tutorial

A Little Bit Wrist Key!

Submitted by Anjie Davison on Sat, 08/16/2008 - 16:04.

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I had this idea for an easy to make practical and useful key ring, one that you can just slide over your wrist to keep both hands free. A piece of personal safety advice from the police is " Always have your keys out and ready as you approach your house or your car. Fumbling through your handbag for keys after you've reached your car provides criminals an excellent opportunity to sneak up on you." Not wanting to create paranoia but this key ring solves that particular problem!

High visibility vest, elastic and split rings all you need to make the key ring

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How to cover a notebook with fabric

Submitted by Anjie Davison on Thu, 07/31/2008 - 10:35.

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Plain note book. If your note book has a shiny finnish take a piece of sand paper and gently rub over surface, to take off the shine, this helps the glue to adhere.

Choose your fabric. It should not be too thick (it will be too bulky at the corners) or too thin (the glue will show through)

Measure the amount of fabric you need. Place your book, opened out, on your chosen fabric and allow an extra 25mm (1") all round. Cut out.

Cut out two pieces of paper. They should be about 5mm (3/16 th") smaller, on all sides, than the books cover. Put aside for later.

With a brush (not your best) spread PVA glue evenly on to the book cover, not too thick or it will show through fabric.

Fold over fabric onto glued cover. Press fabric onto the book.

Put glue onto the spine and the back of the book.

Press down fabric, paying particular attention to the spine. Make sure the fabric is like a second skin!

Open up your book and make two snips at the spine. repeat this at the other end of the spine.

Make a second cut at an angle taking off a small triangle of material.

Spread glue on to the craft paper. Make sure it is completely covered. Although not shown it is easier if you lay the craft paper on a sheet of kitchen towel before you apply the glue. The kitchen towel will absorb any extra glue.

Position the glued paper carefully. This end paper will cover the three folded edges, it makes it look neat. Press down with a piece of cut up plastic bag, make sure you pay particular attention to the corners, press them hard.

Place the plastic between the cover and the pages, this stops glue getting onto the pages. Repeat the last three steps for the back of the book.

Neaten the end of the spine. Open and pull back the book covers, this opens up the spine. Cut a little of the fabric off and glue it.

Now with a pair of scissors, poke the fabric down the spine being very careful not to get glue on the pages of the book. Repeat the last two steps at the other end of the spine.

Let the book dry. After about 30 minutes open the book to let the inside dry, alternate between the front and back covers.

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How to make a pom pom bumble bee

Submitted by Anjie Davison on Wed, 07/09/2008 - 08:45.

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Draw two circles on cereal packet card. Cut out

Two circles cut out. Yellow and black wool

Place the two discs together. Wind yellow wool round the discs, covering the cardboard, then black wool.

The wings are cut from clear plastic, I cut up a folder. Use a hole punch to make the hole at the base of the wings.

Put a length of the yellow wool through the hole in the wings as indicated in the photograph.

A grown up might need to do the next bit. Using a pair of pointed scissors, snip through all layers of wool right round the outside edge of the discs.

Take the wings with the length of wool attached. Place the wings between the discs and tie the length of wool tightly round the centre.

Bring the wool to the top of the pom pom tie with a knot, this will be used to hang up the bee,

The face is made from a circle of foam, I put double sided tape on the back of foam before I cut out the face. Google eyes are stuck on with pva, the glue takes a while to dry so do this in advance. Features drawn with silver pen.

Peel off double sided backing tape, place the face on the bee.

A pom pom bumble bee, really easy to make. Children can make these. You don't need much skill just a little bit of application and patience to achieve a fluffy bug. Children are rarely disappointed with the results and feel they have achieved something, boys and girls. When I was at junior school I remember making pom pom creatures and selling them to other children in the playground, only pennies but I realised I had a skill that others appreciated.

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Bunting

Submitted by Anjie Davison on Wed, 07/02/2008 - 14:20.

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Layout of pattern, I used pinking shears to cut out bunting but ordinary scissors will do

Inkjet Iron-on Transfers, with lettering is reversed. Follow instructions that are included with he transfer pack but I reduce the time it states you should iron it for, I think 20 seconds but do a test sample

Follow instructions that are included with he transfer pack but I reduce the time it states you should iron it for, I think 20 seconds but do a test sample also they advise a 5mm border around image but I don't bother.

