Friday 28 December 2012

Crafting For, During and After Christmas

These are some of the presents I made for people this Christmas.
Frame Purse Outside
Embroidered Drum Kit
Hippo Air Freshener
I made quite a few presents and managed to forget to photograph a fair number of them too. But they have all been very happily received which is the main thing. I also bought a few things from other makers.


My Dad adores his Bird Nerd keyring and tells me it is a compliment in birding circles. This one was from an Etsy seller in the USA.







I'd decided on a silk scarf for my ma-in-law and knew this was the perfect one as soon as I saw it on Folksy. Lovely UK seller and designer too.






I was also crafting on christmas day and in the last few days. My pin cushion, made before the days of blogging, was falling apart so needed replacing. The original was a flower made out of felt on top of a small round cardboard box such as you get told to decoupage nowadays. The replacement is a variation on that.
Pin Cushion Jam Jar
I made a few of these for christmas presents last year. The top is a patchwork hexagon I made out of diamonds that wasn't sitting well with the others in the series. Too pas-tel if you know what I mean. These are a great way of recycling jam and pasta jars. I've added a lne of washi tape around mine just because I am still in the washi zone. And having washi'd one pen pot (in my last post) I turned my attention to another one which is just a plain mesh one I believe I purloined from a former employer. I've seen some iphone cases made of mesh which have been embroidered and so I've been pondering a bit of bargello. I am not short of inspiration.
Bargello Books
I picked out a few favourite designs. (Excuse the photo quality.)
Bargello Dots 2
Bargello Stitch Pattern
Bargello Dots 1
But I think this is the winner...
Bargello Hearts
I am just awaiting full daylight to choose the colours.

Then lastly I'm working on a new cushion cover for a round cushion in hand stitched english paper pieced diamonds. I'm using shades of red from stash and scraps.
Diamond Patchwork
I like the way it makes my eyes flicker from place to place picking up elements of the patterns. Not a restful piece but an exciting one.

My volunteering is over now. I had signed up for five days but by the end of day three I was burnt out and cleared it with the team there to leave it at that. Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day are apparently the hardest days to get people to turn up for (especially with the tube strike the last few years) so I'd done good by making it for all three. I will be doing it again but a max of three days in a row.

2 comments:

Your very proud cousin said...

My beautiful tape measure purse has already had its first journey to the shops - I love it, thankyou so much! You are such a star for volunteering over Christmas; now enjoy a well-earned rest and eat chocolate for the remainder of your holiday. XX

PURLPOWER said...

Some of those designs are giving me flashbacks to curtains we had at home in the early 80s....