Sewing Machine Antics...

Today I tackled my temperamental sewing machine!

It was very generously given to me at a craft fair.  However, despite being a very good machine it has been stored away for a while and is very clogged with dust.  I've been lovingly cleaning it with earbuds! But not knowing sewing machines very well, and this machine not having an instruction book, it has proved difficult to put back together every so often!!  I have now managed to make myself a pin cushion and 2 cases for dictaphones (one for my Dad and one for me). 


My Dictaphone Case

It does jam quite frequently so I may need to take it to a proper sewing machine place to have an MOT!!  My stitching therefore is very dodgy and no where near perfect, but it does the job and I'm proud of it anyway.  It has a yellow patterned lining and a press-stud fastening.  The one I made for my Dad has a brown version of the same material on the outside and a green sheen material on the inside.  I forgot to take a picture of this and now it's in Afghanistan with him!  The stitching was much better on his.

All the material I use is from the off cut bins in fabric shops or charity shops.  I love to recycle!

In other news and craftyness today I received my 'product challenge' box from the Simply Homemade magazine.  In the box is...

From left to right... 5 different patterned papers, red hearts patterned fabric, 4 colours of felt, 7 ribbon lengths and numerous buttons.

The task is to create one item and explain how to make it in 8 steps.  Not all the items have to be used and I can use some of my own materials in addition to these.

I already have a definate idea in my mind.  Just need to get a couple of bits then I can get crafting.  Exciting times.  I can't wait to see what the other people taking part in the challenge come up with.

That's all for now, I'm going to make my boyfriend's Valentine's card tomorrow.  That will also be interesting as my card making projects in the past have not always proved successful!!

xx

Canvasses and Surprise Orders...

Today I thought I would share a surprise order I had last year...

A colleague of mine (who had bought a necklace set for her Mother in the past) approached me just before Christmas.  "I'd like you to make something for my Mother for Christmas".  Fair enough I thought, however that was the extent of the instruction, other than the comment of "You've met my Mother so you'll know what she likes".  I had only met her Mother once for a 5 minute "Hello, this is who made your Christmas origami necklace set"!!  After a little probing I found out she is a fan of the 1920's and big earrings.  This is what I came up with...



1920's Fashion Canvas

 

1920's Fashion Canvas

 

1920's Fashion Canvas

 

Origami Paper Fan Dangly Earrings

I got some lovely feedback on these from the recipient and I would love to hear yours.  It's the first time I have tried creating canvasses.  I got a bug of canvases and combined it with my origami models...

Dinosaur, Flower Bead, Butterfly and Fish Canvasses

 That's all for now, as always please let me know your thoughts and ideas.

xx

The beginning of my knitting journey...

This will only be a short post (much like my knitting progress!) as I had an induction at another care home so no chances to craft today.

I thought I would share my rather ambitious first knitting project with you.  My Grandma taught me the basic stiches when I was very young and it didn't amount to much, other than her frustrations and my mum laughing at my wonky work!  10+ years later I have picked up my needles again and tried to remember what my Grandma had taught me.  My inspiration for rekindling this craft was helping one of the residents in the care home with her knitting project.

Some people may think a nice easy project to start off with would be a scarf, but oh no not me! I decided a patchwork knitted blanket would be the thing for me.  I had seen some lovely chunky wool in my local Sue Ryder charity shop so I bought three colours:

I soon realised that this would not go far, I only managed to make 1 and a half squares with one ball of wool! Unfortunately Sue Ryder did not have enough and could not order any more :-( I scoured the internet and bought enough to make 36 squares. (Costing about £50 so it had better be worth it!!)

As I said progress is slow and I've only made 4 and a half squares.  One thing I have noticed is that the lovely gorgeous chunky wool may have not been right for making a blanket! It is so heavy already. I may have to convert it into a rug or wall hanging!! Otherwise I'll be pinned to the sofa underneath it!

My progress so far...

Hmm long way to go yet!  I hope my Grandma would have been proud though.

Ribbon Flowers are a go!

I have been practicing the ribbon wedding roses since posting my last blog.  I'm now happy to share my prototypes...

Prototype Roses

Close-up!

My sister has now decided she would like 100 roses.  Oh My, I will be busy! (At least they won't be needed until June 2013!)

In other news I have discovered a wonderful Facebook group called 'Craftspeople in Norfolk'.  I have found a few like minded people not too far away from where I live who want to meet up for a crafty gossip and creation session! Exciting times ahead I hope.

Hello and welcome!

Hello and welcome to my new blog,

 

I should probably start off with a bit about me and JewelOri. I was never really arty or crafty before 2008, whilst at University I joined the origami society for a bit of fun. My older sister 'A' took this seriously and bought me an origami jewellery book for Christmas that year. From there I got the bug of crafting. I started off with just jewellery and origami projects:

 



Sunburst Necklace

This then led to other paper sculpting ideas:

 

Chrimas baby bootie gift box

More recently I have taken up knitting and trying to learn to crochet. However, the crochet is not going well, and everything I seem to make looks like it should go on top of a boiled egg to keep it warm!  I've also recently aquired a sewing machine. Having not used a sewing machine for over eight years this has been a bit of a challenge but my first two projects seem to have gone well.

 

Over the past couple of years I've attended a few craft fairs some have been a hit some very much a miss. I've enjoyed displaying my many wears and enjoyed comments I get from people of how unique and unusual some of my projects are. I've also learned to avoid craft fairs run by churches and schools as the people who attend seem to want to spend pences or buy bric-a-brac rather than good quality handmade crafts. However we live and learn and I love attending the Christmas one at my local farm shop!

 

The current projects that I have on the go at present are:

• Valentine's Day card for my other half.
• Surprise birthday present for my sister (I can't describe it just yet in case she finds this blog!).
• Knitted patchwork blanket (this seems to be made with the heaviest wool in the world, I don't think I'll be able to move underneath it once complete!).
• Fixing my mums mobile phone charm.
• Making paper/ribbon roses ready for my sister's wedding next year (although I don't know the quantity yet, though approximately around 70 needed so far, she thinks, but this doesn't include buttonholes yet!
• To master crochet!!!
• Continue to discover the wonders of my newly acquired sewing machine!

I've recently just joined twitter: www.twitter.com/jewelori and they also have a Facebook page: www.facebook.com/jewelori. I've been using the Facebook page for a while and have many pictures of my creations, I'm fairly new to twitter so that's going a bit slow at the moment but I'm sure I'll get into it!

I'm attending the Make It 2012 in Farnborough with my sister (the tickets are a birthday present to her from me, alongside the mystery present I'm making currently!). There I am attending a blogging workshop, hopefully that will give me some inspiration and ideas to create blogs on!

Well, that's all for now. I hope that this blog will actually reach a few people! Now off to do some crafting and practice the roses for my sister's wedding flower arrangements.