Kim Crafts!

Strawberries

2012-01-05T06:37:00.000-08:00

Lovely Fabric Strawberries

Heres the (real time) video:

(I'm going to do a sped up version too, link will be in the intro)

And link to a quick guide pdf:

Strawberries PDF

New video

2011-11-09T15:37:00.000-08:00

Corsetry basics using a dressmaker - please let me know what you think, including constructive criticism!

It started with 2 old hats...

2010-11-26T14:20:00.000-08:00

... bought from a charity shop. Ugly and unloved I unpicked the brims and crowns then sewed some polka dot fabric to the brim and reassembled with the second hats crown I reused one of the hats trim, added some other bits and bobs I had collected and voila... my first hat:

By now the creative juices are flowing and I made another hat and some fascinators including:

and:

and why stop there with the headwear? I made several tiaras including this one:

Can you see what is happening here? I ended up with a glut! Hence 'Kestrel Design Ltd' is born... more details to come ;)

Teddies

2010-10-09T11:27:00.000-07:00

I made a teddy for a pregnant lady at work (It was quite a while ago now...) and loved him so much I had to make another before I could give one away...!
The pattern was found here on Cut Out and Keep and was posted by Pauline M :)

Lemon Suprise Cupcakes

2010-08-11T11:33:00.000-07:00

I modified this recipe from various cupcake recipes on the web and a Deliah recipe for lemon curd. I thought I was being terribly original with the curd suprise idea, but then found it in a relatively recent baking book so I guess not!

Ingredients: (Makes 12 cupcakes at approx 300 cals each!)

160g Caster Sugar
175g Icing Sugar
150g Plain Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
Butter 225g
3 Eggs
Lemon
Orange

Preheat oven to 180*C
Cream together 125g caster sugar and 125g butter. Add zest of half a lemon and 2 eggs. Add 150g sifted plain flour and 1/2 tsp baking powder. Divide into 12 cupcake cases and bake 7-10 mins til just golden.

For orange curd: whisk juice of 1/2 orange with 1 egg and pour over 35g sifted caster sugar and the zest of 1/2 orange. Place in a bain marie and add 25g butter in chunks. Stir til curd thickens (about 20 mins) then allow to cool.
When cupcakes have cooled, slice the top off, scoop a small amount of sponge out and replace with a dollop of orange curd. Replace the lid and allow to set slightly before icing.

For the icing:
cream 75g of butter and add 175g sifted icing sugar and 1/2 a lemons zest. Add as much lemon juice as it takes to mix the icing to a good spreading consistency.
Spread icing on each cupcake and decorate as required.

Making a Dress on a Dressform Videos (Two Parts)

2010-01-16T13:03:00.000-08:00

Art Journal Page

2009-11-15T02:10:00.000-08:00

YAY

2009-11-11T08:04:00.000-08:00

It came! Along with multiples of junk mail address to people on several different streets, my Hooked on Exchanging (Because it's Pink) package came through!!

My partner was Carol S and she stitched me Rosebuds and Pearls Fob by the Drawn Thread. She also sent scissors, lip glosses, some great charms, a bookmark, variegated pink embroidery floss and some lovely pink linens to stitch on in the future :)

The fob is now sitting with my other prides of joy on the windowsill :)

Thank you Carol!!

Sweetie Petite Blog Win

2009-11-10T12:27:00.000-08:00

A while ago I left a comment on Lisa of theredthreads blog where she was doing a blog giveaway... and I was one of the lucky winners!!! Theres been a postal strike here in the UK and I received the package a few days ago (but I think it had been in the backlog judging by the postal date) so I hope Lisa hasn't been thinking I've been ignoring the package!

'Ginger' and her little bluebird friend were so quick and easy to make and I loved the whole set. I made a video so others thinking of buying their own sweetie petite could see the ease of the project and a the quality of the package and fabric (lovely)! Also those little notecards are so cute but I'll probably end up framing them as a set rather than using them as notes!

