Makes

Make your own Christmas Stockings

December 16, 2019 creativecoloursite

We are getting very close to Christmas, so I think it might be the time for a bit of Christmas making. I originally designed these stockings for Laura Ashley’s Blog. You can still find them on their web site. I used their fabrics at the time, however this is a great project for using up any fabric scraps that you may have in your stash.

You will need

Laura Ashley Fabrics in 3 different patterns:

50cm for the body of the boot, 20cm piece for the cuff, and 30cm for the bias, hanging loop, and the heel and toe features

Thread

Bondaweb iron on interfacing

Dressmaking Scissors

Sewing Machine

Instructions

Step 1: Fold fabrics right sides together and cut out two stocking pieces from the main fabric, and two cuff pieces in the first contrasting fabric. Using the same pattern pieces, cut out bondaweb interfacing. Iron the bondaweb interfacing onto the back of the two stocking pieces and one cuff using a medium heat setting.

Step 2: Trace the heel and toe shapes onto a piece of Bondaweb. Turn the shapes over and trace again. Iron the Bondaweb onto the second contrasting fabric and cut out the shapes.

Step 3: Peel off the paper backing from the heel and toe pieces, position onto the stocking pieces then iron to fix in place.

Step 4: Using a zig-zag stitch, sew along the inner curves of the heel and toe pieces.

Step 5: With right sides facing, pin the two stocking pieces together. Leaving the top of the stocking open sew around using a 1cm seam allowance. Trim the seams and clip the curves.

Step 6: Cut a bias strip of the second contrasting fabric, measuring 46cm x 4cm. Cut a 44cm piece of piping cord.

Step 7: Fold the fabric around the piping and sew using a zip foot attachment.

Step 8: With the right sides together, sandwich the piping between the long edges of the stocking cuff. Sew as close as possible to the piping, using the zip foot.

Step 9: Open the cuff pieces out and with right sides facing, fold the short edges together and sew with a 1cm seam allowance. Fold the cuff the right way out.

Step 10: To make the loop cut a piece of the second contrasting fabric 20cm x 4cm. Fold in half length ways and sew the long edges together and across one short edge. Trim the seam and turn through.

Step 11: Pin the cuff to the wrong side of the stocking, matching the seams at the back. Fold the loop in half and sandwich between the cuff and stocking at the back seam. Sew around the top of the stocking to attach the cuff to the boot. TIP – sew from the inside of the stocking.

Step 12: Turn the stocking through and fold the cuff to the outside. Merry Christmas!

Happy and successful making and MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone.

Blog, Makes

Make your own Christmas Crackers

December 3, 2019December 4, 2019 creativecoloursite

I originally designed and made these crackers for Coast magazine.

Crackers date back to the 1840’s. They were supposed to have been invented by a sweet manufacturer, Tom Smith, who came up with the idea as a way of promoting his bon-bon sweets, that were having a bit of a slump at the time.

My crackers have been designed with a coastal Christmas theme in mind, but you could create crackers for different events, such as a wedding, christening or birthday. For these designs I took photos of fabrics and sweet wrappers and enlarged them to create the scale I wanted. You could do this too, of even draw your own design on paper. There are lots of copyright free images to be found on the internet. You will need the design to fit onto an A4 piece of paper. I bought the cracker snaps on line, but everything else should be very easy to find. You can make paper hats from tissue paper and of course write your own jokes. The jokes can be created for different members of your family or particular friends. I put some tiny old fashioned Christmas decorations in my crackers. You could do the same or add balloons and sweets.

You will need

Piece of A4 Card for each cracker, Piece of A4 paper printed with a design, Cutting mat, Scalpel, Paper scissors, Clear tape, Double sided tape, Ruler, Pencil, Cracker snaps, Sweets, paper hats and tiny toys and decorations

Step 1

Cut a strip off the card so that it measures 16cm x 29.7cm.

Lay the card horizontally, starting from the right hand side measure in from the edge 6cm both top and bottom of the card. Draw a line between the pencil dots. Repeat at 8cm and 10 cm in from the edge. Repeat on the left hand side of the card. Score and fold as shown in image.

Step 2

Where the narrow folded edges are, mark out evenly spaced triangles. Make sure that there is a bridge between each triangle. Using the paper scissor cut out the triangles. Open out the card and you will have two rows of diamonds.

Step 3

Roll the card horizontally to form a long narrow cracker shaped tube. Using sticky tape, attach one side onto the other. Cut the A4 paper into three strips 2 x 6cms wide and 1 x 9.5cm wide. Using double sided tape stick the paper onto the three sections of the card tube.

Step 4

Push the cracker snap into the cracker, and secure it with a bit of tape to stop it falling out. Tie string or twine round one end of the cracker and then fill the cracker with sweets decorations toys etc or even your own jokes. Tie up the other end of the cracker.

Blog, Makes

Need somewhere to stack the Christmas presents? Make a coffee table from a wooden pallet.

November 14, 2019November 11, 2019 creativecoloursite

This is such an inexpensive, quick and easy project to make. It would make a great Christmas present too.

All you need is a wooden pallet, sandpaper, 4 castors, screw driver, paint brush, white primer/undercoat, top colour in emulsion or satinwood.

Step 1 Sand off any rough bits from the pallet.

Step 2 Paint onto the bare wood using an undercoat/primer .

Step 3 Once the paint is dry, go over it with the top coat. We chose a pale scandi inspired blue.

Step 4 Screw the castors onto the underside of the four corners of your new table.

