Two Crafty Brownies

Tin Can Alley Tutorial

Hello lovelies

How is July treating you? Here in Two Crafty Brownieland, we are starting to wind down already for the Summer hols. Jenny is off on holiday tomorrow with her fab laundry bags and her lovely family; and my brood, hubby and I are counting down the days! Summer term for my family means sports days, end of year performances, meetings with teachers, school fairs and local community festivals. Each year we look forward to celebrating the Summer by licking ice creams, eating burgers cooked on a barbie, drinking pimms and cold beers, jumping on bouncy castles and having a go at classic Summer fair games, such as hook-a-duck, the coconut shy, hoop-la and tin can alley. What are your favourite games to play in the Summer? We visited my family last year and had a go at croquet for the first time, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Some of us (the hubby and I!) were very competitive!

I’ve been wanting to make my own tin can alley for a long time and I have finally got round to it just in time for the kids' Summer fair tomorrow! This project was a lot of fun, very straightforward to make and has great recycling and upcycling credentials. I recycled empty food tins, used up dried lentils past their ‘consume by’ date and used fabric scraps too.

What you need is:

For the cans:

10 empty food tins, washed, soaked and labels peeled off.

Spray paints - I used 10 colours of this brand. Both my hubby and I are big spray painting fans (you may remember this tutorial?) so we had quite a few cans already, but they are pricey at about £6.95 each, so feel free to use as many or as few colours as you wish. Two colours would do! You could also stick strips of washi tape onto the cans, decoupage with paper, fabric or napkins (Jenny’s favourite!) or even decorate pieces of paper (or get the kids to do it!) and stick these on.

Newspaper for protecting surfaces and sticking into the cans when spray painting.

Template of a star. I printed out this image to the correct size (fitting 4 stars to an A4 page) and cut it out.

Masking tape - I suggest testing your masking tape on a painted tin first to make sure it does not peel the paint off. I tried sticky back plastic first and this did peel off the paint when removed, but masking tape was fine.

For the bean bags:

Scraps of fabric - enough to make 3 bean bags. Each bean bag uses 2 squares of fabric measuring 14 x 14cm (5.5” x 5.5”) before hemming. I used star fabric to match the star on the tins.

Stiffening/Interfacing to strengthen the bean bags which are going to get thrown about a lot! I used scraps that I had - you need the same amount as the fabric.

Dried lentils, beans or rice - I had lentils that were out of date. I used 150g (5oz) dried lentils per bag.

Two Crafty Brownies sewing essentials

What you do is.

Wash, soak, peel labels off and dry the used tins, being careful with sharp bits. If there are any sharp edges, bend them inwards so you don’t cut yourself!

Protect your surface with newspaper. It is best to spray outside or in a very well ventilated area and it is advisable to wear a dust mask too.

Stuff a piece of newspaper into each tin, with enough sticking out to act as a sort of handle.

Prepare the spray paint can by shaking it for as long as the manufacturer’s instructions indicate.

Holding the newspaper handle, the tin slightly off the surface and the spray can at a slight angle, spray an even layer of paint onto the surface of the tin, turning as you go.

Leave to dry and repeat with the other tins.

 

Whilst the tins are drying, sew the bean bags.

Cut out 6 pieces of fabric with the measurements 14 x 14cm (5.5” x 5.5”). I used a rotary cutter, long ruler and cutting mat.

Cut out 6 pieces of stiffening/interfacing with the same measurements.

 

Lay a piece of fabric right side up on top of a piece of interfacing. Then lay a fabric square on top of this right side down and a square of interfacing on top of this.

Pin together leaving a gap in one side which the filling will go into.

Starting at one side of the gap, machine stitch all the way round with a 0.5cm seam allowance. Stop at the other side of the gap. Remember to do a reverse stitch at the beginning and end to strengthen the seams.

Cut the thread ends and snip the corners.

Turn the bean bag right way round, poking out the corners. Press with a hot iron.

Fill with the dried lentils. I did this with a teaspoon but it may be easier to use a funnel!

Pin the gap closed and then machine stitch close to the edge, reverse stitching at the beginning and the end and cutting the threads again.

 

Repeat this process with the two remaining bean bags.

Once the tins are dry and you have sewn the bean bags, cut out the paper star and place onto the surface of a tin in the desired position and stick pieces of masking tape onto the tin around the edges of the star without sticking the star to the tin.

 

When you remove the paper star, you will have an exposed star shape on the tin. Now stick more masking tape around the tin, covering most of the surface closest to the star.

 

Take a contrasting colour of spray paint and spray the exposed star area. The spray will cover more than the star but that is fine because it is protected by the masking tape (in the step above).

Allow to dry. Once dry, carefully and slowly peel off the masking tape to reveal the contrasting star. I love this bit! In fact, I enjoy this part of the process so much, I got carried away and didn't take any pics! I am sure you get the gist!

Repeat with the other tins.

