Archive Update: Retiring Patterns

Last year I decided to retire a few old tutorials from my blog, polish them up nicely and add them to my shop as printable patterns - putting them to work helping to pay my bills.

Some of these have been added to my shop already, but others needed a bit more work before they're shop-ready and I've not got around to retiring them yet. It felt mean taking them off my blog before I was ready to start selling them, just because I'd announced I'd be removing them on a certain date.

But: the finish line approaches!

So, you've only got a short time left to grab these projects before they vanish from my blog and re-appear in my shop...

This set of Christmas ornament tutorials:

(It's been quite a bit of work updating these tutorials as I didn't have any step photos for them... and there are eight of them, as you can see! I've also been working on matching embroidery patterns to include in the PDF version, plus some designs for a new co-ordinating ornament set! I can't wait to show you).

And the mistletoe embroidery pattern:

(I'm working on a matching felt version of this! They're going to look so cute together)

I've also decided to retire the penguin ornament tutorial:

And the matching penguin embroidery pattern.

All of these projects will be removed from my blog on or after June 1st, so if you'd like to make them for free please get any instructions and templates/patterns printed out or saved before then!

Easy DIY Christmas Card Ideas #2: Simple Shapes & Crafty Scraps

All this week I'm sharing some fun ideas for making your own crafty holiday cards.

Yesterday I posted a bunch of ideas for making simple cards decorated with lines of washi tape. Today's cards are all about geometric shapes, layering, and using up crafty scraps from your stash.

 

UPDATE: follow the links to find all DIY Christmas card ideas in this series!

1. Washi Tape.
2. Today's tutorial, Simple Shapes and Crafty Scraps.
3. Simple Lettering.
4. Christmas Trees.
5. Baubles.

This tutorial originally appeared on The Village Haberdashery's blog - visit their shop for lots of crafty goodness!

I used a range of coordinating festive craft supplies to decorate my cards which was super fun to work with, but any colouful and/or Christmassy paper will do! Mix and match holiday motifs and plain and patterned paper, embellish with stickers and tape and stamps and glitter, the possibilities are endless.

Simple shapes look great when working with patterned paper. I've included a couple of basic shapes on a template sheet to get you started - click here to download and print the PDF.

For this small card I added a strip of paper down the centre of the card, two contrasting paper circles and a line of metallic gold tape.

To add a strip of paper stretching the whole length of the card, use a ruler to cut a rectangle slightly longer than needed. Glue the paper in place so it overhangs the card at each end and leave the card face down while the glue dries. Once the glue is dry, trim away the excess paper.

For the envelope, I used a small stamp and a white ink pad to print a festive pattern – place the envelope on a piece of scrap paper so you can stamp over the edges without making a mess! You could leave the front undecorated, decorate it after you’ve written the name or address, or stamp the whole envelope then use an address label on top.

With larger cards you have much more space to play with shapes and colours and really show off a range of patterns. You could go super simple or cover the whole card with pattern for a maximalist look.

For this card I added two layers of paper, three large circles, and stamped two rows using a fir tree stamp – as with the envelope, above, I placed the card on a piece of scrap paper when stamping so I could stamp over the edges without getting ink on my desk!

This card has the same basic design but it looks very different.

 

I cut a strip of brown paper and used a stamp to decorate it. I added two lines of gold tape to the card then stuck the paper on top so the gold tape forms a lovely edging. I then added three circles cut from contrasting paper and finished the card by drawing two rows of scallops with a black pen. I then echoed the design on the envelope.

I stuck a piece of patterned paper in the centre of this card then added a line of tape in the middle and a paper star on top. I used a ruler and a black pen to highlight the central shapes (which I have to admit wasn’t entirely successful as I forgot to test if the pen would write on the tape! Oops!). To finish the card I added overlapping strips of washi tape. A couple of overlapping lines of tape look great on the envelope, too.

As well as using paper, why not make use of some of the scraps left over from your other crafty projects? Felt, fabric, ribbon, buttons, sequins, felt… they can all look great when added to Christmas cards.

I used paper and washi tape to create the background of this card, then topped it with ricrac and felt. I cut two pieces of green felt to size (trimming the lighter green felt with pinking shears), stitched them together with some metallic silver thread, stitched a piece of pink ricrac on top and stuck the whole lot in place on the card with craft glue.

Then for these two small cards I used paper and tape for the backgrounds and cut small circles from metallic gold faux leather and red wool felt. I decorated the felt circles with simple embroidery and some gold sequins then stuck all the circles in position with craft glue.

There'll be more DIY card ideas on my blog tomorrow - see you then! :)

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Visit my shop to buy my printable PDF sewing patterns:

Heads Up: I'm Retiring a Few More Tutorials from My Archive!

As the title of this post says, I've decided to retire a few more tutorials from my blog.

The rest of my archive of free crafty tutorials will remain as it is, but the tutorials for this set of Christmas ornaments will soon be vanishing from my blog, being revamped, and reappearing as a printable PDF pattern in my shop (thus helping to pay my bills! hurrah!).

1. Angel Bauble.

2. Reindeer Bauble.

3. Snowman Bauble.

4. Santa Bauble.

5. Jingle Bell.

6. Button Heart.

7. Stripey Stocking.

and 8. Sparkly Star.
 
All of these projects will be removed from my blog on or after December 1st, so if you'd like to make them for free please get any instructions and templates/patterns printed out or saved before then!

The PDF versions will be in my shops in December. All the free tutorials here on my blog are intended for non-commercial use only, but you are very welcome to sell any items made using patterns purchased from my shop as long as you make the items yourself and credit me as the designer.

A Year of Wreaths: July Felt Pinwheels Wreath Tutorial

UPDATE: this tutorial is now available as a printable PDF pattern over on my Patreon. 

