Mini Butterfly Pincushion

 

I made a smaller version of my felt butterfly pillow. This pincushion would make a great door gift and as birthday party favor. 

The finished size for this pincushion is 4" X 4".

To make one:

  

1. Cut one plain fabric measuring 5" X 9" (including 1/2" seam allowance). Cut out two felt butterflies in different sizes and colours. Lay out the butterflies onto the fabric.

2. Sew along the center of the butterflies. Fold the fabric in half with right sides facing and sew around the edges. Leave an opening about 2 1/2".

3.  Turn the fabric right side out and stuff the pillow with poly-fill. Sew the opening closed with a slip stitch.

All done!

Felt Butterfly Pillow Tutorial

This is my weekend project, a super simple sewing project that can be done in just one day. The pillow design pretty much sums up what I like...simple, chic, modern and contemporary. 

I chose the butterfly silhouette in solid colours only as I don't want the design to look too busy. The simpler, the better it would be.  

To make one, just follow my tutorial.

 

Materials:

- paper for making templates

- A4 size felt (various colours)

- 2 17" X 17" fabrics for pillow case (including 1/2" seam allowance)

- 16" zipper

1. Make a butterfly shape template measuring about 2 1/2"l X 2 1/4"h.

2. Trace the paper butterfly template onto the felt and cut out the pieces.You will need to cut out 12 butterflies.

3. Arrange the felt butterflies on the fabric, spacing them evenly in three rows.

4. Pin in place. Stitch down the center of the butterflies and repeat the next two rows.

5. The sewn butterflies would look like this. To make the pillow case, stitch the zipper in place at the bottom part of the two fabrics. With right sides facing, sew around the three sides. Trim the corners and turn right side out. Insert your 16" cushion into the pillow case.

Now you have a brand new butterfly pillow to adorn your living room :)

Learn how to sew zippered pillow cover from craftynest. Get the tutorial here .

Happy sewing :)

Floral Hand Bag - Another Repurposed Item

This bag was made using worn out baju kurung &  pants. I followed a pattern from "lady boutique' magazine and I really like the finished look. Repurposing old clothing is great when you want to try out a new sewing pattern.

The finished size for this bag is about 14" X 11" X 5".

Needle Field 1st Giveaway

Hello! This is my 1st giveway

& I'll be giving away 1 sock doll to 1 lucky winner.

To enter:

Just simply leave a comment.

Create a "Dialogue" based on the picture above.

Please include your Email & your blog add.(if you have one)

Closing Date: 28th February 2010 (12pm)

* The lucky winner will receive any one of the doll featured above.

Good Luck & Happy Holiday : )

Hand Painted Shoes

Mr. Ah Pek gave me RM 2.00 discount for this pair of Bata slip-ons.

The design was based on a patterned paper from Better Homes & Gardens DIY magazine.

Total cost for this project is RM 15.50

Canvas shoes = RM 13.00

Black fabric paint = RM 2.50

It's a really cheap DIY :) 

Smocking Tutorial

This Ondori Smocking book owned by my mom has lots of wonderful, chick looking bags, dresses and blouse. I thought of making one myself and chose the easiest smocking pattern : ) to adorn a clutch that I'm going to make.

 

To make the clutch, I cut a lightweight cotton fabric twice as much as the finished measurement.

The smocking pattern is a Canadian type of smocking. I don't know what it's called because the book only describes it as 'variation of smocking'. I guess I just name it 'ketupat' smocking.

This type of smocking is quite easy to make. You can skip drawing the grid lines if you use gingham, polka dots or stripes pattern fabric.

 

 The design is based on this cushion cover smocking pattern.

Follow these steps:

 

Mark the back side of the fabric by drawing grid lines or grid points with the size of squares that you want.

* The finished smocked squares will be the same size as the drawn grid squares.

You can make a 'saw-toothed cardboard' to mark the fabric. Draw and cut out a saw-toothed cardboard. Place the cardboard on the fabric and mark points at the tops and bottoms of the indents using a pencil or marker.