All that is left to do is to stack up your tins, gather some party people and have a fab game of tin can alley! Such fun!

 

I loved the process of decorating the tins and the final look of them. I think they would look great as plant pots, vases or desk storage containers. #somanyideassolittletime!

Take care my lovelies and have fun whatever you are up to this weekend.

Much love,

Lucy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxzzzzzzzzzzzzxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Quick and Easy Magnetic Notepad

Hello lovelies! How are things in your patch? If you're in the UK, are you having a good half term? I just loved Lu's post on creativity. I am so with her on how calming and meditative crafting is. I read somewhere that doing something creative really does switch off the troublesome thoughts running through our head, and allows our thoughts to run free........ I also find it incredibly soothing to make things. And I too choose kindness, it is truly the key to everything, I believe. 

Now onto this week's make!

Ever since my boys were tiny, we have had a weekly meal plan. With both of us working, I couldn't have managed without knowing what I needed to buy and what we were going to eat. Our menu is written on a board on the fridge, and near it sits a notepad for us to jot down things we need to buy the following week. I usually buy these notepads online, but as this one is running out, (and with my newfound love of making books) I decided to have a go at making one myself! (And if you are admiring those rather gorgeous fridge magnets above, Lu has done a tutorial on how to make them here.)

What you need is

Your choice of paper and a piece of card. I used a cereal packet, I am trying to reuse card instead of buying it wherever I can.....

Cutting mat and knife

Self adhesive magnetic tape, like this

Glue, any liquid glue you use for papercrafts will do

Clips or clothes pegs to hold the sheets together when you glue them

What you do is

Decide what size you want your notepad to be. I wanted mine similar to the ones I buy. Remember if you want lines to cut your paper the right way! I used a notebook I didn't need, and just pulled out the pages and trimmed them down. Depending on the size of your paper A4, A5 etc) you might cut each page into several sheets.

Now cut your card to the same size. I liked the look with my card slightly longer. It's all up to you!!

Stack your papers on top of your card and make sure the top edge is flat. This is where you will be putting the glue to hold the pad together. Use clips, or lie the pad under something heavy to hold in it place while it dries. Then run a line of glue along the top edge and smooth with your finger. Leave to dry for a couple of hours and then apply another layer of glue to make sure it holds together.

Now cut two strips of magnetic tape, peel off the backing paper and stick them to the back of the pad.

Voila!! How easy is that? I made a few different ones, and of course you could embellish the top, bottom or edges with stamps, embossing, stickers, washi tape...... the sky is the limit!!

In other news, Lucy is finally realising a dream of hers of writing! She is telling her story over on her new blog Lucylu Dreams. Do go and check it out, lovely readers.

with much love,

Jenny xxxxxooooo

 

Rags to Riches

Hello lovelies! Did you miss us? It’s lovely to be back refreshed after a little break.

Today I am showing you a fabulous way to use up little scraps. Sewing my own clothes (yes, I haven’t got bored yet!) generates a lot of oddly shaped bits of fabric, as well as funny little lengths of binding. I have been mulling over what to do with these as I just cannot bear to throw fabric away, especially if I love it! Browsing through pinterest one day, I came across this pin of the cutest rag rug, and I decided to give it a go. Because I wasn’t sure how it would look, I decided to start with a small project, and make a heart to put up in my craft room.

What you need is

A piece of hessian (burlap)

Marker pen

A hoop or quilting frame

Paper

Scissors

A 4mm crochet hook

Strips of binding or fabric (mine were 1” x 3”). I had some binding left that I cut into the right lengths, but I added to this by ripping fabric into 1” strips and then cutting those up.

What you do is

Use the paper to cut a template. (Yes, Lu, I’m using a template!!)

Like Lu did for her gorgeous Hoop Silhouettes, I folded my paper in half, drew half a heart and then cut it out so it would be symmetrical.

Then draw onto the hessian, around your template.

Fix your hessian into your hoop or frame. I’m not sure this is essential but I found it helped.

Start in the middle of your design, and poke one end of the strip through, using your hook (from the front to the back). Put your hook in 2 -3 threads away and pull the strip back through to the front so the two halves are at the front. Move along 2-3 threads and repeat the process.

Make a big cup of tea, turn the telly on and keep going! I went along each row, but I guess you could go round in circles, or do the outline first, whatever floats your boat!

Once I had filled in the whole heart, I ironed the hessian and stitched a channel along the top. I had been planning to back it with some other fabric, but I actually really liked the effect of just pulling out the threads around the edges to make a fringe. I sewed a running stitch all the way around so it wouldn't fray. (I actually really like the back too!)

All I can say that it is incredibly soothing, quite fast and uses up LOADS of fabric. I am really pleased with it, and am going to make a cushion for C next.....

