How to make a Proddy Rag Wreath

These proddy wreaths are so much fun to make - easy to do with just a little preparation time, and the best thing is, you can make them from recycled shirts too!!

So, first of all, find yourself a polystyrene wreath - the choice of size is up to you.  The bigger the ring, the more fabric you will need.
You will also need PVA glue, a paint brush, and your fabric.

I would say half a meter of fabric for a 250mm ring to work 4 rows.

Cut the fabric up into 2.5cm (1") squares - you don't have to be too fussy as the finished look is 'raggy', but keep them roughly the same size.

Take a paint brush (the handle end) or an old knitting needle, dip into the PVA glue and make a hole, not deeper than 1cm, into the centre of the wreath ring.

Now, take a square of fabric, position it over the hole, dip your brush back in the glue and poke the centre of the fabric into the hole.

Add another piece a centimetre away..... and another.....

Continue adding the rags at one centimetre intervals all the way around.

Add a row inside and an row outside the original row.

You might want to add more rows if you wish, and even cover the whole ring, but as one side will be against a door or wall, there isn't really any need.

Add a ribbon loop to hang and there you have it - a beautiful rag wreath with not a lot of effort.

Fun wasn't it?

If you prefer to watch a video of this tutorial, you can find it over on my You Tube channel HERE.

Crazy Quilted Christmas Stockings

A week or so ago I ran a workshop for Crazy Quilted Stockings.

I LOVE the Crazy Quilting technique, used with a sewing machine it is such a pleasing thing to do and surprisingly easy.

I originally made the stocking for the Hobbycraft Blog a little while ago, so thought it would be a good one to run out as a workshop too.

Three lovely ladies came along, they chose the Fat Quarter packs that they wanted to use and we got to work.  Cutting, snipping, sewing, ironing, cutting, snipping, sewing, ironing..... it's a very repetitive craft  :) 

I was so absorbed in stocking making that I forgot to get any action shots, but here are the finished stockings in all their glory.

Two ladies chose the same colour schemes, while another went for something a little different.

I, myself, made a sample one, but it is not yet finished so you will have to wait to see that one  :)  Let's just say, it is very bright colourful and funky, not traditional at all.

Thanks for coming ladies, if you are reading, it was a blast, and you did fabulously.

Don't forget if you fancy making one yourself you can find my tutorial over on the Hobbycraft Blog.  (click on the link :)  )

How to make a Doily Angel Christmas Card

A good one for the youngsters.  Get them to make this years Christmas Cards - you get half an hours peace & quiet, they get a crafting session, all the relatives will love the cards - it's an all round win-win situation!

• So, all you need is a pack of blank cards in whatever colour, size you fancy - although probably not much smaller than 5" square or the Angel might be too big.
• A pack of paper Doilies - oh, how I used to love a doily.  Did your parents ever bring them home from parties for you to colour in the next day?  Or was that just mine?
• A metallic felt tipped pen.
• Pritt Stick
• 1cm circle punch
• 2cm circle punch
• Gold Card

Ok, so first of all take a doily. (sneak one to one side so you can colour it in later if you wish)

Section it off as shown in the photo.  I used the waves on the bottom as a guide to where to cut.

Trim off the tops of the thinner pieces so they look a little like this.

Now, grab the metallic pen, mine was gold, and colour in some bits.  You can colour it all in if you like.
(I do realise I sound like I am totally obsessed with colouring in doilies right now!!)

Do some artful colouring on all three pieces.

Next, take your card and Pritt Stick one wing to the card as shown.

Add the second wing.

Then the body part on top.  (now, I have noticed that I have gone completely skew-wiff on this - blame the wine ((it was late in the evening when I made this, not early morning, so don't worry!))

Now for the head.  Take the gold card and the 2cm circle punch and cut out a circle.

Now grab the 1cm circle punch and cut a circle out of your circle - voila!  A halo!  See, how clever are you?  (pop the small circle in your craft box, I am sure it will come in for something.)



Glue the halo to the card as shown.

Now, cut another 2cm circle - if you are lucky the gold card will be white on one side, if not you might have to go and find some white card too.
Glue that circle in place as a head, gold side down.

Draw some sleeping eyes on - or a whole face if you feel the need.  But for the artistically challenged, eyes are good enough.

