Silent Sunday

That Friday Feeling...on Saturday

Firtly, sorry that this is actually late this week. Don't quite know what happened to the time yesterday but I had every intention of getting home from work, creating a blog post and then going to a friend's for dinner. Somehow that period of time at home got lost: I ended up going straight to dinner from work as I was late.
Anyway, my keyboard is playing up today and certain keys won't work until I punch them in. So today's post is hoping to get my keyboard letters back...

Postage stamp letter by Stamposaurus. What a great design idea!

Everyone needs an alphabet charm at some point... thanks to BaWStampedDesign 

Cute S Brooch by ismay

Cool Pinboards Online

Paper robot - from http://paperpunk.com/  

Have you heard of Pinterest? I've only discovered it very recently but it is my new favourite site on the internet. Basically it is like having a pinboard of all the different cool things that you find on the internet. In some ways it is a little like De.li.cious - a way of keeping a hold of the sites that you are interested in. But the fun twist to pinterest is that you pin the site and it will hold a picture of what it is you have pinned. You can arrange your pins into boards - which are basically categories - of your choice. As a crafter-on-hold I have had to put a lot of projects on hold. So of course one of my boads on pinterest is 'future projects'. You can go and look at my boards here. At present pinterest is still quite new so you still need to be invited to it - however it is quite easy to get an invite: you just click on the 'request invite' button. What I really like about pinterest is that you can look at other people's boards and discover more new things - and if you like it you can pin things you find to your own boards from there. It isn't just a pinboard for artsy-craftsy tweeps; you can pin whatever you like on it - they even have boards ready for you to pin up interesting reads, places you'd like to go etc etc. Just thought I'd share it with you...

How to... Make a NEEDLEBOOK

Since I broke my collar bone and have been totally incapable of making things for the past two months, this month's how to is again a fairly easy one: how to make a needlebook. I lose needles all the time - whenever I need one I have to hunt for about 15 minutes in all the different places I keep my sewing bits before I can find one so this project is going to come in useful. It's not very hard - I guess it will take you about an hour tops really unless you want to go over the top and make your book super decorative. Obviously what you put on yours and what your design is, is up to you. I have just received some lovely fabric from http://www.myfabrichouse.co.uk/ so I decided to use some of it for this. I have to admit though - the REALLY cool patterned material I just got from MyFabricHouse I've kept aside for a different project... but you'll see that another time!

What you need:
A sewing machine
Thread
Two small rectangles of felt (folded should make a small page)
Some material of your choice.
Pinking shears
A button
Trimmings / Sequins / Decorative bits...

Step 1:
Decide what size you want your needlebook to be. Fold 2 pieces of coloured felt and cut them to the same size. These will make a double page each. Cut around the edges of these with pinking shears to give them a zigzag edge.



Step 2:
As I decided to have a bit of a patchwork design, I cut strips of material and sewed them together - obviously if you don't want to have a multi-materialed cover then you just need one single piece of material cut to size.
Don't forget to leave a few millimetres on each side for hems. You need another piece of the same size for the inside cover.

Step 3: 
Place the front and back covers together with the right sides facing each other and the inside of the material facing out. Pin them / tack them together and sew around the 2 long sides and 1 short side leaving a couple of millimetres seam allowance.
I always 'hem' the edges of my seams - use a zigzag stitch along the edges to prevent fraying and to strengthen the seam.

Step 4:

Cut the corners diagonally so that you don't have bunched up bulky bits in the corners and then turn inside-out  (thus making it the right way round if that makes sense!)

Step 5:
Place your button about halfway down the sewn short side of your cover on the 'front' cover. Sew it on.

I did this in the wrong order so please
excuse that I haven't put my button hook
inside my cover!

Step 6:
Use either a bit of ribbon or some plaited wool as a button pull. Cut to size and then place between the two pieces of unsewn material. Fold the material in and pin/tack so that you have a smooth edge encasing the button thread into it. Sew along this edge.



Step 7:
Add any extra decorations you want - I had some pretty lacy ribbon that I decided to sew all along the edges by literally holding in place and sewing a straight line along it.





Step 8:
Pin the felt pages into the cover - make sure that the halfway line of the pages meets the middle of the cover. Use a sewing machine to sew down the middle line - reinforce by doing this twice.



Step 9:
Fold in half with the outer cover on the outside, do your button up and then check it works. And then start putting your needles in it because you're done!

Silent Sunday

That Friday Feeling...

This week's Friday Feeling is hair clips. I still can't wash my hair independently (grrr) so have to go and get it done at the local hair salon. And my wash and 'rough' dry seems to have transformed over the past few weeks into a wash and 'straighten your hair but not charge you any extra cos we like you'- type thing. Which I am totally happy about! And what with my nice straight hair, and the fact that I CAN get my arm high enough to put hairclips in, I've been wearing a number of clips recently. You already saw the cute clips I bought from Imynda (click here to see the post) the other day, but here are some others which I've noticed over on Etsy. As usual the links on the names will take you to the person's shop. 

I bought a change purse from Greengrass2, but she also makes cute hairclips too. 

I bought 2 cream roses from OneTenZeroSeven last weekend. This week I have mainly been wearing these!

What a great idea! Using buttons as the basis for cool hair clips. These are made by  Wychbury. 

Reading A Little ... June

 Animal Farm - George Orwell
I didn't like 1984. I've read it a number of times and every time I manage to forget it. It's only about halfway through when I think everything is a little too predictable when I remember I've read it before. For this reason, I approached Animal Farm with slight trepidation: I thought it was Orwell's writing that I didn't like. I was pleasantly surprised. While I wouldn't put this in my list of favourite books, I also should have read this much earlier. Animal Farm recalls how the animals of Manor Farm stage a revolution and take over from the humans. A thinly disguised satire of Stalinist communism, this is an effective novel with some fairly hard-hitting themes. I really felt for some of the characters and my disgust at the short-sighted leaders increased as the book progressed. I would recommend it as one of those books you 'should' read.

Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen
I read Water for Elephants as one of my book group reads on Shelfari and after a number of recommendations. It is an absolutely fantastic read and I now know why I had so many people say I should read it. While essentially it is a love story, it captures the mood of the Great Depression and prohibition brilliantly. A number of themes are dealt with brilliantly- love, loyalty, bravery, kindness, cruelty... the list could go on. Jacob Jankowski is the son of Jewish Polish settlers. After a tragic accident, Jacob joins a circus and we get a brilliant description of what life with a travelling circus during the 1930s would have been like. The portrayal of characters is deep and well-rounded and you feel total sympathy for their feelings and moods. I loved this book and it's now one of my favourites! If you'd like to see my shelfari review click here: http://www.shelfari.com/books/10021/Water-for-Elephants/readers-reviews

To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee
I read this years and years ago while still at school. But it's one of those books that I HAD to read, and therefore I disliked, and promptly forgot. It probably didn't help that we had about 3 teachers that term so we didn't get a 'whole' picture. In fact I'm not even sure we finished it. Anyway, I decided after reading lots of people raving about it, that I had to re-read it. And I'm very glad I did. It is written from the viewpoint of Scout Finch, the daughter of a lawyer living in Alabama in 1936. I don't think it needs much explaining here as it is incredibly well-known for it's themes of racism, tolerance, prejudice and community-spirit. It is brilliantly written, has lively characters and dialogue and I can absolutely see now why it has influenced so many people so profoundly. An excellent read.