Simple Drawstring Bag Tutorial

When we do our Cookie Connection deliveries, we love to deliver them in little drawstring bags.

Here is a little tutorial on how to make these easy and useful bags.  We used these for our little girl's party bags, they also make sweet re-usable gift bags, lovely little lunch sacks etc.  You can whip up a bunch of these in less than an hour and it is worth making a little stash of them as they come in super handy for all sorts of things.


Step 1
Cut out two rectangular pieces of fabric about the size you fancy your bag

Step 2
Pin them together.

Step 3
Overlock or straight sew down one long edge across the bottom and up the other long edge.  Leave the top open.  If you are overlocking, neaten the opening the edge with the overlocker at this point.

Step 4
Press under about 2-3 cm (1 inch) along top edge and sew, creating a little casing for the drawstring to go through.

Step 5
Unpick a little bit on one of the seams to create an opening for your thread to go in.

Step 6
Cut your piece of cord/yarn/string about 2.5 times the width of your top opening.  Tie a knot in one end and poke a safety pin through it.

Step 7
Thread this through your casing, entering through the little hole you made.

Step 8
When all threaded through, tie the two ends together

Step 9
Pat yourself on the back and admire your lovely little drawstring bag :)


If you would like to learn more about the Cookie Connection, you can read about it here.

xx

Free Strawberries - A Tutorial

Have you ever wondered how to get free strawberry plants?

At the end of the summer the strawberry plant will start to send out "runners".  These are like little mini plants on the end of a long shoot.  You want to cut these runners off until your strawberry has finished fruiting so the plants sends all it's energy into making fruit for you first!  Once fruiting is all over, let the runners grow - and they will grow like crazy.

Fill small pots with soil/potting mix and leaving the runner attached to the mother plant, simply plant the baby in the pot.

Over a month it will grow roots.  You should be able to give it a little tug and if it feels firm you know it is ready.  At this point they can be snipped off and voila you have a new strawberry plant.  Yay!

I like to put all the pots on a tray so they are easily moved, watered etc until ready for planting out next Spring.  Of course if you have space in your garden, you can use the same procedure, but just plant them straight in the soil next to the mother plant instead of in a pot.

Three strawberry plants were gifted to me from a friend a few years ago.   He is in is eighties and was once a professional strawberry man and those three plants grew some of the best strawberries ever.  Now those three plants have multiplied enough that we can pick a bowl of free strawberries every few days.

Love that.

xx

World's Best Play Dough Recipe

For soft, smooth, luscious play-dough you simply have to try this simple no-cook recipe.

A single batch of play-dough creates so many hours of entertainment, and is ridiculously simple to make.  We wheeled our little girl into the kitchen for the very important job of holding the bowl and adding the glitter!

In just minutes you will have made your very own ball of gorgeous play-dough.

I feel rather chuffed with myself when something this awesome comes together with very little effort.  And it works every time.  Like magic.

2 cups flour
1/2 cup of salt
2 tablespoons of cream of tartar
2 tablespoons oil
1 1/2 cups of boiling water

Mix the dry ingredients together with the oil, then add boiling water.
Stir until combined - it will be quite sticky.  You can add food colouring and glitter at this point.
Let it cool, then knead on the bench for a few minutes until it reaches a great consistency with no stickiness.  Add a touch more flour if needed to get it perfect.
Original recipe here.

So there you have it, my entertainment life-saver.
Do you have a good play-dough recipe you use?

xx

Thread Storage from Vintage Teaspoon Rack

I'm a little embarrassed to say that up until now, my hand sewing spools have lived jumbled up in a cardboard box.  Now they are organised and looking lovely in a vintage teaspoon rack!

Yes, my op-shop find for $1 has actually been really practical, and a little girl I know has been entertained for ages, arranging and re-arranging all the colours.  An added bonus.



All I did was insert some little dowels into the existing slots.  You will just need to make sure the width of the dowel is smaller than the hole in the cotton reel. My rack is turned upside down so I could fit in an extra row.

When I get around to it, I'll give it a wee paint and make it look pretty, but for now I'm happy with something functional.

So now my hand sewing threads are neatly stored on the wall in a little corner of our living room.

Yay!

xx

Linking up with The Op Shop Showoff, Show & Tell,  The Nifty Thrifty, Coastal Charm, Magpie Monday and Sirthiftalot

Simple Reversible Skirt - Tutorial

A super simple reversible vintage skirt to make in about an hour...

