djbebe: christmas tree 2005 Last year I made a tree out of cardboard and paint (sadly there is no photo and it's since been donated to Lifeline in the hope that small children may play with it - but it wasn't a great craft achievement - certainly not worthy of the Long Range Craft Jamboree). This year, I tried to be a bit more sophisticated: I made different sized flat cushions out of red satin and some black/gold/red brocade stuff I had lying around, with a minimal amount of stuffing. I sewed them together (still a bit wobbly) and topped with a big gold button. It's about 12 inches tall, shiny, sparkly and ever so slightly oriental.
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  djbebe: tulle star I made heaps of these for Christmas decorations - a good use for satin and other synthetics which aren't much good for anything else. Basically a long rectangle of tulle (the finer tulle worked much better) folded into a star-like shape, and satiny fabrics cut into stars and hand-sewed together. I initially tried gluing them together but it craft glue wasn't strong enough to hold them together, plus the glue came through the top layer of fabric and made an ugly splotch. And trying to push a needle through fabric that's been glued isn't very fun.
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  christmastree I made my own Christ tree, made out of some stuff I had lying around (seriously, the amount of fabric I have is getting ridiculous) - shiny and sparkly, and ever so slightly oriental. The photo isn't great but it's topped with a lovely little gold button.
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  djbebe: Dodecahedrons I I made 5 of these, since they took ages, but they turned out beautifully. From a pincushion pattern in a book (The Pincushion Book - mostly ugly coffee cup shapes) I borrowed from the library (I don't think it would make a very good pincushion - it would keep rolling away. The pattern was a small triangle which you cut 60 of, and then hand-sew together in a very confusing flattish shape, and then gradually bring it all together into a dodecahedron.
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  djbebe: Dodecahedrons II These were sent to Betty Sue because I knew she would appreciate them as much as me.
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  Sponky: Another over-engineered solution from the House of Sponky Husband-person was nice enough to find me a case for my new iPod that was nice and clear and prevented scratches. However it's not very exciting so I thought I would over-engineer a cute little case for the device and it's cords...

It's made of three components - a case for the iPod, a case for the charging cord and a strap to hold it all together. This means I can take the charging cord to work in my laptop bag as required!

It's made from some leftovers from Miss Pauline's Xmas present - it's a nice stretch cotton/polyester (would be great for board shorts), so I could make the cases a reasonable size but there is stretch to get it things in and out.



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  Sponky: Art not Craft Janito the CEO (who works for local government in NSW) pointed me to this: Paint a Traffic Signal Box in Brisbane.

There is a reasonably tedious application process, but the council will provide paint and hi-vis vests etc. 'Artists' need to provide paint brushes, cleaning equipment etc.

I would be keen to get in and paint one (perhaps with DJ Bebe if she can leave the fabulous Toowoomba) but stuck for ideas. And my painting ability is rather limited, so it would have to be simple (like this one).

Suggestions please!  ¶ 9:57 AM 0 comments

  New contributors Betty Sue had a fabulous idea that this blog could be used by DJ Bebe, Betty Sue and myself to exchange crafty ideas and projects. So you should see some posts from our two new contributors sometime soon.  ¶ 1:19 PM 0 comments

  Xmas 2005: Mum Mum requested two coin purses to allow her to easily carry around bits and pieces at lunch time (as she doesn't take a handbag, just her laptop bag).

These two were made of some nice silk (the red stripey one) and some fancy evening wear polyester (the grey one). I hand embroidered the details you see on prior to making them (finally, something to do while Husband-Person watches Survivor). Both are lined, and have a finished size of 14cm x 21 cm.
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  Xmas 2005: Miss Pauline For a present for Miss Pauline, I made 6 pillow cases (2 per color) to go on size 16 pillows from Spotlight (41cm). These were to contrast with Pauline's white bed linen.

The pattern was a square size 47 x 44, cut on the fold (to get a piece 44 cm x 94cm). I also made a template of 41 x 44 cm (width of finished cushion x height of finished cushion + 1.5 cm seam x 2). To make, I folded over each short end and sewed down to neated the edges, then overlapped the long piece with the help of the smaller template and pinned to make the final cushion size. No fastenings or velcro required to keep in shut. All you need to then do is sew the two seams! Easy peasy!





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  Xmas 2005: Janito the CEO This Sashiko was made for my brother's lovely girlfriend. She is a mad keen turtle fan, so I took the Kikko (Tortiseshell) design and adapted it for my own use. This enormous cushion had a 67 cm square stitched area. Major problems with this size were:
I marked the design as I stitched, which meant it got a lean on towards the end. Not sure how to fix that, perhaps by completely pre-marking? But then you would lose the chalk marks after a while. Due to the sheer size, stitching the middle was an enormous pain. I also need to make a cushion insert out of muslin so Janito could stuff it - I don't think you can get a standard cushion this size.
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  Xmas 2005: Ann These two cute little cushions were whipped up in about 2.5 hours for my lovely mother in law. Given my terrible colour sense, I cheated slightly and purchased some nice pre-matched fabrics. Execution was very simple due to the cutting board and rotary cutter - I cut lots of 6cm strips, sewed them together, then cut them cross way at 6cm and resewed.

Nice and easy, and I think the overall effect is pretty good. Hopefully they go with her couch!
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