Big Tutorial + Giveaway: Christmas Stocking!

~ by Kendal

Hello, and happy nearly December to you!

I honestly don’t think I have ever been so excited about Christmas/Yule. We cannot wait until the 1^st December hits and I can finally put up all the decorations and festive bits and bobs I’ve been gradually making. (Although I did sneakily change over our Seasons Table today…)

To get into the festive spirit, we will be giving away this lovely, hand-embroidered stocking for a Mama.  I thought that this Giveaay should be about celebrating how much a Mama does at this time of year. If you are a Mama, then you deserve a lovely stocking all to yourself, or maybe you just know a Mama who you’d like to give this too. To be in with a chance of winning this stocking, just leave a comment after the post telling us what your favourite Yule tradition is. (Winner will be picked using random number generator on Friday at 7pm)

I'll also be showing you how to make your own, completely personalised stocking, since handmade stockings are just so lovely. They are surprisingly easy, can be totally customised and do not require much in the way of sewing skills. A machine is handy for securing the back and front together, but you can just use a blanket stitch instead if you don’t have one.

I have four to make (oh yes, baby Ezra is getting one too!), and have done two so far. So!

All you need is:

Felt of different colours (I used felt that was a mix of wool and acrylic)

Embroidery thread

Buttons

Ribbon for hanging

1. First of all, you need to decide what size and shape you want your stocking to be. I went for a fairly big, standard shaped stocking and drew it out on tracing paper. With your felt folded in half, draw around your stocking, then pin together the felt and cut. You should have two stocking shapes!

 2. Next, you’re going to create the white collar at the top. Using your stocking as guidance, place it ontop of your tracing paper and draw around the top and sides. Stop when you get to the point your collar will end. Draw a horizontal line across and cut this out, then fold together your white felt, pin and cut out two stocking tops from your tracing paper template.

3. Now, this is the fun part. You get to decide what you want on your stocking! I’ll show you two examples of other stockings later, but for this Mama one I decided I wanted winter flowers and then some embroidered ‘doodle’ lines. So, I sketched a few flower shapes until I came up with one I likes, and decided I was going to use green and white felt for this.

4. I decided on 5 flowers, so using a template I drew on tracing paper, I cut out 5 white flower parts and 5 green flower parts. Easy. Now to sew them on!

5. Place your flowers where you want them to be, and either make a mental note or take a photo. 

Then, sew one green flower on.

I used a split stitch to outline the green flower, and then I placed the white flower on top and used a simple running stitch to stitch that on. Then, I placed a white button in the middle and sewed that on securely. Repeat with four other flowers!

 6. When you’ve done that, you can doodle on some fun embroidery lines to  create swirling stems and add some extra prettiness. I used a running stitch and white embroidery thread and, drawing down where I wanted the lines to be roughly first (on a piece of paper, for guidance), I sewed them on to the stocking.

7. Now, we need to embroider ‘Mama’ onto the white collar. There are lots of ways to do this. I simply sketched the word onto paper first so I had a bit of guidance, and then I very lightly wrote it on the felt with pencil. Barely visible kind of light, so that when you stitch on top, you won’t be able to see it. Remember to leave room at the top, bottom and sides of the felt for further stitching. I used a split stitch to create the word so that it had a nice thick line to it.

8. Once I was done, I used my machine to sew the stocking together. Place right sides together and pin, then sew all around the edge (apart from the top, obviously – we need a gap for gifts!). 

Snip small ‘v’ shapes into any curved seam allowances, then turn right side out, smoothing and pressing with an iron (dish towel between your iron and felt to stop burning)

9. Now, you’re going to blanket stitch both sides of the collar, making sure that it fits flush with the stocking. Because we used up ½ inch or so of your stocking at each side as a seam allowance when we sewed the front and back together, you should now have just enough extra collar at each side to sew a nice blanket stitch up it.

10. Once you’ve done this, you want to sew a piece of ribbon onto your stocking with which to hang it. A nice chunky ribbon works well. You can machine stitch it if you want or just hand sew but make sure you make it extra secure and tight. The collar will go over any visible stitches.

11. Now, you’re going to place your collar over your stocking and blanket stitch all the way round the top, until it is securely sewn on. Repeat at the bottom of the collar, but just to edge it – you don’t have to sew it onto the stocking, just tidy up the edge and make it a little sturdier.

