Lace hearts

A dress with a bit of history - V1316 Vogue

noreply@blogger.com (Lace hearts) — Sat, 15 Mar 2014 17:38:00 +0000

I absolutely fell in love with Rebecca Taylor's dress for Vogue. I'd been searching for a special dress to reuse some suiting I had. My brother in law died very suddenly and very unexpectedly last year, and I'd kept quite a few of his suits and shirts, thinking it would be good to keep something of him and make use of it. This dress meant I could use four fabrics from his wardrobe, which I was so pleased to be able to do. I added a little bit of white linen I had and got going. I chose these three suit trousers for the main colours, deciding to use the linen for the bands as I wanted to use the suiting for the main, larger pieces of the dress.

He also had a cream pair which I decided to use for the large back panel. The dress was a challenge but also immensely fun to put together. I think there are 20 pieces and I was aware I had to be careful to match seams so the bands didn't look too out. I've gone wrong a little here and there, but hey, that's fine.

I made some changes. I cut and sewed a muslin, as I didn't want to waste the fabric. Thank goodness I did, as it was too tight. I'm a bit unlucky as I fall between the 8 and 14. The pattern comes in sizes 4-12 and 14-20 and I wasn't going to buy two patterns, so I opted for the small sizing. That meant I had to grade up at the hips, and it wasn't easy as I'm still on a steep learning curve in terms of my dressmaking. So a couple of the back pattern pieces were thrown out. At the back, at the bottom, the bands should fall above the hem, and they meet the hem. I don't think it matters.

I was pleased with how the invisible zip insertion went - I've struggled with zips.

I chose a vibrant red lining, as I loved the cheerful contrast. One thing on which I agree with Carolyn's make of this, is that it definitely screams out for pockets. (I love her version, made out of cord trousers.) I didn't have a clue how to do this though Carolyn gives pointers. I know how to put pockets in a side seam, as I routinely do that, but not adding them to a curved princess seam, so I stumbled through this. I used a pattern piece from another dress, using the same material from a bit of the trousers as I used for the dress, and fudged it.

One lies beautifully flat, the other is a bit of a bumpy result. But I managed to add them. Yay!

I've popped my scissors in the good pocket (yes, they've been chewed by our over eager young dog, who will chew anything and everything given the chance!).

I also raised the neckline a little - quite a few people who have made this have commented on the low neckline, and I have to agree. It's too low. I didn't want to wear a camisole underneath. I went slightly wrong, but it's kind of okay.

Here's the neckline on:

Sorry, that one's a little blurred!
Altogether, I'm thrilled with it.

I think my brother in law would be impressed as well. He was always very supportive and interested in my sewing, once he realized what I was doing with my sewing that is!

So it's a special dress. In memory of someone much missed.

Butterick 5699 See & Sew dress - Liberty and wool

noreply@blogger.com (Lace hearts) — Thu, 27 Feb 2014 15:23:00 +0000

Another week, another dress. Or two - this dressmaking thing is addictive I'm finding. I'm getting a bit worried about what I do with my already crammed wardrobe! I've had this particular pattern for a while, and was attracted by the wide waist yoke. I made it up first out of a Liberty Tana Lawn map print. The finishing isn't perfect. I was meant to topstitch everywhere, but after attempting the yoke, I gave up any more as my top stitching is a little wonky. Fortunately it doesn't really show on this too badly.

I tried to insert a zip - still not brilliant at this, but I sort of like the visible approach on this one.

But overall, it was a fun one to do.

I then decided to make it up out of a length of wool I've had for a long, long time.

There was just enough. I lined it with a purple, which looks read, but is purple!

And I think I prefer it in the wool:

It makes the fabulous design stand out far more.

I also used binding for the neckline to give a bit of contrast. So that's the latest in my dressmaking adventures.

Colette Peony - 2nd attempt! Dancing novelty retro fabric

noreply@blogger.com (Lace hearts) — Tue, 11 Feb 2014 09:09:00 +0000

This was my second attempt at the Colette Peony dress pattern, as I did love it, despite the fitting problems I mentioned. I fell in love with the fabric and bought it as a remnant. I decided this had to be a summer dress, so would leave the sleeves off. I'd fiddled endlessly with the muslin for my first Peony - I even cut a horizontal band, which is probably not the right way to do it, but I'm making it up a little as I get more comfortable with dressmaking. You can see what I mean about a horizontal band in this picture of my muslin for my first Peony.

This second dress came together very quickly, and I'm really pleased.