Blog, Makes

Quince Jelly fit for a Queen

October 11, 2019October 11, 2019 creativecoloursite

I was recently given some enormous, if somewhat bruised, windfall quinces. So as a great lover of cheese I decided to make some quince jelly, sometimes known as quince cheese. Suffice to say as soon as I wanted to make the jelly I couldn’t find a recipe. Then I found buried amongst all my other cookery books a slim volume called WI Book of Jams and other preserves written by Pat Hesketh and published in 1984. It has over 100 recipes tried and tested by the women’s institute.

So I turn to the page for Quince Cheese, on the same and facing page were recipes for cumberland rum butter, apple butter, marrow orange cream and bramble cheese. Fruit butters are a softer consistency than cheeses and are usually spiced and should be hermetically sealed. They are usually served as a spread. Cheeses are cooked to a stiff consistency and set in small moulds so that they can be turned out for serving and cut into wedges.

Quince Cheese

500g quinces chopped into roughly 1cm pieces

500g sugar

water

Instructions

Wash the quinces and cut up into pieces
Place in a pan and barely cover with water.
Cover and cook until reduced to a pulp.
Pour through a sieve and weigh the liquid. (discard what is left in the sieve).To each 500g of liquid add 500g of sugar.
Cook over a low heat to dissolve the sugar.
Continue cooking until a thick consistency is obtained.
When a spoon is drawn across the base of the pan, it should leave a clean line.
Pour into prepared moulds. I used small glass pots used for ‘Gu’.
Make some fabric tops by cutting out circles with pinking shears.

Blog, Makes

Chair makeover using Vintage Tapestries

September 18, 2019September 16, 2019 creativecoloursite

Materials

Annie Sloan paint in Provence and Aubusson, Annie Sloan furniture wax, Old tapestries, Thread, Paper to make a pattern, Upholstery tacks, Decorative upholstery nails, chair to upholster

Equipment A cotton rag, Sandpaper Paint brush, Needle-nosed pliers, Pins, Paper Cutting Scissors , Dressmaking scissors, Sewing machine, Iron and ironing board, Small pin hammer

Instructions

1. Using the needle-nosed pliers prize out any old upholstery nails and tacks. Carefully remove the fabric and pin the pieces, right side up, on the paper and draw round them and then cut out to make a pattern. Cut out the patterns.

2. Place the tapestries on the chair and arrange and re-arrange until you are happy with the composition. When you are happy, create sections of tapestry patchwork by machine stitching oblongs onto one another. Iron all the seams flat.

3. Pin the paper pattens onto the wrong side of the tapestry patchwork, allowing at least a 5cm (2inch) seam allowance all the way round each piece. Lay the sewn patchwork on the chair and check you are happy with it before cutting it out.

4. Paint the Provence paint onto the wooden parts of the chair and leave to dry. Paint the Aubusson over the Provence and leave to dry. Sand back parts of the second colour. To finish the paint work, rub in wax with a cotton cloth,

The finished paint result after painting with Provence and Aubusson on top then sanded back

5. Pin each section of the tapestry onto the chair. Start attaching the pieces using the upholstery tacks. Start with the front of the chair. Begin in the middle and work outwards, stretching and pulling as you go. Apply a tack every 3cm(11/4in). Pull the fabric so it is as taut as possible before you put in the tacks. When you have reached one end, go back to the middle and start again, working in the opposite direction.

6. Repeat the process to attach the other patchwork tapestry pieces on the chair front and then the chair back. Always work from a centre point outwards, applying tacks in one direction and then the opposite direction, so that you don’t get twisting and distortion. Check that you are happy with your work and make adjustments as necessary.

Decorative upholstery nails on top of the tacks.

To finish hammer the decorative upholstery nails down the sides at the back of the chair, covering the tacks you previously hammered in.

Blog, book review, Book Reviews, Makes

With Oxfam encouraging us to buy second hand and to recycle this month, I am posting a review of the book I wrote in 2011. The Shirt Off His Back. A book full of ideas to re-love and upcycle old shirts.

September 6, 2019September 4, 2019 creativecoloursite

by Juliet Bawden and photographed by Caroline Arber

This book review first appeared on the Sewing Directory web site and was written by Fiona Pullen

This innovative up-cycling book makes use of a material we all have around us – Men’s shirts. Those of us with men in the house will undoubtedly have, no longer, used shirts lurking at the back of wardrobes. Those who don’t have a shirt-wearing male to acquire shirts from can pick them up fairly cheap from the charity shop. Plus of course there is no reason why women’s shirts can’t be used for these projects either.

The projects in this book are cleverly catagorized by type of shirt used to make them: businessmen’s shirts, creative men’s shirts, outdoorsy men’s shirts and sporty men’s shirts. The projects include soft toys, quilted duvet cover, a beach bag, storage boxes, and a pretty peg bag and they make use of the whole of the shirt including, cuffs, collars and buttons.

The instructions for each project are set over several pages with large step by step photos to guide you as well as a photo of the finished project plus any templates you need are at the rear of the book. The book is easy to follow and would be suitable for all levels of experience.

Published by Jacqui Small

Blog, Makes

During Oxfam’s month of buying only second hand, why not up cycle an old jumper to create a new cushion? Here I show how I re-loved a giddy goat sweater to create a cushion.

September 4, 2019September 4, 2019 creativecoloursite

I loved this “Joseph” sweater, I bought it second hand when my daughter was a baby. I had worn it to death and washed and washed it. In the end it was so felted I got a very talented lady to knit me a new one and I made a cushion out of the original.

You will need

1 Sweater

Sewing machine

Thread

Scissors

Seam unpicker

needle and wool

Old cushion pad

Instructions

Using the seam un-picker, open up the side seams.
Cut two rectangles from the front and the back of the sweater, and with right sides facing, pin and then using a 1 cm seam allowance , sew them together round 3 sides. Leave what was the bottom of the sweater open, as they are neat edges.
Turn the cover through, insert the cushion pad, close with an over sew stitch.