'Felt iPhone case' (or 'does your husband laugh at your craft projects?')

So I finally got a new phone just before Easter. And about time too as my poor 7 year old Nokia 'brick' kept turning itself off all the time and well it was a bit embarrassing to have it in public, even my 3 year old thought it was archaic.

One look at my shiny new phone told me it would not survive the rigours of my handbag like the trusty 'brick' could so I needed a cover.

I really wanted one of those crafty ones you can cross stitch a design on but I couldn't find one to fit my brand of phone (it's not an iphone as the title may suggest!)

So I thought a cute felt cover would be great so I whipped one up....

...I thought it was seriously cute and very functional (although I wish I had made it a slighter firmer fit for the phone).

Well hubby just about died laughing at it....a few of his utterances  between sniggers included...but why, what's the point, how impractical, who would have a cover like that etc you get the idea. After a few minutes of silence and my death stare he said ....oh don't get me wrong it is very well made and cute but I don't get it.

Anyway this is a conversation we have often about my crafting (he still can't get to grips with the hama bead thing!) and it got me thinking...

DOES YOUR HUBBY/SPOUSE/PARTNER LAUGH AT YOUR CREATIONS?
I would love to hear your stories....maybe we could set up a support group!!!!

Anyway enough of my babbling here is how I made my phone cover if you are intersted........

....I chose a gorgeous shade of blue felt from my collection and cut out 2 pieces. I just placed the phone on it and cut around it.

Then I thought it might need a double layer of felt so I decided to line my case with green....

...I cut these just slighter small in width (but not height) so that when I sewed the case togather the green wouldn't show at the sides.

Now for the decoration......

......an old favourite theme!

Then I started stitching it all on....

....I love this cute bunting!

And I had to include my old friend...

Then time to stitch it all together.....

....although you can't see it I have taken the front and a layer of the green and lined them up at the top and have blanket stitched along. When I got to the end I grabbed the other 2 back pieces......

...and basically flipped it over and carried on stitching along the top of the back like this ....

....then joined it to the other side at the end.

Then simply sewed around the rest of it with blanket stitch too...

Like I mentioned earlier I would have been better if was a snugger fit, but I am going to put a dome at the top just to stop the phone escaping!

Now I just need to get myself set up with Instagram!

OP SHOP FINDS OF THE WEEK

It is dangerous having my favourite charity shop so close to my son's preschool. As I drive closer to it I think if there is car park right out front I will stop and have a quick look. There is nearly always a park so I pop in a lot!

These are today's goodies...

The $2 plastic jar is my new cracker container...

.....it holds heaps! The $2 tupperware container with lid is perfect for crackers and dip for picnics and parties...

I couldn't leave Donald Duck behind.....

...I love these old puzzles, just like I had as a child. He was $2.

Then I spotted this cutie...

...look at that face! He was $1. It wasn't until I got home I saw the 2 holes in the top and realised he is half of a salt and pepper set. That's OK because he would look cute sitting anywhere.

And my absolute favourite find......

...this poor battered and bruised Wade cup. I had to have it despite the fact the handle has been glued on and a chip glued on the rim.

I just thought these ducks were devine. Even the signature on the bottom is lovely...

...and well I wasn't going to leave it behind when it was only $1!

OP SHOP FIND: STAN THE STAG!

Meet Stan the Stag......

.....isn't he fabulous!

I adopted him from my favourite charity store about 2 hours ago. I walked in the store and there he was in all his needlepoint glory. I had decided I was going to have him before I even looked at the price tag....which was only $10!

It is a big picture. Look at it in comparison with my couch...

Here is my daughter giving him a poke to say 'Hi'....

From a distance the picture looks like a paint-by-numbers which makes me love it even more.

My first thought was to rip it out of the frame and make a cushion or cover a piano stool or something but then I thought I would just paint the frame first to see if it looked any better.

The outer frame is a sort of hessian fabric that is fraying and losing furry bits everywhere.

So I put it on the kitchen counter and started slapping on some brown house paint that was in hubby's shed.....

.....and I think I kinda like it. I will ponder it for a bit longer and then decide what to do.

What do you think.....should Stan stay in his frame or become a cushion?

Let me know your opinion please!

FELT FOOD TUTORIAL: SANDWICH

I am really enjoying making all this felt food and have had so much fun playing with this sandwich!

The found the fabulous sandwich pattern on pinterest and it is from the lovely Tania of Myrtle & Eunice so if you want to make one of your own you can find the tutorial here where there is a link to the templates. She also has a full tutorial to follow too.

I will show you what I have done with mine.....

BREAD
I followed the original instructions .....I didn't have a thick foam though so I cut 3 pieces of thin wadding for each piece of bread. Also I didn't have a long enough piece of felt for the crust strips so had to cut two strips and join them together.

I used 3 strands of brown floss and started blanket stitching a crust onto one side of the bread...

Just before I got to the end of stitching on the first piece of crust I stopped and lined up the second piece of crust with a little overlapping, pinned and carried on stitching...

