Scraphappy # October (or will I ever grow up and take myself seriously?)

It’s 15th of the month . . . time to link up with Kate and Gun, for the monthly Scraphappy post!  An opportunity to use up some of those scraps, and for me, always a good excuse to have a bit of a laugh.  I do worry about myself sometimes.  It doesn’t take much to keep me amused, nor to make me laugh.  For this month’s scrappy project, I was totally inspired by an idea I found in a book purchased recently in Lidl.

Title translates as “sewing with scraps” – how appropriate!  And there are lots of quite novel ideas inside.

28 different projects, in fact.  There are several I do really want to try, but the one that literally grabbed me, when I opened the book was a project to make your own shoe laces. 

Now . . . after foot operation in April of this year, I had to wear clumpy post-op shoes for a while, then a pair of medical shoes, and swelling is now down enough for me to wear men’s trainers!  I’ve already got a date for operation on the other foot (23rd November) so I’ll be back to post-op shoes and medical shoes over the festive season.  And then more long months wearing men’s trainers.  And then I’ll need orthopedic insoles.    It’s somewhat depressing – not in the medical sense of the word – just very boring, having no pretty shoes that fit.  Anyway . . .

When I saw the idea in the book, I thought “What fun!” A brilliant & easy idea to liven up my boring trainers . . . and make myself smile each time I look down at my feet!  I deliberately pulled out lots of different colours from my scraps . . . if I’m making shoe laces, then I want them as bright, as zany, and as cheerful as possible!  Process was simple.  I cut my strips 1.5” wide, not bothering about getting them all the same length.  Some are only a few inches long, others much longer.  Sewed all strips together and pressed, exactly as I would if making bias binding.  Sewed all the way along, laced into my trainers, snipped to the right length and made a knot at the ends.

 

It’s pure fluke if I ended up with orange in the same position . . . I could have made matching laces, but I wanted odd laces, to go with my “odd socks” – yay!

And in case you’re wondering if I really will go out like that . . . yup, most definitely!  Jeans hide the socks, but I’m smiling inside because I know they’re there. 

Let’s now go see what other members of the Scraphappy group have found to do this month.

Titti, Heléne, Eva, Sue, Nanette, Lynn, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Debbierose, Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan, Karen,
Moira, Sandra, Linda, Chris, Nancy, Alys, Kerry, Jean, Johanna,
Joanne,Jon,Hayley and Dawn

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ScrapHappy # September

15th of the month is the monthly link up to ScrapHappy, organised by Kate and Gun . . . to motivate us to make something using scraps.  I decided to make my September project another sewing one, after Daddy Viking commented on a pretty fish I had made, following a pattern by Lauri, in March of this year.  Viking parents have something of an “ocean” theme going on with Baby Viking, since her English grandparents bought her a colourful ocean themed activity/ playmat.

I therefore set to work, using up lots of colourful scraps, making tiny fins and scales and even cutting out felt circles to appliqué eyes (needing to make this toy baby-friendly, and not wanting to use buttons).  All was going swimingly well until I turned my fish right sides out again, to begin stuffing.

And could have kicked myself!  Can you see what I’ve done wrong?  Maybe if I show you what it’s supposed to look like?

Yup, it’s the top fin.  I’ve sewn it on back-to-front!  What an idiot, eh?  I suppose I could always pretend this is a new species of fish: one which swims in circles?

I sent a photo of failed fish to Viking Parents.  They actually think it’s cute.  They are sure Baby Viking will love it, even if it would probably get dizzy trying to swim with those fins, going round and round, looping the loop.  So I won’t be ripping it to pieces BUT I will be making another one   . . . and making sure I pay more attention to fin direction.

I’m now going to do some blog-hopping and see what other ScrapHappy people got up to.

Titti, Heléne, Eva, Sue, Nanette, Lynn, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Debbierose, Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan, Karen,
Moira, Sandra, Linda, Chris, Nancy, Alys, Kerry, Jean, Johanna,
Joanne,Jon,Hayley and Dawn

ScrapHappy #August (and a crochet happy dance)

I’m linking up with Kate and Gun, our two hostesses for the monthly ScrapHappy post.  Idea being to post on 15th of each month, showing a project made since last time, out of scraps.

My scrap project for this month is rather small.  In fact, it’s sort of doll-sized.

A teeny tiny apron (or pinafore, if you prefer).  Two rectangles of fabric, a bit of leftover lace, 2 odd buttons, and (not strictly scrap) a length of bright pink ribbon.

Who’s it for?  Well, I made the most of ScrapHappy to have a full-flung happy dance with a crochet project.  Do you remember the Crafter Granny I began, way back in April?  Apron is for her.  Except I didn’t bother making pockets like the other examples I’ve seen.  My granny can’t look after my scissors or tape-measure for me, but she can look after pins, bobbins, needle threader and crochet stitch markers.

She also has a little headband, made of the floral fabric, with a white lace heart attached.

This crochet pattern can be found free (in several languages) thanks to Zhaya Designs.

So a small scrap project, and a finished Granny!  I’m now linking up to other ScrapHappy people: 

Titti, Heléne, Eva, Sue, Nanette, Lynn, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Debbierose, Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan, Karen,
Moira, Sandra, Linda, Chris, Nancy, Alys, Kerry, Jean, Johanna,
Joanne,Jon,Hayley and Dawn

And hope to be back on 15th September with something else to share with you.

ScrapHappy – if the hat fits . . . (and unbirthday in July)

I’m linking up with Kate and Gun, the two ladies who organise ScrapHappy, which is a once a month post (always on 15th) to encourage us crafters to make use of our scraps.

Earlier this month, I showed you a couple of sewing projects, where I was having some trial and error with tunic sewing.  I did end up with 2 completely wearable tunics, it’s just that one of them is too big for me.

