"As the evening drew in on the 30th of June at around 6.30pm a pattering of tiny stitched feet could be heard echoing through the innards of London's Science Museum." So begins the grand finale of Stitch London's Stitch Yourself Project with one of the city's most famous museums.
For one night only 259 knitted, sewn or crocheted Stitched Selves from all over the world (from London to Israel to Australia) found their way to the Science Museum and packed themselves into a display case in the main Energy Hall.
You can see Stitch London's many photos from the night here. Featuring hoards of Stitched Selves all trying to make the most of their moment in the limelight.
Was your Stitched Self the in their fibre-filled ranks?
Also featured are two knitted chromosomes that will be part of the Who Am I? gallery's permanent exhibit.
Craft and science in perfect harmony.
Tiny stitched people taking over one of London's most famous museums? Why not? Craft seems to be getting everywhere these days and as proof that science and creative craft do mix Stitch London's Stitch Yourself project storms the Science Museum for one night only this week.
On Wednesday the 30th at the Science Museum's Late event the Stitch Yourself Exhibit will take place. Stitch London have been collecting entries to the project, which helps promote the re-opening of the museum's Who Am I? Gallery by showing individuality through stitching, since April this year.
So far they've had over 200 entries from all over with stitchers for Iceland, Israel and Australia getting in on the self stitching action. People have knit, sewn and crochted every part of themselves from eyeballs to iPhones.
You can see the event at the Science Museum here.
If you can't make it along follow it live on Stitch London's Twitter account or catch up on the blog.
I often meet knitters who are terrified by the idea of learning to increase and decrease or shape their knitting but are desperate to make something cute and four-legged. Amigurumi seems like an impossibility without a bit of shaping skill. Not so with a pattern for the simplest sheep ever.
The Jo Sew and So has created a tutorial for simple Knitted Square Sheep. All you need to do is know how to knit and you can stitch a whole herd of woolly friends. You'll need to combine the basic ancient skills of cutting out and sewing too.
A knit, a snip and a sew and some stuffing and you have a sheep. An excellent way to instil creature confidence in a new knitter and an easy gift to make for folks who endlessly ask you to knit them something.
I recently visited the Quilts exhibition at the V&A, which is on till the 4th of July, and wanted to encourage you to go and stare in awe at the crafty wonder before it's over. If you thought sewing of comfy covers might be slightly dull you couldn't be more wrong.
The exhibition goes all the way back to the 1700s with five thematic displays that show some awe-inspiring pieces.
Some favourites were: an Aesop's Fables coverlet featuring foxes, storks and stones in minute detail; a map of the UK from the 1800s stitched by 10-year-old Ann Isabella Reader, which will leave you feeling wholly inadequate; Joanna Southcott's coverlet into which she was rumoured to have sewn her own hair in order to curse King George III; and the cheeky Love and Kisses alphabet depicting a smarmy moustachioed man pursuing his lady love.
Most compelling of all were two stand-out quilts:
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Fancy adding a bit of fancy to your fabric creations with a bit of ruffle? Getting the right ruffled look can seem a bit confusing when you're sat down with your fabric of choice so here's a handy tutorial to help you out.
The Confessions of Craft Addict leads you through a simple photo-based how to which goes from flat fabric to ruffled brilliance in easy peasy steps.
See the full tutorial here.
Also worth checking out is her Flowers for Teacher video tutorial too. Blooming marvellous.
The lovely Perri Lewis, The Guardian's crafty guru, got down to a very different kind of stitching this week as she learned to stitch surgically at London's Hunterian Museum in the run up to the All Stitched Up event this Friday.
What's fascinating is how Perri compares her experience of stitching through her craft to the art of stitching up skin. Perri practices blanket stitch on the surgical school's 'practice arm' and says it's more like sewing leather than sewing fabric.
She also looks at how beads are used and the types of thread. Not something you'd often think about when you look at your own stash of similar items. A very interesting read.
The Hunterian Museum's All Stitched Up event will feature the traditional crafts of knitting (with Stitch London), weaving and spinning, as well as giving people the chance to learn some surgical stitching themselves.
If the apocalypse comes it's good to know us crafters will be most of the way there for patching up people should it come to it. Excellent craft-meets-science work, Ms Lewis.
Run for the hills! There's a giant towering beast of fluff and fabric! Is it some kind of radioactive beast after a jumble sale rampage? No. Hang on. It's your craft stash. It's big. It's utterly overwhelming. It's getting out of hand. What to do? Purl Bee to the rescue with their sewn stash baskets!
The Purl Bee is home to a hive of handmade tutorials and their Sewn Stash Baskets are beautifully simple. Made up of a few yards of fabric and a simple bit of sewing they're perfectly proportioned to hold a rummage-full of yarn or fabric without you having to dig when you want something.
Stitch yourself up a whole army of them and place them lovingly about your crafty corner. Or you could make more than you need and have a fine excuse for going out and buying more stash.
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