And there you go.  Fun, easy, effective.  And who wouldn't love a hand-made card this year?

And below is the You Tube tutorial, set to some funky music  :)

Enjoy!

ps:  this content contains affiliated links, which basically means, if you click and buy, I might earn a couple of pennies.

Crochet Christmas Pudding Bauble - free tutorial

Crochet baubles are so much fun to make, it is beneficial to know the basic crochet stitches before attempting these though, so have a look at the stitch explanations just below and have a play with those before you start.  The pattern is written in UK crochet terms.

Stitches explained:

Chain Stitch (CH) - Yarn around hook (from the back) and pull the new yarn through the loop on your hook.  This is ONE chain.  Repeat as needed.

Double Crochet (DC) - Put hook through work, draw yarn back through (2 loops on hook) yarn around hook (from the back) draw yarn through the 2 loops on the hook.

Half Treble Crochet (HTR)- Yarn around hook (from the back) put hook through work and draw yarn back through (3 loops on hook) yarn around hook, draw through 2 loops on hook, yarn around hook, draw through 2 loops on hook.

Treble Crochet (TR) - Yarn around hook (from the back) put hook through work and draw yarn back through (3 loops on hook) yarn around hook, draw through 2 loops on hook, yarn around hook, draw through 2 loops on hook.

Slip Stitch (SS) - Put hook through work, draw yarn back through work and the stitch on your hook.

You will need:

  50g Brown Yarn

  25g White Yarn

  Scraps of Green & Red Yarn

  4mm Crochet Hook

  Polystyrene Ball (70mm)

  Sewing up needle

PUDDING:

Round 1. Using BROWN yarn, CH 2 then work 6x DC's into the 2nd CH from the hook. Join into a circle with a SS into the first DC (6)

Round 2. CH 2 ** work 2 x DC's  into the next stitch, then 1 x DC into the next stitch. Repeat from ** all the way round and join with a SS (10)

Round 3. CH 2 then work 2 x DC's  into the next stitch, then ** 1 x DC into the next and 2 x DC's in the next. Repeat from ** and join with a SS (15)

Round 4. CH 2 then work 1 x DC  into the next stitch, then ** 2 x DC's  into the next and 1 x DC in the next TWO stitches. Repeat from ** and join with a SS (20)

Round 5. CH 2 then work 1 x DC  into the next TWO stitches, then ** 2 x DC's  into the next and 1 x DC in the next THREE stitches. Repeat from ** and join with a SS (25)

Round 6. CH 2 then work 1 x DC  into the next THREE stitches, then ** 2 x DC's  into the next and 1 x DC in the next FOUR stitches. Repeat from ** and join with a SS (30)

Round 7. CH 2 then work 1 x DC  into the next FOUR stitches, then ** 2 x DC's  into the next and 1 x DC in the next FIVE stitches. Repeat from ** and join with a SS (35)

Rounds 8- 16. Work 9 rounds with no increasing, always beginning each row with CH 2 and ending each row with SS  (35)

Round 9. CH 2 then work 1 x DC  into the next FOUR stitches, then **  skip a stitch and work 1 x DC in the next FIVE stitches. Repeat from ** and join with a SS (30)

Round 10. CH 2 then work 1 x DC  into the next THREE stitches, then **  skip a stitch and work 1 x DC in the next FOUR stitches. Repeat from ** and join with a SS (25)

Insert the ball carefully before continuing.

Round 11. CH 2 then work 1 x DC  into the next TWO stitches, then **  skip a stitch and work 1 x DC in the next THREE stitches. Repeat from ** and join with a SS (20)

Round 12. CH 2 then work 1 x DC  into the next ONE stitch, then **  skip a stitch and work 1 x DC in the next TWO stitches. Repeat from ** and join with a SS (15)

Round 13. CH 2  **  skip a stitch and work 1 x DC in the next stitch. Repeat from ** until the hole is small, break of yarn and sew the hole closed.

CUSTARD TOPPING:

Rounds 1-7. Using WHITE yarn, work rounds 1-7 as for the pudding.

