Craft therapy in a chaotic world

What is it about cutting up fabric

and sewing it back together again

that is so gratifying?

Why does choosing yarn in beautiful colours

and spending a few hours basically hooking it into tangles and knots

make the tough realities of life just a bit easier to take?

How can a needle and a few bits of coloured thread

yield small beauties that put the ugliness of the news into the background for a while?

Craft is the perfect antidote to the horrors of the world around us.

We crafty folk find happiness in sharing our knowledge

One of the workshops I teach

One of the classes I take

inspiring new friends

Teaching a new friend to sew on a rainy afternoon

enjoying the company of old friends

Enjoying decadent treats on Craft Night with Jooles!

The news has been getting to me lately. It’s all too much sometimes. I switch off the radio and reach for something to make, something to take my mind off all the negativity.

Craft therapy. In these tumultuous times, we’re all holding onto our creative gifts, enriching our family lives with simple makes

I've been making snowflakes with linen thread and iridescent thread hooked together...

And while conflicts spread the globe, so too do our creative connections

We’re sticking together, we crafty folk, we’re reaching out across the vastest distances to share the simplest of pleasures in this complicated world.

Craft therapy.

Don’t you wish a news report would end not with the weather, but with a Craft Update?

“And in Surrey this evening, Chrissie Crafts has finally finished her daughter’s quilt! A lovingly made patchwork in shades of rose and aqua, Chrissie reveals exclusively to us that this will be Bunny’s Christmas present. Well done, Chrissie.”

Happy crafting!

Chrissie x

P.S. I first wrote about craft therapy a few weeks after starting my blog. You can read it here.

So...I sew!

Another long-term WIP finished! This is my sewing machine cover.

I sheepishly admit that I began this project more than a year ago, finished the tiny patchwork panel and put it away for a long while...sewing being so new to me, I found it easier to pick up a hook after a long day and crochet.

But after finishing – no, *achieving*! – my first quilt, I knew that I must keep going with the sewing, practice makes perfect and all that...

So Lady Elna, my dear sewing machine, has herself a new frock. Fully padded and lined, I might add...

peek-a-boo!

Golly, my hat’s off to all you experienced seamstresses out there...trying to sew the curved layers of fabric – and not run over the piping – was no mean feat! 

I managed in the end, but don’t look at the reverse of this panel, I’m glad it is lined with pretty pink fabric to hide the mess!

I refused to trim the seams to 1/8”, I was just too paranoid that I would snip a seam and it would all unravel. No one needs to know but us.

So. I sew. I’m no contestant for the Great British Sewing Bee, but I’m going to watch tonight to see if I can pick up some tips.

Today we had bright blue skies and dark black clouds all in one afternoon. Another hailstorm dumped loads of little balls of ice within about two minutes.

I donned my Nordic Shawl, poured a fresh cup of tea, and thanked my lucky stars I didn’t have to do the school run today!

My raised herb border being pelted by ice...poor thyme!

Now I want to sew something simple. An quick and easy make, using colourful, fun fabrics:

Watch this space...

Happy crafting!

Chrissie x

Stitching Sunday on a Monday...and a Ta-dah!

Hello and apologies for not posting my usual Stitching Sundays post yesterday – I spent the weekend looking after Little Flower, who came down with a sudden sick bug early Saturday morning. Ugh. The world stops when a sick bug comes along - we weren’t sure if we were all carrying the virus, so we cancelled all plans and spent most of the time in the sofa nest.

Happily, she’s feeling much better today and eating normally, so I was able to put the finishing touches on my latest project:

Ta-dah! This must be one of my quickest WIPs ever, I was so anxious to get it finished! I’ve wanted to recover this bench for a while, and I had the Tilda charm pack in my stash (purchased with no project in mind, just my crazy need to own these beautiful fabric squares!). A match made in heaven.

Once a month on a Wednesday morning I toodle over to Jooles’ lovely home for a quilting morning, and last week I brought my charm pack along. We drank tea, nibbled on warm, wonderful homemade scones (complete with clotted cream and jam, she does spoil me so!), and arranged and rearranged the squares on her kitchen table. What better way to spend a Wednesday morning?  