Anyway . . . whoever does clothes making knows that you always end up with a fair amount of fabric scraps (or is it just me?).  I’ll probably use some of my leftover tunic fabric for patchworking, but I was still on a roll with sewing patterns, so wanted to see if I could actually make something else out of my grey floral fabric.  And found the perfect project!

I made a baby’s sun hat!  NewLook # 6274.

Another learning curve for me . . . who’d have thought I’d be trying my hand at making a hat one day?   With the hot summer here, and 9 month old little girl just opposite, soon to be going to Corsica for the summer holidays, I decided to make and gift the hat as an un-birthday present for July.

I had asked the Mum beforehand for baby’s head measurement which corresponded perfectly to the pattern size M.  And it fits!

Hmmmm . . . little neighbour isn’t quite sure if it matches her pink PJs.

She’s not even sure you’re supposed to wear a hat when you’re almost ready for bed.

I’ll definitely be making a few more baby hats in future!

Linking up also to other crafters who regularly join in with ScrapHappy.

Titti, Heléne, Eva, Sue, Nanette, Lynn, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Debbierose, Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan, Karen,
Moira, Sandra, Linda, Chris, Nancy, Alys, Kerry, Claire, Jean, Johanna,
Joanne,Jon,Hayley and Dawn

Scrap Happy # June – “crinkle toys”

I’m linking up with Kate and Gun today, for the once a month ScrapHappy post.  The idea being to try and make the most of our scraps which we seem to accumulate and never throw away.   I try to keep my fabric scraps fairly organised, in different plastic bags according to colour, but I also cut 2.5” squares from scraps from time to time, and store them in a little box because you never know when pre-cut squares will come in handy.

I had an idea to make a couple of baby toys and these little scrappy squares were exactly what I needed.   I could have chosen more harmonious colours, but I wanted to keep them as busy and random as possible.

Two small blocks quickly sewn together.    The finishing wasn’t entirely “scrappy” but it was definitely very economical.  I had bought some micro fiber dusters not long ago (1.80€ for a pack of lovely bright colours).

And I had also bought a few toy making accessories, namely mini rattles (1.5cm in diameter) and some teething shapes.  So . . . I proceeded to make mini quilts with my two blocks.  Still with ScrapHappy in mind, I pieced scraps of wadding until I had the right size to match the blocks.  And inside  I also slipped a piece of “crinkle paper”  except mine is cut from an empty packet of Senseo coffee bags.

Then added the teething shape and binding.  This one, with spotty fabric from my F2F2 quilt and a bright yellow back will be for a niece’s baby, due in September.

The binding for the second one, leftover from the “a little bird told me” baby quilt.  With a purple key and bright green back – this for Baby Viking.

So there they are!  Two home-made “crinkle” toys.  Each with a soft texture on the back; crinkle paper & tiny rattle sewn inside, and a key for teething.  Not counting the cost of cotton fabrics & wadding, which were scraps,  I estimate they cost less than 2€ apiece to make (with bought supplies of micro fiber, teething key and mini rattle).

They measure approx 8” square.

Other ScrapHappy crafters, who don’t necessarily post each month, being:

Titti, Heléne, Eva, Sue, Nanette, Lynn, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Debbierose, Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan, Karen,
Moira, Sandra, Linda, Chris, Nancy, Alys, Kerry, Claire, Jean

ScrapHappy # May

I joined a ScrapHappy group a few months ago, organised by Kate in Australia and Gun in Sweden.  The idea of this group is to encourage each other to use up scraps.  Any scraps, for crafting.  In March and April I delved into my fabric scraps for some patchwork/sewing projects.  For May I decided to do some cross stitch.

If you’re like me, you always end up with lots of threads left over from kits and there often seem to be quite a few small off-cuts of aida/evenweave when preparing fabric for larger projects.  I never throw any of mine out. I keep everything because it always comes in useful for very small designs.

While the sun has been shining, and skies are blue, I decided to start work on a few unseasonal designs.  And stitched up these two in just a couple of evenings.

Colours aren’t necessarily what the charts suggested, but I was using my scrap threads, so made colours up as I went along.  The little snowman to the left is a free design by Lindashee, and the penguin is a free by Lesley Teare.

The “finishing” wasn’t strictly a scrappy finish, although I used only what I had in my stash.  Some scrap wadding to give the cross stitch designs a nice padded effect, and some ready-made aperture cards (aperture is 2.5” x 2.5”).

So two dinky little cards to pop into my Christmas box.  And a feeling of not having wasted some of those leftover threads.

Other ScrapHappy crafters, who don’t necessarily post each month, being:

Titti, Heléne, Eva, Sue, Nanette, Lynn,  Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Debbierose, Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan, Karen,
Moira, Sandra, Linda, Chris, Nancy, Alys, Kerry, Claire, Jean

ScrapHappy # April

It’s 15th April, time for some ScrapHappy fun with Kate in Australia, Gun in Sweden and a whole group of crafting people world wide!  Other members of the group, who don’t necessarily post each month, being:

Titti, Heléne, Eva, Sue, Nanette, Lynn, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Debbierose, Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan, Karen,
Moira, Sandra, Linda, Chris Nancy and Alys.

The idea behind ScrapHappy is to do some crafting sometime during the month, using only scraps.  It can be any kind of crafting, and doesn’t even need to be a finished project.

For this month I played around with some of my patchwork fabrics, and I put together a simple block.

This has actually finished at 13” square but I’ll probably trim 1/8” off all around at some point because I have added this pretty block to a small pile of other blocks I have in my stash

The plan, one day, being to have enough blocks to make a quilt.  But it’s really a coincidence if all blocks blend in with each other more or less . . . or simply proof that I do lots of sewing with turquoises and teals.