....until all joined up...

Then start stitching on the other side of the bread.....

...then about half way round put your stuffing in and then continuing blanket stitch around....and too cute 2 slices of bread!

CHEESE
I cut 2 pieces instead of one because my felt is acrylic and a bit thin and I could just see the kids having tug of war over it and the cheese coming off second best. So I used blanket stitch and stitched the 2 pieces together including the inside of the holes and now it child ready!

 

LETTUCE

Ditto with the lettuce I cut two pieces and used running stitch for the detail and then blanket stitched the 2 pieces together. Here is the front....

...and here is the back....

FRIED EGG
This one is nice and easy and a great one to start with with if you are new to hand sewing.
There is no pattern for this as such. Use your lettuce size as a guide and freehand an egg shape onto card, cut and trace 2 egg whites onto white felt and then just cut a circle of yellow felt.

Pin your yolk to one of the egg white pieces and whip stitch it on using 2 strands of matching yellow floss. Stitch 3/4 of the way around and then stuff with a little polyfill and then stitch closed.

Next just blanket or whip stitch this onto the second egg white...done!

TOMATO
I followed the original instructions sort of...I just cut two piece of felt for each tomato slice and cheated by only stitching the segment detail onto one side.....

Then just blanket stitched the two sides together......

Then put all your bits together and you have a scrummy sandwich!

Or two scrummy open sandwiches.....

Or two scrummy open sandwiches and a fried egg!

It really is quite fun to play with, I can't wait for my son to see it - he will love it!

Next up I am going to make a felt sandwich bag to keep all the pieces together. Then after that it will be biscuits and cupcakes. I have just under a month to get it all done plus overhaul the picnic basket itself and make all tablecloth and napkins etc

Hmmmm if only there were 8 days in a week!

FREE FELT FOOD PATTERN: TEA BAGS

Next on the list for my son's birthday present which is a retro picnic basket filled with plates, cups etc and felt food is felt tea bags.

I apologise for the appalling step-by-step photos but hopefully they will be good enough to follow!

Also I was going to upload a template to for you to print out but the scanner is nowhere to be found at the moment so measurements will have to do!

You will need:

2 x squares white felt 4.5cm x 5.5cm
1 x square brown felt 3cm x 4cm
2 x squares blue felt 2cm x 2.5cm
1 x small pink/red heart to fit in the blue square!

Embroidery floss
Pinking shears

I like to cut out and make about 6 at a time....

Using two strands of floss whip stitch a heart onto the front of a blue square which will form the tea bag 'handle'....

Then work out how long you want your tea bag string to be remembering to allow enough for making knots at both ends. I used full 6 strands of white floss cut to approx 13cm here....

Attach one end of your string to the back of the heart and knot firmly...

Then lay the other blue square over the back of the heart and blanket stitch around the edge making sure your tea bag string is centred. Use whip stitch if easier.

That is your tea bag string complete. Now move onto to the bag itself....

Lay your brown square or 'tea' in the centre of the white square........

....then add another white square on top and pin in place.

Next you need to stitch the tea bag together. Using 3 strands of white floss and a running stitch start stitching down a long side of the teabag (hide your knot on the inside). The idea is to stitch around following the square of the brown tea under the white......

I found it useful to hold it up to the light as I stitched so I could see the outline clearly...

Once I had stitched 3/4 of the way around (leaving the top open) I cut the edges using pinking shears and being very careful not to snip the thread/needle still attached!

Next grab another needle and thread it up to the bottom of the teabag string and stitch it tightly onto the top of the tea. Then with your other needle still attached to the bag just continue your running stitch around the edge, knot it on the inside and you are done!

Too cute!

You could do all sorts of variations....

Stitch the word 'tea' on the bag before you sew the front and back together.
Have an apple or orange instead of a heart so you know which flavour it is.

Next up I am starting the felt sandwich and luckily for me I have already found a great pattern and I have stocked up on my felt so I just need to get started!

Lollipop Hama patterns

The other day when I showed you all my latest Hama bead projects I meant to include these photos so you could make the lollipops yourself.....

This large swirly lollipop fits on one large pegboard......

....and you can get two of the smaller lollipops onto one large board.....

Yum!

Hama bead projects

I haven't shared any of my hama bead crafting for a while but don't you worry I have been busy with those beads....it is definitely addictive.

Bunnies

 

Mr Hedgehog

 

Lollipops

 

The lollipops were inspired totally from one of my many Ondori cross stitch books.......

 

...I should do a string of hama gingerbread men for Christmas...cute!

 

London Bus

Miss Riding Hood

 

Woodland Matryoshkas

 

Paper dolls.....

 

....pretty in pink....

 

...in disguise...

 

...and a boy doll too!

 

Hubby says I have to get rid of all these projects (and more!) before I am allowed to buy any more beads....he doesn't quite get my fascination! So I have dutifully listed them in my Etsy store if you are interested. Except for the paper dolls which I of course have to make more clothes and accessories for!