Weekend Project - Lino Cut Ant

Here is a result of my weekend project - a new ant to add to my lino cut collection! Unlike my ant Christmas card this is the first one I have made not carrying a leaf. Think she looks great.

Read My Chair

Decoupage is such a versatile crafting activity. It really is amazing how a little bit of paper can give new life to old objects. Id seen for sale online some chairs that were decorate with beautiful wrapping paper, but the price tag that came with them was a bit of a shocker. So I thought I could probably do better and for much cheaper!

As normal when I mentioned that I wanted to do this project our boot sale/antique guru Bob had just the thing already in his garage. Granted the seat was missing and it needed a good sanding but with a little tuition on how to fix it I quickly had a fully functioning chair to start working with.

Instead of coving it with wrapping paper (which is often pretty pricy at £1.50 a sheet) I decided that I could make the chair a whole lot more personal by covering it with my favourite books. So I headed off to a boot sale and miraculously in one short hour I found exactly what I was looking for, copies of three of my favourite books. Can you guess which ones from the picture above?

To start, I gave the chair a coating in white emulsion and let it dry completely. I then took to the books and went through them all to select some of my favourite passages and ripped them out. In case you couldn’t tell from the above pictures the books were His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman, Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carol and Harry Potter by JK Rowling.

These books are all favourites for different reasons. As I grew up in Oxfordshire and both His Dark Materials and Alice and Wonderland both have strong ties to the city. I love the way Lyra’s Oxford in Northern Lights is so similar yet so different from one I grew up in. With regards to Harry Potter they really are the books of my generation, I was the same age as Harry when the Philosophers’ Stone came out and so grew up with him.

Once I took out my favourite passages I then ripped up the rest of the books ready to put on the chair. Then all I did was to take a paintbrush and some PVA and start gluing text all over the chair. I saved my favourite passages to go on the top so that they could be read easily. The seat of the chair I covered with some Penguin Book wrapping paper. Once done it was just the case of coating the chair with several layers of varnish.

So there you have it, my "please read my chair". Each time you sit in it you can remember the little bit history that each of the novels brings with it.

Crafty Swap: What Elizabeth Said

Hello everyone,

Really pleased to announce that today here at With Bells On we are conducting our first ever blogswap with the lovely Lizzy over at What Elizabeth Said. We both met at University whilst she was doing her PhD - yes that right its Dr Liz - and I was an Undergraduate. She had already started blogging at this point and she has been so encouraging in getting me to start this one that I just couldn't say no when she ask if I fancied doing a blogswap. I hope you all enjoy it. Without further ado over to Liz!

"My name is Lizzy, and I write about my crafty projects and love of shoes over at What Elisabeth Said. Today Emily and I are sharing our essential kit for sewing and crafting, and I had to think long and hard about this. Because my list of essentials is long. Seriously long. I dabble in a few different crafts, leading to an extensive stash of tools, but dressmaking is my first and main love. Every time I start a new project I find some other gadget that makes the job easier, or better, and I can't imagine working without it. But if I had to start from scratch, this is what I would need.

1) Cute pin cushion. This is a must right? Roderick, the Liberty print mouse, is my loyal sewing companion. He likes to sit on top of the sewing machine and criticize the state of my seams.

2) Embroidery scissors and rotary cutter. My mum gave me these little gold scissors to start off my first sewing kit, and they fit perfectly into my theory that a sewing kit should be beautiful as well as functional. Plus they are perfect for snipping those pesky loose threads. As a woman with around ten different pairs of scissors for fabric, yarn, paper, thread and even ribbons, I could really do a whole separate list of my favourite cutting tools. But there is a special place in my heart for my rotary blade. So sharp, such clean edges, and really great for cutting out pattern pieces without moving the fabric around too much.

3) Tracing wheel. This one is a cheat, as I have never actually used a tracing wheel for my patterns before. But I want to learn! All I need is some dressmakers carbon paper. This particular tool came from my Granny, and I have also seen double tracing wheels that can mark out your seam allowances too. Enough to set my sewing senses tingling! A new gadget? I must have it!

4) Kilner jar pin cushion/button storage. I'll be honest, I made this pin cushion/jar thing more for its decorative-ness than practicality. Because it looks so lovely filled up with pearly buttons and with a handful of colourful pins poking out of the top. But clear glass jars are definitely my preferred storage for buttons and other notions, and the prettier the better!

5) Stitch unpicker. Or ripper, if your technique is anything like mine. Unquestionably the most hard-working tool in the arsenal. Unwanted decoration on a dress? Let me fix that for you. Want to remove the sleeves from something? No problemo. Made a bit of a sewing machine boo boo? Sorted. Scrap the rest of the list, this is my stitchy must have.

What makes your list of essential crafting tools?"

And now for something completely different...

As you have probably gathered, there is never a minute wasted in our household.  I have been looking at a sad, dilapidated French dining chair for some months and finally got the enthusiasm to reinvent it.

You will need:

                  One neglected chair

                  Piece of plywood (if not seat) MDF too hard for staples!

                  1 inch foam or similar

                  Staple gun or upholstery tacks

                  Piece of calico and material for final cover

How often have you been to a junk shop and seen an old chair for a fiver - or less?  It may even have been on a skip!  I love skips. Well, if you don’t have one, hopefully this blog will encourage you to go and seek one out.

My chair started its life 100 years ago with a beautiful cane seat, sadly long gone.

