craft Archives - Page 2 of 3

Tag: craft

09
Jul
2016

Puff Stitch Beanie

Well, it’s certainly been a busy week! After a brief kerfuffle with the post on Monday, I finally received my yarn in the mail to complete the beanie that I mentioned last week, and I’ve been working on it a little each night since to finish it off.

While attending the craft fair, I fell in love with this beautiful yarn which is a blend of Alpaca and Merino yarn from Australian Alpaca Barn. They have an online shop where I was able to buy the additional yarn that I required in Mulberry. While buying it, I couldn’t resist and purchased enough to make another beanie in lilac and dark grey.

I’d purchased this pattern from The Hook Nook after seeing so many of her gorgeous photos on her Instagram account. I was waiting until I had the right yarn, but realised this was the one. Since her pattern calls for worsted weight yarn (10 ply here in Australia), and my yarn is 8 ply, I knew I’d need to modify the pattern slightly. The pattern is very easily scalable and with a few try-on’s I got the perfect fit.

Jessica also provides you with a link to her video tutorial for the puff stitch. Even though I had never used this stitch, with her video, I found it very easy to pick up and was able to proceed with smooth sailing. While I’m nowhere near her speed – seriously, check out some of her videos on her Instagram feed, she’s amazing! – I am so happy with how it turned out!

Puff Stitch Beanie | MeaganMade.com

I had to add a pom pom, and I was inspired by this video on the Better Craft Facebook page to try this new way of creating pom poms. Every time I see this pom pom I just want to give it a squish, and it’s super soft.

After finishing the beanie late on Thursday night, I had to wear it to work yesterday, and wow, my head was so toasty warm. I couldn’t resist taking a quick selfie to show you how it sits when it’s worn, and there were even some beautiful flowers still in bloom!

Puff Stitch Beanie | MeaganMade.com

I’m looking forward to making another one of these in lilac and grey! Give this pattern a try, you won’t be disappointed! 🙂

Happy crocheting,

Meagan xo

02
Jul
2016

Origami Pouch

categories: Craft, Sewing

The Craft and Quilt Fair came to Sydney last weekend, and I got a chance to attend on Sunday. I haven’t been for a few years, but this show always has the best variety of stalls and is a fantastic day. True to form, I came away with many purchases, including the kit and pattern for this origami pouch!

With every craft conceivable was represented at the fair, I had to limit myself to a few crafts. Sticking to those I’ve done in the last year I decided on sewing, quilting and crocheting! I met some wonderful people at the show, and it was great to catch up with one of my lovely crafting friends Mandy who had 2 of her gorgeous patterns for sale at the show and was also helping out on the AccuQuilt stall (I’ll be having some fun with those cutting dies in the coming months so stay tuned)! I also bought some beautiful fabrics, including some from the Tula Pink line, and some lovely Alpaca/Merino blend yarn, so you can expect to see more goodies from the show featuring in coming posts!

I had planned to post about a beanie that I had been crocheting this week, but was foiled! The one time I was trying to be good and purchase only the yarn that I “needed”, I didn’t buy enough, lol! Never fear, more yarn is on its way and once I receive it I will be able to show you this cozy beanie.

What I did manage to finish this week was a lovely small Origami Pouch, made using a kit from Wabi-Sabi Designs Australia. The kit includes all material and cord required for the pattern as well as instructions, all you need to sort out is the cotton! I couldn’t resist the colours in this gorgeous fabric, it has the greys and pinks that I love and the metallic gold to brighten it up!

Origami pouch material

The pouch has a drawstring to bring it closed, and you get peeks of the black inner fabric when it is full. At first the instructions looked a little daunting, but once you start sewing it together it begins to make sense. One stage involves sewing only two flaps together, and that was probably the trickiest, but with some bunching and folding I was able to do this, and on the whole I’d probably rate this as an intermediate sewing project!

Origami pouch

Now I have the fun part of deciding what to put in this pouch! At the moment I’m thinking of using it for smaller crochet projects like my granny squares for my Crochet Quilt but will see what I feel like. At the stall I was advised that I could follow this same pattern and just increase the square size to make a larger pouch so may give that a go down the track too!

Happy sewing,

Meagan x

25
Jun
2016

Nature’s Neutral Crochet Throw

categories: Craft, Crochet

As my mum feels the cold quite easily, this year for my Mother’s Day, I decided that I would make my mum a crochet throw blanket! I had seen the Nature’s Neutral Crochet Throw in a Better Homes and Garden (Australia) magazine that would be perfect for her, as she loves neutral colours, particularly shades of brown.

