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100 flower scarf pattern

Thank you to everyone who took the time to post a comment about the 100 flower scarf. I was just amazed at the response and thrilled to win a prize ( who doesn't like to win something especially a new book!) . Quite a few people asked for the pattern so i have put together a quick "How to" . It really is a simple flower...lots of them...then sewn together in whatever manner pleases your aesthetic sensibilities. A great way to use up little bits of wool  and an easy way to fill in a few minutes here and there during the day. Use them as a trim or make up a bunch for a happy flower pin....incidentally my scarf only uses 74 flowers but you can use as many or as few as you care to make. As far as wool types/ply goes - different plys will obviously give you different size flowers. The same applies to different fibre types. If you want a very regular , uniform look , try to stick to similar weights. I think that a scarf made up of all different weights and types would look kind of like a crazy patchwork ...fun, fun ,fun(please let me know if there are any mistakes/obvious steps left out!) Note: Instructions are British/European so for US/Canadian use sc for my dc and dc for my tr.

Little flower

special abbreviation: Tr2tog= work 1 tr into each of next 2dc until one loop of each remains on hook, yo and through all 3 loops on hook.
have fun!

Make 6ch , sl st into 1st ch to form ring or see photo for making an adjustable ring which works beautifully - I use this start on everything requiring a ring of chains to begin- no more holey center's!

image 1 - dc worked onto adjustable base ring
image 2 -completed ring of 15 dc
image three - flower with two petals

2nd round: [3ch, Tr2tog ( see spec abbrv above) over next 2 dc, 3ch, sl st into next dc] 5 times placing last sl st into last dc of previous round.
Fasten off.

image 4- forming third petal.
image 5- finished flower.

Arrange flowers and stitch together to form scarf.
I stitched the flowers together in pairs and then stitched all of the pairs together, with each pair off center to give the scarf a wavy look. I used sewing thread - you could use the tails of the flowers if you wish or thicker embroidery thread if you want the joining stitches to be a feature.

Add fringe/pom poms/etc if you want and then send me a photo! I'd love to see any results!

cake...

love at first bite..........pen, collage and rose's crayons......

hey presto! a little felt box

Found a use for some of the felt that I made years ago - fun to make and only took a little over an hour.... of course it's from another of those wonderful Japanese zakka books that I so adore. This one had many beautiful felt things in it. I will post an image of the book and the relevant details tomorrow. Just wait  until you see the little shoes.......

Here is a quick run down on how -to -make ...

Cut a piece of felt as in above diagram ( scale up or down as you wish)

Fold so that the 15cm edges are together and stitch the 9cm sides using a simple whip stitch or blanket stitch ( or something more elaborate if you are brave and adventurous)

"Open" box and sew two bottom seams using same stitch . The 9cm side seam will sit at the centre point of the 7cm bottom edge ( this makes more sense when you have the box piece in your hands, truly! If this sounds all too confusing, take a look below at the lining piece flattened after sewing the bottom seam. )

Cut the lining piece ( if you are going to line it) allowing an extra 0.5-0.8cm seam allowance around the outside edge. I have just folded the pattern piece I used for the outer felt shell to make it easier to cut.
Stitch as for the felt box either by hand or machine.

This is what it looks like when you have flattened  the  'box" to sew the bottom seam.

Put the lining inside the felt box with right sides together and side seams matching.

Turn the edge of the lining over to the same height as the felt box to neaten raw edges and use a running stitch ( or your choice) through both layers to secure.

There you go ..a simple yet pleasing box to put things in.
And take things out of.
Just like Eeyore and his useful jar that Pooh gave him for his birthday. Not suggested for hunny though!
Let me know if this is a dreadfully unclear pattern and I will make any necessary changes.
Love to see a photo if anyone makes one.......

silver and gold...

this describes the type of weekend I had perfectly..... on Saturday I finally went to my workshop , 'An introduction to working  with Precious Metal Clay" ( it had been rescheduled twice due to lack of numbers because nobody knows what it is). And what exactly is Precious Metal Clay? Well besides being my newest obsessive passion, it is a jewelery making technique where you model a clay  ( the PMC) into whatever shape you wish, fire it and end up with a piece of work that is 99% pure silver ! This is the clay below as well as the simple tools ( paint brushes , smooth roller in this case a sunscreen bottle ).

and here are my finished pendants ...