Do you mind if I show you a few holiday snaps? This year we were lucky enough to have two trips, the first to the Scottish Borders, and the second at the end of the holidays to Holland, Spain and France. We took the overnight ferry from Harwich to the Hoek of Holland. I can heartily recommend this, it was very reasonable, very comfortable and huge fun. We stayed in Amsterdam, and did what we like best......wandered around, shopped for food in the supermarket, ate out and did a few cultural things. There was cheese, chocolate and Anne Frank's house, a very poignant few hours.

After a few days we flew to Barcelona and drove up over the Pyrenees to visit my Godmother.

We stayed overnight in a gorgeous little village with an old fort, and a tunnel to run away from the enemy!

My godmother lives in a little french village. We have been often, and always love the morning bread run, poking around the village and eating dinner on the veranda.

Finally we drove back down to Spain and stayed in a little seaside town for a few days. Our flat was just over the road from the sea and had the most wonderful sunrises.

And now it's back to normal service, back to school, work, pushing towards that shop opening and sending my oldest off out into the big world of university.....

Pass me a drink!

Take care, lovelies!

Jenny xxx

 

 

Rain, Rain, Go Away.......

Hello darlings! How are you doing? I was so impressed with Lucy's Sunglasses Cases. In fact I was very envious of her kids, who all got one. Well, I should have known that Naughty Brownie would have one up her sleeve for me! She brought it round the other day, for me to keep my phone in. She also shared her win from Cha Com Letras, one of our fave designers. Thank you, Lu!!

It seems to me there has been an awful lot of rain in my life recently. I mean actual rain, not sad things. I have been trying my best to escape the rainy weather. Firstly, when the schoolchildren here in the UK were on their Spring break, we headed off to the South of France to visit my godmother. She lives in a gorgeous little French village. I was sure it would be sunny, I packed light summery clothes, sunscreen and prepared to lose my unsightly winter paleness. Well! After an initial hopeful sunny arrival, the next day dawned cool and grey. It rained for the next 3 days!! It was so cool we actually lit the fire. The last 2 days were a bit warmer, but it was not the blazing sunshine I had been dreaming of.......still, we made the best of it, wandering round her village, drinking french wine and walking by the sea.

Back in London, the weather has been no better. This weekend past hubby and I were invited to a wedding in the country. At our age, most people we know who are going to get married are already married, so this was a real treat! (I love a good wedding!!) I hopefully packed my summery wedding frock, slightly more layers than last time and walking shoes in anticipation of a couple of nice walks. Our boys are old enough to take care of each other for short periods now, grandparents popped in to take them out to lunch, and The Other Brownie, who lives nearby was on hand if there were any problems. We drove off in a hire car, stopping first at Hackney Downs as H wanted me to see the beautiful wild flowers that have sprung up.

We then drove (in the torrential rain I might add) up to Suffolk. In between rain showers we stopped for a predinner drink, a look at the sea (it was far too chilly and windy for a walk) and a fish and chip supper.

We were staying at a lovely place called The Stables. We had a huge room, and deep claw foot bath. It looked beautiful outside but to be honest I just couldn't face walking around in the rain, so we snuggled in that night.

The wedding was lovely except for....you guessed it! It rained pretty much the whole time. Still, we did our best to have fun, which required a lot of prosecco. Late in the afternoon the sun came out and reminded us how gorgeous the English countryside can be..... grrr!

Well, enough about rain. Though as I write this the rain is literally bucketing down. Summer? What summer!! In other news, do you remember the 'Make a Wish Bunting' I made for a dear friend? Well I'm delighted to report that little baby M arrived safely, and I have been up to check him out. Oh he is so adorable. He is tiny, sleepy and he smells divine. He and Mum are doing really really well, and I am so proud of them both.

I have also taken up crochet! I have done a bit before, mainly a blanket that, you guessed it, I got bored of long before it was finished! As I've mentioned before, I have a subscription to Creativebug, and my favourite teacher, Cal Patch was doing a lesson on crocheting a rag rug. I have been needing some new placemats, so I decided to have a go. I found a couple of old sheets, ripped them into 1 inch lengths and got going. What do you think? I love them!

Lu and I have been working on our first products behind the scenes. It has been a dream of ours for a long time to make and sell things, stuff we've designed. It's a long and arduous process, deciding what we want to make (there's just too much choice if you're crafters who love doing different things.....). We both love scarves, so they were definitely high up on the list. We also love tie dye, and the idea occurred to us to create some lovely, pretty, floaty scarves for the summer. It has taken a lot of experimenting, sewing, measuring, documenting, sweat and almost tears, but we are so very nearly there! Here are some of our scarves, and we will soon be uploading them into our Etsy shop. Watch this space!

Well, lovelies, I really hope the weather is better where you are! Take care until next time!

Jenny xxx

 

'Take One' PreLoved Jumper Part 3 - Pincushion, Little Hearts and Teddy

Hello my dears! I hope you've had a good week. All is well here in my little corner of London. The sun has been shining, and thoughts of Spring have started to emerge.