I added the ricrac detail to the neckline:

And I'm still wondering whether to add a line above the hem.

I'll probably make another at some point, as the fit on this one, without sleeves, is much more comfortable. It is a lovely pattern, and very easy to follow.

Colette Peony - my attempt! Bodice fitting problems!

noreply@blogger.com (Lace hearts) — Sun, 09 Feb 2014 11:22:00 +0000

I was looking forward to trying this one, as I'd seen so many versions of it, and I'm pleased with the finished dress (shown here not hemmed and on my daughter), but I really struggled with it. I cut a muslin and fiddled with the bodice fit a lot. I hadn't a clue really how to do this, but I removed fabric here and there until it felt better, then I used the muslin to cut the fabric. I'd bought this fabric really cheaply, in the form of a pair of vintage curtains. It looks and feels like a Sanderson fabric to me - a kind of cotton duck, and it's been wonderful to work with. Here's the lining and outer bodice being lined up for the neckline, which I lowered a couple of centimetres - the pattern's version sits very high and I would have felt throttled.

It all went together beautifully. The Colette instructions were clear and easy to follow, and it's not a complicated dress to follow for a beginner dressmaker like me. Here's the sleeves being lined up:

And then in place...

The sleeve roll I made came in so usefully for ironing these awkward bits:

But my problem is the bodice still isn't right. I've added a couple of pretend darts, for want of a better term, either side of the proper darts, and that's removed a lot of the excess fabric. I know this isn't the right way to approach it, but I can't bear to unpick the whole dress. I think Colette dresses are made for far bustier women than me, from reading several reviews.

It's certainly a huge learning curve, this dressmaking! But I'm having a lot of fun with it!

First steps in dressmaking - first dress!

noreply@blogger.com (Lace hearts) — Fri, 07 Feb 2014 12:54:00 +0000

I finally finished my first dress (some time ago, but wanted to keep a record on my blog) - Simplicity 2886. I'm really pleased with it, but it was a bit of an ordeal, and not the right choice for a beginner to dressmaking. But I got there - it took around a year!

I love the fact it has a hidden side zip, and pockets. I also love the neckline.

First steps in knitting - my knitted dress

noreply@blogger.com (Lace hearts) — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 17:31:00 +0000

I've taken quite a break from my blog, which I think is inevitable at times. It's not been the easiest of years, and I've not had much free time at all. But I've started something I wanted to blog about! My knitted dress.

I've been wanting to learn new skills for a while. Twenty years ago I fell in love with a hand knitted dress, which I saw worn at a party. I've always had it in mind, but felt the skills involved would be way beyond me. I have knitted in the past, but not much, and I've achieved the sum total of one and a half jumpers (half was finished off for me by a kindly aunt after I'd sat on it for 10 years). But I went to the knitting and stitching show at Alexandra Palace earlier in October and fell in love with this dress from PurlAlpacaDesigns.

The Icon dress. I'd never cabled before, but I didn't think it could be that hard. I also had some alpaca wool tucked away from a while back - the dress is for 100% alpaca wool, which is incredibly soft and lovely to work with. I thought it would be the perfect project both for teaching myself new skills and relaxing over the winter. So I went ahead and bought the pattern.

I have to admit, this is not an easy pattern for a beginner. I struggled so much to get going and finally had help from a kind fellow blogger and from a friend. I had to unpick several times. The cables turned out to be very easy, and I used youtube to find out techniques for those. But the pattern is written with a lot of prior assumptions, and it's not a pattern someone like me could have interpreted without help. This was one of my test cable sections.

And I do mean beginner. A classic example... I didn't know about stitch markers! I really didn't. After the advice about popping in stitch markers (these aren't mentioned on the pattern, but it's been an enormous help to have them and be directed as to where they go), I first used safety pins. I couldn't understand how anybody had the patience to keep undoing the pins and popping them onto another stitch. I was absolutely clueless about just popping a stitch marker over the end of the needle! That's a true beginner for you. But, now I'm finally on my way, I'm so pleased with how it's going. It's fun. It's challenging. And it's ever so relaxing.

I've set myself a year, as I wanted to be realistic. I'll keep you posted.

Fun in Cornwall Part 1 - River Fal

noreply@blogger.com (Lace hearts) — Sun, 18 Aug 2013 12:45:00 +0000

I love Cornwall. It's a fabulous place to spend some time, and I thought I'd do a few posts about our summer holiday here, as it was a perfect place for a family. We spent a few days on the Fal River, a beautiful place at dawn, when I was lucky enough to see the ship above leaving. And at sunset the light is just as good, this picture looking up towards the Pandora Inn.

