Purple Frangipani Creates

Pink and Purple Butterflies

2010-06-16T11:55:00.000+10:00

These were made a little while ago - but are so pretty I just had to share them.

They're almost too pretty to eat.

Almost.

All buttoned up

2010-06-07T09:57:00.001+10:00

Can a simple button become a piece of stylish jewellry?
These pictures say they can.

Sources
Necklace
Cuff
(Mid) Make a button ring
Make a necklace
Necklace

Gathering with an overlocker

2010-06-02T23:01:00.000+10:00

When I bought my overlocker (aka - serger) I didn’t realise how many cool things I could do with it besides finishing seams. My favourite is gathering – ruffling a piece of fabric is soooo easy now.

I’m going to show you how to do it on my machine, you should be able to follow the general principles to do the same thing.

First you have to make some adjustments to your settings;

1. Turn the tension of your needle threads almost as high as they will go. I found that when I turned it all the way up the threads were a little too tight to sew properly.

2. Turn the feed up as high as it will go. This way the feed feet will bring in the beginning of the fabric quicker than they get rid of it which means that the fabric will naturally ‘buckle’ as it goes under the needle.

3. Turn the stitch length to be a bit longer than normal. My machine has a mark at about 2 and a half for normal sewing. I switch it to 3 and a half.

And that’s it.

Now when you feed the fabric through to sew a seam it gathers as it sews.

You will need to experiment with your machine to see at what rate the machine gathers it. This is what the same fabric looks like before and after it has been gathered.

Also – don’t forget to put the setting back to normal when you finished – otherwise you’ll be ruffling stuff you really didn’t mean to.

Peonies

2010-06-01T15:19:00.001+10:00

At work we got in a few peonies for our artificial flower range. I fell in love - a cream and purple peonies arrangement is just beautiful.

Some peony inspiration;

References

bouquet (can't find)

Lace Flower Headband Tutorial

2010-05-25T13:22:00.006+10:00

I created a tutorial for a lace flower headband. You can download the tutorial for the headband here. It's really easy, a great beginners project and the instructions show how to make different sizes.

The kits are also available in the Purple Frangipani store, it includes everything you need to make it and also includes a higher quality version of the tutorial (I wanted to limit the size of the document so it's quicker to download - but it does affect the photo quality).

If you use the tutorial I'd love to hear what you think of it!

Stitching Cards

2010-05-23T21:21:00.002+10:00

Once I started sewing on cards, it was a little hard to stop :)

Lunch Box Creativity

2010-05-22T08:52:00.001+10:00

Who knew lunch could ever look so cute? I just discovered the wonderful world of Kyaraben.

Ham lamb with fruit and salad from Karen Hoh

Gorgeous Pandas from LuckySundae

Flower sandwiches from Susan Yuen

2010-05-20T20:23:00.001+10:00

Photo credit; plindberg

Button Hair Clips

2010-05-19T16:13:00.007+10:00

These clips are so cute - and they're so easy to make!

You will need; hair clips or hair elastics, thin ribbon, buttons of different sizes and strong craft glue.

Cut a length of ribbon about 15cm/6inch. You will need to cut the ends at an angle to help when threading the buttons onto it.

Put a dot a of glue on the base of the hair clip and put the middle of the ribbon over the glue to hold it steady.

Flip the hair clip over - you should now have a hair clip with the two sides of the ribbon coming up through the clip.

Thread the buttons onto the ribbon. It works best to thread two buttons onto one side of the thread and then thread them onto the other end of the ribbon. Add a dab of glue onto the top of the clip where the button will sit.

Slide both buttons down the ribbon so that they are resting on the clip. Then knot the ribbon, add a dab of glue and knot it again.

Snip the ribbon at a desired length - and your done!

You can use the same process on a hair tie too.

The reason I use glue all the way through it to make the clips a little bit safer for using with young children. Of course use common sense when putting clips with things on then in young children's hair.

You can see what other people are making at Tea Rose Home link party

Garlands

2010-05-15T19:25:00.004+10:00

I came across these photos on The drifter and the gypsy. So beautiful.

Garlands are gorgous way to pretty up a dull area.

These lovely paper garlands are from PaperKlip.

Agent Indigo

2010-05-13T09:57:00.004+10:00

Heading to Finders Keepers last week has really got my creative juices flowing again.

Some of the products shown really made me wish I was a little more creative in the way I dressed. Like I did a bit more than wear the same necklace every single day.

If I was to choose a new neck lace, I would get one from here - Agent Indigo. Aren't they exquisite? Simple but classy.

They feel like spring to me.

Pins and scissors

2009-02-12T22:38:00.003+11:00

One of my favourite parts of sewing clothes is cutting out the pieces. I love to mix and match the fabric, pin the pieces to the fabric and cut them out.

