rubykittyruby

It's the weekend already, and the central heating's kicked in because of a cold, frosty but bright morning.  I've succumbed - yet again - to buying a book online.  It's 'Embroidered Purses' by Linda Tudor, the library book I featured on my blog the other day.  Decided I needed my own copy and - ooops! - I seem to have purchased it.  How on earth did that happen?  Oh well, it was a bargain price from the ever-reliable World of Books.   On the subject of books, I recently finished 'The Casual Vacancy' by J.K. Rowling, a terrific read, I really enjoyed it.  Last night I got to the end of this Philippa Gregory, 'The Taming of the Queen'.  The queen in question is Katherine Parr, the last of Henry VIII's many wives and thankfully a woman who survived the terror of being married to him.  I'd read Elizabeth Fremantle's 'Firebrand', another novel about Katherine Parr, but I think 'The Taming of the Queen' is the first book tha...

  A couple of paper based ideas for you to try today, and neither is in any way tricky.  All you'll need are a few sheets of 6 inch square paper that's not too thick, not too flimsy.  Tissue paper would tear too easily but cardstock wouldn't fold easily enough.  You get the idea.  If you've a bone folder, that'll help make sharp creases, but a rule or a fingernail will do the job otherwise.   I won't try go through the instructions for the dress as there's an excellent video by Karen Elaine on YouTube which will demonstrate it much better than I ever could.  She turns the dresses into bookmarks, but you could add them to a journal page or a blank greetings card.   The other things I've been making today, also from 6 inch squares, are these origami seed packets.  I've made other seed packets lately, but those have involved using plenty of double sided tape.  This origami method will only require a small dab of glue or a single ...

Saturday was the third of four classes about how to make a fabric covered book.  As with the other sessions, it passed in the blink of an eye.  I spent at least an hour assembling my book's cover, which involved using bookbinding glue, that I realised is far superior to regular PVA.  It dries in a fraction of the time, and if I decide to make more books using this method I'll definitely be buying a tub of the stuff.  As always, it's available via Amazon and eBay, so it's not as if you have to seek out a specialist bookbinding supplier to purchase it.   Once the outer embroidered covers were stuck firmly in place, I added black felt to the inside, choosing that instead of end papers.  I also added a dangly sparkly something at the spine, and a piece of purple & gold braid to finish it off.  There are still a few unadorned pages inside the book, so I've enough to occupy me during next week's final class.   The book doesn't close fully ...

  It's been a funny old Friday.  I started off with a spot of gell printing, but could I produce a single print I liked?  Nah.  Everything came out overly garish or muddy or messy, so I gave in, washed paint off the stencils, wiped the gell plate clean and reverted to needle and thread.  I finished off this silly penguin, a simple 'make' that's based on these equally silly penguins made by ievate and shown on Instagram.  My penguin isn't that different in shape to the snowmen I stitched last year.  I'll add a hanging loop and maybe a few holly leaves and berries, the idea being that it's a penguin Christmas decoration.  (I know that's weird, but why not penguins at Christmas?  Robins can't have it all their own way.)   As I don't have lots of luscious gell prints to show you, instead I'll treat you to a peek inside this book instead.  It's a library copy, 'Celtic, Viking & Anglo-Saxon Embroidery'.  First published bac...

On Saturday it was back once again to a ridiculously busy Leeds city centre - can't abide it when it's busy! too much noise, too many people - and to the Art Gallery for the second of four classes on making a fabric covered book.  (We'd the option of making a fabric cover and paper signatures inside, but I've opted for a wholly textile book.)  With this second session people had more idea of what their individual journal might look like, and it was great to see how many different interpretations we had.   Some were working on their embroidered covers, but I opted to concentrate on making my pages.  I've four double pages in total, slightly different sizes & mainly made of upcycled upholstery swatches.  I began adding extra smaller pages, like this lovely cream coloured material, and more pockets.  There's only so much you can sew in a two hour session, so I carried on over the weekend.   This material was originally curtain fabric from th...

  It's been a glorious autumn day.  Chilly to wake up to, then the sun came out & shone brightly, so it was off to the allotment where the earth's softened up after recent rainfall.  I was able to weed and tidy, trying to make the plot look respectable before the cold weather sets in and we slide inevitably into winter.  At home I fitted in some sewing.  The patchwork bug's bitten me again, after having a break and spending time lately with gell printing.  I've been gathering up lots of tiny scraps and joining them together, going for a haphazard look.  Nothing matchy-matchy or colour coordinated.  There's something very satisfying about finding a use for the smallest strips or triangles of cotton, little pieces that might otherwise be destined to end up as cushion filling.   Speaking of gell printing, I've been using prints to turn into seed packets for flower seeds gathered from my garden.  Hollyhocks, scabious, catananche....