We were lucky enough to borrow a friend's kayak - perfect for making the most of the River.

Simplicity 2886

noreply@blogger.com (Lace hearts) — Sat, 11 May 2013 19:16:00 +0000

This is the first dress I chose to make. I absolutely love it, but it's been a long time in the making. As soon as I have a bit of sun, and it's warm enough to wear (fabric sample shown), I'll show you. It was fiddly, but it's a lovely pattern.

Dressmaking - a beginner - but 'Vintage Vogue Very Easy'!?

noreply@blogger.com (Lace hearts) — Thu, 09 May 2013 10:27:00 +0000

I've fallen in love with dressmaking... and this is my 2nd dress (I haven't a picture of my first yet, as first was finished slightly after 2nd!). It's shown here pre-hemming and zip insertion, but I'm really pleased with it. The dress started a few weeks back when I found a Vogue pattern from the 1970s and thought it looked

a.) simple (it said 'easy Vogue'), and

b.) a lovely design for the fabric I had in mind and I'd picked up the day or so before.

Haha, now little I knew.

I've since found that 'Very Easy Vogue' doesn't mean that at all. This was a bit of a mare as a first project, and I'm so glad I thought to make a muslin. The fabric was taken from a pair of 1950s curtains, which were in pretty good condition, and I was lucky to find. They shouted dress at me immediately. But I didn't want to risk the fabric, so decided to make a muslin first. Thank goodness I did as I had to change the pattern quite a bit, especially under the arms. I also dropped the collar, but that was straightforward.

The first problem was princess seams. Until a few weeks back, I didn't know what princess seams were. The instructions were basic, but even I knew this wasn't right. Princess seams run up to the armhole and are curved to help the dress sit right at the breast. Pointing up into the armhole isn't the right way. But all my notches and dots and spots and bits and bobs and all those fancy dressmaking terms were sitting together.

No matter how many times I tried, how much easing I tried to do, there was no way these were going to sit against each other. I found a solution after speaking with somebody who's been dressmaking since the dinosaurs, and has been invaluable, and mentioned she'd come across one other pattern many years ago where this problem had happened. The online tutorials make princess seams look a doddle. They aren't and this one certainly wasn't - but please don't despair if you find the same. It's not you and there are ways around it. I ended up easing the extra into the armhole. This isn't considered good practise, but frankly, it worked. I defy anybody to have made it work another way. You cannot tell from the finished dress that this is what happened, and I'm very proud of the way my princess seams sit.

Then the armholes were too tight. I hate a dress sitting tight under the arms. So I had to mark up and cut to allow for this.

which eventually worked.

One thing that has been invaluable in all this is the tailors ham I made. These help with all sorts of ironing, but especially those tricky bits. I didn't find any others on a web search, so have put a make to order one in my Folksy and Etsy shops, here and here.

They are brilliant, and I can't rave highly enough. I used some of my lovely button print and a fabulous Cotswold wool, both of which seem totally appropriate.

So, the birth of my second dress. I've now finished the zip and almost done the hem. Already planning my next dress!

Making a quilt for my son

noreply@blogger.com (Lace hearts) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 07:36:00 +0000

Seeing the wonderful quilt Jane made for her son, here, reminded me I haven't blogged about the quilt I made for mine recently. My 12 year old asked if I could make him a quilt, having watched my earlier efforts here. I was so pleased, as it's rare for him to ask for me to sew him something. He chose a nautical theme, and had a good rummage through my fabrics. I then cut them into strips, using my rotary cutter (I'm so glad that was an early purchase when I started sewing again) and cutting mat.

We then played around quite a bit with the design.

More photos to come as I seem to have lost all the photos of the finished quilt. It was lovely to work on this with him.

Three easy skirts - first steps in dressmaking

noreply@blogger.com (Lace hearts) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 13:36:00 +0000

I'm so hooked on dressmaking now. Well, skirt making, but my first dress is coming along. I've finished off three in the past couple of days. The tops and hems were waiting on getting done, and a zip here or there. I'm pleased I've actually got these things tidied up. The stamp print was a fabric I bought from America. The pattern is taken from Tanya Whelan's brilliant book Sew what you Love, which I really would recommend. There are things I don't like about this skirt, but it's an simple introduction to making a skirt, as there's no waistband to worry about, and the zip insertion is easy.

