Gone To Earth

Awards.... something to smile about

I've been a teensy bit slow in acknowledging these awards; mostly because I've been struggling, just a bit, to work out how to 'grab' the images. But, I'm beginning to get used to this Apple Mac creature ......

Pretty isn't it? I've put it in the side bar 'cos it's all bright and cheerful.

This 'Friends' Award has been passed onto me by; Kitty , by Marie and by Julia. So, thank you all. It's a nice feeling linking into a 'web' of friendship via the 'computery', 'webby', internet thingy'. I love the e-mails we swap from time to time and your blogs which are usually where these conversations begin. It worries me sometimes that I have 'friends', from blogs and forums whose friendship and conversations I value and yet I'd walk straight past them out in the wide world because I've little idea what they look like.

Then there is this award ....

.... which has also been given to me by Marie. The rules for passing this on are;

These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these kind writers. When you pass the award along please include these guidelines. I am to choose eight friends to share this with.

This makes me smile a little - because I feel that acknolwedging the award is 'aggrandizing' isn't it?.... Never mind, it's a lovely sentiment. So, I'm to pass this on to eight other blogs and hopefully you'll be able to pass it on to other bloggy friends of yours and we'll all be linked together in a cosy web of our own. So, I'd like to pass this award to; Indigo Blue, Lace Hearts, IncyWincy, Two Hippos, At Home with MelMel, Maximum Rabbit Designs, Ragged Roses (Please don't curse me, Kim. I know you're trying to get loads done at the moment), and Cloudhopping. Wow! What a lot of tagging that was - enjoy your awards and speak again soon.

A day of pattern and colour

Yesterday was a day of pattern and colour. Kay the Rowan rep brought fabric and books and patterns and more fabric and we looked at Midwest Modern and Midwest Modern 2 Oranges and browns in the strong complex patterns of Midwest Modern

It's always so hard to choose. I'm not the best at making decisions in the first place but this was hard, believe me. We looked at Daisy Chain.

Strong colour and complex designs of the Daisy Chain Collection - these have quite a retro feel about them.

Picking fabric tells you lot about yourself.... I'm beginning to suspect that I like blues and greens and it's quite a blues and green collection really. Absolutely stunning greens and blues...

'Daisy bouquet in Indigo'

and...

'Pressed flowers in turquoise'

We looked at books. We looked at patterns and we looked at how Amy herself combines these fabrics to achieve the looks she does.

You've probably seen these patterns before but I'm sure I read somewhere that the pretty little Velma bag is being discontinued.

Oh, and look what we found in 'Midwest Modern' a little patchwork scarf trimmed with yo-yo's! Now there's an idea.

Take a look; Crafteroo and UKHandmade

Despite all the news of doom and gloom and economic depression the 'handmade' movement, if I can call it that, seems to have quite a lot going on at the moment. Things which all help to 'scream and shout', celebrate and support the 'handmade' and the 'handcrafted' in the UK.

There are more outlets to help get work in front of people and hopefully secure sales; I'm thinking of Foksy and MISI (make it sell it). New Craft Forums (or is it Fora? ) such as Crafteroo which is a vibrant place for crafters to openly discuss issues relating to their crafts, sales, and designs. It actively encourages and supports crafters and designers in getting their 'makes' and blogs in front of a wider audience.

It occurred to me yesterday that in the rush before Christmas I never explained the UKHandmade badge in the sidebar.

UKHandmade is a new online magazine started by Anna Sakura

There is a little more too it than just a very nicely produced magazine which includes articles about 'blogging', recipes and tutorials - so stuff to make. It spotlights UK designers and crafts folk. (.... and it's free!) Loads of gorgeous pictures!

Wrapped around all this though is a Forum, with all the things that you'd expect of a Forum. There are discussions about; working out the pricing of handmade goods, where Craft Fairs are being held, questions regarding suppplies.

Becoming a member allows you to create a 'Profile' page where you can say a little (or a lot about youself) You can join Groups, make 'friends', load up photo's or/and videos of your makes. A group where you can post and obviously find 'Free Tutorials and patterns' started just this week. It's worth a look.

Both Crafteroo and UKHandmade have Flickr groups which are powerful ways of reaching out to new audiences for your work.

On the 'About' page it states the aims of UKHandmade as;

UK Handmade is a design led online magazine committed to showcasing and promoting the best creative talent the UK has to offer. Artists and designers from across all of the art disciplines have a place here including photography, feltmaking, jewellery, fashion and art.

and a little paragraph at the bottom which I quite like.....

The term 'handmade' is now an indicator of quality, care and professionalism that is second to none and something we at UK Handmade wish to encourage and celebrate.

So, however miserable the Big Wide world is at the moment the 'Craft and design' world seems to reinventing itself, tapping into new reserves of energy and enthusiasm and shouting loud. Really quite happy and well. Here's hoping it flourishes even more this year.... So, if you're plagued by worry about selling your 'handmade' items ..... remember .... 'marketing' is important. Getting your name out there is important. And, also remember that 'Marketing' is subtly different to advertising.... but more on that another time. Have a good weekend.

