anyone, he's stuck up high on my sewing room shelf and can't get down.

Inspiration is a funny thing, here's the story of Grandma's bed.

If I'm sewing while sitting on the sofa I stick my needles into the arm of the sofa next to me but our sofa fabric is a perfect colour to camouflage needles.

After school one day recently, tired Gracie lay her head on the side of the sofa and got poked with one of my hidden needles. Feeling terrible, I decided to make a little mattress shaped pincushion that could sit nicely on the arm of the sofa and vowed never to stick needles into furniture again.

So I made the mattress but decided it would look sweet with a wire-work headboard. Then I thought the mini bed would be perfect for a little wolf dressed in Grandma's clothes; so then came the wolf followed by Grandma's night dress and cap. But of course the wolf, though clothed, looked cold so then came the tiny quilt.

The end

Note: Gracie was fine, no blood drawn :)

Incidentally, I usually get my best ideas while I'm brushing my teeth, when or how do you get yours?

Have a great Monday :)

Grandma's Quilt

The weather has been so blustery this week I whipped up a quilt for Grandma to keep her toasty warm; well not exactly whipped up, that implies a measure of speed. It's the first quilt I've actually finished, and at only 6.25 x 6.75 inches you'd have thought it would be a breeze but I think a king size would have taken me less time.

It's nearly all hand stitched using mostly Liberty. No measuring or precise cutting, I just snipped little bits of fabric and gleefully stitched them together. Liberty has a way of spreading happiness, maybe it will reach all of you.

So now Grandma has become my little guardian watching over me from a shelf in my sewing room. She will be back on Monday to finally share the giveaway news and Liberty may be involved:)

Have a lovely weekend.

PS, I'll put a full picture of it on Flickr, see just how imprecise my cutting and stitching is.