Binding a Quilt with Mitred Corners

2009-11-10T02:08:00.000-08:00

I posted this video a while ago and it had a huge number of views early on - turns out someone posted it on a sewing forum where several people have it as a 'favourite' but no-one told me!!!!

Binding Quilt

2009-09-27T02:23:00.000-07:00

I've started binding my blue and green quilt with some cream 70mm satin ribbon. YouTube tutorial to come :)

Mmmm Focaccia Bread

2009-09-26T02:05:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:

350g Strong White Flour

Sachet Dried Yeast

Salt - both table and sea

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Rosemary

Warm Water

Sift Flour and 1/2 tsp table salt and add yeast then 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil and warm water, mix and knead dough for about ten minutes or until 'yeasty' smell and smooth ball.

Place in clean bowl with some more olive oil, coat the dough and leave in a warm place to rise for about an hour until double. Preheat oven to 190 degrees and leave a baking tray in the oven to heat up.

When dough has risen, cut into 4 and shape into slightly oval balls. Bring out the hot baking tray and melt some butter on the surface to stop the dough sticking. Place the four balls on the tray and coat with a little more olive oil, some sea salt and some (freshly cut if you can) rosemary. Put in the oven for about 15 mins until lovely and brown on the outside and sounding hollow when tapped.

I had one warm with poached eggs... then another on its own without even butter it was so yummy :)

Away for the weekend

2009-09-18T04:56:00.000-07:00

Military 'do', Goodwood revival, interview outfit. Hopefully all will be well when I'm back!

Art Journal pages

2009-09-16T07:42:00.000-07:00

I was pretty glad to use my Hardback Recycled Scraps Art Journal and see it worked fine :)

Craft Wardrobe

2009-09-14T07:35:00.000-07:00

...that DB built :)

I added these additional shelves. Of course, its full now but I haven't yet taken a picture - you can see glimpses of it in the videos I've made recently though! I've also added a few little shelves to the doors since this photo.

Embroidery

2009-09-14T07:17:00.000-07:00

I bought some hand dyed thread skeins from Sharon of Pin Tangle from her Art Fire Store. Since buying, I knew I wanted to use them for something that would eventually be on display/useable in some way. So I started an embroidered bag front with an image based on one of Alphonse Mucha's pictures: 'Woman with Poppies'

As I started I did this stitch which I love but I don't know what it is?!!! All I can come up with after looking at my (still borrowed!) copy of Batsford Encyclopedia of Embroidery Stitches is that its a sort-of-half 'Portugese border stitch'
Weave (not through fabric) beneath two foundation stitches,
Weave through the furthest one again, then repeat.

New Video - Hardback Art Journal.

2009-09-07T08:32:00.000-07:00

I MADE THIS WITH NO COST - just recycling and some glue & thread :)

Second video - I made an art journal hardcover book following another YouTuber's tutorials with some modifications - see the video for how :)

YouTube Video

2009-09-03T14:13:00.000-07:00

My first YouTube video, I decided to try to make crafts videos that are fast so that browsers can pick up the 'how to's, hints tips and ideas quickly without having to sit through real-time crafting. I have a few other video ideas in the pipeline - mostly recycling / upcycling ideas and ways to reduce costs with crafts that can get out of hand with the 'essential' kit list!

Creative Space

2009-08-14T08:06:00.000-07:00

I've been reorganising to seperate crafts/work area and bedroom area. Reorganising through all my crafts thing spurred me on to make some hanging ornaments! The orange flowers are made using 'plarn' from plastic bags, the tiny puffy stars and the origami ball were made using tutorials from Folding Trees, the crepe flowers inspired by Martha Stewart Crafts Dept. The Union Jacks were the ones we waved at DBs pride parade.

