Puppy Love JETS February 2017

It was very busy at JETS last Saturday with lots going on. There is a fine balance preparing activities that will last 2 hours with no one getting bored and having too much to do so projects are not completed. I over egged the custard on Saturday and we ran out of time BUT everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and went home happy - clutching bits of thread and embellishments to finish off at home.

The activities were a soft toy puppy stitched on the sewing machine and finished by hand and a scrap fabric heart brooch.

Learning to stitch round curves

Cutting out ears and a tail

Stuffing your puppy

The heart brooch was made with pieces of fabric scraps, lace and sparkly threads bonda webbed to a piece of felt and covered with a piece of voile. A heart shape was drawn onto the "new" fabric and embroidered.

This was to be cut out and placed on another piece of felt for the backing with a pin attached. Stitched together and the excess backing cut off your brooch is ready to wear. 

Only we did not manage to get that far!

Everyone created their scrappy fabric and started the embroidery but the puppy-making took longer than I had expected. So everyone went home with a puppy and a part made brooch with bits and pieces to finish them off. Well, it is half term here this week so hopefully it will have been a good activity to complete on a grey day like today. 

The puppies were much loved and all seemed to have their own character.

Some of the puppies have button eyes, while others have beads or french knots. It is lovely to see the children developing their skills and make their own creative choices. 

It just remains for me to develop my skills in balancing the right amount of work to keep everyone busy and interested and not overwhelmed!

My grateful thanks goes to our band of volunteers who happily oversaw the machine sewing, stuffing, cutting out, ironing bonda web, embroidery and button stitching. Hopefully next month will be a little less hectic with a combined machine and hand stitched project.   

 

Five on Friday - Plans and Preparations

It is Friday again so time for Five on Friday with Amy at Love Made my Home. I have a lot of different projects on the go at the moment, some are plans for the future and others have a deadline and need to be completed. It would be more sensible to complete the deadline projects before thinking about new projects but temptation beckons.

The deadline projects are for a craft and tea event for our local hospice.

Earlier this year a good friend was cared for in Willen Hospice in the final few weeks of her life. D was a very talented lady and together with other friends we used to meet every month for a morning of craft, stitch and cake. We had lots of fun experimenting with new techniques and learning new skills, taking it in turn to host the group. It was D who encouraged me to think about selling some of the items I created and we did several craft fairs together. We called ourselves "In Stitches" not just because most of our items were stitched but mainly because we were generally "in stitches" laughing.

Examples of D's beautiful work.

Our craft group miss D terribly and we had talked about using our craft skills to raise money for Willen Hospice in her memory. It is something we know she would have done herself. D's daughter found a number of D's creations whilst sorting out her craft shed and so a plan was hatched.  Willen Hospice hold regular fund raising events throughout the year in order to support all it's amazing work. They need to raise around £3.6 million every year from the local community. It is Tea Party week during the first week of October so we are holding a Time for Tea Crafty Event. 

1. Lino cut panels

The craft group met last Friday and we went through a box of D's crafty odds and ends. In it we found a bag of her lino cut panels which we are going to use to print some cards.
A project for next week.

2. Brooches

There were  two brooches in a design D regularly made, one complete, the other half made. I stitched the unfinished brooch together yesterday. It felt a little odd working on something she had started, but strangely comforting at the same time.

3. Hair Clips

Also in the box was a pack of colourful hair clips which we divided between us.

A member of our group has made pretty felt flowers to attach to her clips. I am  crocheting flowers to decorate mine.

4. More Shirley's

The first flock of Shirley's were sold in aid of MacMillan Nurses and can be found here. They proved to be popular with several further requests from friends and family so a second flock are in development. 

They are having fun in the garden here and competing as to who has the best hat.
(Pattern from Lucy at Attic 24)

All these projects need to be finished before I can start this one:

5. Napkins

I made some new place mats earlier in the year from fabric left over from another project. They have not been used yet although I am not sure why as they are not being saved for "best" as my Grandma used to say. While out shopping for bedlinen earlier in the week I found this pack of 4 cotton napkins for £4, which seemed to be a bargain. They are completely plain so perfect for embellishment. I am planning to embroider a simple pear motif  onto them to match the place mats.

But not just yet. There are other more pressing projects to be completed first!

Five Crazy Creatures for Five on Friday

As mentioned in a previous post our Branch of the Embroiderers' Guild started a JETS (Junior Embroiderers' and Textile Students) group at the end of last year. We meet in my local Parish Council Hall and the group is growing steadily. The Parish Council hold a Summer Fete each year in July so the local community can get together and have some fun. I thought this would be a good opportunity for the JETS group to be involved in the wider community and also raise some funds. We plan to offer an activity for anyone who would like to try their hand at stitching, kits to sew and small stitched items for sale. 

We were lucky enough to be gifted lots of fabrics, threads and embellishments when the group started. So we have plenty of resources for the students and enough left over to make kits and items to sell. Among all the resources there was a large bag of small felt squares, which were left over from a Guild activity last year. I set myself the challenge of making something with them........

So here are my Five Crazy Creatures for Five on Friday!

1. Funky Chickens

2. Sweet Hearts

3. Wise Owls

4. Bouncing Bunnies

5. Pretty Puppies

They are all little brooches and will hopefully raise a few pennies for our group. 

The plan is to be able to buy some art materials and a junior sewing machine in the future.

Now, there is a huge bundle of net fabric, 

what could I make with that............??