Craft Activity 3 - Bunting

Since having completed Big Sister's project Little Brother has been pestering me for his own bunting. I thought I'd use it as an opportunity to provide simple instructions on how to make your own.

I made these ones in a traditional triangular shape. The last ones I made were from leftovers from a patchwork quilt so they were square, which I think I like better.











So, I chose 4 complementary fabrics that wouldn't date too quickly....















and made a cardboard template...















This one is approx 16cm across the top and the longer sides are 20cm but you can choose whatever size you want.

Then I used the template to draw on the fabric. Using spots and stripes meant that the fabric could go either way.....















I cut all the pieces up using a rotary cutter to start with but then I changed to the scissors when this happened....















I didn't do a photo for the next stage but I placed 2 of the same pieces of the fabric front sides together. I sewed along the 2 long edges, then turned them inside out and ironed them flat.

Here is a photo of all the pieces sewn up and ready to be joined together.....















Finally I trimmed all the loose threads and sorted them into a pattern. Choosing a complementary premade bias binding, I folded it in half and ironed it. Then I pinned all the triangles into the bias binding and sewed along the top. You could do this with zigzag or just a straight line depending on your confidence that it will all stay together.
















And voila! Here's the finished product!













Who else has made bunting? I'd love to see some photos.

My first giveaway

I just had to sew something today.

I'm getting frustrated with not being able to find the appropriate colour fabric to back the doona cover I'm making for Ari and I just want to finish a project.

Everyone went to the pool this afternoon and I got an unexpected couple of hours to myself. I planned on reading all the glossy sections on the paper but a sewing need came over me.

So with some extra doona fabric - stripes and denim and some bias binding made from a previous bunting project I made this bib (the photos don't really do it justice).
















Noone I know at this point is having / has had a baby boy so I'm going to give it away. Not just to anyone though - I need someone to be reading this blog.

So call all your friends and point them in the EllaBella BOO! direction. Everyone who posts a comment will go into the draw to win this lovely stripey reversible bib. It is a one of a kind but I usually sell them for $19.95 so it's worth a little something isn't it.

And how about a bonus entry for sharing this link on Facebook? You'll have to do that bit with your own finger power though because I don't know how to put the little 'Like' button into a blog post (refer first blog post for history).

I'm looking forward to hearing all your comments.

Sewing hems - learning something new

My sister came over last weekend with a pile of pants and jeans and a request to teach her how to hem her own pants.

In the preceding phone call I'd told her to not bother with the jeans but to take them straight to the tailor as I struggle to hem jeans with my machine. She told me of a girl at her work who cuts the jeans off and sews the hem back on. I hadn't heard of this and could not grasp the concept (maybe a little to do with the description??) but was very happy to research further.

Anyway we (ok she) googled 'how to hem jeans and keep hem' and found this pdf tutorial:

http://home.comcast.net/~kozykitty/blog/originalhem.pdf

and the result was fantastic! I wish I'd taken a picture. But here's one of the final result as displayed in the tutorial.



I mustn't be a very good teacher because I kept on offering to take over - easier than watching her struggle. But actually I was very impressed with her efforts and the results.

Now it's time for me to get onto all those hems I've never bothered with.