Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts

Monday, 22 May 2023

Ice Lollies: Summer Sampler Embroidery Patterns

Stitch a colourful ice lolly or two with a pair of embroidery patterns, now available on my Patreon!



There are two lolly designs to choose from - this classic lolly shape, and a rocket lolly.

Printed at 100% each lolly pattern fits nicely inside a 6 inch embroidery hoop. They're easy to sew and would be a great project to make with your kids or when you want to learn some new decorative stitches.

Use backstitch or your own favourite line stitch to embroider your chosen pattern...


 ... then get creative and fill in the different sections with fun stitches! 

I used a full thickness (all six strands) of embroidery thread (floss) for the lolly outline, then two strands of thread for the details. 

 From top to bottom, I used: single scattered stitches, French knots, sheaf stitch, and chain stitch.

This pair of ice lolly embroidery patterns are now available in my Patreon pattern library.

Subscribers get access to a growing library of PDF patterns and tutorials, emails when a new project is added, and can cancel any time. Click here to check out my Patreon and to sign up! 

Saturday, 19 December 2020

Felt Peony Brooches PDF Pattern

I've added another printable PDF pattern to my shops this week: a tutorial for sewing pretty felt peony brooches.

http://eepurl.com/dvfYO1


Is it a sensible business strategy to be adding summer flower patterns to my shops in the middle of winter? Probably not, but never mind!

I wanted some simple sit-on-the-sofa-with-my-feet-up tasks to do after packing and posting the last of my pre-Christmas orders... aaaaand so I've ended up launching a bunch of entirely un-seasonal PDFs :)

http://eepurl.com/dvfYO1
 http://eepurl.com/dvfYO1

The peonies are easy to sew but they do involve cutting lots of layers of petals. Don't worry if you think your cutting skills need a bit of improvement though, peony petals are a bit wobbly in real life after all, and cutting all these layers will give you lots of practice.

I always recommend investing in a pair of embroidery scissors to help you with cutting small or fiddly felt shapes - the small, narrow blades make it so much easier than using standard sewing scissors.

http://eepurl.com/dvfYO1

Click here to buy my Peonies PDF Pattern from my Etsy shop (the file will be available to download immediately after purchase).

Thursday, 1 August 2019

A Year of Wreaths: August Felt Ice Cream Wreath Tutorial

UPDATE: my ice cream wreath tutorial is now available as a printable PDF pattern on Patreon.

Subscribe for a small monthly fee and you'll get access to a growing library of PDF patterns and tutorials, with an email whenever I add a new project. You can cancel any time.    

Click here to check out my Patreon page and sign up!

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This month’s wreath design is inspired by delicious ice cream, the trend for Instagram-friendly “unicorn food”, and the way we all share our holiday snaps on social media.

The wreath features a large, colourful felt ice cream topped with sequin and bead “sprinkles”, a pair of heart-eye emojis, an “OMG!” speech bubble, and lots of felt hearts.

a felt wreath inspired by Instagram unicorn food

If you don’t fancy making the whole wreath, the ice cream would look fab appliqued to a cushion cover or a bag, or worn as an awesome statement brooch. 

The emojis and speech bubble would also make cute brooches or patches - as well as stitching “OMG!” in the speech bubble you could also stitch “WOW!” or “YAY!” or other short words.

felt ice cream, hearts and heart-eye emojis


Subscribe to my newsletter for a monthly(ish) free pattern and visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots more free projects.

Visit my shop to buy my printable PDF sewing patterns:


Tuesday, 2 July 2019

A Year of Wreaths: July Felt Pinwheels Wreath Tutorial

UPDATE: this tutorial is now available as a printable PDF pattern over on my Patreon. 

Subscribe for a small monthly fee and you'll get access to a growing library of PDF patterns and tutorials, with an email whenever I add a new project. You can cancel any time.    

Click here to check out my Patreon page and sign up!

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This month’s wreath is inspired by days at the seaside and those colourful spinning pinwheels you buy as a kid to stick triumphantly on top of your sandcastles.

fabric-wrapped wreath decorated with handmade felt pinwheels


The felt versions are super easy to make and would also make fab brooches or gift toppers. 

They don’t spin like the real thing, but I hope they’ll remind you of lots of happy days at the beach all the same!

felt pinwheels



Subscribe to my newsletter for a monthly(ish) free pattern and visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots more free projects.

Visit my shop to buy my printable PDF sewing patterns:


Wednesday, 12 June 2019

Crafting With Felt Flowers: Floral Applique T-shirt Tutorial

Jazz up a plain t-shirt with some colourful felt flowers!

Floral Applique T-shirt Tutorial
 
This week I'm sharing four easy ideas for crafting with felt flowers, making use of the flower templates from my spring flowers wreath tutorial. Todays's project? Adding little felt flowers to a kids' t-shirt!

Felt Spring Flowers Wreath Tutorial

This tutorial was originally designed for The Village Haberdashery's blog, using felt and other craft supplies from their shop.

