Introducing 'The Hillary Sisters'

Last week I heard about a 'Country Crafts Competition'

from Jan's blog who heard about it from Craft Blog UK.

The competition is being run by

Hillarys Blinds

If you send off for a free sample of one of these

fantastic fabrics from them -

 

and make something crafty with it & blog about it,

 you'll be in with a chance of winning £1000!

So, without further delay, I sent off for a free sample -

I really loved the Bird Parade Teal, but knew I needed

something with a small print for what I had in mind, so

opted forthe Calluna Amethyst.

The very next day this arrived from Hillarys.

I wanted to make some paper dolls and clothe them

in the fabric - hence needing a small print.

This is briefly how I made the dolls.

From card, cut out the body parts -

and make a head from a mould using air dry clay.

Colour the parts with paint and markers.

I went on to make the facial features with 

water colour pencils and chalk blusher.

 Attach the arms and legs to the body

using small brads.

Now the best bit - using the fabulous fabric

to make some dresses for the 2 dolls -

who I called 'The Hillary sisters'!

 The older sister is dressed in a full length

sleeveless evening gown, accessorised with a 

gold coloured belt and shawl made from sari ribbon.

Her younger sister is wearing a shorter dress

(just above the knee) 

flared at the skirt and sleeves.

Her accessories are matching faux leather

belt and short boots.

 (The faux leather technique is described in

my previous blog post here.)

For the clothes I simply cut out the shapes

freehand from the fabric and stuck onto to

the card body parts with a white glue.

In this photo you can see the weave of

the fabulous fabric.

Oh, the hair, I should mention their hair!

I just happened to have a ball of fibres/wool  

in the exact colours of the fabric.

I do think a trip to the hairdressers is needed though!

Thanks for looking at my entry.

If you want to take part yourself, you only have until

Monday 17th March 2014 when requests for fabric will close 

- you then need to create your blog post by March 31st

 and email it to Hillarys.

Good luck :)

UPDATE:  Winner's entry may be viewed here

To see all the entries, look on Pintrest

The Bag Lady!

Inspired by a show on Create and Craft TV

last week I got my sewing machine out -

not something I do very often!

This is where I sew.

It's the other end of my craft room.

The lady who inspired me on the tele was

Mandy Shaw of Dandelion Designs.

 She was selling her kits for small

bags/fabric folders and demonstrated

how easy it was to make one.

I remembered I'd bought one of her books

a while back and sure enough in it 

was the exact pattern for her bags.

They really were very easy to make, although

mine are far from perfect.

This is the first one I made and I think it's the best one.

The ric rac is very wide so shows up much more than

on the other bags where I used narrower ric rac.

I used Tim Holtz fabric for both the main and lining fabric,

as it was only 10 x 10" the finished bag is only

8" wide by 31/2" deep - so could be a pencil or

cosmetic case.

 

I made another again with Tim Holtz fabric.

 

I like the wooden buttons especially on this

fabric with the wooden ruler design on.

(The buttons came from a firm called

Button-It)

I then raided my fabric stash and made one

slightly larger.

 

 Made up, this one measures 10" wide by 6" deep.

(I've yet to add a decorative button as I couldn't

find a suitable one in my button box)

I added a strap to the side - making it a 'wristlet'.

I think this will make a good passport holder

which I'll definitely use.

Onwards and upwards - 

  

This is a similar size to the previous one,

just a bit deeper.  This is a cute one - not

sure what I'll use it for, or who I'll give it to yet.

Finally, I made a couple of gadget folders -

 IPad size.

 

Again, this is from my fabric stash, I wouldn't

necessarily have chosen this particular lining

fabric if I'd had more to chose from.

This could double up as a little cushion or pillow - lol.

I used a layer of wadding which turned out to

be far too thick - at least the IPad will be safe.

For the next one I used felt instead of wadding

which is much better (not such a comfortable

cushion though!)

Now, what else can I sew while the machine's out!!

 

Thanks for looking :)