For the Love of Spoonflower - Avengers and Oystercatchers

I find it challenging to come up with new and different ideas for gifts. This means that I am always open for requests. The requests are normally for a particular design or function, but unusually this request from my niece was for a specific fabric. The fabric she had found was perfect for her, it contained her favourite colours and was based on "The Avengers". She found the fabric on spoonflower. I love using spoonflower it is a fantastic website which allows designers and artists to post their designs and if enough people are interested in it then it can be printed. When my niece found the fabric it had not yet made it into production but it was obviously popular as within a month you could order it. One of the downsides of using spoonflower is that it is an American site so delivery does take longer than UK sites or local shops. I find that I only use it when I am being VERY organised. They do sometimes have 'Free Delivery' offers so if you are keeping your eye on something you can get a deal that way too. I find the quality is really good and the price is good as well. It also makes you very careful how you cut as you know a mistake can lead to a long wait for a replacement!

Avengers Satchel - bag design Rebecca Tuffnell

I knew she wanted a bag, and she had liked a satchel style bag I had made my sister the year before. I wanted to make something that showed the pattern fully, I didn't want pockets on the outside as I was worried that it would look too busy. I chose a pattern from issue 21 of Craftseller. The design is based around using a fat quater as the flap. This is a lovely idea and it is good that it takes into consideration shopping within a budget. The pattern itself was straightforward and I found the instructions clear with all measurements given. I have had difficulties in the past with Craftseller patterns but I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I adjusted the pattern slightly to make it a bit bigger as I wanted to avoid cutting up the squares on the pattern as much as possible. The bag is a basic pattern with modifications suggested and I inserted a large pocket into the one for my niece.

I chose to use a turquoise complementary fabric to line the bag as I thought that using purple might be a bit much, and the turquoise would set it off nicely. The pattern uses antique effect clasps however using quite modern fabric made me feel that it would be better to use something more "abstract". I found a lovely set of interlocking bell clasps on Minerva Crafts. They do look a bit like a puzzle out of a Christmas cracker but it gave the effect I wanted. The site itself is excellent with a huge array of clasps and closures and it is now where I go for anything like that.

It is not just Avengers fabric I bought from Spoonflower this year; when trying to find the perfect fabric for a friends apron I found myself back on the site. I found beautiful Oystercatcher fabric and unsurprisingly it was for one of the recipients of my oystercatchers last year. The fabric has a bold and modern design, it uses block colour on a beautiful light turquoise background. I adore the simplicity of the pattern.

Oystercatcher apron - Design by Fiona Goble

The apron design is the "Sew Quick Sew Cute" pattern I used before, I made a small change as I wanted the pattern on the pocket to match the apron so I cut it to line up and positioned it off centre to match. This looked a little "wonky" so I added a strip of 1" wide cotton tape to the side of it to be used as a tea towel holder. I came across this on a previous design, I think it is a great addition as it is very handy.

Melly and Me Toys

I know I have said it before but I love making things for children; here are some of this years gifts that have been made from Melly and Me, although I have blogged before about my love of Melly and Me patterns in general with my quilt, bags and mice.

Judo inspired Ninja

Sky Blue Ninja

Ninjas

This pattern was bought as an individual pattern from the website which I had e-mailed to me as a pdf. I first made ninjas back in the summer for my nephew and his Dad. My nephew is learning Judo so I had a lot of fun using the blue of his training suit and making an orange belt with the correct amount of yellow tabs. I then made his Dad one in blue and white as he is a Coventry City supporter. I enjoyed making these so much that I decided to make them for our cousins for Christmas. I have written before about making the "same but different" for sisters. For the sisters I made one pink and purple and one claret and blue as one of them is a big Villa supporter. Thankfully I do not follow football otherwise I would be in trouble with one or even both. The ninjas are really fun and they do not have over complicated features. The patterns are very easy to follow and the most difficult aspect is getting the arms to look the same. I have a constant battle with pairs of things as one always seem to look different. In the original pattern the bands are added in sections, this makes sense if you are trying to line up cotton, although having chosen to use felt I decided to just hand sew the felt strips on after the toy was constructed. This is easy with felt as the stitches are hidden by the texture of the fabric. The main difference in the Christmas ninjas is that I decided to use beads instead of felt for the eyes. The beads I used were 7mm and I was pleased with the result. I would opt for felt still for a younger child in the future. They are lovely to put together and as long as you take your time to straighten up the bands then it would be a good project for a beginner.