I also finished the hem for the skirt I made for the Abakhan blog challenge in my post here. I love this pattern, and will definitely be using it again, but will practise getting the yoke the right size first. I love the fact it's got a yoke, belt loops (I chose not to make up the belt, as I wanted to wear a contrast belt), a zip, and pockets. And it's easy too.

And I then half used a pattern and half did my own thing. I wanted to try a lined skirt, so lined this one, which has given it a much better feel. I decided to make a waistband, in a contrast red, and I'm pleased with how it's turned out.

Best of all is getting to use some of my lovely fabrics on clothing where I can look at them. :)

Simplicity 2226 skirt - such a fabulous skirt

noreply@blogger.com (Lace hearts) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 07:50:00 +0000

So, the lovely people at Abakhan asked me to do another project, and without realizing its fame, I chose to try a skirt pattern, Simplicity 2226 to be precise. This is for their blog challenge on a budget, which I started last year, and for it I received the above: a pattern, fabric, zip, and interfacing. I thought this looked a great pattern, with its four variations, pockets, and even a belt, and belt casings. I've since found this was part of a Sewalong by Noodlehead (which was a lovely way to discover a wonderful new blog) and is a very popular pattern. As the Sewalong was some time ago, I didn't refer to it. I suggest you do if you, like me, are new to dressmaking, as she makes each stage very clear. When I was ploughing through the pattern, I had to backtrack and rectify a couple of mistakes, and in the end fitted a smaller skirt to a larger yoke. But I'm really pleased with the resulting skirt, and that's one of the beauties of the pattern - it really is very adaptable and forgiving. I especially loved the fabric I chose - this one, which I thought was excellent value at £6.25 a metre. So, on to a look at what I did.

I first traced the size I thought I'd be. This turned out to be not such a good move as I ignored the pattern sizing instructions (in my defence, I was coming up a lot larger than I've ever been!). This was my first mistake. Follow the packet advice! :) Anyway, because I traced the size I thought I was, I still have my original intact, to retrace when I next make this skirt.

Once that was done I cut the pattern pieces. I then had to recut the pockets as I cut them the wrong way. :) Told you I made a couple of silly mistakes. This is the way they should be cut if you have a definite print (here lying in place right side down on the skirt front):

I don't know how others do it, but I marked the dots like this, putting a pin through the spot on the pattern, and circling where the pin was on the wrong side of the fabric with a pencil:

It worked for me, though I kind of lost the plot with the dots. I haven't the patience to go matching dots. But the finished skirt still works. :) Popping the pockets in place was simple, and I then overstitched in a contrasting thread.

This pattern is lovely, and comes together so quickly. Even adding the yoke (one of my other mistakes - do have patience (lacking in my approach to dressmaking) and cut a test piece from cheap cotton first, as mine was too small and I had to recut) was simple:

I'm thrilled with my skirt. It fits. It has pockets. It has belt loops. I've just the hem to do now.

I'll post a final picture once that's done.

Happy pigs in mud cake

noreply@blogger.com (Lace hearts) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 16:54:00 +0000

So, when we saw the internet cake masterpiece of the happy bunch of pigs in mud recently, my daughter knew exactly what she wanted for her birthday cake, as no doubt countless others have wanted since the original was posted. So I made this for her today. Our very own pigs in mud. :)

Here's a link to the original pigs in mud cake. And here's the English translation from the original Dutch.

Regular visitors to my blog may recognize the pigs from a previous cake (I tend to reuse some of the iced makes) but I needed more pigs. Specifically some piggy bottoms. It was really fun putting these together.

I couldn't use the previous pigs on the top, though they tried it out before the delicious ganache went on (boy, I could eat so much of that stuff)...

... so they went on the side, as they didn't want to be left out. This was such an easy cake to make, and it's a really fun one. The party's tomorrow.

A book for a reluctant teen

noreply@blogger.com (Lace hearts) — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 17:05:00 +0000

My 15 year old rarely reads - she's always found reading 'boring' and I rarely find a book that she will get absorbed in. I love books, and I'm lost without a book, so this has been hard for me to accept. Especially a few weeks back when she told me she wasn't interested in trying anymore... which made me determined to find her a book.

I spent ages choosing and settled on Louise Rennison's Withering Tights!

She loved it! Read it in a day. She's not an avid reader by far, but I've persuaded her there are books out there for her. She's now gone on to Me Before You, by Jojo Moyes, which I think is a brilliant, easy read, with lots of issues to discuss. So far so good.

