Revamping the old sand bag.

The sand bag in my laundry was looking terrible for a long time

and it was time for a new cover.

These pieces of fabric are off cuts that I bought 

at "Kamers vol geskenke", or as they are now known,

KAMERS.

Heavy duty upholstery fabric is from Design Team.

A South African based company that prints

beautiful designs.  

Some of the pieces of fabric I cut smaller and 

others I left the same.

Then I stitched them together and ironed the seams.

Then it was time for the top stitching.

I did some more measurements and sew along the long edge

of the bag, then stitched the short ends. 

Then I turned it inside out and slided the 

old bag into it's new cover, through the opening I have left at the side.

It was so quick and easy, 

but you do need the right fabric. 

I plan to make some coasters with the pieces of fabric that are left over.

But for now I will be taking a break for a couple of weeks.

I hope to see all of you again in the new year. Have a wonderful 

holiday and take good care of yourself.

xx

A Felt Mobile

On Sunday we took the trip to fetch my mother in law.

The round trip took us eight hours.

She will be spending the holidays with my sister in law.

Because she has Dementia it is not always easy and there are challenges.

She also spends hours in her room at the old age home which 

she shares with a room mate. 

To brighten up the room a little bit, I made this butterfly mobile.

It still needs the strand from which it must hang and maybe a few beads 

to catch the sun. But hopefully it will brighten up the window a little bit.

The red and blue flowers are both needle 

books for my Crafting friends. 

I am still finding my feet in the free style embroidery

field, but I am enjoying it. It is relaxing.

I think I now understand why women loved ( and still love )

the craft of embroidering and crochet so much.

All the small cloths made by grandmother and 

aunt, they are all cloths of sanity.....

They did it to keep their sanity.

It reminds me of the pin:

I knit so I don't kill people.

Keep crafting is all I can say!

xx

Needle books as gifts

A few of my crafting friends also do needle work, 

so I decided to make them each a needle book.

These are the two that I finished and there are many more to make.

. 

Each book has two white felt pages inside that are 

just smaller than the cover.

The back page is the same color as the front and

also out lined with blanket stitch.

Beads... of course there must be a bit of bling so 

all those beads from our stash came in handy.

(so did a few buttons and charms)

Working with the invisible thread to get the beads in

 place was a bit of a challenge, but worth it.

xx

Small Shopping Tote

This is a Christmas gift for my niece.

Instructions:

1. Make a drawing on paper just to help you get started.

2. Cut out the felt circles by hand.

3. Arrange them on the tote. 

4. Make a note on your drawing of what goes where.

5. Use Blanket stitch and French knots on the Flowers.

and Back stitch for the stems of the flowers.

There is a little secret to embroidery these days.
It is a FriXion Pen. You draw directly onto the cloth
and embroider over it. When you are done you can
just put the heat of a hairdryer onto it and the line will
disappear.