rubykittyruby

SATURDAY:  I had a list of things to do today and they didn't include much cleaning.  However, I got stuck into sorting out heaps of fabric and half-finished projects, and a corner of my sitting room now looks massively neater.  I should've taken a 'before' photo really, but it would've merely been a picture of a mess. Now things are in clear plastic tubs and neat-ish piles, and I feel a whole lot better for it.  I'm convinced that if your head's in a muddle or you're stressing about the million and one things you imagine you ought to be doing, then you need to do one of the following.  Or preferably both.   Go for a long walk.   Clutter clear a section of your home.  By a section, that could mean a kitchen drawer, a shelf, your wardrobe, maybe an entire room.  In my case it was a bookshelf that acts as a sewing/fabric storage area.  My fabric stash is now divided up in colours.  The yellows and greens together.  Reds...

It's that strange time of year, isn't it?  Twixtmas, the in-betweenie days between Christmas and New Year.  When we all regret overeating and overbuying and know we ought to move off the sofa and do something ... but it's dreary outside and Storm Gerrit's doing its thing right now.  All gusty wind and rain, meaning it's best to stay indoors and - well, maybe not lie for hours on the sofa but get crafty things done.   Santa bought me some very welcome gifts on 25th.  Among them, two new gell plates, Pebeo paints and a handful of stencils.  I'm going to have fun with those.  But rather than get stuck into those I did some sewing instead.  Making more blocks for my Terry Rowland style quilt.  I've made roughly 125 so far, and probably need to make at least another 125 in order to get enough colours and patterns to achieve a pleasing colourwash effect.   The postie called in the afternoon with an eBay parcel of new fabric, but it's...

  Christmas present buying is done (even though I never feel I buy enough or get everything right), Christmas food shopping is done (and there are way too many calories lurking in cupboards, ready to ambush me with their sweet tasting treats.)  So, it's the ideal time to get stuck into some non-Christmas crafting.  Armed with a tube of Original Hi-Tack All Purpose Very Sticky Glue (that's a name that says it all!) I set about making a handful of boho beads.   I've watched various YouTube tutorials, and most recommend you start off with a packet of drinking straws, cutting one of the straws up to make your basic bead shape.  The only issue with using a straw is that the resulting bead has wide openings at the top and base.  I think they look better if they're narrower at each end.  For a narrower bead it's easier to roll a piece of scrap paper around a thin knitting needle, or - what I found ideal - a spindly plant support cane.  I used copier...

I'm not a natural when it comes to using a sewing machine.  Any use of it is usually accompanied by some rather 'industrial' language.  But I decided to finally tackle the tricky business - or would it be easy? - of inserting a zip using the machine.  I gave the zipper foot a go, but couldn't get along with it at all.  My stitches slid all over the place, and any sewing was followed by copious amounts of unpicking.  Sweary unpicking.   Here's one of my errors.  Gap should've been left in the lining, not the outer fabric of the pouch.  Doh! However, reverting to a standard foot and following the simplest of patterns for a lined zip-up pouch I managed to get three pouches made and three zips working fine 'n' dandy.  They're not 100% perfect - a wee bit lumpy and bumpy - but they're good enough.   I realise other people will be able to knock up one of these in ten minutes flat, but for me doing something like this is a big deal....

As a distraction from wrapping Christmas presents, I had a try at making boho style fabric beads this morning.  My efforts would've been a lot more successful if I'd got the right glue ... but more of that in a while.   The bead shape is easily made, using a paper straw as your base.  If you haven't any straws then improvise, as I did, by rolling a piece of paper around a paintbrush handle or a pencil, securing it with double sided tape.  Then it's a case of winding little pieces of brightly coloured fabric around the paper tube and adding a dab of glue to keep them in place.  I used Decoupage Medium as my sticking agent as I'd got it to hand, but PVA would've been fine.  As far as cotton fabric was concerned that is.   You see, the problem came when I tried using the Decoupage Medium to stick ribbon.  Fine gauzy ribbon, slippery satin, petersham ribbon, none of 'em would stay stuck, and I doubt PVA would've been any more effective....

