Handmade Monday #49

Hi, welcome to another Handmade Monday link up. 

Handmade Monday is our weekly craft link up, a chance to share our makes, bakes and other handmade craft ideas and find some new inspiration.

How was your week? Did the UK folks all remember to change the clocks on Saturday night/Sunday morning? I've only just thought to do the oven & microwave clocks now but that's because no one really looks at them anyway! 

We went to a Halloween fancy dress party at the weekend. I like to put costumes together from the Charity shop instead of buying ready made, but the risk is always no one will know who/what you are supposed to be.

Now let's look at the features from last weeks Handmade Monday:
When I was little I LOVED a good twirly skirt, something that would fly out when you spun, and I'm sure I'm not alone! Pam from Threading My Way has a brilliant pattern/tutorial to make one.

Coloured Buttons shared this cute pumpkin trick or treat bag - there's just time to make one if you hurry! 

I like the idea of having a nice bag to take out every year. My kids decorated gift bags with cut out paper shapes one year and then went on to use them for the next 6 or 7 years. They did need some sellotape repairs from time to time! It would have been nice to make them something like this. 

This needle case from The Crafty Creek is just exquisite. Wow, wow and wow again. 

It was done as a Stitch Along from Faby Reilly and all the links etc that you need are in the post. I'm so tempted even though I know I don't really have time. 

Congratulations to you all, here is a "Yay! I was featured" button for your blog.

<div style="width:100%;text-align:center;"> <span style="margin:5px;padding:5px;border-radius: 5px;border:1px solid lightgrey;display:inline-block;"><a rel=_nofollow href="http://www.sumoftheirstories.com/"> <img style="border: 1px solid gray;width:150px;height:150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJK6GjfiYCihYs7yN5bI2KiuuM6RlAoPTFz8KVoDUqHF3puN9_2mSVFcI9FdaVhyf8DJULWyM24nNIqTYSdh2Fbjj24s7SvAQHhry3rWdocC8lEPpqg59szjVwSiNCeCOKKFS5YEIADQ/s200/Handmade+monday+featured.jpg"> <p style="allign: center;"> </p> </a></span></div>
Instructions: Select all code above, copy it and paste it inside your blog post as HTML

Handmade Monday is all about building a craft community, so please take a few minutes to visit some of the other links, leave a comment, and maybe share your favourites on the social media of your choice if you can.

We have a friendly facebook group for Handmade Mondayers where we share useful things we find, advice etc. You are welcome to join us if you share your projects here at Handmade Monday. 

The rules for Handmade Monday are simple:

• Did you make it? Yes - hooray, we'd love to see it!
• Add the link to a specific blog post, not your main site URL.
• Link up to 3 posts each week.
• Mingle - visit some of the other links - comment - share - let's support one another and grow our craft community.

If you're not sure on anything, more information can be found here.

An InLinkz Link-up

Cake International and Stitching, Sewing & Hobbycrafts Upcoming Shows

Something for the UK peeps today - Cake International, the Stitching, Sewing and Hobbycrafts show and Simple Christmas are coming to the NEC Birmingham soon.

I've been attending the Stitching, Sewing and Hobbycrafts show at the NEC Birmingham for the last few years and like to share with you all the lovely things I've seen, but it actually makes sense to talk about it before it happens in case you fancy popping along. Plus I have a fab 2 for 1 ticket offer for you.
The Stitching, Sewing and Hobbycrafts show and Simple Christmas are on from Thursday 2nd November until Sunday 5th and the Cake International show joins them from Friday 3rd, again until the 5th.

The Cake International show sounds amazing, apparently there is going to be a life size wedding dress cake and a War Horse cake on display as well as a Snow White exhibition, loads of competition cakes to see and masses of places to buy up cake decorating and baking supplies.  I remember a couple of years ago spending ages looking at all the stunning competition cakes with this Star Wars/Bake Off one being my favourite. 

The Stitching, Sewing and Hobbycraft is a mass of loveliness with stalls to buy things that you really "need" coving all types of crafts, as well as workshops and demonstrations. Simply Christmas is a giant Craft Fair, with lots of unique handmade items for sale. As I have the grand total of 1 Christmas gift sorted I am going to take the chance to get my Christmas shopping on!  Entry to one show gets you entry to them all, although they are separate shows they all lead in from one to another so you can wander freely between them.  You can read my highlights of similar past show here and here to get a feel for what to expect:

 

Receive 2 for 1 on tickets to Stitching, Sewing & Hobbycrafts with Simply Christmas taking place at the NEC from 2 – 5 November.

To take advantage of this special ticket offer visit www.ichfevents.co.uk and use code OV80 when purchasing or call 01425 277 988 to book.  