12. Admire. Hang it up. Put lovely gifts in it.

Here are some other stockings I've done too - Hopefully you can see how easy it is to customise a basic stocking and make it as personalised as you want!

(Howard's stocking, with simple Yule trees sewn on)

(The start of our Winter Seasons Table...)

Big Tutorial + Giveaway - Easy Halloween Tutu

 - by Emi

So it's coming up to one of my most favourite times of year. Halloween.

Stephen and I are Pagans, so we celebrate Samhain on the 31st. Among other things, Samhain celebrates those who have passed on in the previous 12 months and on honouring them.This remembrance of the dead, combined with folklore telling us that they, and other less savoury creatures, are closer than we know at this time of year, has evolved into the celebration as we know it today.

My biggest bugbear with Halloween in that there seems to be an awful lot of girls who look like... well... my Nannan would use the word 'trollop'. Even worse, this state of (un)dress worryingly seems to be filtering down to young children's costumes as well.

Consequently, I think it's even more important to make your own costumes, if you can, giving us as parents a modicum of control over how sexual a costume our child wears. Don't get me wrong, I've had my fair share of drunken Halloweens, dressed as a burlesque vampire, that's just not what I want my children to be wearing!



Today, I am going to teach you how to make your very own tutu! These are so super-easy, requiring little sewing skill (or none, depending on how you do it), and can be adapted for any costume or colourscheme, as well as for any child or adult (I can imagine my friend Arianne reading this blog post and doing some kind of high-pitched shriek at the thought of her very own pink, princess tutu!).


You're going to need a lot of netting for this, as well as elastic. I tend to buy rolls of soft netting in bulk for use within MamaPixie, so I used half a roll of green and half of purple that I had left over. The rolls are 6" wide and 25m long. If you don't have this, a trip to your local Boyes will provide a plethora of netting in a whole bunch of different colours. It's a little stiffer than the netting I used, but will work just as well. Having never made a tutu with the latter type of netting, I'm going to guess that you'd need 2 meters-ish for a child's tutu, less for a toddler or baby and more for an adult.

Now, you need to cut it into strips. I cut mine to about 60 or 70cms long, and 3" wide. This is quite a laborious task, so I did it with husband-made hot chocolate and ogled Bradley Cooper in Limitless whilst I worked! I did start off counting how many I cut, but Mr Cooper's beautiful behind was pretty distracting and I lost count.

You'll end up with a big pile of netting strips, like mine below...

We're now going to make the waistband. With the elastic, you'll need to measure your child's waist size and add on an inch. Cut the elastic to that length, form a loop overlapping the ends and sew together. I use 1" wide elastic. This one has an unstretched length of 20-ish", so will fit several inches wider than that. To give a frame of reference, this size is too big for my 13 month old Pixie, and fits with no stretch at all on 3 and a half year old Ru.

You could do this by hand if you don't own a sewing machine, though it would take you a smidge longer.




Then, we begin the most time-consuming part of this tutu tute, actually putting the netting onto the elastic.

Take a strip of netting, fold it in half. Pass the tail ends of the netting round the elastic and through the loop in the middle of the netting, pulling it tightly.

I then tied the two tails into a knot a couple of times. This doesn't make the netting stay on better, it simply makes a later step easier for you (you'll see what I mean!).

Repeat this step over and over... and over... and over... and over...

If you're using more than one colour, you can alternate the strips; I did two green, then two purple, two green and so on.

I don't know about your kids, but mine seem to really love 'helping' me. And by 'helping', I mean liberally scattering them across the floor and giggling manically whilst throwing them into the air. This activity was also shared by the cats, who really seemed to enjoy sliding across the floor and through the strips.

Eventually, kids and cats aside, your tutu will start to look like this...

Carry on looping the netting round the elastic until you've completely filled it. Then, if you want a flouncier tutu, add more! I usually find one layer to be sufficient for a child.

Now, you'll see there are still some white bits of the elastic showing through. If you don't mind that, then TA DAA! Your tutu is finished!

If you do mind it, grab a strip of netting, tie one end round the elastic and then begin to wrap it around. Because you tied the tails in knots earlier, it is now easier to see where you need to wrap the netting inbetween each knot. When you reach the end of your wrapping strip, tie on another and tuck the ends under to make it look neater.