Christmas "Sister Ninjas"

Caterpillars

The first toy I ever made was a caterpillar for my little girl from "Sewn Toy Tales" by Melly and Me. It is a fantastic pattern mixing hand sewn yo-yos and machine sewn leg sections. The yo-yos and leg sections are held together with 5mm cotton tape. I adore this design as it allows the body to move in a really fluid way, it is also great for popping them on things. The book itself is excellent with a comprehensive stitch guide and some fantastic advice on fabric selection. The face details and antenna give a lovely personality and character. There are 15 yo yo's in the caterpillar which are all made of different coloured cotton fabrics. In my Christmas caterpillars I used some soft brushed cotton for the body pieces. I made one with green body sections and brown, red and orange yo-yo's and the second with a purple body, pink, purple and turquoise yo-yo's. I found just enough of my brown mushroom fabric to make the antenna and nose for the green one, which made me incredibly happy as this fabric was left over from the recipients parent's wedding present that I also made. One of the things I learned doing the first caterpillar is that you do not need all the fabrics to match, you just each each fabric to match one other, which is a tip I use a lot! This is a great way to use up your fabric stash.

Super- Hero 

This is another toy  designed by Melly and Me, it comes from her latest book "Sew Fantasy Toys". I fell in love with this design straight away. I love how bold and bright and fun the pattern is. I have a soft spot for super heroes anyway so I was excited to make one. I used fleece as I love the finish and it made him nice and soft. The pattern is well explained and illustrated with the most difficult part being the piecing in the bottom. Because I was using fleece and not cotton I hand stitched the features on instead of using the machine. This is simply because I think the fleece hides the hand stitching well. I also decided to sew on the mask. I liked the idea of it coming off but as the recipient has a one year old brother I decided that an elasticated mask was not the best idea. The pattern overall was more difficult than the ninja and caterpillars. The way the feet are sewn and matched reminded me of the oyster-catchers I made last year. This gives a nice match on the foot seams. I still struggle with getting the arms and feet the same size and shape.




Mermaid

This pattern also came from "Sew Fantasy Toys". The construction of the mermaid is a lot more like the ninja than the superhero. Again I used fleece to make it nice and soft and fun. I chose to change the hair style and colour. Instead of using ric rac bunches I used the two buns that were used in the fairy pattern. I was a little worried that this was the Star Wars hype taking over and it would look a little like Princess Leia, but I think I got away with it. Like most toys I make the mermaid got her personality when I added the eyes and mouth. I know that if I made lots of these they would all have different expressions and personalities which makes it such an individual gift. I love the finishing touches like the starfish in the hair and the fact that the designs are not overly complicated.

Two Hour Top

I came across some beautiful lightweight teal coloured jersey fabric which has metallic thread stripes punctuated with flat sequins. I really liked it and bought some, and then I also received some for my birthday, so I have plenty to use and have been looking for something to make out of it since April. I was worried about the stretch of the fabric and I wanted quite a simple design as the stripes would not work with a lot of piecing together. I came across a pattern on Pinterest and realised it would work really well, so I ignored my 'to do' list and got on with it.

Sew Different is a fantastic site and it gives well illustrated step by step instructions. The pattern is in two formats as well as providing all of the measurements to draw your own. She gives a lovely breakdown of techniques and instruction on how to alter the pattern to fit. It is all free which is a bonus, although there is a Paypal button where you can buy her a cappuccino for £2. I think this is a fantastic idea as it allows you to 'try before you buy'. I appreciate this approach as I have bought patterns in the past and really struggled with the quality and lack of instructions.

The top is a '2 Hour Top' so I got everything ready and took a photo which included a clock. It was my intention to time how long it took and do it in one sitting, however I got distracted and had a tea break when it got to the "tricky" bits.