Did you see Lucy’s lovely pot holders, lavender heart and mug warmer? That pretty shirt certainly went a long way! Today I am finishing off my jumper, and I have to admit, I am glad. Lucy will tell you, I have a terrible habit of getting bored of projects. I find something new, and research and make obsessively for a few weeks. Then one day, I wake up, and poof! I'm bored. Time for something new! That's why I could never settle down to just one craft. Don't get me wrong, I am envious of people who do…. I just have too short an attention span!

So I have to say I picked up the scraps I had left after my hot water bottle cover and my wristwarmers with a tiny bit of Resentment. I have had enough of this jumper, I thought. But Lu had made so many lovely little things, and not wanting to let the side down, I got sewing.

Lu is really good at appliqué. Her stitches are soooo neat. I am not so good. But I do like a bit of reverse appliqué (is that a thing??). When you sew some fabric to the back and cut around so it shows through. Stay with me, you'll see what I mean….

Reverse Appliqué Felt Pin Cushion

What you need is

Two small squares of that jumper

Some contrasting fabric

Tracing paper, I use grease proof paper!

Matching thread

Ground walnut shells

Two Crafty Brownies Sewing Essentials

 What you do is

Cut two squares of felt. I decided to make my pincushion 3” square, and I added half an inch seam allowance so my pieces were 4” by 4”. Sorry, Lu, I did not make a template......

Draw your design on the tracing paper. I did a simple little flower. Layer your paper, design up, on top of your fabric, right side down. Lay this onto your felted fabric, right side down. Pin the layers in place. Sew on top of your design, right through the three layers.

Pull off your tracing paper. Carefully poke the end of your scissors through the jumper but not through the fabric and cut around close to your stitch line.

Finally lay your felt squares right sides together and sew around, leaving a gap to turn it through. Once turned, stuff (I used ground walnut shells) and admire!

Little Felt Hearts

These little hearts are inspired by Faith Essenberg’s Liberty Heartstrings, which I think are so adorable.

What you need is

Felt pieces

Heart template (I had this from before, cut out of acetate)

Tracing paper

Matching/contrasting thread

buttons and string

Toy stuffing

Two Crafty Brownies Sewing Essentials

What you do is

Take two pieces of felt and trim them to the same size and shape. Cut a piece of tracing paper about the same size of your two felt pieces. Trace hearts onto the paper, leaving space between. I will not be turning these through, I'll leave the seam on the outside. Pin the layers together, paper on top, then the two pieces of felt, one right side up and then the other right side down. Sew around the hearts, leaving a gap on each one for stuffing. Remove the paper carefully.

Stuff each heart (I used toy stuffing), and sew across the gap. Back stitch wherever you stop, you can then use a needle to take the threads through to in between the layers and cut short. Cut around each heart as you finish it, or do them all at the end......

I used some pretty buttons from Lucy’s Attic 24 shop on Wool Warehouse, and some pink string. I threaded most of them into a length and a couple separately. Luckily I was also able to source a bit of matching chocolate to keep me going....

Little Teddy

From my last bits, I made this little teddy. I drew a template and transferred this onto tracing paper. I may have had a little shandy to help me at this point....

I used the reverse appliqué method above to do a tummy, ears and paws.

I left a gap for stuffing, and cut all around him once he was filled and the gap sewn closed.

Phew! It feels like I've been working on this jumper for ages. I am really pleased with all I managed to get out of it, and I am inspired to go searching through the charity shops again soon, (just not too soon!)

Take care, my lovelies, until my next post! And thanks for the jumper, Lu!

 

Jenny xxx

'Take One' Preloved Shirt Part 3: Pot Holders, Lavender Bag and Mug Warmer Tutorial

Hello friends!

I am loving Jenny’s preloved jumper makes and I love my gorgeous, grey wrist warmers. It is cold here and they are keeping my hands and wrists really toasty! Thank you other Brownie! You may remember that I have been upcycling too. I have ‘taken one’ preloved Boden shirt and so far made a skirt for my little girl and a peg bag for me! Now I am down to just a little bit less than the sleeves, just enough to make a few more lovely things don’t you think? Well, I have been busy trying to use every scrap of fabric from this shirt and I have pretty much managed it! I have made a couple of pot holders/small place mats, a coaster, 2 mug warmers with the cuffs and with some of the scrappy scraps left over, a heart shaped lavender bag.

Read on for the tutorials….

Pot Holder/Small Place Mat

What you need is:

The sleeves from a preloved shirt. (Of course you could use any fabric in this tutorial)

Batting - depending on thickness of potholder/coaster desired.

Pot holder template (always a template!) - using some card, make a template to your desired size and shape. My template is a square measuring 16.5 x 16.5cm.

A long ruler or rectangular ruler.

A Rotary cutter or fabric scissors.

Cutting Mat.

Matching or contrasting thread - whatever floats your boat!

Two Crafty Brownies Sewing Essentials

What you do is:

Cut off the cuffs and open up the sleeves of the shirt.

Make the template.

Iron the fabric left over from your previous makes.