The tree went up on Monday, and it's got more baubles hanging off its branches than you'd find in a John Lewis Christmas department.  I may have gone a wee bit over the top, but then Christmas is a time of excess, isn't it?  I haven't an overall theme for the tree - there are sparkly stars and frosted apples Christmas puds, cats in Santa hats, snow topped red pillar boxes, a couple of reindeer, plus lots of birds nestling among the greenery.  The grumpy looking fairy, who came from my mum's house and which I remember as a little kid so it's proper vintage, has been relegated to halfway up the tree, while a silver sequinned unicorn in a tutu is occupying the top spot.   Getting all the decorations out of their hideaway in the spare bedroom and having everything strewn across the floor meant I began tidying up that room.  Which had become a dumping ground for clothes, cardboard boxes and bubble wrap packaging from online purchases, old DVDs, electrical equipm...

I'm supposed to be cutting down on the crafty clutter, using up my existing supplies and not buying new.  But ...   Sometimes you have to snap up a bargain when it's put under your nose.  A fiver bought me a bagful of ribbons - always useful to have a selection - and three printing stamps from a local charity shop.  Someone who'd previously been into papercrafting must've had a massive clean out 'cause there were dozens of stamps, a Sissix machine, and all kinds of odds & ends in the shop.   When this kind of thing happens, It's like you get little glances into strangers lives.  Suddenly the charity shop's home to dozens of books about stamp collecting or DVDs about steam trains.  There are a shelf full of Mills & Boon paperbacks or stacks of maps and field guides. It's always poignant when you see several packs of Tena as it's very likely an elderly person's died and the family's had to clear out their house.  A grim task that m...

                                                     (shopping in Leeds can be a glamorous business!) THURSDAY:     I thought I was well wrapped up yesterday, but obviously not.  I've always been one of those people that feel the cold, but maybe that gets more deeply felt as we get older?  Anyway, I could've done with a few post-menopausal hot flushes as the weather was dry but flipping freezing  when I hopped on an early bus to town for an art class.  It was held at the city art gallery, a free two hour taster session about lino cutting.  I've played around with lino printing years ago, but was happy to be re-introduced to the craft.  The group of about a dozen were all women, and given the session was held during the day, it was mainly 'Women of a Certain Age'!  Though there was...

  The snow's not fallen deep and crisp and even, but lightly and for the time being everything looks pretty and kind of magical.  I set off fairly early this morning for church, walking along 'The LInes', a disused railway track that's now a combined bridle path, cycle way and footpath, home to joggers and dog walkers a-plenty.  Not this morning though.  It was beautifully peaceful.  I think these are hawthorn berries, and they look like ruby coloured jewels with their white frosting.   I'd wrapped up warmly, double gloved too, so I was cosy enough despite the chill air.   I tried to capture details of how the snow had fallen on individual plants and seedheads.   Love the contrast between the white snow and the carpet of fallen brown and gold coloured leaves.   It's after 2pm now, and I'm home and not intending to head outside again.  It's an afternoon of sewing, nibbling on chocolate and reading more of 'The Mercies,...

I've been wanting to play around with printing on fabric, and decided to have a go after watching this video.   Making these stylised dolls looked fun, and as they were unlikely to be washed then using acrylic paint instead of specific fabric paint would be good enough.  They're also not intended to be put in the hands of young children because of the beads (dangers of choking).  So, like the birds I sewed the other day, they're meant to be decorative rather than functional.   I started out by finding pieces of plain white cotton in my stash.  I gell printed on them in mainly yellow, orange and red, then used stencils to add more detail and colour.   After letting the fabric dry overnight, I cut out two squares using a quilt ruler as a guide.  I added a loop of ribbon, pinning that in place at what'll be the top centre of the front of the doll.  Then folded the square in half lengthways.  So now you've got a long thin rectangle,...