Set up and ready to go 

I decided to draw my own pattern as it stopped me arguing with a printer and I find that by the time I have lined up all the bits of paper and stuck them together I could have just drawn it. I went with the size that the pattern was for; I normally would have gone a little bigger but the fabric has the stretch in it. It took a little while to draw because I kept checking my measurements. There are only two pattern pieces which makes life easier and once I had them drawn and cut I positioned them on my fabric. The embroidered lines helped me to line everything up and make sure that it was centred nicely. I cut the main body so that the lines were vertical and the sleeves so that the lines were horizontal. The fabric was difficult to cut due to the sequins and the stretch but for once I actually used enough pins.

Cutting the fabric

I lined up the sleeve pieces and managed to line up the embroidered lines so that the they created a nice 90 degree angle on the join between the main body and sleeve of the top. Sewing it all together was very straight forward with the only difficulty being to trim the neck at the sleeve insertion.

Join between main body and sleeve

The last bit was to do the hem, I have written about hems before in my skirt blog. It has always been something I have found difficult and this top uses a technique that I was aware of but had never used. Bias binding is sewn face down to the right side of the fabric and then tucked under and top stitched. This is a great method and I will be using it again. Following the curve at the bottom is tricky and takes a lot of pinning. I think my neck line is a little more square than the pattern but I really like it. If I made it again I think I would make it a little bit longer but this is a purely personal choice. In the end because I checked my pattern a lot and had to get my head around the hem so it took just under 2 and a half hours however if I made it again I am confident I could get it under 2 hours.

I love the site and if I can find the right fabric I will also be making the batwing top. I will be watching for new patterns and I hope she enjoys the coffee I paid for through Paypal.

A Lobster for Pudsey

BBC Radio Shetland organise, co-ordinate and support Children in Need fundraisers every year which also includes a phone-in auction and I decided that it would be a nice idea to donate something. I knew that I could not compete with the big prizes, such as weekends away and wedding car hire, but I wanted to give something fun and affordable and in keeping with the spirit of Children in Need so I decided to donate my lobster hat. I thought it would appeal to both boys and girls, and more importantly their parents. I have made a lot of fleece hats now and will post a blog about them soon.

They are double lined fleece hats, designed by Mary Rasch who kindly allowed me to sell some, and they are really warm (and the lobster has ear flaps with claws on the bottom!). I contacted Radio Shetland to see if they would want it and I have to say I got the kindest response which gave me some confidence for the hats I was hoping to sell at the craft fair.

Having donated the hat and watched it appear on their Facebook page, and displayed in a shop window in Lerwick, I started to worry that it would not sell. I did not want to think that I had taken up airtime for something that did not make any money for the charity. The programme aired during the first night of the craft fair so my husband listened at home. The first update had no bids and I think he was starting to worry but by the end it had sold, and for only slightly less than my craft fair ones. I think a lot of the credit goes to the excellent publicity and use of puns during the auction ("shell out"... "in a pinch").

I am happy to have helped raise just a small amount towards their total that somebody out there enjoys the hat. I am already thinking about what they might like next year..

Craft Fair : Trading Standards

As well as all of the fun I have had making stock I have come across a few more serious aspects relating to the Craft Fair. The main three things to think about have been have been Trading Standards, copyright issues and costing. This blog looks at my experience with complying to trading standards.

I have two products that classify as 'toys' because they are aimed at babies and children under the age of 14. This means that I cannot sell them without a "CE" label and the work that goes into proving it is safe. I was told this initially by the volunteers that are running the fair, one of the many instances in which their help and guidance has been amazing. I contacted Trading Standards as advised and I had two meetings with an incredibly helpful officer. From what I have seen online the amount of advice and support varies by location and I have been really lucky with the input I received. I would advise that if anyone is considering selling toys, cosmetics or jewellery that they should be the first point of contact.

Because I am selling on a small scale I am able to put together a self-declaration file that I keep, and if needs be update, for 10 years. This blog is far from a definitive guide and I am not going to add in a lot of complicated legislation but I wanted to simply write about the things I had to think about. I found that a LOT of the things that you have to consider are common sense and I would hope that people making items for children would consider them anyway; for example I would never send a toy without pulling and tugging and shaking it for example, but the difference when doing things commercially is to be able to show that you have procedures in place.

