Crochet Wreath class

A great day was had by all last Tuesday as I held a crochet wreath class at Hobbycraft, Carlisle.

The day just flew by, we could have done with a few more hours actually, five just was not enough  :)

Three lovely ladies on the workshop, Marie, Karen and Stacey.

Here is Karen, busy with her hooky lovelyness.

Stacey and Marie quietly working away, as all good hooky people should  :)

Marie decided to concentrate on her flowers, producing the most gorgeous colour palette of a sunny yellow background with pinks, whites and lilacs to adorn.  This is going to look amazing when it is finished.

...and just check out those perfectly straight edges, fabulous work, especially as Marie has only been crocheting for a short time.

Karen decided on roses, each with a pearly bead centre.  Don't they look great?  she really worked hard and fast and got her wreath form covered in record time.

Stacey went for a Holly Wreath, she used a variegated yarn so here leaves were coming out in all different, glorious, glittery shades.  Teamed with red and purple berries, I love it.  She did have a little help with the wreath cover so she could concentrate on her leaves.

I was very impressed with the work these ladies produced, they are all going to be stunning wreathes and I cannot wait to see them finished.

Next time though, I might use a slightly smaller wreath form for this class as I would have liked to have seem them completed in class.  It's hard to work out how long things will take sometimes, but not a bad 5 hours work I would say.

Crochet & ring making day

Wednesday is such a busy day for me at the moment.   I have a crochet class in the morning (at Hobbycraft in Carlisle) then a jewellery making class in the afternoon.  With a quick hour lunch and resetting up break.

Last Wednesday, my lovely ladies Tracie and Lucy started making Mandalas.  This is a great way of learning new stitches and how to use old ones in different ways.

Didn't they do well?   It is the last week next week so I hope they can go away with confidence to start making beautiful things.

After a tub full of pasta & Quorn sausage it was right back to it with a beaded ring making class.

My samples, a bit of copper work and some silver curling.  I did do others but I managed to give them away to Hobbycraft staff as they passed by  :)

My student's hand full of blingy rings.   She will be spoilt for choice when deciding which one to wear each day.

♪♪♪   With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes 

She shall have music wherever she goes.  ♪♪♪ 

Beaded prom tiara - free tutorial

Following on from my beaded tiara's post from a few days ago, as promised, here is a tutorial for you so you can make your own :)

This one is made with gemchips - amethyst ones to be precise, I just love the way they work and look all natural, yet 'gemmy'.  Teamed with some Swarovskis for a nice glint of sparkle they make a lovely prom tiara.  And of course, gemchips come in lots of different stones and colours.

You will need:

• 1 Tiara Base
• Approx 80 4mm Swarovski Crystals
• 18” String of Tumbled Gemchips
• 0.5mm Lacemakers Wire

What you do:

•  Take a comfortable length of wire (approx 1m) and laying a short piece along the tiara base start wrapping the rest around the tiara approx 7cm from one end. Wrap it twice, then thread on a crystal, holding it at the height you wish it to be, fold the wire over so it comes back around the base and wrap it three times to secure.

• Take the crystal between your fingers and twist in one direction until the wire is fully twisted and stands up straight and firm.

• Add new strands in the same way, by adding a bead, holding in place, and twisting the wire. Wrapping the wire around the tiara base inbetween to secure and space out.

• Continue adding beads, crystals and gemchips until you reach the centre of the band, add a longer central twist to mark the middle. If you need to add extra wire, just bind both ends in as you did at the start.

• Mirror the design as you work down the other side of the band.

• When you have added the last strand, wrap the wire around twice to secure and start to work back along the band again, this time add a crystal to the front of the band making sure each wrap is nice and neat up against the previous one. Finish the wire by working the end through the back of a few crystals. 

• Take a thin knitting needle or other thin rod, and starting with the centre strand, hold the rod in place and wrap the wire tightly around it, pull the rod out and you are left with a twisty strand.  Do this on every OTHER strand for texture.

• The strands need to be sitting at around a 45 degree angle to look right on the head, but you can fiddle with it and see what looks best for you  :)

© The Bead Shed/Sue Simmons – May 2008

Bag making with Emma from Hole House

Last Sunday I treated my Mum to an early Mother's Day pressie - a bag making workshop at The Eden Workshop in Plumpton, Penrith, with Emma from Hole House.

Emma's bags are really something else, pop over to her Facebook page to have a wee peep.

We got there at 10.00am just in time for a brew  (bucket size) and some home-made scrummy biccies.

