Fabric Peg Noticeboard Tutorial - Upcycle and old picture frame

A couple of weeks ago me and my great friend over at Socksy Beasts went out for a little visit to a local craft shop. We were told it was a bit chaotic but crikey it was like an Aladdin's cave for craft!! The problem is I went in without a project in mind and so I was just a bit overwhelmed by the amount of stuff, my mind went completely blank so I walked away with absolutely nothing. That's a bit strange for me but I really am trying to make more room not fill it! Mrs Socksy however didn't find the whole thing as overwhelming and managed to come away with a nice little haul.

So a little dissapointed and uninspired we left and as we drove round the corner we spotted a little kitcsh cafe. As Master Fox needed a feed, and we are never a pair to pass up a cuppa we stopped in while we decided what to do next. Amongst all the second hand kitsch furniture and oddments in this little cafe was a very cute fox themed fabric peg noticeboard. It was lovely and I very nearly bought it, until my age old habit kicked in and we decided we could do it ourselves for less.

So like the looneys we are we finished up our cuppas and cake and went straight back to the craft shop for supplies.

Because it was so simple and fun I wanted to share with you how I went about making one of these up. This is a great little project for a horrible rainy bank holiday like this one! Its also a perfect project for one of your favourite fat quarters.

Supplies:

• An old wooden picture frame the size you want your finished board to be. You can get these really cheap in charity shops
• Some fabric which is just bigger then the frame, a fat quarter will usually suffice unless you have a really big frame. 
• Wool or twine
• Some mini wooden pegs - you can pick these up from most craft or card making suppliers
• Wadding
• Chalk effect furniture paint - we picked up a tester pot of Craig and Ball for a couple of pounds in the local B&Q diy store.
• Scissors
• Glue Gun

First of all remove all the glass and backing from your picture frame. You dont need the glass front so you can discard this or find another use for it (like a pallet for your lino printing inks). You can then paint up your frame with the chalk paint, just be warned it might need a couple of coats.

Whilst your frame is drying using the back of the picture frame cut your fabric so that it is at least 3 inches wider on all sides.

 Next cut out some wadding to the size of the back of the frame. I used a couple of layers as I had very thin wadding left over from a baby quilt. If you are using thicker wadding you will only need one layer. Use your own judgement, the more you use the more cushion like the board will be.

Now we are going to stick it all together Place the fabric right side down, then the wadding on top of that and finally the back of the picture frame so the hooks are facing outwards. Using the glue gun put a good amount of glue along one edge of the frame back and fold the fabric over sticking it down well.

Repeat with all four sides until the back of your frame looks like the above.

Next you need to fold under the corners which are sticking up and glue them down with a blob from the glue gun. It should look something like the above. I'll admit its not very neat, I am sure you can make a much better go of this but no one is going to see the back once its hung on the wall. Maybe think about the neatness if you are going to give it as a gift though ;)

Then once you flip it over you should have a lovely soft cushioned square like the picture above. See it looks lovely from the front. Do think about pattern placement etc when you are placing your fabric.

Cut a couple of lengths of wool or twine, wrap it all the way around the back of the frame and tie a good knot round the back to secure. You can then add the pegs on and pop the whole thing into your nicely dried frame.

Now you have a lovely new noticeboard to keep reminders/pictures/ keepsakes or business cards. It looks lovely on my craft room wall, it's almost too pretty to hand things one ;) If you make one of these do send me a link, I would love to see it.

Upcycled Pure Wool Chataigne Shorts (and probably my new favourite pattern!)

This post might be a bit picture heavy, but its worth it to see my fwuffy cat come and join in the shoot!

Moving on... this pattern is a winner and definitely my new favourite. Will you get mad at me if I just keep making various versions of this for a while? Its probably going to get a bit samey right? Personally I LOVE a good pair of shorts. They are so comfortable to wear, you can sit down without worrying about anyone seeing your knickers, look good with or without tights and they are also great under short dresses to keep a bit of decency.

About the Pattern:
Pattern: Deer and Doe Chataigne (chestnut) Shorts
Size: 38
Material: Pure Wool thrifted from a charity shop skirt
Alterations: Absolutely zilch! 

 

This is my first pattern from Deer and Doe and I was a bit worried that sewing a pair of shorts might be a bit complicated, I mean you need to make seperate legs and everything, but this was actually a lot easier than I suspected. The pattern packet is pretty, the instructions are incredibly clear and the pattern was simple enough yet well drafted.

I normally don't have any fit issues when I buy off the rack shorts so I didn't make any adjustments to this pattern and they turned out perfectly. This will definitely not be my last Deer and Doe pattern purchase *runs off to drool over the other patterns...

The first time I saw this pattern on the website I knew that I wanted to make these in a pure wool. I prefer to wear a pair of shorts with tights and I thought using a wool would make a really versatile garment which I can wear right into the coldest of winter months. However, pure wool fabric is not the cheapest to get your hands on. Having never sewn with it before, or used the pattern I didn't want to spend a fortune on the material, so whilst I was recently browsing some of our local charity shops I found a very long, rather large, very pleased pink pure will skirt which cost me a mere £6. It still had the shop label in so the thing was practically brand spanking, except I assume it sat in someones wardrobe for a while. Looking at it I could tell that if I unpicked all those pleats I was going to have one quiet large piece if material to work with. This turned out perfectly and I had more than enough to make up the skirt.

 

You can still see the pleats in the front (close up anyway), but do you know what, I kind of like the little reminder of where the material came from, and I am sure after a few washes these will be out completely. Also, check out my invisible zipper below... is pretty invisible right! so pleased with how much better I am getting at inserting these things. It turns out you really won't get sucked into a black hole and the world won't end if you have to try mastering this! Its really not as bad as all that.

Do you have a favourite sewing pattern that you just return to over and over? Or one that just fits so perfectly you were really pleased with it. I would love to hear all about them. You never know, they might then become one of my, or another readers new favourite as well.

I Blinged My Jumper!

Yes that's right, look at the pretties! I thought it might feel a little more festive to have a sparkly jumper, and lets face it, this is much more fun than a plain old black one don't you think?

I originally wanted to pom pom it, but I couldn't make small enough pom poms which would be secure enough to go through the machine. That might be a job for another day if I purchase some multi coloured manufactured poms. I was also going to bling the whole jumper but decided after a small section that I really just liked the chevron pattern in it so left it there.

The jewels have a little hole in the top and bottom so they are sewn on rather than glued as I thought this would be more secure option. They key to this is to buy a cheap jumper, and mark out where you want to place the jewels before sewing them on. I used tailors chalk and a ruler and marked out a diagonal pattern before I started sewing and this made them pretty even.

I will try to get a picture of me in the jumper, but Mr Fox is not the best photographer and so it may take many attempts, especially as I won't see him in daylight now for another week.