The first toy I made my daughter had very cute little antennae and I swung it round by them just to make sure they were secure. She has now had it for almost 3 years and has never been as rough with it as I was! When looking at the legislation this comes under "forces applied". If you live elsewhere then you can go to test centres with your creations but as that is not possible up here I described how I carried out each test. I also wrote about the flammability of the fabrics I used. Thankfully all of the fabrics took quite a lot of effort to catch fire when I attempted to burn them. This was reassuring as there has been a lot in the press about flammable Halloween outfits recently.

In the past I have made juggling balls, using rice to fill them, which was fine for family, but to sell them it was suggested that I use plastic pellets designed for toy filling instead as the rice could harbour nasty bacteria if it got damp. For added strength I had already designed the juggling balls to have a double bag and in my CE report I wrote about stitch length and strength as well as how I make sure all pins have been removed. There needs to be batch traceability so I have marked these ones so I know which pellet filling they have. I do not use any stuffing but if I did it would need to be traced as well. The report also contained dimensions and descriptions of my product along with photographs. It is obviously important that the fabric is clean and the stuffing is new. I used all new fabrics, although up-cycling of fabric would be fine as long as it is adequately cleaned.

Thankfully my toys contained no mechanical or moving parts and I decided to use felt eyes so nothing could come loose. Neither would any of my toys fit into the test cylinder that is used to check if there are any choking hazards. As a parent I find it reassuring that all of these regulations are in place. I know that I check the seams on all toys and those that are made on a larger scale will also wear down with time. I have seen people claim that this is "health and safety gone mad" but I think it is just about making sure people consider all of the factors that are needed. I do, however, find it frustrating that the regulation is written in a far more convoluted way than I think it needs to be.

Craft Fair: Identity Crisis

I have been awful at posting recently partly because I have been really busy making things for my first craft fair stall.

I am not sure exactly when I decided that I wanted to sell things at the Christmas Craft Fair. It was a notion that grew and took over. It is not that I am desperate to sell things, or even sure that people will buy them, but more that I really want to be a part of what the craft fair is all about.

I have been going for the last few years and it may sound clichéd but the atmosphere is amazing and I started to think that it would be fun to be a part of it. Things I make and send as gifts are always very well received and I get some lovely compliments on the things I make my daughter. This simply means one of two things; either people like them or they are all just being really nice. We will soon see! I also wanted to showcase this blog, as awful as I am at keeping my posts regular I love the thought of people reading it and the idea of somebody seeing something I have made and wanting to make it too is really quite special.

This leaves me in a very odd position that I want to use a stall to promote a blog and not use my blog to promote things to sell. I know this seems the wrong way around but it makes sense to me.

I then needed to decide what to actually sell, which I found quite tough. When making something for a specific person I can make it to fit their personality and needs, but to make for "people" in general I need to make something that appeals to a wide group of people but without it being so mainstream that you can find it in a supermarket.

I needed patterns that I could make to sell, that wouldn't take too much time and that I didn't mind making lots of. The first pattern that fitted these requirements were for children's fleece hats. These plans then grew to include things for adults and babies. I suddenly found myself with an array of things I could imagine buying as small presents and stocking fillers. This was all going well and I had fabric and a clear idea of what I needed to do.

I applied to the Shetland Arts and Crafts Association for my membership and received a form to fill out that asked what my stall would be about. It was then that I started to struggle. I was very tempted to write

"It is.. errr a mix of things that... errr make sense in my head.... I errr... well I dismissed lots of things that didn't fit with a vision that only I understand".

I did worry however that this might not help with getting people to want to see my work! So I took a step back and thought about the words I would choose to describe my products and style. That is when I realised that despite an eclectic range of products they were all held together by my fabric choices. I have opted for bright and fun fabrics. A lot of my products are quirky and different. Most of them have a fun practicality. So I deleted the "errrs" and wrote: "A fun collection of bags, gifts, accessories, toys and children’s hats using brightly coloured fleece and quirky fabrics".

It felt great to have written down where I was and where I was heading. As I said before I wanted to promote my blog and I felt I really needed a business card so this was my next mission. I knew what I didn't want from a business card more than what I did want, and I didn't want to spend a lot of money on it either as that would force me to put prices up on the things I had made. I also didn't want to have a sewing machine or needles on the card as I felt that I could possibly get mixed up with a tailor. I liked some of the button designs but they just did not sit right. Then I found a wonderfully pretty card with a simple "appliqué effect" flower and I decided that was the one I needed. On a side note the original design of the card is actually for parents to hand out their contact details to other parents! Is this a thing that really happens?!