Costume Making

2009-08-11T03:42:00.000-07:00

I haven't bought any clothes since the start of 2009. None. Not even tights yet though I will HAVE to because I need them for my uniform. But I've made it a rule to not buy ANY clothing (apart from tights) for the whole year. Its been hard in some ways but actually hasn't caused me any problems.

Until specific fancy dress is needed. So in a combined time of about 4 hours I managed to make both mine and DBs 'emergency services' fancy dress costumes. Both leave a little to be desired, but I'm still proud!!!

I also managed to efficiently use my mannequin and love how much easier it is to construct a dress :)

Steiner Dolls

2009-08-11T03:36:00.000-07:00

I started making two Steiner or Waldorf style dolls. Strictly speaking they aren't as they don't use the finest and purest ingredients of plain wool and cotton. In fact, so far they use child's elbow Tubigrip, old desert uniform t-shirt, shredded polyester quilters wadding and car-boot-sale wool!

This second head now sports a full ponytail of hair but the method I used means she has too much bald spots when you part her hair. I have a few ideas on how to improve and one day I'd like to do a tutorial on how I would do both male and female hair :)

Modifying DBs Hat

2009-08-10T03:21:00.000-07:00

DB had a spare uniform hat that he had ripped apart to try to make it more floppy (this makes it look more old fashioned and 'cooler'). But of course putting it back together again requires sewing skills...

So I've ripped out the structural element and sewn it back together again, but then added a nice dark blue satin lining with his surname embroidered in too (obviously smudged out for good reasons).

I also tacked down the edges to give it a head start in getting the best 'droopy' look.

Lost Dollz :(

2009-08-09T03:09:00.000-07:00

When I was at Uni I discovered an online art that was 'dollz'. Spelling with a 'z' seemed to mean searching was easier and took away conventional doll results. Dollz are pixel art figures, you start with a 'base' which is an image of a figure with no clothes and no hair. You then digitally draw on hair and clothing to create the finished doll. In my time 'dolling' I had a website showcasing my dollz and entered several contests where I won a few prizes. I must have spent hours and hours dolling. But I neglected my dollz and site occasionally as my crafting took me in other directions and now I realise my dollz site lapsed without me realising. In the meantime I changed computer and my old computer died. So I've lost all that work :(

I remembered I uploaded once to an online image storage site and managed to find the doll above. I can't remember which 'doller' created the base - I really should be mentioning and linking them to give them due credit. I remember I originally made this for a 'geisha' contest. She wasn't my best and I really wish I could get my dollz back to showcase again :(

I might stumble upon a file now and then to display but I think most are lost forever!

More Crochet

2009-07-30T03:32:00.000-07:00

After declaring that I wasn't inclined to make full size clothing and granny squares with crochet, I went ahead and started to make... granny squares... then started a cardigan. I figured I'd try to follow a load of tutorials to learn the basic crochet stitches and realised granny squares could be like the crochet 'sampler'. I'm doing them all in these colours:

...which I feel look like a heather/woodland mix. You can see the ones I've made so far, as well as the start of 1st an abandoned cardigan pattern then at the bottom of the picture the start of the one I'm in the middle of now.
The cardigan is going to be a holey (quick) crochet stitched tie-wrap number and I'm measuring and deciding on shape as I go.

I also sewed some odd buttons onto my amigurumi egg and fuzz-ball :)

Headset covers

2009-07-22T04:43:00.000-07:00

In work we all have these ugly headsets and a lot of people have customised 'knickers' which are the earpiece covers. One new girl turned up with an amazing 'Sully' from Monsters Inc headset cover and told us how at her last base a girl was making all sorts of themed covers for her colleagues for a token cost for the fabrics. I thought I'd have a go to see how expensive and quick they were to make. This was the first and I did a lot of experimenting to get the right sizes, stretchiness for the 'knickers', shape and attaching of the ears and horns and the positions of the poppers that close the headpiece around the top of the headset. All in all it took me around 3 hours but I think I could get it to two :)