The idea here is to be economic.  Use material and paint you already have - be thrifty - it feels very rewarding and friends will be amazed.

I initially treated the chair with a woodworm zapper - just in case.  I then had a piece of plywood cut to fit the base by my very good friend Bob who always has just the thing in his garage.  You may be lucky and have a base already in the chair.

When it came to painting the chair I used Annie Sloan chalk paint as I already had some to hand.

You can buy little tester pots which are enough for a chair.  The wonderful thing about Annie Sloane paint is it needs little or no preparation - it sticks to anything.  I used duck egg blue for the first coat and old white as the second and final coat.  When dry with some 000 grade wire wool carefully rub the wood until the first colour appears in places and a little of the original wood.  This gives the chair a wonderful aged look.  Nearly finished the woodwork now.  Just rub a clear wax over the paintwork and buff it up.  You can use a satin acrylic varnish if you prefer.

Now for the seat pad.  You will need some firm 1 inch foam.  I sourced mine from our local market for £1.50.  Place the wooden base on the foam and using a very sharp knife, carefully cut around the shape.  I put a piece of thick plain material loosely on top of the foam as I find the final cover often “sticks” to the foam making it more difficult to work with.  Cut your top cover material about 3 inches bigger than the base.  Place on foam pad and carefully turn over so that the underside of the seat is facing you.  Be firm and pull the two sides over and staple in about 4 places.  You do have to pull hard otherwise the cover will be loose.  Leave the corners free.  Now do the same to the top and bottom.  It is now safe to turn the seat over to check that it looks OK. You don’t want any wrinkles.  Carefully fold and staple each corner to get a neat edge, cutting away some material if it is too lumpy.   You could staple a little calico or something similar on the base to make it look more 

professional.

So how do you think it looks?

 

Felt Fur Hare Instructions

You will need:

A wet and windy afternoon

2 good friends

10gms of fleece and a little white or cream fleece

A felting needle (36 gauge or other) and plasters

A sponge (the sort you wash the car with)

2 black beads for eyes and some black thread

Needle felting is not difficult.  Basically you are carefully stabbing into wool fibres with a barbed needle.  The wool soon becomes matted and enables you to make your own felt sculpture.

When working, remember that as you stab at the wool, using your sponge as a cushion, the fleece will become firm and shrink.  If your hare is not as you want him to look, just add a little more fleece and stab away.

Lets get started.  The hare is made is made in 6 easy stages. 

1. Body.  Take 10gms of fleece (a handful approximately) and split it in half.   Put half to one side for later.  Roll the other half into a cone shape.  Lay the fleece onto the sponge and carefully stab through the fleece into the sponge.  Keep doing this and at the same time remember to turn the body.  Gradually you will feel the fleece become firm.  To enable the hare to stand you need to flatten the bottom of the cone.  You do this by carefully stabbing the bottom until it is firm.

The neck end of the cone should be left loose so the head can be added.  The body should be firm and keep its shape.

2. Head.  This is fiddlely so watch the fingers.  Take the remaining fleece and split into 4 little piles.

One of these piles will be the head.  Shape into a small cone (hare head like) and stab away.  
Continue stabbing all around until you have a firm head.

3. Ears.  Take another of the piles.  This is for the ears and tail.  You should be left with 2 piles for later. Split this fleece into two.  One half is for the ears so split into 2 and shape into long ear shapes on the sponge.  I do them side by side to gauge how they look - ie the same size!  Stab away, turning them carefully, leaving one end loose to attach to the head.  When they are firm it is time to neaten the edges.  This is done by putting the ear between two pieces of card.  Hold firmly and stab at the

edges, turning as necessary.  You should now have to cute ears.  With a little white fleece you can line the inside of his ears.  Just lay a few strands of white fleece on each ear and stab into place.

4. Tail.  Fold fleece into a tight ball and stab very carefully - this is when the plasters may be required.

In fact, it may be time for refreshment and a quick look at the others’ handiwork.  Don’t you always think other people’s work looks better than yours?

5. Legs.  Your last pile of fleece is for the legs.  Split into 4.  Roll 2 of these into a tight sausage shape to reach about three-quarters up the cone body shape.  Place on the sponge and needle and turn leaving one end loose for attachment.  When each leg is firm and round it is time to make the paw.

Carefully fold the finished end over and stab on the sponge to make the paw.  Add a little more wool if you want the pad to be bigger.  Now for the back haunches.  These are just two balls (not too round.  Stab away bringing the sides of the fleece to the middle as best you can until you have a good rounded shape.

6. Creating your hare. You join the pieces together by teasing the loose fleece around the head and stab carefully to blend the wool and form a complete and firm attachment.  Place the head in the position you want.  His front legs can be placed to one side so the hare is looking to the left or right.  Stab carefully the front legs through to the body so they don’t flap about.  The ears are attached in the same way.  Blending the loose fibres into the head.  The haunches are placed either at the base of the cone and the tail is attached at the back.  The hare would stand well.  If not, stab the bottom to reshape him.

Nearly there.  I was so excited when I made my first hare.  They really come to life when the eyes are sewn on.  Take double black thread and attach the eyes.  When secure extend the thread down to the nose area and make a Y shape for his mouth.  Secure the thread well.  Whiskers.  I used a little white fleece as I like the shaggy look.  We have used bristles from a pastry brush and a broom.  All are good.  If your animal is too shaggy he can be trimmed carefully for a sleeker model!