My business card.

The result of this is I feel like I have a 'brand identity' and a hope of communicating what my crafting is all about. Now all I need is enough stock....

Quilt a Little Birdhouse For Your Soul

Sometimes when you see a pattern that you like it sits in the back of your mind until the right occasion comes up for it. Sometimes, as in this case, you see a pattern and know instantly who it must be made for. 

Batik Birdhouse Wall Hanging - design by Sue Belleli

This design was by Sue Belleli and I found it in the May 2014 issue of Australian Homespun Magazine. This is the same magazine that I got the panda puppet pattern from which shows the variety of projects that the magazine has. The original design was in bright and vivid colours and worked really well. This would be a perfect "stash busting" project as it uses so many bits and bobs. The pattern is really easy to follow, there were photos to help with putting the bird houses together, and the whole thing was divided into sections, which I find makes it easier to get my head around the steps involved. There were also some really helpful tips.

For the recipient I had in mind I really wanted it to be made from batik fabric. She loves batik fabric and she loves colour. It needed to be bright and bold and fun! The joy of using the batik fabric is that despite all of the different colours of fabric the use of the same style ties it all together, so I had no concerns about clashing textures or patterns. The downside of using batik fabric was going to be the expense. In using batiks instead of raiding my existing fabric stash I would have had to purchase all of the fabric new. In the end I used 44 different fabrics so even just buying fat quarters was going to cost a significant amount. On top of that I was then going to be left with a mountain of batik fabric to add to my stash. I did consider buying fat quarters as then I would have had a stockpile for future presents but in reality the cost and space involved in buying all that fabric was getting ridiculous.


I then started thinking about getting an assorted pack of smaller 5” by 5” squares. I could then just purchase a larger piece of black, sky blue and purple for the edge.  The problem with this idea was that 5” by 5” squares were not going to be quite big enough, although when I looked at the pattern and overall dimensions I realised that it would work if I made it slightly smaller. There is a risk that if you shrink a pattern like this then you make life a lot harder for yourself as smaller pieces can sometimes be a bit “fiddly”. It is a trade-off with quilted projects that the larger they are the more difficult they are to control in the machine, however if they are made too small the details can be difficult to sew and can get lost in the pattern. I shrunk the pattern pieces to 80% of the original size and then pieced it together. I was happy at this size that it was still a substantial piece and that I was keeping the smaller details, like the wings, at a workable size. This meant I could order a Moda dream catcher batik charm pack which contained forty-two 5" by 5" squares.


The fun then really began. It became like a giant puzzle trying to get the right shades together and making sure that I didn’t end up with purple leaves, pink birds and brown flowers. There was a lot of time spent trying to get the colour palettes right on the birdhouses. I chose more neutral tones on one and brighter shades on the other. I actually found this part really fun. With it all finally laid out I started construction of the bird houses...  and I then started unpicking the bird houses!  This was because I had completely underestimated the difference that the smallest mistake with the angles around the centre pentagon could make to the overall shape. It magnifies any error with each strip that you add, so I went back and did it again with a lot more pins. It is a common theme when things go wrong with my sewing that I tend to need to use more pins. I am aware of this fact, and it is a work in progress.


Having got the bird houses sorted I then started putting the pieces together. I ironed them on with Bondaweb. I do not have a sewing machine with blanket stitch on it so I tend to hand stitch some types of applique. I do enjoy hand stitching and I find that it is easier to match fabric to embroidery thread as there are more colours available. The blanket stitch by hand was difficult as you are sewing through quite a lot of layers of fabric as well as the Bondaweb, which can make it quite tough. I have since invested in a leather thimble to help with my hand applique! With the flowers, birds and bird houses all attached I edged it with some pretty fabric and then attached the webbing and a brushed cotton for the back. Instead of using separate binding I folded the rest of the fabric from the back and used that to bind the front as shown here.

I did some very basic light quilting as I did not want to make it look too fussy but it helped lift it further. I attached tabs to the top by hand and it was complete. I thought the size worked well despite being smaller and the batik worked well with the design, however I would happily do the project again at full size as a fabric "stash-buster"