Tips for a happy canal boat / narrowboat holiday

noreply@blogger.com (Lace hearts) — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 14:36:00 +0000

We've just returned from another week on a narrowboat. I love these weeks. Unfortunately, it was icy cold this past week, but we still enjoyed ourselves. There's something very relaxing about life on a narrowboat. I've been on a few of these holidays now (the picture above was from a brilliant week in 2010), and there's certainly a few tips I've picked up. Things to avoid big time are:

1. Aim not to call your loved one a 'stupid man' (or woman... or worse). Everybody on the bank hears you, stops their stroll, and turns to look at said 'stupid man' who then stares daggers at you for the next hour or so.

2. "But muuuuummm, he looks hungry"... ! Try to avoid feeding a 'lovely looking', 'hungry looking' swan at dusk. That swan will begin tapping on your boat at 2 am in the morning, looking for another snack. And somehow, it knows where your bedroom is - it will not wake the children!

3. It looks faster, but don't cut corners - it's a sure way to get grounded. Everyone gets grounded, but it is certainly avoidable on corners.

Meanwhile, good things to do are:

Check the boatyard maintains the boats well. Most boatyards we've used have been excellent, but there are some things to look out for. If, for example, the sills on the windows are wood and left to rot, they let in a bad draught at night. If the engine alternators aren't maintained, they stop working the day after you take them out and that involves mooring and waiting for someone to come and mend it all. Or going without power all week if not running the engine. And it may sound silly, but ask how old the double mattress is. Most of ours have been fine. The one we had that should have been replaced years ago resulted in a very bad week of sleep (I'm talking feeling the springs had sprung!). The above boat was one of the best we've had, so much so we've used the company twice, but there have been a couple of boatyards I wouldn't hire from again. And I certainly now know the questions to ask before hiring (it's not cheap after all).

I hope that helps if you're considering booking a canal boat for the first time. It's a great holiday, I'd really recommend it, and there's a fabulous selection of waterways to go on in the UK, all lovely in different ways.

No-Sew fleece tutorial for Abakhan

noreply@blogger.com (Lace hearts) — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 09:26:00 +0000

One of the few times my son loves to help with my fabric obsession is if I'm making a novelty quilt or blanket, and so making a no-sew fleece blanket was right up his street. I did this as part of the Abakhan blog challenge, to choose and make items from their store of goodies for under £15. This one was great fun.
We chose a little over a metre of two fleeces - Abakhan have a huge selection here, and we took some time, but fell for the moss sheep and the bright striped fleece. So my fleece choice was kindly supplied by Abakhan.

Fleece comes in wide measures, and the size was perfect for what I needed - a small oblong blanket/wrap but obviously you might want a bigger piece. The beauty of this blanket, is it's easily flexible in terms of making it to your own requirements.
First of all, we laid the two fleeces right sides together:

and I then did some trimming to straighten up the edges and remove the selvedge:

After that, you need to cut a square from each corner. I did this more or less by eye, using my quilting rule, and took a 4 1/2 inch square out. You could alternatively make a template out of card or paper to do this. Again, there's no set rule here - if you want a longer fringe, make the square 5 or 6 inches. It's not set in stone!

So we were left with the corner cut out

And we did this to each of the four corners:

Then we begun cutting the fringe around the edge, cutting in the same amount as the square and making the cuts roughly 1 inch wide.

I used my cutting mat as a rough guide, but didn't worry too much about this, as small variations really won't show on the finished blanket.
Then we knotted. We tried two methods. We double knotted each strand on the long side - so knotting the two ends, one from the sheep and one from the stripe fleece together. Pull the first knot gently to the cut, then tighten with a second knot. We did these knots on the longer side. We tried a looping the double strand over its neighbour and pulling through the resulting gap for the short side. Both methods work, so again, no set rule here. Just a case of the look you prefer.

And we ended up with a lovely warm blanket. All my children love this one. You can see the effect of the different type of knotting we did on the long and short edges. I quite like having the edges defined differently in this way.

This was good fun, and definitely a good activity for boys as well as girls! I hope this has helped if you want to try it out.

Recovering a mannequin - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Lace hearts) — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 08:12:00 +0000

So, it's time for another mannequin makeover. This is one I've had for sometime. I love the shape and the stand - it's a metal stand, though you can't really see it here, but it's had a horrible stretch silver fabric.