All this in a six hour workshop with plenty of time for tea and food breaks! I can just tell that I am going to become hooked on this especially as you can achieve finished results at home, using a firing pot made for ceramics work ( $70 odd compared to $1300 for a kiln) . I am just amazed at what you can actually do - you can build structures over combustible material like mouldable cork, paper even those cheese ball snacks ( much preferable to eating them - that yellow!) to form hollow beads , shapes, etc.

After such an exciting day it was lovely to just relax and finish off a few things on Saturday evening. I watched the new Harry Potter movie ( great ) after Iron Chef  had finished ( just love the Chairman, especially those outfits) and added the last touches to a little string of birds that are off to Brooklyn, New York. I am doing a little vintage button swap with the talented  Ann Wood - take a look at her beautiful horses and magical ships...its like they've almost sailed out of a fairytale. I have a thing for birds at the moment ( see pendant above) and I am determined to use up some of my collection of handmade felt - I have such a pile left from uni days both as a student and a lecturer. Not to mention wool tops , so I am busy finding new and wonderful ways to use it so that I can start making some more. Who knows maybe I'll even put some up for swaps - if anyone out there wants some hand made felt drop me a line. So back to the birds..I am really happy with how they turned out...

and hanging from my very useful door...

and close ups...

Sunday afternoon we decided to take the girls down to Balmoral beach as it was such a clear crisp afternoon and I just love being on the beach in cold weather. Rose and Charlie made sand "icecreams" - I couldn't stop Charlie from attempting to lick hers much to her disgust. After the third lick we decided to have a paddle. The water was very chilly indeed so of course Rose fell in. As they do. Luckily I had expected such a thing to happen the at least one of them, so after a change of clothes it was off to Grandma Maggie's ( who  lives just up the hill) for fish and chips and mini magnums all round. Charlie much preferred this one to the one made of sand.
Some happy snaps..

and Charlie after her mouthful of 'icecream"...

Not very impressed!
Roll on next weekend...off to tackle the ever growing pile of rocks in the garden...

lovely to look at

I have recently discovered the beautiful illustrations of  the talented Ashley at kitty genius . I just had to have two of her canvas prints of Rose and Charlotte's room so I bought them here . They arrived much sooner than I expected and now I am very tempted to keep them for my office...here they are for everyone to enjoy then jump across to her blog  and spend a bit of time gazing at some more.....

this lovely is called "gaggle of girls"

and this one is "windy day"

sneak peak inside the book

here are some of the garments that are in  the Japanese girls book  ISBN4-579-11054-4... too cute! There are a few bags and a hat as well ....

and the reason I bought the book......

I am definitely making this outfit...
 

lemonade scones.... and another japanese craft book!

Friend Michele gave me this easy peasy recipe for lemonade scones...one her mum always makes and swears by. Now perhaps everyone else out there has known about these forever but I've only just discovered them and thought it my duty to pass it on for those of us who love scones but hate the rubbing in of the butter bit! Its also a perfect recipe to make with the kids as all the ingredients just go into the bowl together, mix, pat out and cut. My girls had lots of fun with squashing out the dough mix so ours were a little wonky and uneven. Take my word for it , they still tasted great and leftovers are pretty good toasted with butter the next day ( only I don't recall there being that many leftovers........) My camera is on loan at the moment, so no photos but I promise you , they really work!

Lemonade Scone recipe
Sift 4 cups of Self raising flour into a bowl, add 300ml pouring cream,1/4 cup white caster sugar, 355ml of lemonade ( almost a whole can) and 1/2 tsp of salt.
Mix to a soft dough and turn out onto a well floured surface ( its meant to be pretty soft and sticky), Pat out to 1.5- 2cm thick and cut with scone cutter. Place on greased tray ( or use  non stick baking paper) and cook 15-20mins at 180 deg C or until golden. Eat with butter, cream jam or whatever takes your fancy.

We actually added a bit of grated cheese and chopped ham to a bit of ours to see how it tasted as a savoury scone.Verdict - pretty good !
I'd like to try replacing the lemonade with soda water and see if they still turn out OK as we always have soda water on hand but never lemonade! I'll let you know if this works out.