They sell kits for this throw blanket, which include the pattern and yarn in either acrylic or wool, and you can opt for a fringing pack if you wish. I decided on the on the wool throw with fringing, and purchased the kit from the BHG Shop.

Nature's Neutral's throw

Written in UK English, the pattern is easy to follow, though it did take me quite a lot longer than the advertised 12 hours. I think that I may be a slow crocheter though – based by other’s videos that I’ve seen online who seem to be able to crochet at record speeds! 🙂

Nature's Neutral's throw spread out

The kits contain three colours, and they are worked in a gradient from dark to light, as you can see in the pictures, but for the instructions you will need to purchase the kit! The wool is amazingly soft to the touch, and as I was working it up it kept me delightfully warm! Sometimes I can find wool a bit scratchy, but not the case with this lot!

Nature's Neutral's throw rolled up

This throw is perfect for Winter here in Australia, and was an enjoyable make! You can purchase the crochet kit here, and if you are a knitter, or prefer a brighter colour mix, you can also purchase other combinations through the BHG Shop.

Happy crocheting,

Meagan x

18
Jun
2016

Magimix Food Processor Cover

categories: Sewing, Uncategorized

When my old food processor gave up the ghost at the end of last year, I decided it was time to take the plunge and upgrade! After a lot of researching online I ended up settling on the Magimix 5200XL! I love it, and have been cooking up a storm with it ever since.

The body of the unit is quite heavy so this lovely piece of equipment is living on the bench top next to the stove. I didn’t want to get any oil or dust on it, so I decided I would sew a cover, but I wanted it to be nice and colourful!

Step 1 – Find a pattern! I couldn’t find a pattern specifically for the Magimix, but I did find this pattern from the KathieSewHappy store on Etsy. It fit the base measurements of my machine and all I had to do was add a little height to the pieces. Kathie’s pattern does come with instructions to make pockets, but I decided for mine I would prefer it to be reversible and without pockets.

Step 2 – Find the material! I had purchased some bright and colourful material from my local Spotlight store, rainbow and greys for the outside and a deep magenta for the inside. It is a heavy weight cotton, but so lovely and soft to the touch!

Step 3 – Make the cover! Well this was the easy part. Extending the pattern to add the height needed and then sewing it together was easy with Kathie’s simple to follow instructions. Like I mentioned above, I did leave out a few parts, but I was very happy with the finished product.

Step 4 – Enjoy it! Most of the time I leave the Rainbow side face out, but I will change it up from time to time! Here it is 🙂

The rainbow side of my Magimix Cover The magenta side of my Magimix Cover

If you’re looking for a pattern for your food processor, I’d definitely recommend giving this pattern a try!

Happy sewing,

Meagan x

14
May
2016

Pincushion thread-catcher

categories: Craft, Sewing

Working full-time, I don’t always get to do as much craft as I’d like to, so I’ve decided that sometimes I’ll post about crafts that I’ve done over the last few years that I’ve found on Pinterest. 🙂

Last week I posted about my friend Lisa’s birthday doughnuts – Lisa has been one of my closest friends since Year 7 in high school, and we’ve shared a place for the last 5 years (and yep – we’re still friends!). Luckily we both love to craft so she puts up with my crafting goodies being everywhere! 🙂

Two years ago, I spotted this pin for a pincushion thread-catcher and thought that I could make this as something that is not only cute but practical too! Lisa loves to sew, in particular quilts. Anyone who loves to sew knows how those annoying bits of thread end up everywhere. I have a sewing machine mat that has a little pouch for sewing scraps and it’s been super helpful. I’d seen Lisa eyeing mine off, so I knew it would go down well.

Close-up of pincushion

This pattern was super helpful and easy to follow, although I decided to leave out the clothesline so that it could be stored flat! For the first time, I got to take a trip to Bunnings for something I actually wanted, crafting! It made my dad happy to be able go to the hardware store with me and not have me bored, lol! 🙂

For this you’ll be using 2 door hinges as a weight inside of the pincushion, along with toy stuffing – though I read that some people added steel wool instead which had the added benefit of sharpening the pins!

Pincushion thread-catcher

I was so happy with how it turned out, and Lisa has enjoyed using it, it’s a constant presence on our sewing/dining table – so I’ll call that a success!

Check out the tutorial and let me know how you go with the project!

Happy sewing,

Meagan x