Then really, we just jumped on in and started bag making.  Although it did take me a little time to choose a fabric as I simply could not make a decision at home so ended up taking mountains of the stuff with me!

In the end I went for the fabric that I got at the Standfast Factory Shop a few weeks back - because it was glittery  :)

All the pieces cut out, with lining pieces too, and a bit of complimenting fabric for the piping - yep, we were making our own piping too!!

I was just so chuffed with myself having done this little bit - never made piping before, never had the need really, but it looked too difficult anyway.  It wasn't of course  :)

The lovely Emma showing us the next step.

Piping now attached to the flappy bit, which I deliberately cut to try and get the flower in the centre.

Once the lining and padding was added it was starting to look all professional - so soon into the class too.  I could have happily gone home then, chuffed with just a bag flap.

Then I did the body of the bag, sewing the two sides to the wadding.  I added a sneaky button to the centre of the flower too, coz I could  :)

Break for lunch, Jane from The Eden Workshop, makes the most marvelous lunches.  Three courses, although I have been strict the last couple of times and just had soup and pudding as I can't concentrate on the afternoon's work once my belly is full of delicious nosh.  I just need to sleep!

After lunch it was time to assemble.   But which side should I use?

 This one..... 

Or this one?.......

I went for the first option so I would have a flower, with button, on both the front and back.

Strap time, again all very professional looking with buckles and over-stitching.  Oooo I am so excited!

Voilà!   Look, LOOK, I made a bag!!  A real bag, you can put things in it and everything.

And it fastens, with a magnetic popper thing.

Proper straps and everything.

 AND A POCKET !!

I am just a bit too over excited about this aint I?  Here, have a photo of a button  :)

La, la, la, la, la, I made a baaaa-aaag!

Front view.

Back view.

Do you want to see my Mum's too?  Here you go then.

A nice dusky pink number, with poppers, straps and pockets too.

It's worth a closer look .......

I just HAVE to make another one now.  What can I cut up?

Sewing Bee for me next I think ;)

New kit packaging

You know I have been working on some new craft kits, right?

Well, it has taken me a while to decide on how to package them. I wanted something unfussy, well priced, available in different sizes - and, actually, just something that did the job without paying through the nose for it.

I eventually decided on these bags.  Kraft brown, with a window, so you can get a sneaky glimpse of the goodies inside.



There is a 'contents' sticker to add, but I was too impatient to show you.

And I can get similar in box format too for those larger craft kits that I just cannot squash into a bag.

Quite chuffed with them I am  :)

The first kit will be a drop-stitch ribbon scarf, as soon as I get the instructions written up  :)

Innocent Smoothie Thank You card

Look what fluttered through my letterbox.  A thank you card from Innocent Smoothies.

You may recall that Innocent Smoothies had a campaign going a while back, in October actually, called The Big Knit, for people to knit little hats for their juice bottles, with 25p from each bottle sold with a hat going to Age UK.

I knitted a few and crocheted a few too.  You can see them HERE.

Well, this morning when I opened my post to find this amongst the bad brown envelopes, a Thank You card.

Not only a Thank You card, but one that looked like it was hand-written too.  It probably wasn't in all honesty, but I would like to think it was  :)   Even computer generated though - what a fabulous thing to receive.

It will definitely make me want to join in again next time.  It is so nice to get a "thank-you" especially from big companies that you would expect would have better things to do with their time.

Good for you Innocent Smoothies, you made my day  :)

Sparkly beaded tiaras

On Thursday I held a tiara making class at Hobbycraft, Carlisle.  I do like making tiaras, but I am getting quite a collection of them now.   These ones are the samples I took with me from other classes.

Time to play  :)  Accompanied by a huge brew (you could nearly class it as a bucket) supplied by the lovely folks at Hobbycraft and some sparklies.  What more could you want?  Cake, I hear you say?   Yes, well, cake would have been good too  :)

Lots of bead adding and wire twisting then occurred.

After that we add a row of crystals to hide the wire wrapped around the band, then do some magic with a knitting needle  ;)

Ta dah!

Push the strands back a bit more so it sits nicer on the head.

Now, all I need is a model to show it off.... and who better than our chief brew maker of the evening and Hobbycraft colleague, Lesley  :)  (she did take a bit of persuading)

Thanks Lesley  :)

My student, Chris, made one in greens with a touch of brown, very 'wood nymph' like.

Would you like to make one for yourself?   Give me a few days and I will upload a tutorial for you  :)