craft

A couple of weeks ago I bought a Union Jack rug in Poundland and this weekend I turned into a cushion, backing it with unbleached calico. Very happy with how it turned out.

To get started you will need

If you haven't tried crochet but would like to, this is the perfect project to begin with, it only uses two basic crochet stitches.

Chain, ch - Wrap the yarn over the hook and draw the yarn through to form a new loop.

Double Crochet, dc (US single crochet, sc) - Insert the hook into the work, yarn over the hook and draw the yarn through the work only, yarn over hook draw the yarn through both loops on the hook.

On Tuesday evening I went out for a drink with two fellow knitters, we had a show and tell of things we had made. Nothing could trump, for comedy value, the Harry Hill ski mask Rachel produced. Who says knitting is boring? Rachel entered the mask into the Harry Hill's TV Burp K Factor competition, it didn't even get a mention. I think this fine piece of fibre art deserves a bit of recognition and a wider audience, it made me laugh.

On Tuesday I had a nice 'crafty' morning with my friend Sue. I was showing Sue how to crochet roses and spirals, we both agreed the spirals would make interesting necklaces. Sue showed me some of the things she is working on at the moment, I like a show and tell, it's good to share ideas.

Last week, in a charity shop, I noticed some vintage linens, tray clothes, napkins, table clothes. All were pre printed in blue, with floral designs ready to embroider. The colour of the blue used for the printing reminded me of the blue dye used to print the fabric Toile de Jouy*. Holding this thought I decided to embroider on a piece of Toile de Jouy, just enhancing part of the print by picking out flowers, hats etc with beads and embroidery.

I like to try any craft and the opportunity to try batik couldn't be missed. I spent the afternoon at my friend Susie's, she has the batik wax set up. Being a novice I found it difficult to be precise drawing with the wax. I found simple bold shapes were easiest for a beginner like me. I had one or two mishaps, wax going where I didn't want it to go and spillage! I think now I have tried it and know its possibilities and boundaries next time I would do a better job. I am quite pleased with my first attempt, mistakes and all.

For this Easter decoration I took the basic Scandinavian woven heart basket pattern and instead of using traditional red and white felt I used felt cleaning cloths, in pastel shades. I decorated the baskets with flowers, made from the same felt, and placed a piece of tissue inside to nestle small eggs in.

For this Easter basket I bought a 99p packet of cleaning cloths, the pastel colours are perfect for this Easter project. In The 99p Shop I found a packet of 15 pearlized eggs, they open up, you can put sweets of your choice inside. Alternatively you could put chocolate or decorated eggs in the basket . For the basic basket I found this comprehensive tutorial on Maya Made Maya has made a beautiful basket, I have just tweaked it a bit for this project.

This is another idea for painting terracotta pots, Laine at Lanie J. and Co.  has cleverly painted the body of the terracotta pot with black paint. A greeting, in chalk, can be written on the pot, a perfect present for a favourite teacher, maybe.