Daisy's first sewing machine project!

Daisy is 4 and a half.

Sometimes my heart sinks when she asks to do painting (other mums will understand the mess involved!) so when she finally asked to do some sewing she didn't have to ask twice!

I let her choose some fabric from my stash, pink is a firm favourite in her book so these two were an easy choice. A classic pale pink gingham from Makower fabrics and a bright a cheery heart print from Riley Blake's Sweetcakes collection.

We practiced a bit of maths with the cutting out and then the 'boring' ironing bit where we attached the interfacing for added strength.

The trapezoid was a new shape for Daisy to learn and finally the sewing.

It was Caroline who gave me the idea to get Daisy to press the peddle whilst I steered and she loved helping with this although it did make her hand tired!

It was slightly chaotic to do this during the day time with ,my two year old also trying to 'help' and my 3 month old baby threatening to end our creative session with the occasional grumble, but we ploughed on and the finished result was a delight for Daisy to behold!

Let me know if you spot the 'deliberate' mistake, this comes from trying to sew surrounded by tiny folk!

If you'd like to try this for yourself you can find the pattern and instructions on this blog called Make it & Love it

Crochet Easter Eggs

Recipe for Crochet Eggs

Ingredients
Rowan Cotton Glace in a choice of spring shades, we chose Ecru (725), Shell (845) and Shoot (814)
3mm crochet hook
Some polyfil toy stuffing
Tapestry needle


Method
Ch3 and sl st to join in a ring
Round 1 – 5dc in ring
Round 2 – 2dc in each stitch (10dc)
Round 3 – (2dc in next st, dc in next st) repeat 5 times (15dc)
Round 4 – (2dc in next st, 1dc in next 2 st) repeat 5 times (20dc)
Round 5 – (2dc in next st, 1dc in next 3 st) repeat 5 times (25dc)
Rounds 6 – 9 1dc in each st (25dc)
Round 10 – (dc dec*, dc in next 3 st) repeat 5 times (20dc)
Round 11 – dc in each st round (20dc)
Round 12 – (dc dec, dc in next 2 st) repeat 5 times (15dc)
Round 13 – dc in each st round (15dc)
Round 14 – Stuff the egg. (dc dec, dc in next st) repeat 5 times (10dc)
Round 15 – (dc dec) repeat 5 times. Thread yarn through the remaining 5 stitches, pull the yarn
through the top of the egg to finish off.
You can also add a matching ribbon to hang the egg on your easter branch.

*dc dec – insert hook in 1st stitch, yarn over, pull up loop, insert loop in next stitch, yarn over, pull
up loop, yarn over, pull through three loops on hook.

The Sherborne Artisan Market - April 2014

We held the first Sherborne Artisan Market for 2014 last weekend and it was a beautiful day to showcase all of the amazingly talented stall holders.

You can see a full gallery of pictures from the day on the main Sherborne Artisan market website but here are a few of my favourite ones!

We have three more markets in 2014

Saturday 12th July
Saturday 11th October
and
Sunday 7th December - which is the same day as the Festive Shopping day in Sherborne!

Amy Butler Charm Pack bag

We ordered in some lovely charm packs by Amy Butler recently but they are never quite as inspiring in their packaging as they are when made up into something. So after laying out the squares I decided they would make a lovely patchwork bag for my knitting.

First I “strip-pieced” the squares together into rows,

Then I used the stitch and flip method to join the rows and add wadding at the same time – a real time saver for a little project like this.

I used a pale fabric to create a lining as I thought this would make it easier to see what was lurking in the bottom of the bag.

I attached two handles and dashed out into the spring sunshine to get a lovely photograph!

Finally I filled my new bag with balls of scrummy yarn!

Easter beanbag chicks!

I have been meaning to try out this pattern for a while, I spotted it on RedTedArt's website which is full of great ideas for kids crafts. You can follow RedTedArt on facebook to keep up with all the fab ideas they have!

I knew it would be best to set up a production line as I wanted to make 9 or 10 for our new window display so I cut out all the fiddly felt parts first

Then I pinned all the felt pieces in place between the two layers of fabric before quickly sewing up the first two sides on each chick.

Keeping the rice in whilst pinning up and sewing the final side was a bit of a challenge but with a few additional strategically placed pins I soon got them all done.

You can find the original RedTedArt blog post here with detailed instructions and lots of step by step photos

http://www.redtedart.com/2012/02/10/pyramid-juggling-bag-chickens

I added one extra detail which was a frilly felt tail feather just for fun!

Enjoy your chicks! Ali x

Valentine Crochet Garland

There is nothing nicer than a handmade gift on Valentine's Day and these crochet hearts can be used to embellish any number of projects - here are a few ideas..

Pattern:

1 ball of Rowan Cotton Glace in Poppy and a 2.5mm Crochet hook

Start with a slip knot and make a foundation chain of 3

Row 1

Skip 1, 1 dc in each of the next two chains, ch 1 and turn,

Row 2

1 dc in first dc and 2dc in last dc, ch1 and turn,

Row 3

1 dc in the first 2 dc's and 2dc in the last, ch1 and turn. (You should now be able to see that you are forming what is essentially a triangle)

Rows 4-8

1 dc in each stitch across the row, with 2dc in the last stitch, ch1 turn (increasing 1dc in each row, by row 8 you should have 9 dc)

Row 9

Skip first 2dc, 4tr in the next dc, skip 1 dc, ss in next dc, skip 1dc, 4tr in next dc, skip 1 dc and ss in the last dc on the row.

We are now going to finish with a border around the bottom half of the heart  to soften the edges.

1dc in each of the row ends (starting with the end of row 8) to the bottom point (7dc), 3dc in the bottom point, and then 7dc up the other side of the row ends, finishing with a ss in the first stitch of row 9. Fasten off.

We hope you enjoy making these valentine hearts, if you would like any help please pop along to our sewing and yarn bee on a friday morning 10am-12pm.

Feather and Fan Alpaca Scarf

Feather and Fan Alpaca Scarf – by Caroline Bradshaw at Butterfly Bright

It is a real treat to be knitting with this luxurious super soft Alpaca yarn from Italy, Sierra Andina is 100% pure Alpaca yarn, from the company made famous for its glorious colour combinations and impeccable taste in pure wool yarns, Adriafil.
Sierra Andina knits up to between a Double knitting and a 4 ply weight, it is therefore perfectly suited to beautiful accessories like scarves, gloves and shawls.
Here I have used one ball each of navy blue and cream to give a nautical theme to the scarf, but any colour combination would work well with this classic feather and fan stitch pattern.

Abbreviations
K – knit
P – purl
yo – yarn over
k2tog – knit two together

Cast on 26 using 3mm needles

Knit 3 rows

Commence pattern as follows:
Row 1. K all stitches
Row 2. K4, P18, K4
Row 3. K4, (k2tog) 3 times, (yo, k1) 6 times, (k2tog) 3 times, k4
Row 4. K all stitches
Remember to twist the spare yarn at the end of the wrong side rows to carry it up the side of the work neatly, changing colour every four rows.
Continue in pattern to desired length, ending on a row 4, then knit 3 rows before casting off.

If you wish to make this scarf wider the pattern requires multiples of 18 + 4 stitches each side for border.