Peg Bag Sewing Tutorial!

My old peg bag was tired, it was made of less than funky fabric, it had an unattractive hole and it hung from a little coat hanger and generally annoyed me. As a result pegs found their way into jumper pockets, aprons and boxes, still less than useful. So the thought began to make a brand new peg bag, one that I could wear so it didn't get in the way, but was also stylish enough that I didn't make a break for the kitchen should the neighbour be waving over the wall. I'm really very pleased with it, so pleased in fact that I thought I'd share my instructions to make it :)

What You'll Need

1/2m Outer fabric
1/2m lining fabric
Strong Ribbon or tape
Button

Step 1

Take both your outer fabric and lining fabric and cut out a rectangle 30cm X 48cm. Place them right sides together and pin around the edge.

Step 2

Leaving a seam allowance of approx 1cm machine stitch around the edge, leaving a gap of about 6cm (2") to turn the bag out. If your fabric is likely to fray remember to run a zig zag stitch around the edge or cut with pinking shears.


Step 3

Cut some of the fabric off at the corners to make it easier to turn out. Take out the pins and turn the bag the right way out. Iron your piece, making sure the seams are nice and flat. Then machine stitch the open edge closed. You should now have a rectangle that measures about 46cm X 28cm.

Step 5

To make our bag lay the rectangle with the lining facing upwards. Turn up the bottom to reveal about 20cm of the outer fabric. Pin and machine stitch about 1/2 cm from the edge.





Step 6

Cut two pieces of ribbon or tape about 85cm long. These will be sewn onto the back of the bag. First fold down the top of the bag, so that all the lining is hidden. Then place your ribbon either side and sew in place. Fold under the raw edge of the ribbon and sew.

Step 7

I finished my bag with a big button on the front flap, of course you could add your own touch, a flower, an applique design perhaps.

Step 8

Enjoy your new peg bag! You can tie it around your waist or over your shoulder. I normally fold the top flap back to allow easier access to the pegs, then when I put the bag away I flop it back into place.

Simple Upcycling Tutorial

It's that time of year now when we all unpack our hats and scarves. But sometimes you just don't like them as much as you did last year. Maybe you have a new coat or hairstyle, maybe you just fancy something new. Whatever the reason you shouldn't just bin last years wares, instead you should up/recycle them into something stylish and new. Here I'm bringing you one really simple and quick way to turn a plain hat and scarf into a gorgeous new item.

What You'll Need

Hat
Scarf
Buttons
Sewing Needle & Thread

 

Step 1

To be truly economical you should raid your button stash. If you don't have any buttons then take a look through your clothes, are there any you were planning to get rid of and could borrow the buttons from? How about making your own (see my previous tutorial here for instructions) or buy some.

Personally I like the buttons to be different sizes, styles and shapes. From a design point of view odd numbers always look better so keep that in mind.

Step 2

Arrange your buttons on the hat until your pleased with the effect, then sew them on. I sewed mine slightly to one side.





Step 3

Repeat the previous step on your scarf.

Step 4

Enjoy your brand new creations!! It really is as quick, simple and cheap as that!

Autumn Watch

Keeping on my theme for the week, Autumn Watch starts this evening on BBC Two at 8.30pm. Time to start hunting for nature in your garden, making bird feeders and preparing for the season ahead.

It's also the time of year when I start wanting to eat comforting food whether savoury or sweet. My husband jokes that I'm trying to put on weight for winter, in reality the large jumpers and big fluffy coats means we're probably all a little less self conscious.

Our garden has been full to the brim with blackberries (or Brambles as my Dad calls them). I love this simple way of using them to decorate cupcakes. Just pipe a little cream, pop on a fresh blackberry and ta da you have a really yummy cake!

The dark evenings also drive me to revive hobbies that had fallen by the wayside during the summer months. Currently my knitting needles are getting a work out, keep your eyes peeled as this is to do with an upcoming tutorial!

