Friday 19 April 2013

Baby gift, my crafty friend

It appears there must be something in the water around my neck of the woods, a good handful of my friends are currently expecting (a baby, that is...) As a crafter this presents a challenge: what to give as a gift?

I perused a few idea's courtesy of saint Google, here's a website with a few ideas, and another, not bad... but I wanted to build on what I've seen. ('build on' - geddit? har har har... never mind). Here's my idea:

I decided to go for some soft blocks in a handmade box. I'm using felt to make the blocks, stuffing to fill them and sewing them together with wool. The box is made from a sheet of foam. 

My materials - felt, wool and foam. I also used toy stuffing.

Here come the numbers: I made 6 blocks using 3 colours of felt (2 of each colour in each block) = 8 squares of each colour (24 squares in total). My squares are 3x3 inches. Phew!
The number of shapes are the same deal as with the squares. I chose simple shapes...

and one number for each square

I plotted and pinned out each block (I found this stage a bit bamboozling!)
then sewed each shape on and the sides together, leaving one side open for stuffing
Stuffed and sewn block
The final product, with a little instagram magic

As you can see, I decided against using the foam (I was going to make a box for the blocks) but they're made to be seen, not tidied away.

Quick tip, use a cushion for the stuffing, waaaaaay cheaper than the stuffing you buy for toys. You can even recycle old cushions for this.
Just as a final note - I also found this online - cute! I must do this.

Wednesday 17 April 2013

Hello again old friend

Hello blog, long time no see, or write, or whatever...

I've been busying myself with many, many different things.

New craft projects coming soon...

Until then, please enjoy this song



look at this amazing photo (from the Chelyabinsk meteor earlier this year)


and I will see you soon!