I had to take off lots of tacks, which were holding the fabric cover in place:

Then it was easy to remove the cover, which I reversed and used as a pattern...

I'd chosen a stretch jersey, with a pretty red flower on cream design. I folded it, smoothed it out and pinned in place

and cut, then sewed around it.
I'll be back with more pictures as the light is pretty awful at the moment, but I'm so pleased with the way it's working out.

The Great British Sewing Bee - should be fun!

noreply@blogger.com (Lace hearts) — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 11:48:00 +0000

I'm sure lots of you have heard about this, especially those interested in sewing, but just in case anybody's not heard about it... there's an interesting looking programme coming up... The Great British Sewing Bee is meant to be on BBC in March or April. This apparently follows the formula of the Great British Bake Off. It should be fun.
I found details of the book on Amazon already... here

Sewing with oilcloth

noreply@blogger.com (Lace hearts) — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 18:50:00 +0000

I thought I'd break up my quilting on the go posts with this little pencil case/purse I've made out of a tiny bit of Cath Kidston oilcloth I have. I find oilcloth a bit of a mare to sew with, but I'm happy with this one.

It was made for a friend, so hopefully she'll also like it. Sorry about the poor photographs - evening light just isn't the same as a beautiful sunny day, is it.

Quilting - part 3 - stitching the binding

noreply@blogger.com (Lace hearts) — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 15:11:00 +0000

So, this is what I was doing last night. It's so relaxing to be handstitching the binding, which, with the size of the quilt, is around 16 feet. Still some way to go, but at this time of year a warm quilt on your lap, and a wood stove, and it's bliss.

I've chosen to use a floral bias binding that I've had for a long time. It just seemed perfectly matched for the floral fabrics.

Thanks for all your comments - this one's nearly done, and I'll post a final, finished, picture!

Quilting as you go ... part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Lace hearts) — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 08:13:00 +0000

The quilt is coming along, and it has been fun. My one recommendation is to pin, pin, pin. It's very easy for the backing to slip. Also, quilting pins make it far easier - everyday dressmaking pins just aren't long enough or sharp enough. And, as you can see, the edges need trimming, so you need a rotary cutter and cutting mat... buy the largest mat you can, as you won't regret it.

I now need to think about the edge binding.

Adventures in quilting - quilting as you go Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Lace hearts) — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 18:57:00 +0000

I've been having fun today putting together a little picnic or floor quilt, trying the quilt as you stitch method, which involves cutting strips, laying them on the batting and backing, and stitching, then ironing over each seam.

This is when the kitchen table needs to be cleared of everything, as I'm of an age where I can't work on the floor without feeling the consequences. It took pretty much all day to complete the top, as I had the children being sent home from school at various points, so ended up with a house full. And for some reason, I work better when I have the house to myself. I wonder if that's common?

I'll post a picture as I progress, but I've pretty much got to the point where I just have to decide on the edging, and it'll be done. I'm happy with it, but had to unpick a couple of times. I'm so pleased I have a walking foot for my machine, but I still get a little impatient sometimes and try to run the machine too fast, which doesn't work with my machine.

The finished hand painted shoes

noreply@blogger.com (Lace hearts) — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 14:08:00 +0000

Following on from my last post, this is how the shoes turned out - a night sky scene. They worked really well, especially as this was her first attempt. I've ordered a pair! :)

How to paint a shoe - fun crafts with kids

noreply@blogger.com (Lace hearts) — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 12:35:00 +0000

So, following on from my last post, the same daughter decided she wanted to decorate a pair of shoes. We found some cheap canvas shoes in the sales, collected all the acrylics and fabric paints we have lying around, and she got going. She taped around the sole, and has nearly finished.

She's working on making a night sky with stars - so I'll post a finished picture when it's done. But this is such an easy and fun activity. She used make up sponges to dab the paint on and mix it to the colour she wanted. The shoes were just £3!

Making of a papier mache head

noreply@blogger.com (Lace hearts) — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 14:00:00 +0000

I just had to show you what my 14 year old made, as I thought it was really good - in the way you do, when it's your child :) This started because we'd started fashioning a vase out of chicken wire, meaning to make it into a papier mache disaster. It's turned out a lot more fun. She covered the wire with newspaper, soaked in pva, then created teeth and fashioned the features from kitchen roll.

Then came the painting in skin tones. It's supposed to be a particular, red-headed singer, but I can't remember which one!

She drew in the eyebrows and eyes.

And added hair.

Sadly, it's now gone to a friend... I so wanted to keep this one.