Difficulty 4/5 Archives - Simple Crafts

Fabric Bag with Cat Motif

October 22, 2013 by Merry Leave a Comment

Over the Summer, Maddy wanted to experiment with using our new sewing machine and decided to have another go at a bag she had tried once before and hadn’t been so pleased with. This time she put a little more thought into how to build up her pattern and layer the seams so it worked as she wanted and the result was really rather good.

Here’s how it went… in fairly general terms!

1. Cut out two rectangles of fabric, the outer and the inner. In this case it was yellow spotty fabric and some calico inside. Put them right sides together and pin.

2. Stitch down each long side about 5mm from edge and turn through.

3. Fold the tops inwards so ragged edges are inside and pin flat. Ironing at this point is a good idea.

4. When you are happy the tops are level and the inside doesn’t show above the outside, stitch as neatly as possible, about 5mm from the edge.

5. Fold it in half so you have an accurate idea of the size of each panel.

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When Maddy did her version she actually attached the cat motif before the lining and sewing. On reflection this made it stressy and if you are neat, attaching the motif all the way through the inner and outer layer of fabric is probably no big deal. Who sees the inside anyway? It’s up to you but if you want it all contained inside the lining, you need to do this bit first and be careful you place it correctly, bearing in mind seam allowances).

6. Use the cat outline to cut out a version of the motif in fabric and also in felt. (Click on the picture, right click and view and you’ll get a full sized version). Top tip, cut a mm or so outside the line to make you fabric version and a mm or so inside for your felt version.

7. Put the felt version on top of one side of the bag on the outside. Put the fabric version on top. The felt adds body and makes it more like applique. Pin it carefully and then very slowly stitch the cat to the bag. Maddy did zigzag stitch and straight stitch for the paw outlines. You could just as easily hand sew it. Maddy used yellow to match the body of the bag.

8. Fold the bag, lining sides together, in half. Stitch neatly down the left and right side (Not the top….!!!)

9. Next you need some wide ribbon. Cut a piece long enough to cover the length of each side of the bag and made a shoulder strap. It has to be attached to the sides so it folds equally over the front and back edge. Start at the bottom of one side (turning the ribbon under if it will fray) and pin it up one side. Then do the same with the other side, starting at the bottom again and making sure there are no twists it the strap.

10. Machine it in place, near to the edge of the ribbon to make it neat.

All done!

Halloween Fimo Cat Tutorial.

October 6, 2013 by Merry Leave a Comment

It’s been such a long time since I did any polymer clay work that all my talent seemed to have deserted me when I sat down to make a start on this little chap. In fact it took nearly a week and endless prototypes before I started to feel like I was finding my fingers with it again. In the end though, I’m rather pleased with this little chap. He’s a great Halloween Cat and easy to make with some patience too.

I started with the orange one (who I think I probably like the character of the best really) and made the brown one to photograph a tutorial. We had a lot of fun together and hopefully these fairly brief photo instructions will help you too.

As usual, all my Fimo came from our shop CraftMerrily. We are always very pleased to welcome new customers and grateful for their purchases!

1. First, whizz up your chosen colours into a blend that feel furry to you and divide into balls for head, body, neck, legs and tail. I made my leg balls roughly twice the size I needed them here, so scale back a bit there!

2. Make the body a bit egg shaped and then put a flattened neck ball on top. I added a flat disk of cream to his tummy for a splash of colour.

3. Mould the ear points out a bit (and they need to go through a hat so make them slightly too large. I use a pointy tool to make ear dimples; if you fancy it you can fill them with a small pear drop shape of a different colour. Push your thumbs into the sides to make eye sockets and then press a round tool in to those sockets to make the eye ball hole.

(Note: at this point the head can get a bit flat; you get a better cat face if you pause to round it up again a little, especially under the nose. My tutorial attempt went a bit flat and teddy like.)

4. Two flat pancakes of colour go into the eye sockets. I like translucent Fimo for this. I use a knitting need to make hole in that and then push two beads in for pupils.

5. Create the small pieces shown in the middle right picture and attach them to the face. How these are placed gives character and expression, so experiment.

6. I use a knitting needle to give furry blending detail now. Blend the eye lids, soften the ears, add fur to his face and blend the triple nose piece to the face. Add whisker dots to the cream and nostrils to the black nose.

7. Attach him to his neck and blend those 3 pieces together. I know cats don’t have very obvious necks but it just lengthens his figure a bit. Add furry detail across the body front, especially blending the tummy patch if you’ve made one.

8. Getting the arms and legs right is tricky. Remember to give elbows (no one has joint free limbs, it just looks wrong) and experiment with paws. Chunky is good, delicate gives a different look (more female). Add three dents to the paws for claws/footpads.

9. With the back legs, a change in angle helps the feet look real. Model the shape in the bottom right picture and add a detail by scoring a line around the ‘ankle’ and then pressing the leg and foot together again. It makes it look more defined. Add creases at the next joint. Make the side attaching to the body flat and the outer side more rounded. You can see this better in the top picture below.

10. Attach the limbs and position to give the attitude you like. Once the look and feel right, blend the hips and shoulders on to the main body so the join isn’t obvious. Don’t blend too far down or he will look as if his legs are stuck to his body in a weird body lock spell. Add furry detail to his limbs and his back.

11. Mould a tail in a shape that suits him. Make one end thick and flat and then sit him on it and blend as before. Looks better than being stuck to the back and is stronger too.