Using the template, ruler and rotary cutter or fabric scissors and cutting mat, cut around the template 4 times, so you have 4 squares of fabric. This will make 2 potholders.

Using the same template, place onto the batting and cut 2 squares. I actually cut 4 squares of batting because I wanted the pot holders to be thicker.

Place 2 squares of the fabric right sides together on top of the batting. You can pin here if you like, but I didn’t.

Machine stitch a 0.5cm seam around the squares of batting and fabric leaving a gap (about 5cm) to be able to turn it the right way round.

Snip the corners and trim off any excess batting (it stretches a little). Turn the pot holder the right way round using the gap and using a blunt pencil or toy stuffing thingy, poke out the corners.

Hand sew the gap closed. I do this rather than overstitching the gap closed because my seam allowance is so little it wouldn’t actually close the gap.

Iron your potholder and now overstitch a few rows of stitching all the way round. This makes it look nicer but isn’t essential. It depends on the look you are going for.

Repeat this process with the other potholder/small place mat. I also made a coaster to go with my potholder. Admire your work by making yourself a cup of tea, slicing yourself a piece of cake and using them straight away!........

And here's a couple more I made from other shirts...

Lavender heart

What you need is:

Some scraps of fabric for the heart and the stuffing -  you could use other scraps of fabric and toy stuffing instead.

Heart template - To make a heart template, fold a piece of paper in half. Draw half a heart from the inside edge of paper according to the size you want and cut out, revealing a whole symmetrical heart. Draw your heart onto a piece of card or cardboard for a longer lasting template.

Dried lavender - I bought mine from a local health food shop.

Matching thread.

2 buttons.

Two Crafty Brownies Sewing Essentials.

What you do is:

Place two scraps of fabric on top of each other with right sides together.

Place the heart template on top of the fabric and draw round it.

On one of the straight edges of the heart draw a rectangle coming off the heart. This will be the gap you will use to put the stuffing into the heart when turned the right way round and which will be tucked into the heart later and hand sewn shut. Cut out. Gosh, I hope that makes sense - here’s a pic to help out!

Machine sew from this rectangle all the way round the heart and stop at the other side of the rectangle. Cut a few notches into the curvy bits and snip the tip.

Turn the right way round and using a blunt pencil, gently tease the corner and curves out. Tuck the rectangular bit that will be sticking out, into the heart and press with a hot iron.

Stuff your heart with scraps of fabric or toy filling adding the dried lavender as you go.

Stop when you feel you have stuffed your heart out enough! Hand sew the opening closed.

 

Sew your buttons onto the front and back of the heart. I sew on the buttons at the same time, going from the front to the back, pulling slightly as I go to make a cushioned effect.

Take a deep inhale of your lavender pillow, exhale and relax!

I am sending mine off to my lovely Mum, who has been feeling a bit poorly recently......

 

Mug Warmers

What you need is:

The cuffs of a preloved shirt - I have of course used the cuffs from the preloved Boden Shirt. My cuffs measure 28 x 7.5cm which is nice and wide to go round a decent sized mug.

Batting

Small length of 7mm elastic

Small piece of felt

Two Crafty Brownies Sewing Essentials

What you do is:

If you haven't done so already, cut the cuffs off your shirt.

Cut along the width of the cuff, just inside the button holes.

Unpick 4-5cm of the single side seam of the cuff (my cuffs had one single seam which would have been the outer seam and a double seam where the cuff would have been attached to the shirt)

Cut a piece of batting smaller than the cuff size. It needs to fit inside the cuff so needs to be the size of the cuff minus the seams and buttons.

Turn the cuff inside out. Lay the batting on top of the cuff and sew a 0.5cm seam along the open side of the cuff, attaching the batting.

Turn the cuff the right way round, using the opening you unpicked earlier, smoothing out the batting inside the cuff. Top stitch closed the opening and along the seam you have just sewn.

Measure around your mug and the length of your cuff. My mug measured 27.5cm and the cuff 24cm, the difference being 3.5cm. Double this because you are making a loop with your elastic and then add 1.5cm to each end of the elastic for the overlap to be sewn onto the cuff. Add 1cm for good measure. My elastic measurement is 11cm and I found that this stretched nicely around the buttons. Cut 2 lengths of elastic if there are two buttons on your cuff. Otherwise cut just the one.

Make a mark where you need to sew your elastic by folding the cuff in half so you can see where they line up with the other side of the cuff.

Double your elastic and attach the loose ends to the place on the cuff that you have marked, by machine stitching. I machine stitched backwards and forwards a few times to make sure the elastic was securely attached.

If you like, attach a small piece of felt to the cuff on top of the elastic to hide the ends of the elastic. You could also sew buttons to hide the stitching on the other side. You could even embellish your mug warmer with embroidery stitches, beads, fabric flowers…..etc!

You are done! Make yourself a cup of tea or coffee and keep it warm using your new mug warmer!

