Tutorial - braiding suede

Braid your own suede bracelet in Christmas colours!

Click on the picture to enlarge it.

Material

12" strips of suede (8pcs)

1" ribbon end (2pcs)

jump rings

lobster hook

Method

Crossing means going under if the one next to it is over, over if it's under.

1. Arrange the strips in the colour sequence of your choice. I used a hair clip to hold everything in place.

2. Clamp on a ribbon end.

3. Cross 5 over 4

4. Cross 3 over 5

5. Cross 6 over 4 and 3

6. Cross 2 over 5 and 6

7. Cross 7 over 4, 3 and 2

8. Cross 1 over 5, 6 and 7

9. Cross 8 over 4,3,2 and 1

10. Cross 5 over 6, 7 and 8

11. Cross 4 over 5, 1, 2 and 3

Repeat steps 10 and 11 with the rightmost and leftmost strips till desired length, cut ends and clamp. Add jump rings and lobster hook.

Have a blessed day!

ps: The finished bracelet was made from a different sequence of colours, not the one shown in the steps. The final bracelet will vary based on the colours you choose and the sequence you arrange the strips. Plain one added for your reference.

Giveaway!

Christmas 2012 giveaway!

Remember this drawstring bag from the tutorial? This can be yours along with other handmade items in your choice of colour. I'm thinking books, magnets, hair ties, pouch, bookmark, scrunchy...etc. It'll be the most I've given away to date :-)

What you'll have to do by 24Nov 8pm is to SHARE this pic on Facebook and leave a COMMENT as to what colour items you'd like if you win this. I'll try to best match :-)

Have a blessed day!

ps: If you don't have a Facebook account, you're welcome to leave a comment here instead.

Go green this Christmas

Go green this Christmas and make your own gift bag rather than use wrapping paper that will be ripped and thrown away.

Anyway, if you haven't noticed how I make stuff by now, I'm winging this. That's why there are no specific measurements. This also means that you can make it any size you like as long as you know the ratios and what to look out for.

Material

• 4 pieces of fabric - outer (1pc), lining (pc), top (2pcs) - the outer and lining are large rectangles, twice the size of your final bag when you fold breadthwise, meaning breadth meets breadth and length is halved. The top parts are as long as when the outer is folded half, as wide as 4 times the cords / ribbons you're going to use. Please remember to include sufficient allowance for sewing.
• cord or ribbon for drawstring top
• bells, charms (optional)
• label (optional)

Method

1. Prepare the materials above
2. Fold in the breadths of the top pieces and sew near the edge. This is so that the ends won't fray. See yellow arrow.
3. Take the lining and fold half breadthwise (breadth meets breadth) and crease it along the length. See red arrow. Fold both top pieces into half lengthwise (length meets length) and place them along the edge of the lining, one on each side of the half where you just creased. All frayed edges need to be aligned.
4. Place the outer piece on top so that you have a sandwich. Bottom - lining, middle - top piece folded half lengthwise, top - outer piece. Sew along the frayed edge of this 'sandwich'.
5. Open the 'sandwich' and top-stitch near the edge. See red arrow. You may wish to add a label at this time.
6. If you want squared off corners, open them up and fold them 45-degrees across. Think tetra packs or milk cartons. Same concept. Trim off the excess. See red arrow.
7. Fold the whole thing such that the outer is folded half on itself, and ditto the lining. Sew round the 3 edges. Remember to leave an opening for turning. Trim the part where the outer and lining meets. See red arrow.
8. Turn it proper way out and sew the hole closed. Cut 2 pieces of cord or ribbon. These will be longer than the length of the outer or lining. Thread one through one of the top pieces and out  the other and knot it. Thread the other through the other end and knot it. Add charms or bells, if you like.

Have fun!

Tutorial - Elastic hair tie with fabric covered button

1. Gather your items for making the fabric covered button - lime green cardboard disc for measurement of fabric circle to cut out, clear plastic mould, green pusher, button cap and bottom, fabric circle (already cut in this case. A note about cutting the fabric that you'll want to centre the cardboard disc so that the picture you want is centred.

2. You'll need the mould, fabric circle and button cap.

3. Place the fabric in the mould and the cap on top and press down.

4. Fold the edges in neatly. Press tightly.

5. Flip over to check that the picture is as desired, else redo steps 3 and 4.

6. Place the button bottom on top of the folds like in step 4.

7. Press the pusher on top till you feel the button bottom click into the cap.

8. Pop the fabric covered button out of the mould.

9. Gather elastic, needle and thread. If your elastic in a long strip, tie a knot first so you have a loop.

10. Thread the needle through the loop of the button bottom, through the elastic loop and back through the loop of the button bottom.

11. Pull just a bit of elastic through.

12. Remove the needle and thread and thread the larger loop of the elastic through the smaller loop and pull tight.

Email me if you get stuck at any of the steps.

Have a blessed day!

Yippee!!! Free fat quarter coming our way

Enter ETSYPARTY12 at checkout at Spoonflower!

Choose an existing design or create your own. Shipping to Singapore starts from USD2.

Have a blessed day!

Sneaks: Knitted throw

I've been focussing more attention on the pics lately and I hope you like the results. Took these today and which do you prefer?

TOP: taken with flash
MIDDLE: taken without flash
BOTTOM: taken without flash but using a macro studio

This is a work in progress using yarn that mum found and claimed it belongs to me. I didn't like it at first 'cos the label had synthetic fibres. I'm not a fan of synthetic fibres but after knitting rows and rows of these, the throw seems quite bouncy and squishy and I like it!
I've been knitting garter stitch throws on the bias recently 'cos to me, it's the fastest way to use up my yarn stash.

Pattern:
This is a rectangle and knitted on the bias (diagonally) in 3 sections.
A. Knitting the corner
Cast on 2 stitches, knit next row and increase 1 stitch at the end.
Repeat till happy with length of 1 side.
B. Knitting the body
Knit next row and decrease 1 stitch at the end.
Knit next row and increase 1 stitch at the end.
C. Knitting the end
Knit next row and decrease 1 stitch at the end.
Repeat till 1 stitch left and cast off.
You can add a fringe at this point.
Have a blessed day!