From a work point of view we're gearing up for the festive season with new products, old favourites and more. We have launched another new craft kit online this week, our Cupcake Badge!

Season Of Mist & Mellow Mushrooms!!

Autumn seems to have arrived with a bang recently. It was only a few short weeks ago that summer was still with us and yet my children are now enthusiastically collecting conkers and mushrooms have taken over the garden!

I should probably call them toadstools but being in no way shape or form a mushroom/toadstool expert I'm a bit ignorant as to which is which.

Autumn is always a strange sort of time, I'm definitely not a fan of the increasing rain, or trying to judge if now is the time to pack away the summer dresses and resurrect the winter woolies. But it definitely causes an increase in colour, the streets are already littered with yellow/red leaves as they begin to fall. For us it has also meant the invasion of mushrooms in many shapes and sizes, from the little brown fellow seen above to....

This beast of a mushroom actually grew in my Grandparents garden, but just like it's smaller cousins it appeared in record time and to the amazement of all.

This rather odd looking one has been mostly eaten, but by what?!

I don't remember this many mushrooms last year so I can't help but wonder what has caused this sudden influx. If the trend continues then next year we'll be overrun!

Thankfully they are rather pretty to look at, even if some are probably deadly. They have even been a source of creative inspiration for us. You may remember me mentioning exciting new items on the horizon. Well we are expanding into craft kits! The first to make it onto the website is our Mushroom Badge.

They are £5.50 and so far have been very popular when taken to fairs. Everything is included (bar a sewing needle) to make your very own Mushroom Badge, it is perhaps preferable to the garden invading kind, and looks much prettier on a coat!

Fabric Flower Tutorial

Today I thought I'd share a fabric flower tutorial with you all, we've been making these for years and they are so much fun. This is a really useful little technique to know as the flower can be made into a badge, sewn onto a hairband or hairclip or anything else you can think of. You can also vary the size with eaze and the end result looks very impressive.

What You'll Need

Cardboard
Fabric for petals
Fabric for flower centre
Felt Fabric
Buttons and beads to decorate

Step 1

First you need to decide on the size you would like your finished flower to be. The one in the picture above is about 9cms across. Next draw a circle onto your carboard the same size as the flower and cut out.

Step 2

Place your cardboard circle onto your petal fabric and draw around six times (to make six petals). Cut out the six fabric circles.




Step 3

Fold each circle of fabric in half, with the right side of the fabric showing. Now you need to gather the raw edges of your petals, sew small running stitches along the side.





Step 4

Pull the stitches to form your petal. Repeat with the other five circles using the same piece of thread going from one to the next.





Step 5

Join the first petal to the last and sew firmly together to form your flower.

Step 6

Cut a small circle from felt or a woollen material that doesn't fray and sew onto the back of your flower.

Step 7

Now we need to make the centre of the flower. I chose a contrasting blue material for mine. Once again use your cardboard circle and cut out a circle from this fabric. Gradually sew a running stitch round the edge of the circle turning the raw edge to the centre as you go.

Step 8

Pull your thread so that the gathers end up in the centre of the circle.

Step 9

Place this circle with the gathers facing down so they can't be seen into the centre of your flower. Next you will need a button to secure it. Sew it right into the centre to hold everything together. At this point you can add beads or whatever embellishments you fancy.

Step 10

Now your flower is finished you can sew a brooch back onto the back if you like, or add it to a fabric hairband or hairclip. I think I may add one onto a bag I'm sewing, really the ideas are limitless. Have fun!

To London & Selvedge

Yesterday morning both members of Angel Eden plus one daughter/grandaughter got up at a very unreasonable hour and made our way to the train station. We were off to London to visit the first ever Selvedge Magazine Summer Fair.

Once we had walked back and forth several times trying to work out the tube (the Northern line wasn't running from St. Pancras) we made our way to Archway tube station. We had a map book of London which quite cleverly showed everwhere apart from where we were and none of the locals seemed to be able to help. We were getting a bit desperate when finally a European tourist pointed us in the right direction.