And you're done!

It would be really easy to customise this, white for an angel, pink for a princess, rainbow for... a rainbow... You could also make your strips of netting longer for a longer tutu as well, which is what I'd advise if you were making this for an adult. You could also easily hand sew some little bat shapes on to make your tutu extra spookalicious!

And it's not even limited to Halloween either, tutus are a fantastic addition to any dressing up box. Ru loves the one I made for this tutorial so much that I'm having to make an exact copy for him! Tutus ain't just for girls!

So, to win the gorgeous green and purple tutu made in the tutorial today, simply leave a comment telling me your all-time favourite scary movie! The winner will be picked on Wednesday 31st October, using a random number generator.

"Yowling, prowling, growling cat
Why do you swish your tail like that?
Why do your eyes flash gold and green?
Could be--must be--Halloween!
Slinky, inky, blinky cat,
Why do you arch your back like that?
What scary creatures have you seen?
Could be--must be-- Halloween!"

Big Tutorial + Giveaway: Autumn Patchwork Tote Bag

~ by Kendal

For our second big tutorial and giveaway I thought I’d make a large Tote bag in Autumnal colours, to celebrate the end of September and the beginning of October (my favourite month).

Tote bags are so easy to make, but this one has a little twist – It is a quilted, patchwork Tote bag in purples, and dark yellows. The fabrics are heavyweight cottons (perfect for carrying around lots of things) and what’s more, apart from the lining, they’re vintage too!

If you’d like to be in for a chance of winning this bag, please leave a comment after the post telling us your favourite thing about Autumn.

*

Although you could do this by hand, I’m going to assume you’re using a sewing machine. I’m also going to assume you know how to accurately cut fabric (if you don’t, there are lots of online tutorials, just google!)

What you need:

- 5 lengths of fabric, 4 inches wide and 19 inches long, in contrasting fabrics (I used two very heavy cottons – one in purple, one in yellow)

- 2 lengths of fabric for straps – both 6 inches wide and 32 inches long

- I piece of batting - quilting batting or old scrap of bedding – 19 inches wide and 40 inches long (I used some muslin I had lying around which added extra weight to the bag)

- I piece of cotton fabrc for lining -16 inches wide and 19 inches long.

Thread for your machine to match the fabrics. (I used cream)

Use ½ inch seam allowance throughout.

How to:

1. Cut all your fabric to the measurements above. If you have a rotary cutter and quilting ruler, use those. If not, use a fabric pen and the largest ruler you have to make sure the measurements are accurate. (Tip: When cutting long pieces of fabric, always fold the fabric in half without ironing the fold. Use the fold as the halfway point )

2. Arrange the five strips into the order you want and, wrong sides together, sew each of the strips to one another.

3. Once you’ve finished, your Outer bag should look like this! 

Turn over and press the seam allowances to one side. In this case, I pressed to the darker side so it wouldn’t show through. Then turn over and press on the right side.

4. Lay out your batting (muslin in this case) on a hard surface, and carefully lay your outer bag onto it, making sure there is batting surrounding each side. It’s important to make sure that the two pieces of fabric are absolutely smooth. Smooth from the middle out, and pin all over. The more pins, the better. If you happen to have bent-arm safety pins (special quilting safety pins) use them, but if not pins will be absolutely fine.

5. Now, you’re going to quilt the two layers together by using a technique called ‘stitch in the ditch’ which literally means stitching along the seams you’ve already created, so very easy. The best way to do this is to actually sew just next to the seam instead of directly on top. The finished look is better this way too. Make sure you stitch on the side of the seam that does NOT have the seam allowance underneath. (Tip: If you’re going to be quilting regularly, a walking foot for your machine is essential as it keeps all layers of fabric together. You won’t need one for this as we’re just quilting two layers instead of three.)

6. Lay your quilted fabric back on the table and using either fabric scissors or a rotary cutter, trim the excess batting off so the two pieces of fabric are even.

7. Fold your fabric in half, wrong sides together and stitch up the sides leaving a ½ inch seam allowance. Repeat with the lining fabric (wrong sides together, ½ inch seam allowance.