Tutorial: Heart shaped yo-yo ' s

Thank you for the lovely comments on the yo-yo tutorial. This post is about yo-yo's too but heart shaped ones this time. Well, it is getting close to St Valentine's Day.

All yo-yo's are basically gathered rosettes of fabric which can be made to take on different shapes dependant upon the starting shape of the piece of fabric and the fabric you use to make it with. Therefore, a heart shaped yo-yo begins with a heart shaped piece of fabric. Just like the circular yo-yo's these yo-yo's aren't difficult to make so please don't be put off from trying one just because the instructions seem a little long. Once you've made one you'll wonder what all the fuss was about.

Requirements

Note: The completed yo-yo will be half the size of the ’starting’ heart shape. This applies to both the width of the heart and the length. Hopefully this photo makes what I'm trying to say a little clearer.

Quite a startling difference isn't it.

To make a heart shaped yo-yo you will need the following things;

• pencil
• fabric - cotton, felt, velvet, polyester cotton, sheers, denim, fleece - what else can you think of...
• sewing thread to match the fabric
• needle
• scissors
• paper or light card (to make a pattern with or template with)
• non permanent fabric marker (to draw around template) or pins to pin pattern to your fabric.

The first step is to make yourself a pattern for the heart.

I made this heart pattern using Auto shapes on Word - but you can trace shapes out of books or draw them freehand. Once you have your heart shape, you need to add a seam allowance all the way around the outside of approximately 5mm.

As you can see my paper pattern is 11 cm across the widest part of the heart. I added on a 5mm seam allowance and this gave me a completed fabric yo-yo of approximately 5.5 cm.

Pin your pattern to the fabric or if you made a cardboard template draw around it with your non-permanent fabric marker.



Cut out your heart shapes.

Thread your needle. I usually use a double thread for this, but you can use a strong, quilting thread if you have some. What you're trying to avoid is the thread breaking as you begin to gather up the fabric.

With the right side of the fabric facing down, start sewing at the 'indent' at the top of the heart. Fold over the 5mm seam allowance and begin sewing.

Using a medium sized running stitch, sew all around the outside of your shape. As you sew around the heart, do not agonise trying to make flat seams which lay nicely. The aim is to maintain the shape of the heart and if it tends to look just a little bit puckered, it's o.k.



At the bottom of the heart just fold the seam allowance over but avoid creating pleats or folds which will make pulling up the threads difficult. Sew all the way around the heart with the last stitch ending at approximately the same point as the first stitch. This ensures that the fabric gathers up neatly.



The fun bit. Gently pull up the thread to gather the yo-yo. You may need to push the fabric inside as you gather it. If your gathering thread snags at any point, just ease the gathers along gently.



At this point, what you will have is a gathered piece of fabric that may or may not look like a heart. Don't be disappointed we haven't finished yet!

For the next step you need to distribute the gathers evenly. Wiggle your fingers inside to push out any 'puffs' of fabric that have got caught up behind other bits. Centre the 'throat' or hole of the yo-yo and move it down a little to get that heart shape.

Note: I haven't fastened off the thread yet.

Once you're happy that you've distributed the gathers evenly, insert your needle through the 'hole' at the front, taking it to the back of the yo-yo. This pulls the gathers in nicely.

Next, bring the thread back over the top of yo-yo and insert the needle back through the yo-yo passing it from the front to the back. The photo will hopefully make this clearer.



What you've just done is make a loop from the back over to the front. Pull on your thread gently which will pull in the gathers at the front of the yo-yo and also pull in the top of the yo-yo creating that characteristic indent at the top of the heart shape.

Now, we need to fasten off the gathering threads. With your needle take the thread from the front to the back of the yo-yo and fasten off.

Your yo-yo really should be heart shaped now!

Nearly done. The last and final thing you need to do is to secure those gathers around the throat of the yo-yo.



If you've used a very fine and light fabric you may chose not to do this. Otherwise, thread your needle and insert it from the back of the yo-yo and using a small, almost invisible stitch, secure those gathers into position. This pulls the gathers in tightly around the inside of the 'hole' or throat of the yo-yo pulling them in, flattening the centre and emphasising the pretty little shape.

There, you see, all finished.



Pleased with it? Now you have a gorgeous little heart yo-yo which you can embellish with buttons and beads and braids and ..... let your imagination run wild. (I'd love to know what you do with them.)

If there's anything I haven't explained very well, then just 'comment' or send me an e-mail and I'll try and explain myself better. Enjoy!

How to make a fabric Yo-yo

Happy New Year to you all and I hope you enjoyed Christmas and that Santa was kind.

I quite enjoyed the cold, frosty weather over Christmas but I'm thoroughly fed up with the -6 and -7 0C tempertures and the snow of the last few days.  Living on a hill has taken on a whole new dimension in the 'standing up' stakes, I can tell you.

Do you remember the 'gathering of yo-yo's', which eventually became a Christmas ornament?