One of the best pattern books I've come across for little girls clothes is this one... ISBN4-579-11054-4

The size range is from 100cm to 140 cm which I think is about 4 upwards. I used one of the dress patterns to make Rose's first long dress for her Grandma Maggie's 70th birthday party and it turned out beautifully. I had to make a few minor adjustments but as I made a quick toile first this was not a problem. Here is the dress and I'll scan a few pages later to show what's in the book.

I just loved the fabric...a Paul Smith printed velveteen in colours that just sing. I also made a sash in the pink gingham just because a girl should have a big girly bow on her dress! This pattern had the cutest gathered pocket details but I decided   to leave them off as it all looked a bit much with all of the pattern. Definitely a recommended book for those out there with a little girl to sew for.

Sorry- Illustration Friday

coloured pen /digital image

100 flower scarf

OK, OK not quite a hundred but it certainly felt like I was sewing one hundred together.
This scarf started as an enormous bag of odd and ends tapestry wool that I picked up at St Vinnies.

I was playing around with a little crochet flower  trying to get ideas for a swap I was doing and before I knew it, there was a pile of  coloured flowers. So of course I decided that it would be a good idea to stitch them into a scarf. Took a little longer than I thought and in the meantime I made and sent a different scarf for my swap. When I saw that this weeks Whip up Whiplash theme  was "colour" I decided that it was the perfect opportunity to get it finished ( and ticked off my list of "THINGS I MUST FINISH - hooray). Here it is..... firstly draped artfully over a tree....

and again, a graceful action shot...

and just in case you didn't quite get it, once more doing the domestic doorknob thing....

Whilst we're talking Japanese craft books ( I know , but any excuse) here's s another beauty I picked up last week when I went to exchange some wool. Unfortunately the wool shop was shut ( what happened to late night trading guys?) but as Books Kinokuniya was open until 9.00pm I count the trip as successful.Especially when I found not one but three must have books and ( bonus) I received 20% off( I am such a valued customer) so I actually saved money by buying them ( at least that's how I look at it)

ISBN4-529-04163-8
I am definitely going to have a go at the bag on the cover and I just loved the quirky little bowls and containers....

so much so that I had to have a go with some of the wool from my ridiculous stash ( it really is getting out of control so if anybody is interested in doing a swap of anything for a good selection of some of it just drop me a line....... I also have a heap of wool tops for felting left over from my felting lectures....)
Here is my first effort- a bit wonky but I kinda like that. I did put handles on but took them off the next day as they didn't seem right. I will have another go , maybe with a lid some time soon. I'd really like to try a more organic shape as well, something a bit more sculptural.Soon. When I have finished some of my other on the go projects. And I have a few ideas for some more things to keep me busy , taking shape even as I type.......

good bowl sit, see, it stayed very still and smiled on cue......

kids stuff

After looking at the new blog Kiddley, I  thought I'd post a few images of some of the crafty stuff that Rose and I did last school holidays.For the stuffed dolls, she used Crayola fabric textas to draw her image , then I ironed it and did a quick bit of stitching and there you go - a doll to dress and decorate in fabric scraps. Her older cousin Sammy (8) made the beautiful leopard .

I can't remember which book I found this idea in- its a great way to use up scraps from sewing,knitting, scrapbooking...anything really where you end up with little pieces snipped up and all over the place. Save them in a zip lock bag and next rainy day...quick paper doll collage. Just cut a string of paper dolls or animals or whatever takes your fancy, give them a plate of glue or a glue stick/pot, the "bits and pieces"  and off they go. Glitter glue,sequins, textas, paint, buttons, pasta shapes, google eyes...anything you have on hand  adds to the fun (and mess). I found a great  tray at Ikea ( a bargain at about $6.00) with metal folding legs - the sort you use to eat TV dinners off or brekkie in bed. I took off the legs and we use that for a craft tray. Most of the stuff stays on the tray and any spills of glue etc are more easily cleaned up.
the book suggested that a few blank dolls and a bag full of paper, fabric and other scraps makes a good "thinking off you " present to send to a child . I think most kids ( like most adults) love a surprise parcel in the mail - this one is inexpensive and light and easy to post.
Here are some of the ones Rose did last rainy day ...we added some sequins and sparkle on another day, after the photos were taken.

And I finally got a photo of the asleep!awake! bear that i sent to little Isabella Rose..I was very satisfied with this little bear... except his ears turned out a little pointy..I'll make them more rounded next time. He has a vintage chenille front and a cuddly wool flannel head and paws.