8. Lay your strap fabric out on your ironing board and press in half lengthways. Then, fold each half into the centre, pressing firmly. Once you’ve done this, fold the fabric in half and you’ll have one strap, ready to be sewn! Press again, lining up the two outer, folded edges. Now, stitching as close as possible to the edge, sew the strap together. Repeat the process with the other strap.

9. With your outer fabric turned right side out, position the straps so the ends are pointing up the way, away from the bag. Place them 4 inches in from each side and pin. Make sure that the strap edges are just a little over the bag itself.

10. Place the outer fabric, still right sides out, with straps attached, inside the lining which is wrong sides out and line up the top edge. The two bags should fit each other perfectly. Pin in place, and with a ½ inch seam allowance, sew all the way round the top of the bag, leaving a 3 inch opening at one of the sides. Remember to backstitch at the beginning and end of your sewing.

11. Turn your bag inside out by pulling the lining and outer fabric and straps through the gap in your sewing. Nearly done now!

12. Sew all the way round the top of the bag as close as possible to the top, sewing the gap closed and securing the top edge. And that’s it! One Autumn Tote bag ready to go!

Remember, to win this bag, please leave a comment after the post telling us what your favourite thing about Autumn is!

A winner will be picked using random number generator on Wednesday 3rd October.

Big Tutorial + Giveaway - Play Tent!

~by Emi

So today, campers, we're going to make a totally rockin' play tent! And not only that, Crafty by Nurture will be giving away the tent made in this tutorial!

This tent is a simplified version of the one I will be offering in my MamaPixie Etsy store over the next few weeks, and is perfect for a simple game of hide and seek with my 11 month old, Pixie, or hiding away and reading with my 3 year old, Ru.

Before we start, I am going to barrel ahead and assume that you have some basic knowledge of how to use a sewing machine. There are many wonderful tutorials out there to teach you how to use your sewing machine, and do simple hems etc. This is not one of them. We'll be using sewing in a straight line and a basic hem.

I am also going to be using an overlocker in this tutorial, but don't worry, you can do this if you only have a sewing machine.


First off, we're going to need our tent fabric. This is a great way to use up old bedding that needs a new lease of life. However, if you want to start from new, sheet material from Boyes is perfect for this project. You're going to need their sheet material, as it needs to be WIDE! It's a washable poly-cotton blend, they sell it for around £4 a meter, and it's 2m wide. You will need 2m of this fabric.

We're also going to need a quick visit to a well-known DIY chain store to get four 15mm wooden rods. B and Q sell ones that measure 1.8m, (the four rods will cost you about £19) and you'll need to cut them down to 1.5m. With a saw, not scissors obviously. You could also use bamboo, as long as it was thick and was 1.5m long!





Pour yourself a glass of wine. Wait until the kids have gone to bed because you need to clear your workspace floor, and not have children and/or cats running across your fabric!

So here we are...

Step 1. Lay Out Your Fabric

Well, that was easy. Reward yourself with more wine.



Step 2. Tent Panels

We're going to draw a horizontal line at the bottom of our sheet that is 95cm long. Mark the middle of it at 47.5cm. This is your Base Line.

At the middle mark, draw a line 112.5cm long, perpendicular to the Base Line. This is now your Middle Line.

At the top of the middle line, you then need to draw a line 11cm long, parallel with the Base Line, with the top of the Middle Line joining the middle of the Top Line.

Join the left-hand edge of the Top Line to the left-hand edge of the Base Line, and repeat for the right-hand edges. Cut round this shape. This your basic Tent Panel.

Now, do it all twice more, so that you end up with 3 of these Tent Panels.




And if that step doesn't make sense, copy the diagram below.

Then drink some more wine. Or gin.

Step 3. Door Top

Using the same method as in Step 2, we're going to make a smaller version with different measurements for the Door Top. You will need 2 of these.

Remember, Base Line first, Middle Line perpendicular to the Base Line, Top Line parallel to the Base Line.

(Now, I know mine looks a little misshapen, but I'm taking the photo on an angle, trying not to stand on the curious cats.)








Step 4. Door Flaps

Use the same method for Step 2, with a Base Line of 95cm, Middle Line of 70cm and a Top Line of 42cm.

Then cut straight down the Middle Line, et voila! 2 Door Flaps.