We arrived with 15 minutes to spare and the queue was already building. The fair was being held inside an old church which had white balloons tied to the railings. Up the stone steps were jam jars holding pink roses (I made a special effort not to knock these over, but I wouldn't be surprised it they hadn't lasted the day).

The first 200 visitors received a goody bag. We were a bit over excited when we both got one. It had in it a Volga Linen Company teatowel, a burt's bees pack, a Burda badge, pen and measuring guide and some bath scrub.

By this point we'd been awake & travelling so long that we had an unreasonable need for a cup of tea. So we headed straight for the stage area which had been transformed by 'Vintage Party' to look like a village fete. We had to make the difficult choice of which cake to have.

Then we sat on a pew and talked to other visitors who came to sit near us. I loved the decorating, it was like something from my childhood (I grew up in a quaint country village) mixed with tea at Grandma's. The decorations and flowers were all beautiful & I congratulate everyone who put hard work into the 'look' of the event.

Once we made our way back down to the stalls it got ridiculously busy, completely understable of course, with so many wonderful artists under one roof the guests had piled in. Unfortunately this made viewing all the stallholders a bit difficult. My daughter led us determindly to The Black Rabbit, she seen them on the way in and we had to buy two 'blobs' I'm not sure of their real name, but they are now affectionately nickednamed the lavender blobs in our house.She also wanted a hair clip kit from RoseRed & Blue.

We spoke to many of the stallholders and they were all very friendly and relaxed. I wish I could have bought more, but it was a bit difficult to see with so many people. However I grabbed all the exhibitors cards as I compiled my mental Christmas list (I hope Santa's feeling flush this year!) If Selvedge hold another fair make sure you visit, although hopefully next time the venue will be bigger with even more to offer!

Here's a list of my favourite exhibitors and their websites:

Caroline Dulko
Mogwaii
Acorn & Will
Andrea Willianson
The Black Rabbit
Ray-Stitch
Elsy & Vine
Rachel Eardley
Ellie Evans
Eloise Grey
Charlotte Macey
The Linen Shop
Gemma Kay Waggett
Gem & Bird
The whole thing was sponsored by  Cabbages & Roses

Book Review - Cath Kidston

Last Christmas I received as one of my gifts a book called 'Sew!' by Cath Kidston. I've always liked her fabrics and now that I have made a few of the items I thought I would share my experiences of the book with you all.

First of all the book lists 41 projects so I am a long way away from completing them all. They range from bags, cushions, tablecloths to aprons and baby/kids decorations. The book starts you on your way with some basic instructions of various sewing techniques. I think these are well written and fairly simple to follow.

Next the book comes with a large paper pattern piece, this is the kind where you trace over the lines you require and cut out on new paper. I'm not a huge fan of this method purely because I can only ever seem to lay my hands on small and stiff pieces of paper which are quite frankly rubbish for pattern making. But if you can locate something thinner/larger it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

The book also comes with all the fabric, buttons and even a label to make the shoulder bag shown on the front cover. So with fabric to hand this seemed like a logical place to start. Overall I loved this pattern, the bag came together quickly and looks pretty much exactly the same as the picture. The only difference is I left the Cath Kidston label off the front, no particular reason for this I just preferred it plain. I've taken a picture to show you the end result:


The book also has some applique templates at the back which could come in very handy. I think I'm going to make the knitting needle case next as mine is looking rather shabby. I would say that most of these patterns are fairly simple, if like me you appreciate the fact this means you can whip something up in a morning then you'll be in heaven. But for some this book might just be telling you what you already know but with pretty pictures. On the other hand if you can pick this up on special offer the fabric contained makes this a good deal in itself so still worth the purchase. So I would definitely recommend this book, it certainly gives you lots of ideas you can run with and of course your not limited to their fabric/decoration choices. If your from the US I did some checking and this has not yet been published, but it's coming in Oct this year so not long to wait.