So my preloved Boden shirt fabric has been well and truly upcycled! I must confess I do have a few scrappity scraps leftover, not enough to make another pot holder or lavender heart, but enough to make a few covered buttons perhaps (thats a whole other tutorial!), or use as stuffing for something small. I am so pleased with these makes and I know that if I see a shirt in a charity shop made of lovely fabric, I have these projects ready to go! Here’s a quick reminder of the things I have made with just one shirt!

Phew!

If you have a go, let us know!! (#itsallabouttheupcycling)

Take Care lovelies!

Lucy xx   

'Take One' Pre-Loved Jumper Part 2 - Wrist Warmers

Hello lovelies! It's been cold round here this week....... how have you been? I have been using the sleeves of my pre-loved jumper to make some wrist warmers. I have very cold hands........ good for making pastry but not so good for examining patients! I love wearing wrist warmers to keep my hands warm in winter. I sadly can't wear them at work (infection control you know....) but I wear them at home on these chilly days.

What you need is

The sleeves of a preloved jumper that has been felted/shrunk

matching buttons

matching embroidery thread

Two Crafty Brownies Sewing Essentials

 What you do is

Mark where you want your thumbhole to be by laying your hand on the sleeve. Position your hand so the top is where you want it to be. Put your hand in the sleeve if that helps! Do be careful, lovelies, I did prick myself and may have said a Bad Word.

Cut a very narrow strip between the pins for your thumb. If you try it on now, you will see it’s a bit baggy around the wrist. This is where we get to embellish however we like, and make it fit better. So then cut up the opposite side. Overlap the edges so they fit your wrist and pin into place. Depending how tight your sleeve is, you may want to cut up both sides and pin/sew a seam under your thumb as well as on the other side.

Choose some matching buttons and thread. I think the potential for different embellishments is huge. Here I decided to use buttons and a running stitch.

I have a few jumpers I have collected over the past few months. They have been sitting waiting to be used, and in order to do this post I finally got round to making a few different wrist warmers!

Lu has been nagging begging me to make her a pair, so I let her choose a colour and made her a grey pair..... here she is having a nice cuppa while we work..

And I am very pleased with all the pairs I have kept........shall I wear them, or give them away?

Next week Lu will be using the last bits of her shirt to make more pretty things, and I'll be back the week after with some little felt things.

Happy friday, lovelies!

Jenny xxx

'Take One' Pre-Loved Jumper Part 1: Hot Water Bottle Cover

Hello lovelies! I do hope you have had a good week. It's been a couple of weeks since I posted, Lucy has been in charge, using a pretty pre-loved Boden shirt to make a gorgeous skirt and a clever peg bag, which I can't wait to try making myself. Now I'm back, talking about jumpers.

The Story

Have you ever washed a jumper too hot and shrunk it? I certainly have, in fact I have even done this on purpose!! Are you shocked? The thing is, when you shrink a jumper made from natural fibres, you get felt! Or in any case, a lovely, soft, thick material which doesn’t fray. I spent a few months trawling through charity shops looking for jumpers, I asked friends to give me old jumpers, I weeded some old ones out of our cupboards. I washed them on a 90C cycle. Some didn't shrink. So they went back to the charity shop. But some did, and I have been having a lot of fun sewing them into things! Today, I'm making a hot water bottle cover to snuggle up with on cold nights.

Hot Water Bottle Cover

What you need is

A pre-loved jumper, washed and shrunk. Lu gave me this one, it's one of our very favourite colours.

A hot water bottle ( I bought mine from our local pound shop)

Matching thread, buttons

Coordinating fabric (adhesive or lined with Bondaweb) 

Two Crafty Brownies Sewing Essentials

What  you do is

Turn your jumper inside out. Cut the sleeves off, and cut up the sides. Lay your hot water bottle on the piece you want to use for the front.  I decided to use the inside as the outside as it looked a bit nicer...... (well, it has been well loved!).

Draw all around it with a fabric marker. Leave enough around for a bit of stretch and a seam allowance. I used 2cm. Cut around your front piece. To make it symmetrical, I marked it in half with a pin, folded it in half and used the first half as a template for the second. Oh it was such a dreary day in London, lovelies, the pictures are not great.

For the back, there will be 2 overlapping pieces, so each needs to be longer than a half, if you see what I mean. I used my front as a template, folding one third of the bottom up to cut the top, and folding a third of the top to cut the bottom. I don't blame you if you need to go off and lie down now for a bit……

Hem the edges of your back pieces. If your jumper is thick you may not need to, mine is quite thin so I think it'll need the extra stability. I used a zig-zag stitch as the fabric is stretchy.

Pin your front and back together, with the right sides together (for me this was actually the inside of the jumper, as I wanted this to be the final outside..... On the back, lay the bottom piece on top of the top piece if you want the top piece to be on the outside. Sew all the way around, I went back and forth a few times where the pieces overlapped to make it stronger for opening. Turn it inside out!

When I hemmed the edges, the fabric stretched a bit. In order to make the opening nice and tight, I made sure I pulled the edges out and trimmed off the excess.