Well I thought I'd write a little tutorial about how to make a simple fabric yo-yo without the aid of a Clover Yo-Yo maker.  There is no disputing that they make yo-yo making easy. They're great if you want to make a great many yo-yo's or you need them to be a consistent size, but sometimes it just seems silly to invest in another sewing gizmo when you just need the one yo-yo because it would be just perfect, right here.... just to add a little.....  (I wonder if you can really stop at one.....ummm) Anyway, they're not difficult to sew, without a lot of fuss - honestly!)

Mostly,  I'm writing this  because I've got a yearning to explore all (perhaps I should say as many as I can find.....) different things you can do with yo-yo's and this seemed a logical place to start. So, I apologise because this post is a little self-indulgent.

The history lesson Did you know that the fabric yo-yo has another life where it is also know as a suffolk puff.  Whatever you wish to call them though they have many uses; as a method of constructing quilt blocks to make quilts, or cushion covers, bags, table runners, placemats, coasters .... anything you'd do with any quilt block really, as well as pretty embellishments.

Just think of the thousands of yo-yo's you'd need for a quilt! Yo-yo quilts were particularly popular during the 1930's and 940's using thrifted fabrics and those bits and pieces left over from other projects. 

How snuggly and cosy could a yo-yo quilt could be?

copyright Indygo Junction website

Yo-yo quilts can be constructed in two ways; one where the yo-yo's are attached to a fabric backing thus making a quilt top and then finished in the usual way with wadding/batting and a backing fabric. The other way involves sewing yo-yo's together into quilt blocks and then sewing the blocks together resulting in something more akin to a fabric throw than a cuddly warm quilt.

The yo-yo has also been widely used as a pretty, textural embellishment on quilts, for soft toys, as jewellery, and as embellishments on clothes and cards.  For me, it's the embellishing aspect of the yo-yo which I like most.

'A pattern from Indygo Junction' A bear made using lots of yo'yo's. The sewing lesson

The yo-yo is a little gathered piece of fabric. The fabric you use will change just how the yo-yo will look when you've completed it; for example a yo-yo in a very light cotton will have a very soft, light, floaty look to it whereas those made with felt take on quite a different appearance. Different ways of completing the gathering and applying them to other fabric will also give them very different looks from dainty little flowers finished with buttons or beads, to something which more closely resembles 'barnacles' or sea anemones.

Basically though a yo-yo begins as a circle of fabric.

The completed yo-yo will be half the diameter (width) of the 'starting' circle or to put it another way if you want a yo-yo that's 3cm wide when it's finished, you'll need to draw a circle with a diameter of 6cm plus 5mm for a seam allowance.

Requirements

• pencil
• fabric - cotton, felt, velvet, polyester cotton, sheers, denim - what else can you think of...
• sewing thread to match the fabric
• needle
• scissors
• paper or light card (to make a pattern with)
• Something circular to draw around - like a bowl or jam jar lid or get technical with a compass.
• non permanent fabric marker (to draw around template) or pins

1. First of all create your circle template. Using your card and pencil, draw around your tin lid, bowl, coffee cup to make your circle. Then add a seam allowance of 5mm.



2. Using your pattern/template, either draw around it with the non-permanent fabric marker or pin the template to the fabric if you prefer. (Sorry, you can't see the mark very well in the photo.)



3. Cut out the fabric circle.





4. Thread the needle with enough thread to allow you sew all the way around the outside of the circle I usually use a double thread because it needs to be quite strong to gather up the fabric. It's a bit frustrating if the thread breaks just as you get to the fun part.

5. Tie a neat knot in the end of the thread. Holding your circle of fabric with the right side facing away from you turn over your 5mm seam allowance and begin to sew using a simple running stitch.



6. Sew around the circumference turning over the seam allowance as you go. Once you've sewn around the outside (I usually take one stitch past where I started so that the circle gathers up nicely.)

7. Gently pull the thread so that the circle gathers up into a gorgeous little puff.

   Note: The length of the stitch determines the finished gathered effect. The longer the stitch, the more defined the gathers and the tighter the centre of the yo-yo will be. Small stiches create a more open yo-yo.



8. You may want to space your gathers out a little bit. Once you're happy that it's even, secure the gathers and fasten off the thread.

I usually take the thread through to the back of the yo-yo to fasten off the thread. It's quite neat that way.

Felt is another lovely textile to make a yo-yo out of. You don't need to turn under a seam allowance with felt to get a nice neat centre. you just sew around the outside of your circle. Beware of sewing too close to the edge, you don't want the thread to pull out of the felt when you gather it up.

The completed felt yo-yo. Pretty, softly defined gathers don't you think.

The three yo-yo's...

Three different fabrics; velvet, cotton and felt. Look at how open the velvet yo-yo is in the centre. I don't think that's very pretty but maybe if the finished size was larger..... it wouldn't look quite so odd... something to think about.

I hope you like this and maybe try out some yo-yo's. They're a great way of using up odds and ends which is in tune with the make do and mend, upcycle, recycle, reuse, re-purpose times we live in.

How do you fancy heart shaped yo-yo's next?