It's ever so very cold out there as winter sets in. The hats, scarves and gloves appear once more and all is cosy with the world. With one small problem. I'm standing at the bus stop on the way to some fabulously festive Christmas shindig and I'm late. As usual. I fumble my iPhone out of my pocket with my warm woolly be-gloved hands and set out to text the usual apology to the poor sap who thought I might arrive on time. I poke in vain at the screen with my cosy digits. My iPhone shakes its virtual head. It isn't having any of it. To use my touch screen I am going to have to deglove and take the chilly consequences.
Just when you thought you'd have to choose between frostbitten fingers or impolitely turning up late without warning, along comes Instructables. Grathio's tutorial on how to make a glove work with a touch screen.
Phones and other gadgets with touch screens need the electricity your body makes to complete the circuit which tells the screen where you are touching it. The solution is simple. You sew conductive thread into the fingertips of your gloves and leave enough thread on the inside of your glove to connect your finger with the thread that is sewn outside the glove. Simple genius.
Best of all if you don't tell people you've done it you can completely mess with their heads as they wonder why on earth their iPhone isn't working properly. Hours of confusing fun to while you through chilly bus stop waits.
There's nothing more soporific than a sleeping cat, and seldom anything cuter. These are reason enough to turn the concept into a fabulous tea cosy, and Bustle and Sew has done just that to admirable effect.
You can tell how simple the design is just by looking: an ordinary plain cosy is decorated with embroidery and triangular 'ears' in just the right places. To find out how to make your own (and vote on whether it's cuter than B&S's other recent projects) boogie on over here.
Related: Make a Christmas robin tea cosy | Flight of the Conchords 'Ironic' tea cosy
I'm always impressed by DIY-ers who choose less obvious fabrics to make up their patterns (remember the shower curtain dress?) so I was instantly drawn to this delightful dress that Chic Steals made up from a Vogue pattern using Ikea's Patricia fabric. Ikea's a good place to find bold, clean and eyecatching fabrics, which work just fine in dressmaking, even when they're intended for upholstery.
The pattern used here is Vogue v1068: the little sheath dress pictured top left, made here with a more tweedy fabric that's also a great choice for autumn.
Crafters are such lovely people. If it was up to me we'd take over the planet and world peace would ensue (unless we ran out of safety pins or PVA glue). That is why it comes as no surprise to me that quilters have decided they are going to aim for world peace.
Quilting for Peace is a quilting pattern book with a difference. Not only does it contain 15 'super-easy to not-too-difficult' projects but it also has interviews with an extraordinary assortment of women and men who are making a difference to the world through their quilting skills.
From warm bedding for the homeless, to comforting covers those who are sick, hurt, or grieving, to blankets to raise funds and draw attention to a cause, the people in this book are both ordinary and extraordinary.
Continue reading >>
I love 'scrapbuster' projects: I can absolutely guarantee to you that using up all those old bits of fabric you've put aside 'just in case' but never use will make you feel incredible - especially if the result is as lovely as this autumn cushion by Cluck Cluck Sew!
Obviously, everyone has different scraps lying around in their craft stash. Mine currently contains a surplas of gold-on-black stars, red felt and green polka-dots. But as long as you can find something to represent the tree trunk (a solid dark colour of any shade should do) then you can really go crazy on the leaves, as autumn leaves really do come in the most spectacular and irregular colours.
Full instructions can be found here. Enjoy!
We've just had the coldest day of autumn so far this year, and I'm sure I'm not alone in digging out my scarves, hot water bottles and other winter warmers this week.
If you'd like to step out in something a bit more stylish this year than the usual chunky knits, then faux fur is a really good fabric to work with. It looks elegant, is easy to turn into ready-to-wear pieces, and is one of the warmest materials around. Love Meagen is already on to this and made this brilliant DIY neckwarmer that you can make too: full instructions are here.
Related: How to make arm-warmers from a pair of socks | Knitting: legwarmer pattern roundup
This technique is a handy one to learn as it comes in useful not only for pillows and other soft furnishings, but for dressmaking and accessories too.
The red ruffle pillow you see here was made from an old t-shirt, so this is a great recylcing project, too. For full instructions, check out the tutorial at Floral Showers. You'll need a sewing machine and an extra large t-shirt you don't plan to wear again!
Related: Ruffle mania: how to add volume to dresses and skirts
It's ever so very cold out there as winter sets in. The hats, scarves and gloves appear once more and all is cosy with the world. With one small problem. I'm standing at the bus stop on the way to some fabulously festive Christmas shindig and I'm late. As usual. I fumble my iPhone out of my pocket with my warm woolly be-gloved hands and set out to text the usual apology to the poor sap who thought I might arrive on time. I poke in vain at the screen with my cosy digits. My iPhone shakes its virtual head. It isn't having any of it. To use my touch screen I am going to have to deglove and take the chilly consequences.
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