Subscribe for a small monthly fee and you'll get access to a growing library of PDF patterns and tutorials, with an email whenever I add a new project. You can cancel any time.    

Click here to check out my Patreon page and sign up!

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This month’s wreath is inspired by days at the seaside and those colourful spinning pinwheels you buy as a kid to stick triumphantly on top of your sandcastles.

The felt versions are super easy to make and would also make fab brooches or gift toppers. 

They don’t spin like the real thing, but I hope they’ll remind you of lots of happy days at the beach all the same!

Subscribe to my newsletter for a monthly(ish) free pattern and visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots more free projects.

Visit my shop to buy my printable PDF sewing patterns:

News About My Tutorial Archive

I've decided to retire a few of my old blog tutorials - or, rather, to put them out to work to help pay my bills!

Most of my archive of free crafty tutorials will remain as it is, but the following projects will soon be vanishing from my blog and reappearing as printable PDF patterns in my shop.

Three floral designs:

The felt flower headband, and the accompanying flower embroidery pattern. UPDATE: click here to view my Romantic Flowers pattern in my shop.

The felt dahlia brooches, and the festive variation: felt poinsettia brooches. UPDATE: these flowers are now available as part of a bargain bundle of 3 flower tutorials.

And the large felt flower brooches. UPDATE: click here to view my fabulous felt flowers pattern in my shop.

Plus three Christmas designs: 

The felt snow globe ornaments, and the accompanying snow globe embroidery pattern and ornament tutorial. UPDATE: click here to view my snow globes pattern in my shop. 

The felt angel ornaments, and the accompanying angel embroidery pattern and angel card tutorial. UPDATE: click here to view my angels pattern in my shop.

And the embroidered mistletoe ornament.

All of these projects will be removed from my blog on or after May 1st, so if you'd like to make them for free please get any instructions and templates/patterns printed out or saved before then!

The PDF versions will be in my shops from May. All the free tutorials here on my blog are intended for non-commercial use only, but you are very welcome to sell any items made using patterns purchased from my shop as long as you make the items yourself and credit me as the designer.

How To Make Leafy Paper Snowflakes

Today I'm sharing a very special guest post: Jessica's leafy paper snowflake tutorial!

Jessica posts beautiful, colorful, nature-filled photos on Instagram as vanillalemoncake and started the inspiring hashtag #natureflatlays. Her pictures always make me smile when they pop up in my feed!

She shared a tutorial a few years ago for making these gorgeous leafy paper snowflakes and has kindly agreed that I can repost it here on my blog to share the leafy snowflakey goodness with you all (hurrah!).

 

I adore these snowflakes. They're a perfect blend of autumn and winter: a quirky alternative to a leaf garland, a leafy twist on the classic paper snowflake (you know I love those), and ideal decor for chilly autumn days or those early weeks of winter when the last few leaves are still hanging onto the trees.

 

To make a leafy paper snowflake, you will need:

- A square of paper (cut from a sheet of A4)
- Scissors
- A ruler
- And a pen or pencil

 

To make the snowflakes...

1. Fold the paper in half by bringing opposite corners of the square together. Run the ruler along every fold you make, to ensure crisp edges.

2. With the folded triangle facing you, as shown above, fold it in half again by taking the bottom right corner up to meet the top left corner.

 

3. You will now have two flaps of paper at top left (see above). Take the top flap and fold it down towards the bottom, so the corners meet.

4. Pick up the shape you've made, and fold the second flap down behind to meet the bottom corner. You now have your folded shape. 

5. Turn the triangle round so that the folded point is towards you, the two folded edges of the triangle either side, and the unfolded edges of paper away from you.

Draw a leaf outline onto the triangle - use the photos in this tutorial as a guide, or get inspired by your favourite leaves!

The stem should grow from the point (see the filled arrow drawn on the paper, below). The leaf edge MUST incorporate part of the folded edge each side (see the arrows, below) otherwise the snowflake will not work. Give your stem enough width to avoid it being too fragile.

When you cut, take care to not cut along the folded edges within your leaf design. 
 

6. Time to cut out the leaves! Hold the folds together firmly as you go, to ensure you cut all the layers identically. Cut along the leaf outline. Make sure you don't cut the parts that touch the folded edges.

7. Now very carefully unfold your leaf. Each leaf should be joined to its neighbours along that folded edge you left intact. Congratulations... you just made your first leafy paper snowflake!

 
Click here to visit vanillalemoncake on Instagram, see all of Jessica's lovely photos and meet Oliver the hamster!

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Subscribe to my newsletter for a monthly free pattern and visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots more free projects.

Visit my shop to buy my printable PDF sewing patterns:

Four Fun Felt Projects for Mollie Makes #69

I got an exciting bit of post this week - a copy of this month's Mollie Makes magazine.
 

Why am I so excited about the arrival of this magazine, you ask?

Well, a familiar face makes an appearance this issue...

 

... yup, you guessed it, it's me! Yay! :)

The cover gift that comes free with Mollie Makes #69 is a kit for making a fabulous felt pom pom necklace, designed by Yoko Minemura Vega.

 
You also get a little booklet that contains three bonus projects: alternative ideas for using the materials in the kit... and those three projects were designed by me! (Double yay!)

 

I had loads of fun making these projects a few months ago, it's so nice seeing them styled so gorgeously by the Mollie Makes team.

You can choose from three home decor projects. A felt bouquet...

 

... a mini mobile...

 

... or a Scandi-inspired cushion.

I also designed a fourth project - a scalloped necklace. The necklace didn't fit in the printed booklet, so the lovely folks at Mollie Makes have shared it as a free project over on their blog. (Triple yay!).
 

Issue 69 of Mollie Makes is out now in the UK and is available in all good newsagents, supermarkets and independent craft shops, or from the official online store.