Insert the needle on the wrong side of the fabric starting at no.1 and scoop the four dots from no. 2 to no. 7. Insert the needle at no. 8 and pull the thread.

The front side of fabric looks like this.

Fasten the thread tightly by making a knot with the other end of the thread.

The front side looks like this after pulling the thread.

Continue smocking the rest of the squares till finish.

Lets get smocking!

Sock Dolls Craze

I've been making sock dolls for quite some years now. It's the coolest way of repurposing old or too ugly to wear socks.But I have to confess that I use brand new socks to make my dolls. ; )  

It all started off when I wanted to make a sock monkey and found a tutorial by Web Goddess .

After searching and reading some tutorials, her tutorial is by far the best step-by-step sock monkey tutorial in the web.The one that she made is a bit different that the original vintage 'Red Heels' sock monkey. 

There's a tutorial for the original version monkey given by Super Sock Monkey.

If you want to make one, click here

After stitching some monkeys, making a few mistakes and having sore hands, I managed to make my very own version of sock dolls. I have a HUGE collection of these dolls now. All the dolls are 100% hand stitched and stuffed with poly-fill.I call them 'PATONG' and I might be selling some of my hand sewn sock dolls soon.

Go Green Bag

2 pairs of jeans + 1 baju kurung uniform = 1 eco friendly bag

That's the equation for this spacious bag. 

I like trying out new patterns from Better Homes and Gardens magazine by re-purposing old clothing. When you have clothing that's either too ugly to wear or too worn out to be given away, why not just transform it into something new and useful.

This 'market bag' pattern is easy to follow and I even added two side pockets to stash away my scissors and pencils. The denim material makes this bag sturdy enough to carry heavy loads. There's still some denim scraps left after making this bag, just enough to make a handbag or purses. So you really can make a lot of stuff from worn out denim. 

Eco crafting is cool : )

The finished size for this bag is 17 1/2" X 13 1/2" X 4" (without handle).

Side pocket

 Inside lining using white baju kurung uniform.

   

The original pattern for this bag was designed by Joanna Figueroa of Fig tree & Co. for Better Homes and Gardens Creative Collection 2009.

Read the article HERE

Happy Day Happy Bears

 

I made these little bears in 2006 and stashed them away in a ziplock bag so they won't get dirty & dusty.  After a few years suffocating in the bag, they're now sitting happily on my table breathing the fresh air.

This is one of my 'belasah saja' project. It is not that hard to make one when you have the right pattern that is easy to follow. I used good morning towel to make the bears because I can't find any mohair at the fabric shop. All the patterns are from Teddy Bears Club and teddybearsearch.com .

Flower Fairy

This bear pattern was created by Megan Chamberlain from Essential Bears for Teddy Bears Club.

If you want to make one, here's the link in pdf format: Flower Fairy 

Todd Bear

This bear was designed by Megan's sister, Wendy Chamberlain . 

"Bonjour" The Bear

Bonjour was designed by French bear artist Laurence Veron.

To make one, follow this link: Bonjour The Bear 

 

How To Make A Fabric Yo-yo

Wondering what to do with your ever increasing pile of fabric scraps?

Why not make some yo-yos. It's a fun and easy to make craft.

I do make a lot of these yo-yos. Whenever I want to whip up some quick craft, I just attach some yo-yos on my work to beautify it. Easy eh!

Just follow these steps:

Make a circle template (4" in diameter or any sizes that you like). Trace the template on fabric and cut out a circle. The finished yo-yo would be half the size of the circle.

Thread a needle and knot the end. Fold under 1/4" of fabric and take small evenly spaced running stitch near the folded edge around the circle. Larger stitches will allow the fabric to gather more and will yield a smaller hole.

End stitching next to the starting point. Gently pull the thread end to gather the folded edge until it forms a gathered circle.

Knot thread and trim off the end. Flatten the yo-yo and you're done!

The yo-yos can be used to embellish your pillows, clothes, and bags. You can even perk up plain boxes by gluing yo-yos on top of the surface and make it look fun & colourful. So make some today and happy crafting. :)