Happy Birthday to You!

A friend of mine teaches Baby Sign Language and commissioned me to make a set of Happy Birthday bunting to use during her teaching.

I wanted to make a unisex string of bunting which could be used for any group of children, but which kept a home-made quality. After raiding my stash of randomly acquired fabrics and rummaging through the fabric offcuts in the local fabric shops, I had a pretty good selection of old and new fabric (including some amazing Cath Kidston star fabric, orange and yellow checks from an old vintage dress and the trusty recycled Ikea pillow cases rescued from Karl's old bed!)

I printed the required letters out (Arial font) and used these as templates to cut out the fabric. I decided to leave the edges raw as it would add to the old fashioned style of the bunting (and because I couldn't dream of creating seams which would allow you to still read the letter!).

Once these were cut out and paired with a contrasting background fabric, I hand sewed each letter onto the triangles which will make up the completed bunting. This was then sewn together on the machine and attached to the bunting cord ready for hanging. Two snazzy felt ends later and it was ready to go!

I was really pleased with how it turned out (and so was she!) but I was amazed at how long it was compared to my usual 9 flag bunting! I attempted to get an image of the whole thing, but it shows off more of the garden than the bunting!

Fluorescent Flowers

Continuing with the theme of old(er) projects, I'm going to show you my second attempt at a cross stitched cushion.

Following the Cowboy Cushion I made using the Cath Kidston pattern I decided to have a go at one of the more floral offerings in the book. The one downside to the book (at least for tomboys like me) is the majority of the patterns are floral (the cowboy, sail boat and dog patterns being the exception). I decided to start with the brightest and least traditionally 'girly' of the patterns, and the result is this 'electric flower' cushion!

I backed it using cream embossed velvet fabric salvaged from the mega stockroom clear out at my previous job.

I also had some 'so awful its amazing' fluorescent pink bobble trim which almost matched the pink of the cross stitch so decided to edge the cushion with that. This was a massive pain to attach and I ended up sewing this cushion completely by hand to avoid getting the trim tangled up in the machine. This is something I struggle with (also zips!) so is something I need to work on if I plan on making cushions on a more regular basis.

All in all I am really proud of how this turned out. It is very bright and kitsch and contrasts well against the very 'boysy' background of my house/sofa/living room.

Hello Cowboy!

So, i'm finally starting the blog I always talked about.

Basically this will be a place to record my craft projects, arty doings and other creative

ramblings. I will also try to highlight other artists/crafters who influence and inspire me, along with any exhibitions, performances etc that I think are worth a mention!

Quick bit of background: Im a double Fine Art graduate (BA and MA) with a love of making - pretty much anything that keeps my hands busy and I'm in! I love sewing, felt, pretentious contemporary art, owls, film, photography, zombies, animation, baking, music, drawing and comics.

I'll kick off with an old project:

My mum bought me "Stitch" by Cath Kidston for christmas last year and I've been stitching non-stop since then. I've always liked Cath Kidston designs, but could never afford the real thing. This is the only way I'd ever be able to have these cushions (and they're handmade - whats not to love!).

So I started making the 'cowboy' pattern, which is based on this awesome (but very expensive) cowboy pattern:

So heres the finished article! I managed to find some similar 'cowboy' themed fabric in Leeds City market which I mounted the cross-stitched panel onto with some red piping edges and decorative stitiching.

One Ikea cushion pad later and here we are!