Skirts and dresses are wonderfully easy to wear for a little one in a cast, so today we spent some time together and made one.  Our little girl helped me choose the fabric from my stash, along with a vintage cross-stitch and some very old lace.

I made up the pattern along the way and it turned out to be reversible too - a bonus discovery when she tried it on inside out!

Here is a simple tutorial if you would like to make one for a little girl you know :)

Start with a piece of embroidered fabric - an old tablecloth is ideal.
My suggestion is to use a skirt which fits your girl well as a guide to measure your fabric dimensions.  This way you can use this tutorial to make a skirt for any age.

My piece measured about 15 x 26" (38 x 66 cm) as I wanted a really long skirt as it is quite chilly here at the moment.  I actually cut my square-ish table cloth in half and sewed it back together along the side to make the long rectangular shape needed.

Cut your lining fabric the same size and sew it right sides together with the embroidered piece along the long top edge.

Cut a good few inches off the bottom edge of your lining fabric.  This is so when you sew the pink strip onto the bottom, the seam is hidden underneath the embroidery overlay.

For the pink strip along the bottom cut a piece the same length as your main fabric/lining and twice as deep as you would like the strip to be.  Fold it in half along the long edge and sew onto your lining piece.  If you have an overlocker/serger this would be a good time to use it as although this seam will be underneath the embroidery overlay, you may still see the seam if the top layer flips up during play etc.

Add some pretty lace to the edge of your embroidered fabric.

It will look like this when you lay it flat.  All the seams should be on the wrong side.

Fold your skirt in half, right sides together so it forms a tube and sew down the side until you reach the pink strip at the bottom.  Leave the pink strip open.

Open your skirt the right way out.
Sew a casing for your elastic about an inch wide along the top.  Be sure it is a little wider than the elastic you are using!

Measure the length of your elastic, using a well fitting skirt as a guide.  Unpick a tiny bit of the casing and thread your elastic through.  When it comes out at the other end, sew your elastic together well and let it slip into the casing.  Hand stitch the tiny hole closed.

Now we just need to finish the opening at the bottom of the pink strip.  You want to sew it together to form a nice joined tube.  Start at one point and with the right sides together, start sewing around.  This is a bit fiddly.  You wont be able to get all the way around with the sewing machine, so just hand stitch the last little bit closed.

Voila.  A lovely reversible vintage skirt.

Well done you!

xx

If you have any questions simply leave me a comment and I'll do my best to help. 
Be sure to provide a way for me to reply to you if your email address is not linked!  Thanks :)

Tutorial - Crayon Holder from a Branch!

Grandpa cut down the orange tree last year.  It was a large old tree, gnarled and interesting but its time had come.  Inside we discovered beautiful, delicately grained, light coloured wood - such a nice surprise.  Some of the smaller branches we made into wooden buttons, yet the larger branches I didn't have an immediate use for until now...

Our little girl loves to draw.  The need for some kind of receptacle for the pencils and crayons has been on my mind and I have been looking for something natural, textural and virtually unbreakable.  Enter the Orange Tree Crayon Holder!

Here is how we made them:

• Find a suitable sized branch, ours are about the width of my hand.

• Cut one end flat so it sits nicely.  If desired add some little felt "feet" to the bottom to avoid scratching the table.

• Cut the other side either flat or sloping - whatever your preference.  We made one of each.

• Measure the width of your crayons and drill holes a little wider.  Don't go all the way through!

• Fill with crayons!

Super easy and I love the way they look on our little art table.  Thanks Grandpa for helping us out with these.  Our little girl is carefully putting her crayons back into the holders - indeed sometimes I think she is enjoying that more than the drawing...

Be sure to let me know if you make some!

xx

An Autumn Series - Needle Felted Acorn Tutorial

We took a trip to our local park and collected a bunch of treasures!  Our little girl loved foraging the little caps and together with her little friend they collected quite the stash. 

What to do with them?  Make needle felted acorn of course!  Here is a little tutorial on how to make your own...

Start with collecting your acorn capes, then you will need a little un-spun wool in some natural colours (or bright colours if you fancy something a little more festive :)

Roll a little of the wool into an elongated ball and gently stab it (a bit of an oxymoron!) with a felting needle until the wool fibres bond together.  You will need to do this on a sponge.

Dab a little glue into the cap of the acorn, press your needle felted ball in and leave to dry.

String up!

