Saturday 23 June 2018

Cutting the mount.

I recently re-shared King-arthur-and-guinevere on Facebook and was asked what I had used to cut the mount. So as I was getting my cutters out to adjust a purchased mount, here it is, or rather they are as I used two cutters. 

For the long straight edges I used this cutter.


It attaches to grooves on the ruler that came with it.




But for the smaller fiddly bits I used this cutter made by the same manufacturer.



This is also the tool I used to cut the mounts for small-owls  and to adjust the mount for the teddies' toes in birth-announcement.

As for the project I pulled the ruler and cutters out for? Well that is the funny thing, The aperture looked too small and I was sure it needed to be made bigger.  However once I took it out of the frame it was just right and I did not need the cutters at all. Typical.  I can't share that project just yet as it is a gift not yet given.  It will make its appearance at a later date. 

Sunday 10 June 2018

Project more progress

Sometimes when a project comes out for a little work then a little more and and before you know it quite a bit gets done.

I even know which bit I will stitch next...I call that progress. Still a long way to go....


Thursday 7 June 2018

Project update

This is a few sessions worth of update on this project.  I have been mostly working with whole shades and full stitches.  Although I did do a small section of tweeding. 



Saturday 2 June 2018

Doggy Bag

Now this is not a bag for taking leftovers home.

Although it is a bag of leftovers.

Some of my own and some of Nikita's

Another bag of random bits leftover from Nikita's past projects made their way to me.  Now this is a double win.  Guilt free de-scrap and de-stashing for Nikita and a bag of inspiration for me,well and some shared inspiration fro my BFF who got the purple bits, hey a triple win.

So last time the fist inspiration was two bits of material with -cat-and-mouse. This time it was two bits of material with dogs on.  The style of dog put me in mind of a famous brand for purses and bags.  I mention  no names, you either will know or you won't.

So a bag I thought. Hmm sure I have some of that dark shade of pink.  Checking required a trip into the loft.  I did indeed have some of that pink, in a box, in the loft. However the some was more like tiny bitty.

Fortunately there was also some paler pink that matched the spots and of that there was quite enough to do the job.

Handmade doggy bag
Doggy Bag


I could perhaps have gone with blue or green or even grey.

If I had found any of those colours during my expedition to the loft perhaps I would.

However pink is what I recalled and what I found.

As for the itty bitty of dark pink.

Well I used that too, in the handles of the bag in a slight reflection of the style previously used in my dragon-batik bag not quite as successfully but then this time round was on a smaller scale, both the handel size and the bit of enfolded material.

This is how they looked before the sewing and end folding.

As you can see there was not a lot of dark pink to play with.

I did wonder if it was worth attempting this way of incorporating a second shade. 

Whilst I was sewing it I was thinking nah! Should not have bothered.

Once done I am glad I did it pulls it together rather nicely.

Previously buttons have been a feature of attaching the handles to the bags I have made.  Decorative buttons not functional ones.


On this bag having already braved a loft search I did not feel like instigating a button hunt.

Normally delving into the button jar is fun.  It is a trip into my childhood.  I could play for hours with the buttons.  There are actually in my jar some of the buttons that I once played with...wow.  Today the prospect of looking for just the right size, colour, shade and shape did not appeal to me.  Then I recalled some little embellishments to hand (yes that is another pun) previously used on a subject related item  a toy dog. In that instance on the collar, this time four would replace the buttons.



A little hand stating hand made.

Also the idea of a hand tag on a bag with dogs rather then the dog tag from that famous unnamed brand amused me, still does. 

What can I say I have an odd sense of humour.






Now what is this bag for, or for whom? Well I am trying to decide if the finish is good enough to donate it at work for an up coming charity day in aid of tinylives, a local charity that supports the families of premature and sick newborns. A former colleague and his wife received a lot of support from this charity for their son. It has remained a charity close to our hearts.

The handles are not quite as I would have wished so I am giving it some thought.  Perhaps I will buy something to donate to the raffle and keep this bag till it becomes a suitable gift. 

I will let you know when I have made my mind up.

Oh I almost forgot, there was enough of the lighter pink to make the lining too and so that fabric is all used up bar the bits heading off into my bits-a-quilt number 3.

(PS, the bag did go to work for a Charity raffle and I understand the winner of the bag intends to use it as a lunch bag)