I especially love to cut out lots of outfits in front of the cricket :). I then put all the pieces in a clip lock bag ready to sew. It's fun to sit down at my sewing machine and have a little pile of bags ready to go.

Nothing sparks creativity

2008-11-26T08:10:00.002+11:00

Quite like a well organised fabric cupboard.

DIY Childs mannequin

2008-11-19T21:09:00.008+11:00

If you sew clothes to sell or resell clothes on ebay you know how important it is to have good photos. And part of selling clothes is showing how great they look worn - not just on a hanger.

You could always photograph your clothes on a child but what if you don't have one the right size just hanging around. Then there is the problem of kids photos being up on the net for everyone to see (and with easy access to your address).

So the next option is a mannequin. But have you seen the price? And I'd have to get a few sizes for 6months, 12 months, 3 years etc.

So I came up with a cheaper solution. Make your own.

First get a child's top or romper suit (depending on what types of clothes you want to photograph). Simply fill it with newspapers or cushion stuffing. Use a measurement guide to make sure it is in proportion (you can use making tape to help squish it a bit).

I then stuck the stuffed suit on a garden stake and put it in an empty pot full of pebbles. This way the clothes can hang properly. (I also covered my mannequin in a cream fabric so you arn't distracted by the safty pins being used to keep all the opening shut - and it adds a nice neutral backdrop too)

Here is an example of what I mean. This is a photo of a dress just hanging on a hanger. (and in bad light - ignore that for now)

This is the same dress on the mannequin.

It's simple - but it shows off the clothes so much better; and only costs a few dollars.

For other great tips head over to Rocks in my Dryer.

Butterfly Card

2008-09-20T20:45:00.005+10:00

I made this card following the sketch over at 2 Sketches 4 You.

I'm really enjoying making cards from their sketches - I've really have to think outside what I normally do, which is great. I had noticed that alot of my cards seemed to be replicas of each other - it's nice to have a new starting point to create something unique.

I only recently discovered how much I love the look of stamping with white ink on black paper - now I add it on all my latest creations :). Oh and I just adore the Home Accents cartridge for my cricut (that's where the butterfly is from) - it's defiantly my favourite cartridge so far.

Thanks for looking!

2S4U - Happy Anniversary

2008-09-04T14:36:00.007+10:00

When I first say the sketch on 2 sketches for you this week I had no idea what to do. But I needed a card for my friends first wedding anniversary (It's hard to believe it is a whole year since I was her bridesmaid), so I played around and decided to turn the strip into a line of hearts - and I quite like the effect.

And since they also supplied a bonus sketch I made a card for Dad because it's Fathers Day this Sunday in Australia.

2S4U - Pink and Orange Flower

2008-08-27T09:59:00.000+10:00

I found 2 Sketches 4 You on the cricut message board - and I love it! Every week a new sketch is put up and anyone can create a card using the sketch. Here is this weeks sketch;

And this is my interpretation of it. It's no where near the standard of many other people on the blog - some of the cards are amazing!

Seeing as how my cricut is still so new and shiny I had to use it; all the cuts are from the George and Basic Shapes cartridge, The patterned paper is from 'one heart . . . one mind'. The other pieces are just different bits from my scraps :).

I really love the look of pink and orange together - it's so fresh and young. I think this would be a perfect card for a teen girl.

My new toy

2008-08-24T17:45:00.003+10:00

I am so excited to tell you of my latest acquisition; a cricut!

It has been a few years since I first saw this demonstrated at a craft show. I never seriously considered getting one, but a new cricut was just realised meaning that the original cricut dropped in price. A bit of poking around on ebay and I found a good deal and bit the bullet.

I've only played around with a few bits and pieces, here is my first attempt at a cricut card. Not so much a fan of the blue and yellow one, but I do quite like the flowers. Stay tuned!

Paisley Card Collection

2008-08-10T11:30:00.005+10:00

I recently bought the Plenty of Paisley stamps from The Paper Studio.

I love paisley - it's so girly and pretty. And this set has a range of sizes and styles of paisley. I had a fun night playing with these stamps and experimenting with using them in different ways. These are four of my favourites.

These stamps are really nice to use. They are unmounted, but already cut so I just pop them onto my acrylic blocks and am creating in no time. The ridges are nice and high so there isn't any extra ink marks where there shouldn't be. And the slightly stickiness of the stamps mean that the ink goes onto the paper and the stamp peels off making it very hard to smudge your stamp.

All in all I'm very happy with this collection of stamps. The quality of the stamps mean that I'll defiantly be looking out for stamps from The Paper Studio again.

Coming soon

2008-07-09T23:35:00.000+10:00

The new Purple Frangipani blog is on it's way, stay tuned for more information.

For now you can visit the Purple Frangipani Store for beautiful handmade dresses for little girls.