Round 8. CH 2 then work 1 x DC  into the next FIVE stitches, then ** 2 x DC's  into the next and 1 x DC in the next SIX stitches. Repeat from ** and join with a SS (40)

Round 9. NO CHAIN, just ** DC straight into the first stitch, then in the next stitch work (HTR / TR / HTR) into the SAME stitch, DC in the next stitch, and SS in the next TWO stitches.. Repeat from ** and SS to join  (8 petals)

Round 10. SS in the first stitch, work a ** DC into the next FIVE stitches, then SS into the next TWO stitches.  Repeat from ** and SS to join.

Leave a long tail when breaking off yarn.

 HOLLY LEAVES: (make 2)

Row 1. Using GREEN, CH 7. 

The red numbers in brackets are to help you see where the stitches should go.

Row 2. DC into the 2nd CH from the hook (2), TR in the next stitch (3) then CH 2.  SS into the 2nd CH from the hook (into the top of the TR) this makes a "Picot" stitch.  Now DC into the SAME STITCH as the TR (3) SS in the next stitch (4) then DC in the next (5). TR in the next stitch (6), then CH 2 and SS into second CH from hook (picot).  DC in the same stitch as the last TR  (6) now SS in the last stitch THREE TIMES  (7)

Row 3. Do not turn but work BACK DOWN the chain stitch so it becomes the spine of the leaf. -  DC into the next stitch (2), TR in the next stitch (3) then CH 2.  SS into the 2nd CH from the hook (into the top of the TR) this makes a "Picot" stitch.  Now DC into the SAME STITCH as the TR (3) SS in the next stitch (4) then DC in the next (5). TR in the next stitch (6), then CH 2 and SS into second CH from hook (picot).  DC in the same stitch as the last TR  (6) now SS in last (7). Break of yarn leaving a tail to sew the leaves onto the pudding with.

HOLLY BERRIES: (make 2)

Row 1. Using RED, CH 2, then work 6 x DC's into the 2nd CH from the hook.

Break of the yarn and sew through the top of the 6 stitches and pull it into a ball (as shown on the right of the photo)

HANGING CHAIN:

CH 26 and break off yarn, leaving a long enough tail to sew with.

ASSEMBLY:

Sew the custard to the top of the pudding, catching each petal down as you go.

Sew the leaves to the middle of the top, sewing down the spine of the leaves.  Add the berries to the centre. 

Finally add the hanging chain behind the berries.

Display your Pudding with pride!

www.soozintheshed.co.uk

For a free downloadable PDF version of this pattern, please visit:

www.soozintheshed.co.uk/christmaspuddingbauble.pdf

My damson gin is brewing...

My yearly bottle of plonk is on the brew.  This year it happens to be Damson Gin.

Very easy to make, very hard not to taste test every evening.

If you want to make some here is the recipe:

• 1.5 kilo Damsons
• 600g Sugar
• 2 x 75cl cheap gin

I washed the damsons well then removed the stalks.

Then slit each one down the side to allow the gin to seep into it.

I then had the task of getting rid of all the pretty bubbles from the demi-johns that I had managed to make while washing them.  23 rinses later, no bubbles.

I weighed out the sugar ready - I just used regular granulated sugar.

Then started layering it into the jar.  Some damsons, then gin, then sugar.

Use a funnel for the sugar, it's much cleaner and easier.

And then we were done!  All I have to do now is to shake it once every day to make sure the sugar dissolves, and here comes the hard part - LEAVE IT ALONE TO BREW!

I might sneak a little taste now and again - and just cannot wait to eat those boozy damsons!

Do you have a brew on this year?

A lovely Christmas 2014

Did you all have a lovely Christmas?

I did.  I got some lovely pressies too.  A new iPhone off the Hubster. (I am so spoilt). along with some wine (red), sun-dried tomatoes and walnut whips  (he knows me so well!)

I got two beautiful charms for my Nomination bracelet from Son & DIL #1.

A gorgeous framed photo of my beautiful Granddaughter from Son & DIL #2

And a wonderful "night in" hamper from my Daughter & DIL, consisting of a Wentworth DVD accompanied by wine, popcorn, sweeties and loads more - enough for a week I would think!

Of course I got loads of other things too, way too many to mention, clothes, books, wine, chocolate, smellies and a craft trolley too!

But all too soon Christmas is over and we are starting to think about the New Year.

What will 2015 bring, I wonder.