Step 5. Pole Casings

Cut out four long rectangles, measuring 122cm x 10cm. These are your Pole Casings.



Step 6. Hem the Door Flaps

I want you to do a simple hem on the Base Line and the Middle Line of the Door Flaps. I used ribbon on mine, because I'm fancy-schmancy like that.



Step 7. Assembling The Door

Right, lay one of your Door Top pieces upside-down (ie. the longer Base Line at the top).

Place a Door Flap on it, right side up, matching the middle of the Door Top Base Line with the edge of the hemmed edge of the Door Flap.

Sound confusing?

Here's a picture.

Then place the second Door Flap.

Now put the remaining Door Top over the top (again upside-down), making a 'sandwich'. Pin it all together, and then sew in a straight line along that pinned edge.

Remove pins, flip over the Door Top pieces so that the whole thing is the same shape as your Tent Panels. Sew along the Door Top/Door Flaps edge again for extra strength.

Hem the top of the Door Top piece.



Step 8. More Hemming

Hem the top of your 3 Tent Panels. Again, I used ribbon, but a simple hem will do.




Step 9. Assemble Pole Casings

Hem the top and bottom of all four Pole Casings.

Take one of the Pole Casings and fold it in half lengthways. Pin and sew along this edge. Remove pins, and repeat for the rest of the Pole Casings to make four long tubes.




Step 10. Main Tent Assembly

Take your Door and lay it flat on the floor, with the side you want on the *outside* of the tent facing upwards.

Line up one of the Pole Casings with the top of the Tent Panel. Starting from the top, pin the Pole Casing to the edge of the Tent Panel.

The Pole Casing may not reach to the bottom of the tent, depending on your hemming. This is fine. You haven't done anything wrong. It's just one of those things.

Below, is a photo of the top of the Door with the Pole Casing placed correctly on top of it.

Now, place a Tent Panel on top of it, with the side you want on the outside facing *down*. Pin the entire thing along where you already pinned, pinning together (from bottom to top) Door, Pole Casing, Tent Panel.

Sew along this entire line. I then used my overlocker on this seam. If you're not lucky enough to own such a machine, I'd do this with your standard straight stitch and then either a couple more times, or use a zigzag stitch to make sure that there's no chance of the seam coming apart.

When you've finished, you will realise that you already have HALF your tent assembled! Half!

Check you out.



I now want you to continue piecing the tent together this way, fabric on the bottom facing upwards, Pole Casing, and then the next Tent Panel on top facing downwards.

until you end up with something resembling... This...

Check my mad Paint skillz, yo.

We're now going to do the final seam, exactly the same way as the others, but this time, joining the edge of the last Tent Panel with the side of the Door (the red lines in my *amazing* diagram above).

When you've done that, your tent is pretty much done! Simply hem along the bottom edge, starting from the inside hemmed edge of one of the Door Flaps, all the way round, over the three Tent Panels, round to the inside hemmed edge of the other Door Flap.



Step 11. Erection

When you've stopped tittering at the word 'erection', slide one of the wooden rods into each casing.

Stand the tent up, arrange the pole tops and then tie round them to hold them sturdily. In the picture below, I've just used some left-over fabric, but you can use ribbon or string or whatever you fancy.

Ta daa!


Then, obviously, get inside and take a picture. And feel REALLY proud of yourself.

Thoroughly well done if you made it to the end of the tutorial, and completed your own play tent!

We'd love to see your own Tents, so please feel free to leave us links to your bloggy-tenty exploits in the comments, or share them with us on our Facebook page.


And now, just because Kendal and I love you all so very much, we're actually going to be giving away the play tent I made in the tutorial! Woooo!

Now, before you get too excited, the cost of posting the tent *with* poles is pretty darn high, so the giveaway is for the tent WITHOUT the poles!

Without The Poles!

So, to win the tent, simply comment at the bottom, and tell us what you think your kids would do with the tent if you won it!


The winner will be picked at random using a random number generator at 7pm on Sunday 2nd September 2012. The lucky person will be announced both on here, and on the Crafty by Nurture Facebook page. We'll then need to sort out address details, so the Tent can be sent out, and will head off on the journey to its new home!




And so concludes our first Crafty by Nurture 'Big Tutorial'!

Bam.

Play Tent.

Done.

And here's another one that was made for a friend!