Sparxism

Don't worry, I've not been brain washed by some crazy cult, my house mate writes a monthly piece relating to the good and bad things in life and how to be a better person 'Sparxism'.  Check it out, if for nothing else but the comedy factor and the cartoon cockroach: http://www.sparxism.co.uk/

And it was said cockroach that inspired my housemates birthday present - obviously with a crafting twist.

T-shirt was printed by the guys at http://www.streetshirts.co.uk/.  Really pleased with the service and the t-shirt quality so would highly recommend them.

I made the cockroach out of felt and appliqued him on by hand.  I had started to regret the choice of stitching about half way round as it wasn't a 'quick stitch' but I htink it really works well, so glad I persevered.

The t-shirt has been allocated a monthly wearing slot in my house mates calendar, for when he publishes new additions to Sparxism.

If you want to know what partum pergo means you'll have to watch the films!!!

Cow cushion

My friend moved into a new house, her own house, this year.  She's been a bit slack in having a house warming but I've been making this in preparation.
She has a thing for cows, as a few people I know do. Cows are pretty cool.

Creativeness moves to fashion

I was due to go on holiday to Italy, and knew it was going to be very warm.  So with that in mind all of my summer dresses came out in preparation, but I decided a new frock was needed.
After taking inspiration from http://www.allfreesewing.com/

The pattern: Take a length of material wide enough to wrap around your hips.  Stitch the material together to form a tube.  Hem top and bottom to the required length.  Take a length of 1" wide elastic, wrap it around under your armpits, so its tight enough to hold the dress up, but not too tight to be uncomfortable.  Stitch the ends of the elastic together to form a circle.
Stretch the elastic and pin it to the inside of the top of the dress and stitch.

And there you have a basic dress.  I tweeked mine with a couple of hook and eye clasps to take in the excess material at teh back once its on (in hind sight this could probably be achieved more discretely by using small lengths of elastic on the inside to gather the material), and then finished it off with a wide ribbon belt.

For a 1st attempt I'm quite impressed.  On a practical level, due to the length of the dress, it could have done with a split up the back as you have to take smaller strides when walking, although next time I'll probably use a stretchier material.

July doorstops

I've been struggling for time for crafty stuff recently, but have managed a few more doorstops, including adding a chicken and a dog to the collection.

I had been asked to make a duck and decided that I should really try a chicken as well as they are similar shapes.  I love them, they have such cute faces, the two-tone felt makes each chcicken a bit more individual and the dangly legs make them great for sitting on the edge of shelves.

Duckie making friends in his new home

I also had a request for a dog - it took a bit of time to develop the pattern, especially sorting the nose out.  But I'm really pleased with how it has turned out.  I added a bit of chain stitch embroidery to decorate the ears and body.  I'm sure this will develop as I make more in plain fabric, I think it makes them a bit more interesting.

For the past year I've been making animal based doorstops, here are a selection....I'll be posting more shortly.


Snorse, pig-wig, catty and moose

I'm blogging! I've decided that 2012 is my year for catching up with the digital movement and getting my artwork online.
I like to work with hard and soft crafts and take my inspiration from nature, and love to experiment with colour but mostly my inspiration comes from animals. I like to see how things are made, and will often try to re-create something I've seen in a shop to test my skills, and add my own twist.  This then leads to the development of further designs with my new found skills.
I hope you enjoy my creations.

I take commissions so please contact me if there is something you're interested in.