Crafty Weekend

I managed to squeeze in a couple of crafty projects over the weekend - not quite sure how, ooops - yes I do!, there's a whole pile of laundry still behind me, hehe :) Never mind it's a self-generating pile, which replenishes itself regularly - returning daily like a massive tidal wave - comfortingly reasssuring - NOT!!!! :D

Never mind, domestic duties aside, here's what I was working on - firstly . . .

. . . a little frame coin purse. I can hear you gasp in amazement (or disbelief!!) - yes, I did make it, and it was nowhere as difficult as I thought it would be. I used a pattern/instructions from an old copy of Sew Hip magazine (April 2009) and although I found some of it a little tricky to understand - it worked out OK. I'm going to try and make another one soon and actually document it, as I was so excited trying out this one I had no time to take any pics!

I purchased the frame on E-bay and also the glue - Gutermann HT2. As you can see there are little perforations on the frame for sewing to the purse, but I paid good money for my glue and was determined to use it! True to word, the glue worked very well and seems to have done the job.

I lined the purse in one of my printed cotton/linen fabrics:

A really fun project to do, and not that time consuming - a couple of hours at the most. I promise I will try and repeat the project and show my step to step pics - must order another frame though, this one cost about £2.30 (it's tiny - only 7 cm across, but big enough for a small coin purse).

Next up, my previous pics give a clue - hooray, I managed to make a granny square!!! I feel like I've joined an elite club - finally I've made it, hehe!

Behind it, is one of the crochet books I decided to treat myself for my birthday (which fell on my holiday) - I have to say I was a little disappointed with this book and actually used these two online tutorials to master the square. For the stitches, this one, and for the granny square, this one. The second one is an excerpt from another 'how to crochet' book which is the one I should have purchased, and have now ordered (this is getting expensive, but when you have to teach yourself, there's not much option!). And all roads finally lead to this book, my ultimate goal . . .

. . . Ah, love, love, love this book - the photographs, the colours, the flowers (some lovely wild flower varieties - my favourites). Mariana had kindly e-mailed me an online version earlier this year, but when I saw the hard copy in Waterstones in Edinburgh, the seed was planted - I had to have it! I am one MILLION miles away from making any of the crochet versions, but could probably attempt some of the knitted ones - however I'm obsessed with learning crochet at the moment and loving the fact that I'm learning a totally new craft (it's really quite different from knitting) - I think I've started a long journey, but a really enjoyable one!

The boys are back to school this Thursday so I'll be busy getting them sorted out - back to some more commercial 'tweedie' work too probably, but I've had a lot of fun recently experimenting - I think it's been well worth it :) Back to the laundry now : / Byeeee!

P.S. I will tell you how I get on with the second ' how to crochet' book - fingers crossed with this one!!!