Place cut out letters face down and iron

When the transfer is cool remove backing paper

I used 3 meters of 6mm wide black ribbon but you could use any colour

I used a wide zigzag stitch to attach triangles to ribbon. Leave a length of ribbon either end of the bunting for ties

I made this bunting using different designs of blue fabric and wider spacing of the triangles

This is the design for the Happy Birthday bunting as a bonus I have included a robot and heart motif. You could use them to decorate bunting or on a T-shirt. To download this image see instructions at end of the main text.

Blue alphabet. Instructions for downloading are at the bottom of the main text

Pink alphabet. Instructions for downloading are at the bottom of the main text

After going to the Larks in the Parks I was struck how simple but effective the bunting was that decorated the stalls. Something so simple says celebration, it adds a carnival feel to a party, BBQ, or birthday. I thought I would do a tutorial for a birthday bunting. I have designed the HAPPY BIRTHDAY letters to be downloaded and used in conjunction with Ryman's Inkjet Iron-on Transfers for light T-shirts. I have also included an alphabet in case you might like to add a child's name or just make a bunting with a name on, this would brighten up a child's room or playroom.

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French Knitting

Submitted by Anjie Davison on Tue, 06/24/2008 - 19:07.

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lengths of French knitting ready for assembly

Continue joining links until you have desired length

like a lot of people I learnt to French knit when I was young. It's a very simple skill to master and the knitting grows really quickly, but I can't think of one single item I made from it. The knitting device used is called a Nancy, as a child I had a wooden cotton reel with four small nails hammered into the top. You can buy wooden knitting Nancys from craft shops, I have one that looks like a painted figure. I also bought a child's knitting set from Poundland and that contained, amongst other things, a plastic Nancy.

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How to make a summer lantern

Submitted by Anjie Davison on Sun, 06/15/2008 - 21:02.

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attach a second piece of wire to make handle, add beads at this point if desired

Cut out mulberry paper to fit jar with 1cm overlap

PVA the bottom of the jar fold over paper

PVA over the top of the paper to seal it

Stand the jar on its neck and leave to dry

These pretty lanterns are really easy to make you just need a few items-

Clean jars with the labels removed

Mulberry paper or tissue paper, mulberry paper is more robust

PVA glue, watered down to a ratio 1:1

Garden wire

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Father's Day Cards

Submitted by Anjie Davison on Tue, 06/03/2008 - 09:30.

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This gives you the basic idea how the card is constructed, click on website link in the body of main text for full instructions

finished card, I used a page from a comic for the tie

Origami shirt, refer to website link in the body of the text for full video instructions

This shirt was made with paper measuring 13cm x 7.5cm. Buttons and pocket added with a pen

I have found two easy Father's Day cards to make. Card designs for men seem to be limited, so I was pleased to find these and they can be used for birthday cards too. The designs can be easily adapted to suit the recipient's taste and their sartorial style Origami shirt and tie card video. Get creative with the tie, add a tie pin if you like.

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Gift Box

Submitted by Anjie Davison on Sun, 06/01/2008 - 19:34.

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21cm x 21cm piece of card, draw in pencil lines from corner to corner

fold tip of one corner to centre point, repeat on all four corners

make a second fold to the centre, repeat on all four corners

just to indicate were the folds are I have marked them with a broken line to make it clearer

make four cuts as shown, stopping at center square

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Chick chick chick chick!

Submitted by Anjie Davison on Mon, 03/31/2008 - 18:16.

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These chickens are very easy to make, the body is based on how to make a juggling bean bag.

Take a rectangle of fabric measuring 20cm x 11cm fold in half with right sides facing. From a small amount of felt cut out a beak, wattle and comb put them in place sew up. 2 sides (seam allowance 5mm) Turn chicken inside out, at this point with black embroidery thread make 2 eyes using french knots. Fill the chicken with a small amount of stuffing, split peas for ballast and lavender. Sew up the final side, fold under 5mm seam allowance and top stitch.