12. His wizard hat is just moulded from a ball of black Fimo. It needs two holes in the brim for his ears but otherwise can be a floppy or perky as you like. This one has a beaten up hat but I think he’s a fairly old wizard cat 🙂

As usual, I created a Pinterest board to inspire me. You might like some of these Cat Crafts too.

Embossed Fimo Snowflake Decorations

January 7, 2013 by Merry Leave a Comment

It's nearly time to put away the winter crafts and Christmas is long behind us but here is one craft we loved doing this year and will definitely do again. Ill write it up now and put links in shortly or it will never get done!

First we cut out a snowflake from white fimo. It gets covered in powder so it doesn't matter if the white isn't perfect.

This is the back of the snowflake, which I left white but used texture plates to enhance a little. You can colour both sides but it makes it a little trickier. You could paint it with acrylics after it is all baked though; metallic colours would look great.

Flip the snowflake over and put heaps of mica powder (these are ejr powders) on the front. Smooth it in well and then rub the powder in with baking paper or your finger so it is well stuck down.

Once done, press a texture plate on to the front. Spot the deliberate mistake with my green one (as opposed to the blue one at the top… I didn't think about the angle of the snowflake so the writing is slanted!)

I use a roller on top of my texture plates to get an even pressure when I press a design in. Then heap a different colour of powder on to the snowflake, on top of the base (the green in my case) and distribute it across the snowflake. It will move easily but light pressure with a finger tip will press it on enough to stay in the depressions.

Bake your first snowflake, otherwise when it is added to the back one, it will have droopy 'petals'.

Now, cut a second, larger snowflake from more white fimo. Repeat the texturing of back and front and add a colour of powder to one or both sides. Make a hole for a hanging thread in the tip of one point.

Add a blob of liquid fimo to the larger snowflake, press the baked smaller snowflake on to it and rebake the two together.

Ejr powders can be varnished but seem to stay pretty well glued on even without 🙂

Halloween Finger Puppets in Felt – Tricky Set

October 20, 2012 by Merry Leave a Comment

Having done our finger puppets last week in a nice easy style, Maddy decided to take it a step further and make a more complicated bunch. The result is a truly monstrous bunch of felt finger puppets that I think you will really love!

This would be a tricky bunch to describe step by step. We’ve done a pattern guide sheet but it was drawn after the event (I will redo it at some point) and so although it is a good guide, you will need to tweak some sizes and shapes a little possibly. However, in a nutshell….

Skeleton is two white pieces and the pattern stitched on in black thread.

Witch is a body with a face stitched on (you could glue) and hat stitched on top. The cape was actually pieces sewn on to the sides and back fbut we’ve simplified it into a single cape.

The devil can be made by sewing or stitching the face on but sewing will work better. The horns can be done as two triangles but Maddy did a crescent and stitched it behind the face. The tail and trident are blanket stitched and then attached.

Maddy did Frankie’s head in two parts with a stitched detail scar and blanket stitch around the face to give character. The cape is like Dracula’s but a little smaller.

The Vampire has a stitched collar and cape in 3 pieces. You could adapt the witches cape to work though.

Click here Halloween puppet patterns.

Needle Felted Squirrel

October 3, 2012 by Merry 12 Comments

If you don’t fall instantly in love with this little creature, then I don’t know what to do for you! This is Maddy’s needle felted squirrel and I think he’s just divine. As usual, she had a picture in her head and far exceeded what I imagined she would do with the idea. This squirrel pretty much ties up the autumn themed crafts for this year too and what a way to finish!

Our felting box contains plenty of scraps of colours and this is made from what is left of a ball of brown and some flesh beige fleece. My favourite shops for buying felting supplies are World of Wool and Sara’s Texture Crafts. You can pick up a bargain on ebay too by looking for felting supplies. You’ll need some needle felting needles too and a sponge or foam pad (unless you don’t value your knees much).

At some point we’ll feel well qualified enough to do a tutorial; until then, read this 🙂

As you can see, the squirrel is constructed in a series of discs and when flat and solid enough, they are attached to each other with more needling.

Little paws, feet and ears are added with small shaped pieces of felting.

Once all his bits and bobs had been attached, he just needed detail adding with some back stitching in black (or dark brown) embroidery thread. The stitching and the button eyes really made him I think . Maddy Makes amazing craft projects, don’t you agree? (She’s very proud of him and only 12, so I think she would love some likes and comments to tell her he’s great 😉 )

Felted Flower Picture.

August 24, 2012 by Merry 1 Comment

A few weeks ago a visit to a re-enactment day and the girls loved the idea of wet felting. We’ve needle felted before but not wet felted so we pulled out our trusty supplies, looked up how to do it and had a go. In the few relatively nice days we had this summer, the girls sat on the patio with soap and water and blended fibres and got wet and messy but clean at the same time!

Being a little slapdash and short on attention, their desire to create intricate pieces was fairly short lived. They did enjoy the process and the fun of making up blends of colours but were short on patience at making really flat felt. This left us with lots of pieces of felted wool in a variety of fun mixes and nothing to quite do with them so we hit upon the idea of a collage style picture.

We cut leaf and petal shapes from all the different pieces of felt and then needle felted (it was raining!) some blue and green blends together. Then we stuck some linen on to the board at the back of a large 30″ picture and stuck the sky and grass backing on to the linen.

Once they were no, we arranged petals and central circles on to the scene and stuck them down with tacky glue. The felted stems were twists of fibre needle felted into shape and stuck down. Once completed we put a dark wood frame on it and got it ready for the wall. You’d have a picture of it there if I hadn’t smashed the frame carrying it out to take this picture!

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