Now here I thought it looked a bit dull. I decided to hand stitch around it with a blanket stitch, and embellish the front with some hearts. If I were doing this again, of course I would put on the hearts before I sewed the front and back together. I can just imagine Lucy is rolling her eyes right now……

Let me digress just for a moment to tell you a little about how Lu and I roll. Lu is a planner. She makes lists, keeps notes and generally does things way ahead of time. Darlings, I am not. I wing it quite often, let things develop as I go along, and am often doing things at the last minute! In many ways we are very similar, but in this we are not! We work really well together though, I think I help Lu worry less, while she certainly helps me slow down and think things through first....

So, back to our hot water bottle cover…… Lu bought me some lovely adhesive fabric from Tiger ( not sure of you have this in other countries…….it's like IKEA but without all the furniture!) I cut out 3 hearts, stuck them on and sewed around them with some embroidery thread.

And that's my hot water bottle cover! I can't wait to try it out one of these cold nights......

I must say a big thank you to my Photographer, without whom I couldn't have done the lap pictures. My big, gorgeous son, J.......

That's all from me for now, lovelies! I'll be back next week, turning the sleeves into a pair of cosy wrist warmers....stay tuned and have a lovely weekend!

Jenny xxx

'Take One' Preloved Shirt Part 2: Peg Bag Tutorial

Hi folks!

The Story:

Last week, I upcycled a preloved Boden shirt by making a skirt for my little girl. In fact I made a few skirt shirts and she is wearing them constantly. This week I am using more of the fabric from that same shirt and showing you how to make a peg bag. I must admit I got very excited about this peg bag - the idea that is! I really thought I had come up with something original (like you do!) but before I could claim it as mine all mine, I decided to have a little look on google. Of course someone had already thought of it! Silly me! I got over it quickly and got on with making what was in my head……..I think this would be a really good project for a beginner sewer as there are just a few steps with 2 basic stitches on the machine and a little bit of hand sewing to attach the buttons and you have your finished item. Can’t wait for slightly warmer, drier weather to start using mine properly. At the moment, I am just admiring it!

What you need is:

One preloved man's shirt. You are going to use the top part of the shirt that was cut off when making the skirt last week.

A small hanger - less than 30cm wide - see template notes below.

Buttons and matching thread

Two Crafty Brownies Sewing Essentials

A square/rectangle of cardboard as a template. It is useful to have a template to make the straight edges but you could use a rectangle ruler. I just happened to have a square of cardboard measuring 30 x 30cm so I used this. The width of my hanger had to be less than 30cm in order to fit into the peg bag once made.

Double-sided sticky tape

What you do is:

You have already stitched up the middle button panel, when making the skirt - check this step out in last week’s tutorial, and removed the buttons. I left the top button on.

Turn the shirt inside out and place the cardboard template onto the shirt making sure it is centred. Mark an outline of the template onto the shirt. Remove the template and pin about 1.5cm within this outline.

Machine sew a running stitch along the line you have marked followed by a zigzag stitch next to this running stitch, to minimise fraying.

Cut just beyond this zigzag stitch cutting the rest of the shirt away (sleeves mostly) in the process. Put these aside. We’ll need them for Part 3!   

Snip the corners before turning inside out. Push the corners out using a blunt pencil. Iron if necessary.

Sew on some buttons where buttons would have been, making sure you leave the top part of the shirt undone - so you can get the pegs in and out!

Open up one sleeve of the shirt by cutting close to the side seam and cut about 6 x 1cm strips along the sleeve. Attach some double-sided sticky tape at various places on the hanger and wind the material strips around sticking as you go to cover the entire hanger.

Pop in the hanger, pop in some pegs, admire whilst pegging your washing on the line!

Here's one I made earlier.....

I’ll be making some more lovely things with what is left of the shirt - I am going to try and use every last scrap! Of course, I’ll show you how in another blog post very soon. In the meantime, Jenny has been upcycling a preloved jumper and will be bringing you the first of her tutorials next Friday. Please come back and visit then! Don’t forget to use the tag, #itsallabouttheupcycling, so we can see your clever upcycling ideas and makes.

Take Care lovelies,

Lucy xx

 

'Take One' Preloved Shirt Part 1: Little Skirt Tutorial

Hello Friends!

If you have visited us before, welcome back to CraftyBrowniesVille! If this is the first time you have checked out our blog, you are welcome too and we are so very pleased that you are here. If you take a little gander down the left hand column, you will see that our Graphics Designer (Jenny’s son...thank you over and over lovely boy!) has been busy with the tie-dye links and you can now click and find us tweeting on twitter!