This was the final arrangement, although I could have kept repositioning one square after another all day long. Do you ever find that with patchwork?

While Little Flower and Bunny were playing a board game Saturday afternoon, I sewed the squares together – which took me under an hour! I’m getting better at this sewing lark... This morning I tooled up and used my new staple gun to secure the fabric to the bench. Then I attached the pretty ice-blue trim with fabric glue. 

Time will tell if that’s enough to keep it all together! The bench is happily in its place beneath my growing wall of embroidery hoops

*sigh* pretty.

Now on to the embroidery part of Stitching Sunday on Monday:

I’ve started the green on the eggs and ham. I decided to fill stitch in a sort of curved direction for the ham - you can see the texture it produces on the left, as the shape of the ham curves.

I use guide stitches whenever I’m filling a space – those are the little stitches spaced farther apart on the left side of the ham. These will keep my fill stitches flowing in the intended direction without going astray and leaning too much in one direction (a common problem if you just use fill from one far side to another). I’ll take more photos as I’m filling to further illustrate this...

And the sewing machine cover is coming along, albeit more slowly than I intended – the distractions of Tilda patchwork and a poorly child!

I finished the ‘Stitch’ and sewed on the measuring tape ribbon; now I’m working on the running stitch and little buttons. I actually find doing a running stitch in a straight line quite challenging, I have to measure and add guide dots along the way!

Little Flower’s resting and watching a show, but now we’re going to bake some cookies. She's requesting chocolate chip...she's obviously feeling better! Wishing you all a happy week, and a big welcome to my newest followers from the Grow Your Blog party!

Chrissie x

P.S. Do link up if you have something stitchy to share!

A broader view of stitching

Happy Sunday and a very warm welcome to my newest followers! I am so glad to be blogging again after the holiday break, and each and every comment has made me smile. Thank you!

One of my goals for 2014 is to do more sewing. I am a beginner, but I need to devote a lot more time to my machine if I want to improve (plus I have *so many* projects I want to try!).

To that end, I’m going to broaden my Stitching Sundays focus to include machine sewing as well as my beloved embroidery. All of it involves a needle and thread, so it’s fair game.

Lady Elna

A project I started ages ago, then stowed away at the bottom of a fabric pile, was a sewing machine cover. What better way to get more into the art of sewing than to create a lovely cover for Lady Elna?

Machine sewing and hand embroidery – a perfect combination. I found this wonderful pattern here, and I had a layer cake of Aneela Hoey’s Sew Stitchy fabric that I bought to entice me to sew (I have purchased *a lot* of fabric with the intention to lure me to the machine...). The two just seemed destined to be together!

I cut and ordered sixty small squares, then sewed them together to form a panel (I'm trying to be forgiving with the uneven squares, I'm still learning). The linen and patchwork panels use a “quilt as you go” technique, ironed to fusible interfacing and sewn together (ha ha! Get me, “talkin’ the talk” like a proper seamstress! I hope you’re enjoying this, Grandma!). Next will be some more embellishment, some fusible fleece, lining fabric, piping...a lot of sewing experience to be gained from one project!

Now an update on my Green Eggs & Ham embroidery, part of the &Stitches Finish-Along:

I’m making progress on the letters this week, ignoring the dodgy “H” and concentrating on the “Green”.

Featuring my handy-dandy needle magnet

It is slow going, as I fill each letter with long-and-short stitch embroidery, but it is extremely calming and enjoyable. I’ll probably bounce down to the ham next, I’m itchin’ to get some green floss in there now...

I’d love to see what you’re up to with needle and thread, link up embroidery or sewing projects below!

Chrissie x

January blahs

My, my, my, I am finding it *very* hard to get back into the swing of things. The deflating combination of jet lag, dark and dreary January mornings and missing family and friends back in the States has left me less than inspired to get much accomplished today. (I know I’m not alone in the doldrums, so many of us are battling the blahs in Blogland...)

