My Home Makes

May 21, 2013
by My Home Makes 4 Comments

Dandelion Heads

I’ve been messing around! Somehow time has flown by. Maybe because I have been spending time in the garden where I have no idea of time. Unless I keep track, a quick half hour outside turns into several hours, then time for other projects disappears.

This week has been just like that. I have been pottering outside and not getting anything done that I had planned. One evening, I found an app for the iPad called Brushes and tried experimenting to see what I could do with it. It is free although you can pay to upgrade to have layers to build up images. I had fun with the single layer trying different brush styles, altering the pixel size, colour and transparency as I went. You can tweak the settings of each brush to change the effects. My first thought was some kind of background that could be printed on transfer paper and used for an embroidery background when ironed on to fabric.

If I get more of a hang of it, it could be used for all sorts of projects. It is like finger painting for adults!

In the end, I think the time I have spent in the garden showed and my favourite image was one of dandelions.

I think it will make a nice card design printed on photo paper.

May 14, 2013
by My Home Makes 10 Comments

Nine Patch Cushion in Recycled Denim

I’ve been sorting through my bin of fabrics and old clothes saved for sewing projects as I wanted to make a cushion cover for a large spare cushion pad I’ve had kicking around.

I found an old denim shirt that was well washed and faded but too worn in places to repair, along with a darker pair of jeans. Both went well with some linen left from a previous project so I cut up enough strips to sew nine simple patchwork squares. I kept the order that I sewed the fabrics the same on all nine squares the same as I wanted a geometric look on the finished cushion.

I am keeping it with the denim heart picture I made, ready for when I have tidied the bedroom out and sorted it as a guest room.

May 8, 2013
by My Home Makes 7 Comments

Just pottering…

How pretty are these Auriculas? A favourite specimen plant with the Victorians and I can see why. Every year, these beauties never fail and they have been in the same pot for about three years.

We have been having some windows replaced as we reached the point where some frames where more filler than wood and wouldn’t go another Winter. The new frames are in but it has been surprisingly disruptive and the house feels upside down. This week, my making has been more growing as I have escaped to the garden in the evenings ignoring the upheaval indoors. It has been great to get seedlings out of the house and into the greenhouse. Tomato plants and cucumbers have been planted or repotted and most of the vegetables have been sown either directly into the ground or into modules to plant later. Fingers crossed, most will survive the pigeons who waddle round the garden.

My bird scarer seems more for fun than function as they perch on him although they are so heavy he sways so much they hop down to the ground. I think some strings of old CDs are called for, or some old fashioned foil ribbons that may just deter them or a while.

May 2, 2013
by My Home Makes 1 Comment

Needle Felt Stash

While sorting out, I came across a piece of needle felt fabric I had been working on. It is a mix of dyed wool tops, yarn and fabric scraps worked over a piece of interlining from curtain making. It is punched together with an embellisher machine with six barbed needles needles pushing the fibres of the various materials together. I couldn’t decide what to do next with it, whether to carry on or change to machine embroidery. I like the effect but am not sure what to make with the finished piece, so it just got left.

Picking it up, I like how the colours work but have decided to wait until I am sure of what I want to make before cutting up.

My Denim Heart

April 30, 2013 by My Home Makes | 4 Comments

We have family coming to stay for a couple of months during May and June which has made me view our guest room with a critical eye. I know that before they arrive the temporary plant nursery on the long window sill will have to move into the greenhouse (fingers crossed for some warmer nights soon). The room seems to be the place for all those things transitioning out of the house, the ones that haven’t quite made the charity shop drop off yet and the “should I keep?” items. It is time to spring into action.

While sorting through, I found an old denim shirt and some linen fabric.

I cut a heart from the denim and ironed interfacing onto the linen background and the heart. I then spent a very restful hour embroidering around the edge of the heart and adding some buttons. An old picture frame was rescued and now it is hung on the wall. Maybe the title of this post should be my recycled heart!

I have a bag of shirts and am wondering what other projects I can do that will turn this bedroom into a more welcoming space. Hopefully, in a couple of weeks, I will be able to post the results.

April 26, 2013
by My Home Makes 7 Comments

I’ve sewn a skirt!

The sunshine has come out and I’ve realised that as much as I like Spring and Summer, most of my clothes lean towards colder days. I’ve recently watched the odd episode of the BBC series Sewing Bee where there is a competition running on dressmaking and tailoring skills. It has prompted me to buy a pattern and have a go at sewing a skirt. It is a simple Burda Pattern for a pencil skirt that I will be able to make up in several fabrics to ring the changes.

The pattern came up a little smaller than the sizing (or I am bigger than I thought!) so I made the next size up which is a good fit. The instructions were clear and it was quick to do. It was fun making something for myself as most of my other makes are either for home or I give away. It was also good to start with something easy as the last time I made clothes for myself I was at school… so all these years on my dress making skills are very, very rusty!

Here is a close up of the fabric below:

Ps. You will have to excuse the photos, my camera is broken so this is taken with the iPad which isn’t as crisp.

April 23, 2013
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A little bit of wit for the garden…. and other news

Last week, we discovered the water overflow was leaking down the side of the house. Most evenings after work were spent peering into the loft as my Husband and I checked the heating system and the water tanks. Eventually we decided that it was a fault with the heating system, gave up trying to fix ourselves and called a plumber. While it was good to try and sort out ourselves and part of our push to be more self reliant, it did mean there wasn’t much crafty “playtime”. I didn’t even get a chance to write a blog post!

Anyway, with the plumber called and things on the mend, it was great that the weekend came and brought sunshine and the promise of Spring with it. On Saturday, I painted a bit of scrap wood and wrote the quote by Isaac Newton which I thought would be fun to hang in the apple tree, even though apples are a long way off. It is a bit on the “rustic” side, like most things in our garden.

We then went to choose two new chickens as we lost a couple of our old girls over the Winter. Doris is the white Sussex hybrid and Flossie is the grey speckled hybrid below.

Their arrival certainly ruffled the feathers of the old girls. Elsie below has been very put out and even when it was time for her photoshoot, managed a very grumpy cluck.

Her fellow mature lady, who happens to be top of the pecking order strolled around the garden occasionally reminding everyone who was boss.

It has kept us amused for hours watching their antics as they gradually settle down. I feel like I am Mum to them, occasionally intervening when the older ones peck the young ones just a bit too much. A couple of days in and they all seem to be settling down.

We spent all weekend out in the garden enjoying the weather, catching up with planting vegetables and tidying flower borders. Here are a few shots of flowers around our garden that really bring it home to me that Spring is here.

Lungwort – one of my cottage garden favourites

Daffodils – they just make me smile!

Primroses

Happy Gardening Everyone!