At the end of March I will be running a crafty workshop for the Bath WI. We will be making pincushions in teacups (and flower pots), so I have been busy designing and making some samples to take to the WI on Wednesday so people will have an idea of what we will be making.
a storm in a teacuplittle felt house and gardenflower pot pincushion with felt flowersbutton heart on pink linenteacup and flower pot pincushions
With a shed load of Christmas craft markets coming up, I could do with some little elf helpers! As the house fills with Christmas goodies I am already feeling festive…just hope it doesn’t wear off before Christmas! All available to buy or to order in my Christmas shop.
Of course you can come along to one of my Christmas stalls – Friday 21st Nov Yatton Keynell Village Hall (2pm to 4pm), Saturday 29th Nov King Edward’s School, Bath and Saturday 6th Dec Bath Central Library.
This year you could be wearing a Deerey Me creation…brooches and earrings!
Christmas tree felt earringssnowy Christmas tree earringsfelt earringsChristmas tree earringssnowy polar bear broochbaby penguin broochrock hopper penguin broochChristmas tree felt brooches
Of course you can dress your Christmas tree too!
robin tree decorationtaking the tree home decorationsnow scene tree decorationpolar bear tree decorationlet it snow tree decorationmeet me under the misteltoe
Last but not least, it was my mum’s 80th birthday last week…she got a round of applause and and a birthday cupcake at the Pump Room on the day and then a family get together at the weekend. Happy birthday (again) Mum!
In the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams, hoopy is defined as “a really together guy” and a frood is defined as “a really amazingly together guy.”
As an example to put it in context, Zaphod says, “Hey you, sass that hoopy Ford Prefect? There’s a frood who really knows where his towel is!”
Now I do know where my towel is (soft and fluffy and neatly folded in the airing cupboard), but in truth I am merely searching for a title for this post that might make embroidery hoops a little less…pedestrian.
[short aside: did I ever tell you that my old neighbours in Bristol reckoned I probably worked for MI5, as they couldn’t believe I was really a (then) thirty something who enjoyed quilting, National Trust gardens, and spending time with my cat Brian? Needless to say, they were wrong…but then if I were in MI5, I would say that wouldn’t I?]
So then, hoops. I like embroidery hoops as frames for textile pieces. I have a number of traditional frames, but they are more clunky – and much heavier to post – so I find myself stocking up on embroidery hoops. I have made a few ‘Mama Bear’ size pieces of hoop art that have been fun to do and have sold well…
owls hoopstorm in a teacup hoopcat hoopmeet me under the misteltoe
Then I woke early one morning with an idea in my head and grabbed a ‘Daddy Bear’ size hoop…
lonely tree
Next I picked up a collection of ‘Baby Bear’ hoops and made some Christmas tree decorations…the most fun thing to do with your clothes on! I started with some sketches like this one:
tree on car roof sketch
Then I chose a snowy background and cut fusible fleece to the size of the inside of the hoops, ironed it on to the back of the background fabric, cut out my images from lovely thick pure wool felt (using my own pattern pieces), dropped the feed dogs and fitted a darning foot and away I went!
Christmas tree decoration hoops
tree on car roof (my favourite)snowmanpolar bearrobinsnow scene
I am making the Christmas tree decorations to order for £5.50 each plus p&p – order through my Etsy shop or drop me an email: Christmas tree decorations
…my work has suffered. This week I will be getting back on track, ready for my stall at Yatton Keynell next Saturday. I am also going to be adding custom-made luggage tags to my repertoire after having made one for Mark:
…and I am going to put a felt flower tutorial in my next newsletter, after receiving such nice comments on the name badges I made the Bath WI committee members:
Just a quick note on felt – it should be wool; it should feel thick and strong and luscious; it should not be shiny and artificial. There are lost of suppliers around, but now only buy from Cloud Craft as the quality is so good, Nicole provides a EN71-3 certificate which means it is good for noses for toy mice and Nicole also posts it so quickly you can get right on with your project.