The Story

As promised in Jenny’s mouth-watering post last week, we are sewing again! Oh and upcycling! And we are ‘showing you how’ too! I’ve told you I love upcycling before and this is a fab upcycling project. We are going to try and use up as much of a pre-loved item of clothing as possible by making other lovely things out of it. We are calling it our ‘Take One’ series. For my first ‘Take One’ tutorial, I am ‘taking one’ preloved man’s shirt and this week, I am turning it into an elasticated waistband skirt for my little girl. Next week, I will be making a peg bag with some of the remaining fabric and a few blog posts later, I will be using up what is left of the shirt and making some more lovely things!

Back to this week’s tutorial and a skirt for my little girl. Here’s one I made earlier….a few years earlier!

What you need is:

One preloved man’s shirt. You can find some lovely things in charity shops. I found this 100% linen Boden shirt from my local Marie Curie Hospice Shop.

2.5mm wide non-roll woven elastic

Matching buttons and thread

Two Crafty Brownies Sewing Essentials 

What you do is:

Before you start, the process of making an elasticated waistband skirt can sound more complicated than it actually is. If you would like to be able to visualise the steps in motion, there are lots of YouTube vids out there but I am going to point you in the direction of Made by Dana. I am a huge fan of Dana. Her wonderful, sunshiny, positive approach is infectious and she really does inspire you to try things and believe that you can do it! Her site is full of free video tutorials and fantastic makes and ideas. Have a look at her skirt video tutorial. Enough of the Dana love, let’s get on with it!

Measure the waist of your little person. My little one is 5 years old and she likes to wear her skirts slightly below the waist. Her measurement is 60cm with a little wriggle room. The width of my shirt is 120cm which is great because double the waist measurement produces a good ‘gather’. You could of course make a skirt (mini) for a larger person. The finished skirt just won’t be as ‘gathered’.

Measure your elastic: You will need another 2.5cm added to your waist measurement for the elastic overlap. So the new measurement is 62.5cm. Cut your elastic by stretching it gently to reach 62.5cm so that when cut it is comfy when stretched around the waist. My elastic once cut measured 56cm.

Close your shirt using the buttons. Pin along the middle all the way up, stopping about 12cm from the top button at the collar, removing the buttons as you go. Now secure by machine sewing all the way up from the bottom to this top point.

Measure the length you would like the skirt to be and add 4.5cm to this for the ‘tunnel’ or ‘tube’ you are going to sew at the top hem to put the elastic in. 34.5cm length is my measurement at the moment. Note this down.

The bottom of a man’s shirt is often rounded and longer at the back than at the front. You now need to decide whether you would like this to be the look of your skirt or whether you would like a straight bottom (tee hee!) hem.

If you don’t mind the rounded and longer at the back look, then flatten your shirt out on a table or the floor. Measure 34.5cm from the bottom middle of the shirt and cut across the shirt in a straight line at this point.   

If you would prefer a straight bottom hem, lay your shirt out and cut the rounded bottom off using a long ruler and a rotary cutter leaving a straight edge. I cut across from the bottom hem at one side to the bottom hem at the other as a guide. Now this is next bit is important: You need to add 2cm more to that length measurement (34.5cm), because you need to add a bottom hem. So from this bottom straight edge, measure 36.5cm at a few points, mark and cut across the shirt.

Turn your skirt inside out. Measure and iron the bottom straight edge down by 1cm and then a further 1cm. Pin if you like and then machine stitch all the way round creating the bottom hem.

For those of you with rounded bottoms (tee hee!), join in here! We are now on to the top hem.

Turn your skirt inside out and measure and press the top edge down by 1cm first and then a further 3.5cm. Pin if you like. Mark a 5cm gap at the back of the skirt using pins. Machine stitch this top hem leaving this gap unsewn so that you can insert the elastic.

Attach a safety pin to one end of the elastic and feed it through the tube. Be careful not to lose the other end in the tube as you go along. To prevent this, you can attach this end of the elastic to the skirt near the gap using another safety pin. Continue threading the elastic through until it comes out the other side. Attach the ends of the elastic together by machining with a 2.5cm overlap. You can use a zigzag stitch for this which will stretch with the elastic. Insert the elastic into the tube and sew the hem closed. You may want to use your zipper foot for this as the elastic can get in the way.

Turn the right way round. You may need to play with the elasticated waist at this point to make the gathers even all the way round. Attach buttons for decoration to the middle panel where the buttons would have been on the shirt.

My little girl loves her skirt! She had great fun modelling, for a little bit of pocket money in return I might add. She even thought of her own props!.......

I made another from a white shirt, adding a layer and appliquéing some hearts around the bottom.

And yet another (I did get a bit carried away!) with a lovely stripy pink shirt. For this one, my little one chose her own buttons!

Notes:

As the shirts are preloved and therefore preworn, they might be slightly stretched in places. This can make it difficult when cutting and hemming. I just went with it, sometimes creating a fold in the hem - the elasticated waist is very forgiving!

If you try this idea or you have other upcycling projects on the go and you post them on instagram, tag your photos #itsallabouttheupcycling so we can have a look. Don’t forget to pop back next week for the peg bag tutorial! Happy Crafting!

Lucy xx