Ours are strung across the twig tree on our nature table this year.
I just love them - soft and neutral and woodlandy - all my favourite things!

Our little girl has also "acquired" a few for her play kitchen.  It would seem that tea made from needle felted acorns is rather good :)

xx

Wool Felt Bead Tutorial

This little necklace was one of the handmade goodies I made for our little girl's birthday.  She loves it so much.  Often we hear a wee voice.. "lellow, owange, gween..." proudly reciting her colours.  I call that a win! For me there is nothing nicer than my little girl loving something I have made with my own hands, just for her :)

A few people have asked how I made it - so I have put together an easy tutorial so you can make your own too.

All you need is some wool roving, fine elastic, soap and a needle.  Simple.

Start with a small amount of wool roving (washed, carded wool)

Gently open the fibres up a little

Place it on your hand

gently wet it just a little by dripping some water onto it with your other hand

Squeeze a small amount of liquid soap in the middle.  

(I use eco-store dishwash which is kind to my skin and the environment :)

Start scrunching the middle bit a little with the fingers of your other hand

Gently scrunch the edges as well, gently, gently, gently forming a ball

Add a little more water, start rolling gently.  Continue rolling until the ball shrinks, adding more pressure as it gets smaller and firmer.  Rinse from time to time to remove the excess soap

Voila - your felted wool bead!  

Once you have your desired number of beads, string them onto fine elastic with a needle.

Present it to you child and wait for the smiles :) xx

Tomato Seed Saving Tutorial

I bought a bunch of heirloom tomato seeds about fours years ago and since then, each year I have saved the seeds ready for planting the following year.

Here is a tutorial of the process I use, so you can give it a go yourself -  it is really easy.

Have you noticed tomato seeds have gel like coating around them?   This stops them from germinating immediately when falling on the ground at the end of summer.  What we are doing in this seed saving process is naturally removing this "gel" so when you plant them, they will pop right up.

Select the BEST tomato on your plant for seed saving.  You only need one, as the seeds in one tomato will be more than enough for you, your neighbours, friends and family!

Scoop the tomato seeds into a jar and add some water.  Place a lid on top but don't screw it on.

Leave them for a few days to a week until they get a bit of a mouldy crust on the top.  Sometimes this process can smell a little so the gardening shed is a good place.

Rinse the seeds.  I like to slide the crust off the top, then tip them into a fine sieve and rinse under the tap.

Dry the seeds on some baking paper (not paper towels).  Label and when dry, store in a cool dark place until ready for planting the following year.

Super easy and free - just the way we like it :)

I have saved quite a few seeds from this year - enough to give a few packets away, so if you would like some just leave me a comment here then drop me an email at thebiglittleshop@gmail.com with your address and I'll send you some.  (New Zealand addresses only because of postal restrictions on seeds.)

Happy growing!

Lisa x

Handmade Wooden Button Tutorial

The removal of a rather old mandarin tree during the summer at my parent's place inspired me to make my own wooden buttons.  I had such a great time making them and the process was quite simple so I thought I would share it with you, in case you might like to have a go - I totally recommend it!

Firstly search for a branch of a good thickness and as straight as possible. This is especially important if you are needing a bunch of buttons all the same size.

Using a hack saw, or an electric saw if you have one which is much faster, simply saw off rounds.  About 1/8 inch thick is perfect, any thinner and they risk snapping.

Next step is to drill the holes.  Using a a very fine drill bit, drill two or four holes, whichever you prefer.  I used an old button as a guide and simply drilled straight through it's holes.

The lovely outside edges will come off eventually anyway, so you might as well knock them off now.  Gently buff off any rough edges with some sandpaper, to avoid them snagging on anything.

As indicated by the pic, I like to use a few different grades of sandpaper starting with a rougher one, and graduating to a fine one.  Just like buffing your nails!

Lastly treat the wood by rubbing in some natural beeswax, furniture wax or polish.  In the pic you can see I have treated half of the button to show you the difference it makes.  It really brings out the natural grain and personality of the wood.

And here they are finished - your own handmade buttons!  

I couldn't help myself and simply had to sew some onto a garment...

This sweet embroidered wool coat which I have been working on for some time, needed some natural looking buttons to go with the botanical theme so my new buttons worked out perfectly :)

I'm really pleased with them, and they are such fun to make, albeit quite time consuming. 

I would love to hear if you make some - and what you use them for  :)

Linking up with more creatives here.

xx