Terms and conditions for buy one get one free tickets

• Phone lines open 9am-5pm Monday –Thursday, 9am-4.30pm Friday.
• Standard tariffs apply. 
• This offer is for advance, 1 day tickets only and is valid until Monday 30 October 2017, it cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer.
• Children under 16 go free when accompanied by an Adult (otherwise £6).

Handmade Monday #48

Welcome to Handmade Monday

Handmade Monday is our weekly craft link up and is a great a place to share your makes, bakes and other handmade craft ideas and find some new inspiration.

How was your week? It was our daughter's birthday on Thursday so I had a go at a drip cake.

My ganache was a little bit too runny so it dripped more than it should but at least it didn't all come off. I read up about it first and someone said to put the cake in the fridge for a while before you start dripping. I think that saved it, if I hadn't done that it would have been like a moat of chocolate round the cake and very little up top! The top is just a pile of Revels, Nestle Pick & Mix and some chocolate chips. Yes, there were some left over & yes, we did eat them!  

Now let's look at the features from last weeks Handmade Monday:
We had LOADS of great Halloween craft projects shared last week - do pop back and check them out if you are looking for ideas - but as it's all a bit Halloween mad in the shops right now I thought I'd pick some Halloween free features for us this week. 

I am a big old scaredy pants when it comes to sewing with delicate fabrics so I was thrilled to read the hints and tips that Caroline from CJ Made shared after a workshop she attended. I may even be brave and try a few out sometime but for now I'm just pinning so I can find it again when I am feeling courageous!

Josie from Sew for Soul shared some lovely candle holders that use 3 techniques that I love all in one project. Book up-cycling, paper napkin/serviette decoupage and stamping. 

Plus that is Mr W. Shakespeare and as I grew up in a village just 8 miles from Stratford upon Avon and went to college there I have a special affection for him and his work.

Congratulations to you both, here is a "Yay! I was featured" button for your blog.

<div style="width:100%;text-align:center;"> <span style="margin:5px;padding:5px;border-radius: 5px;border:1px solid lightgrey;display:inline-block;"><a rel=_nofollow href="http://www.sumoftheirstories.com/"> <img style="border: 1px solid gray;width:150px;height:150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJK6GjfiYCihYs7yN5bI2KiuuM6RlAoPTFz8KVoDUqHF3puN9_2mSVFcI9FdaVhyf8DJULWyM24nNIqTYSdh2Fbjj24s7SvAQHhry3rWdocC8lEPpqg59szjVwSiNCeCOKKFS5YEIADQ/s200/Handmade+monday+featured.jpg"> <p style="allign: center;"> </p> </a></span></div>
Instructions: Select all code above, copy it and paste it inside your blog post as HTML

Handmade Monday is all about building a craft community, so please take a few minutes to visit some of the other links, leave a comment, and maybe share your favourites on the social media of your choice if you can.

We have a friendly facebook group for Handmade Mondayers where we share useful things we find, advice etc. You are welcome to join us if you share your projects here at Handmade Monday. 

The rules for Handmade Monday are simple:

• Did you make it? Yes - hooray, we'd love to see it!
• Add the link to a specific blog post, not your main site URL.
• Link up to 3 posts each week.
• Mingle - visit some of the other links - comment - share - let's support one another and grow our craft community.

If you're not sure on anything, more information can be found here.

An InLinkz Link-up

Inspired by - Twinkle Star Glasses Case

Today I have another project for you, inspired by another amazing blogger. This time it's a super colourful glasses case totally inspired by the amazing Red Haired Amazona and her fabulous Twinkle Star Hand Mitts pattern. 

This post contains affiliate links, if you do decide to click through and make a purchase using these links the cost to you is the same but Sum of their Stories will be paid a small commission. Let me tell you the story..... Back in July some very pretty colourful crochet appeared on Instagram feed of Louise, The Red Haired Amazona (well, I say appeared, her whole feed is pretty and colourful, but this was especially so!) and 'huzzah!' in August Louise publish the free pattern for the most beautiful hand mitts she named Twinkle Star. 

I promptly made a pair (which I love and have given to our daughter as she loved them too) and as I was sewing it all up it struck me that they would be a great size for a glasses case.

To make one you will need:

Yarn - about 2oz in total of as many different colours as you like. I used 6 (pink, blue, purple, yellow, dark blue and grey) 4mm crochet hook (I think these are just THE BEST)
Fabric for lining 8.5" x 8" (22cm x 20cm) Matching thread A button
I'm not going to go into great detail about how to make the basic rectangle of crochet as you can find all that over on The Red Haired Amazona. Pop over here and follow the wonderful and VERY detailed how too (honestly I thought I did a lot of photos for a tutorial but I'm a photo lightweight in comparison!) 
You can see I mixed the pattern lines up a little for the glasses case. I only did stitches and pattern rows from the original hand mitts pattern, I just mixed them up and did whatever took my fancy in whatever colour came to hand.  This is the most brilliant stash buster project! Once my piece of crochet was approx 7" or 18cm I stopped. (it was 8" or 20cm wide) Please excuse these next few terrible photos, it was evening and I was excited to get this finished!