I shall remedy this with a blog post and an evening with the village craft group, which meets at the local community centre once a month. Hopefully I’ll recover my crafty mojo!

I’m still getting my head round organising the house and putting new purchases away, so rather than show you what I’ve been working on, I want to share something very special with you, glimpses of my grandma’s sewing room:

The far wall, with a display of sewing machine music boxes.
My great-grandfather made the little shelves.

Grandma took over a narrow little anteroom of her house decades ago to serve as her sewing room. Mom found the charming sewing-themed wallpaper and transformed a bleak storage room into a cozy nook for Grandma to sew into the wee hours (which she still does to this day, she's a true night owl!).

How sweet is this wallpaper?

She has things just how she wants them, with three machines – an embroidery machine, a serger sewing machine, and her good ol’ Singer that might very well be older than me:

It is built into its own sewing cabinet, with handy-dandy storage cupboards on either side. I want one!

Spools of thread are showcased on the walls on display racks specially built for her by my uncle:

Ah, a work of art in its own right...

Another rack for smaller spools, plus a three-tiered caddy on the table for current project needs.

I was so happy to see the little gifts I’ve made for Grandma dotted around the room – including the sewing-themed cushion, the crochet teacup pincushion and cookie needlecase.

Inspired by Grandma’s room, and fuelled with the desire to sort out life from top to bottom – a common feeling this time of year, methinks – I returned home determined to get all my cluttered cupboards organised and make myself more dedicated craft space.

But jet lag and January blues come and go in waves, so the effort has stalled a little. Never mind. I know not to push myself, just do some quiet crafting and wait for the next burst of energy!

In the meantime, why don’t you link up to the Crochet-A-Long below and show me what you have been working on? I hope to join in next week...

Chrissie x

I get by with a little help...

Where would we be without friends?

Without a friend, I wouldn’t have made these placemats. I thought these were so cute, and I wanted to make them for my family as one of my very first sewing projects.

But can you spot the difference between the photo and my mats?

My centre panel of linen didn’t match the photo, and my mat fronts weren’t the same size as the backs. I followed the instructions so carefully, I measured, measured again, cut, sewed, measured again...then I rang my sewing guru Jooles in a panic, about to throw out the lot and call it quits.

Well, my friend came to my rescue and helped me realize that the pattern was to blame, not my new sewing skills. There was an error in the measurements of the centre panel (it’s supposed to be 12-½” square, not a 12-½” x 10” rectangle, for any of you with this book!), and she encouraged me to find a solution to this problem, rather than giving up! So we played with fabric scraps, and I decided a side panel would do nicely, picking up a featured fabric in the patches.

(I actually like mine better...!)

Without a friend, I wouldn’t have tried my hand at quince jelly this year.

She kindly handed over another batch of the beautifully floral-scented little fruits last week...

So now I have more delectable jelly to give away as Christmas gifts. About a year ago this friend also gifted me a pretty pink orchid, for helping out during a hectic week. It has since flowered twice more, with greater numbers of blossom each time.

I just had to share this beauty with you – I’ve lost count with the blossoms, both sides of the stem are laden with incredible orchid flowers! A true gift that keeps on giving...

Without a friend, I wouldn’t have finished this pretty cross-stitch posy:

And thus a new craft interest is born! This cherished friend also has taught me to knit (and promises to re-teach me once Little Flower is at primary school!).

Without a friend, I wouldn’t have ever contemplated making a quilt.

But you all know how that one turned out!

And without my blog friends, I wouldn’t be anywhere near as creative, inspired or productive as I am today! Your comments, emails and your own blog posts have offered me such pleasure and have enriched my life – even if it’s simply sharing our craft ideas for making a house a home. These little things have big meaning, offering a constant source of comfort and symbols of love for our families.

This week I passed the 100 posts mark, since starting in April this year. I wanted to share my appreciation for my friends, with my friends. You all know who you are, the ones in my daily life and the ones in my “blog life”. I appreciate you very, very much!

 Chrissie x