Ahhhh, look at all those ends to sew in!!!
I used all the ends to sew the side seam of the case up so I was sewing them in (aka tidying them up) at the same time. I found it easiest to do the larger bits first, the places where a few rows are the same colour.

Then where there was just one thin row I simple tied the ends and sewed them in, like this:

Sew the bottom up too.

Cut a piece of fabric just a little larger than you crochet has ended up.

Now stitch the side and along the bottom. I used a thread the same colour so I've drawn in some comedy sized stitches to show you where.

Trim the corner seam allowance as shown then slide the lining into the crocheted case.

Fold the top over neatly, tucking the raw edge inside and pin.

Then slip stitch all around the top to attach the lining to the crochet.

Sew a button on the front in the centre and then make a chain loop on the centre of the back. Join the yarn to the centre stitch, chain enough to go round the button fairly tightly (I did 10 chain) and then slip stitch back into the centre stitch. Sew the ends in. 

Ta dah! Finished. I think this is one of my favourite makes ever (and yes, I know I say that a lot!)

Out of interest, here are some photos of the Hand mitts that I made first, following the pattern from the Red Haired Amazona properly.

Aren't they pretty?

I made these mostly out of the left overs from the Rainbow Heart Bunting and Carnival Cushion I made ages ago with just a few other little left over bits thrown in.

Do you think you'll try The Red Haired Amazona's gorgeous pattern and make pretty hand mitts for someone this Christmas? Or adapt the idea and make a glasses case? OR you could do a smaller version as a phone case or a bigger one for an ipad .... or wouldn't it make the most lovely little purse, handbag, coaster, cushion...

Handmade Monday #47

Hello everyone and welcome to our weekly craft link up - Handmade Monday. 

Handmade Monday is a place to share your makes, bakes and other handmade craft ideas and find some new inspiration.
How's the week been for everyone? Any big plans for the week ahead? 
I've started to think about ... dare I say it .... Christmas and actually made a first gift. I can't share it here though as the recipient reads the blog now and again! 
However I can share a piece of hand lettering I was asked to make as it has now been safely delivered. My first commission! I share my handlettering practice now and again over on Instagram and someone saw it and asked me to do their favourite quote for them.  

Enough about me, now it's time to take a look at the features from last weeks Handmade Monday:

I must have a bit of a thing about acorns, last week I feel in love with some beautiful felt acorns and this week it's these rainbow beauties from AnneMarie's HaakBlog - aren't they pretty?

Two weeks ago Ann from The Apple Street Cottage shared with us her beautiful chest of drawers with napkin decoupaged drawer fronts and then last week we got to see how she did it. I love it when someone shares the issues they face with a project and how they over came them, especially when the results are as beautiful as this. 

Congratulations to you both, here is a "Yay! I was featured" button for your blog.

<div style="width:100%;text-align:center;"> <span style="margin:5px;padding:5px;border-radius: 5px;border:1px solid lightgrey;display:inline-block;"><a rel=_nofollow href="http://www.sumoftheirstories.com/"> <img style="border: 1px solid gray;width:150px;height:150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJK6GjfiYCihYs7yN5bI2KiuuM6RlAoPTFz8KVoDUqHF3puN9_2mSVFcI9FdaVhyf8DJULWyM24nNIqTYSdh2Fbjj24s7SvAQHhry3rWdocC8lEPpqg59szjVwSiNCeCOKKFS5YEIADQ/s200/Handmade+monday+featured.jpg"> <p style="allign: center;"> </p> </a></span></div>
Instructions: Select all code above, copy it and paste it inside your blog post as HTML

Handmade Monday is all about building a craft community, so please take a few minutes to visit some of the other links, leave a comment, and maybe share your favourites on the social media of your choice if you can.

We have a friendly facebook group for Handmade Mondayers where we share useful things we find, advice etc. You are welcome to join us if you share your projects here at Handmade Monday. 

The rules for Handmade Monday are simple:

• Did you make it? Yes - hooray, we'd love to see it!
• Add the link to a specific blog post, not your main site URL.
• Link up to 3 posts each week.
• Mingle - visit some of the other links - comment - share - let's support one another and grow our craft community.

If you're not sure on anything, more information can be found here.

An InLinkz Link-up