Floral Applique T-shirt Tutorial

You will need:

- The flower templates from my April wreath tutorial
- A t-shirt
- Felt in at least two colours
- Matching sewing threads
- Contrasting embroidery thread
- Sewing needles and pins
- Sewing scissors or embroidery scissors

To decorate the t-shirt:

Use templates D and H to cut out enough felt flower pieces to decorate the neckline of your chosen t-shirt. I cut enough pieces for five flowers, mixing and matching three shades of felt.

Stitch the flower pieces together with half strands of contrasting embroidery thread (so for six-stranded thread just use three strands), sewing six radiating stitches from the centre of each flower as shown. I used white embroidery thread for this, to match the white t-shirt.

Floral Applique T-shirt Tutorial: preparing the flowers

One by one, sew the flowers to the t-shirt using whip stitch and matching sewing thread. Start in the centre and work outwards, evenly spacing the flowers around the neckline of the t-shirt. Take care not to stretch the t-shirt fabric and distort it as you sew the flowers in place. Hide the knots of your thread between the layers of felt/fabric so they won’t irritate the skin when the t-shirt is worn.

Floral Applique T-shirt Tutorial: sewing the flowers to the t-shirt
Floral Applique T-shirt Tutorial: sewing the flowers to the t-shirt

I'd recommending washing your finished t-shirt should be hand washed in lukewarm water instead of popping it in the washing machine!

Floral Applique T-shirt Tutorial


This tutorial is for non commercial use only: you can use it to decorate as many t-shirts as you want for yourself or as gifts, but please don't make any for sale. You may borrow a couple of photos if you want to blog about this project, but remember to credit me and link back to this page on my blog, and do not reproduce my entire tutorial / share my templates on your site. Thanks!

Enjoyed this free tutorial? Buy me a "coffee" and help support my blog!

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

P.S. Subscribe to my newsletter for a monthly free pattern and visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots more free projects.

Visit my shop to buy my printable PDF sewing patterns:


Saturday, 8 June 2019

Felt Butterfly Hair Clips Tutorial

One of the awesome things about felt crafting is how easy it is to get creative and adapt projects to make new things. Swap ribbon for a brooch clasp to turn an ornament into a brooch, stuff a pincushion with lavender to turn it into a lavender sachet, enlarge some brooch templates and use them to add an applique design to a cushion… there are always so many crafty possibilities!

Inspired by this, after working on my Year of Wreaths tutorials for The Village Haberdashery's blog I created some easy ideas for re-using the templates from some of the wreaths. I'll be sharing these ideas here on my blog over the coming months, starting with today's project: making some pretty felt butterfly hair clips using the templates from June's butterfly wreath.

Felt Butterfly Hair Clips Tutorial
 Felt Butterfly Hair Clips Tutorial
Felt Butterfly Wreath Tutorial

You will need: 

- The template sheet from the Butterfly Wreath tutorial
- Wool felt in assorted colours
- Matching sewing threads
- Hair clips
- Sewing scissors or embroidery scissors
- A sewing needle and pins
- A glue gun and glue
- A heat-proof mat for the glue gun
- Newspaper to protect your workspace from any glue drips

Felt Butterfly Hair Clips Tutorial
 Felt Butterfly Hair Clips

To make the hairclips: 

Use the templates to cut out the butterfly pieces from your chosen felt colours (I used butterflies 2, 4 and 5).

Follow step 3 of the Butterfly Wreath tutorial to sew the butterfly pieces together.

For each hairclip, cut a felt circle approximately 17mm in diameter in the matching felt colour. Sew each circle to the end of a clip using matching sewing thread, as shown. This felt circle is the base onto which you’ll glue the butterfly pieces.

Felt Butterfly Hair Clips Tutorial: attach felt circles to the hair clips

Very carefully glue the butterfly pieces to the circles. Add the wings first, adding a small amount of glue to the circle then carefully pressing the wings into place.

IMPORTANT: take care when working with the glue gun as the glue gets very hot! Always place it on a heat-proof mat when not in use, and use newspaper or other scrap paper to protect your workspace. Work slowly, squeezing the gun with care to control the amount of glue you’re using and keeping your fingers out of the way of the hot glue.

Felt Butterfly Hair Clips Tutorial: glue the wings in place

Then add a very small amount of glue to the back of each body piece and carefully press them into position between the wings.

Felt Butterfly Hair Clips Tutorial: assemble the butterfly pieces

Ta-dah! Pretty felt butterflies to wear in your hair!

Felt Butterfly Hair Clips Tutorial


This tutorial is for non commercial use only: you can use it to make as many hair clips as you want for yourself or as gifts, but please don't make any for sale. You may borrow a couple of photos if you want to blog about this project, but remember to credit me and link back to this page on my blog, and do not reproduce my entire tutorial / share my templates on your site. Thanks!

Enjoyed this free tutorial? Buy me a "coffee" and help support my blog!

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

P.S. Subscribe to my newsletter for a monthly free pattern and visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots more free projects.

Visit my shop to buy my printable PDF sewing patterns:


Tuesday, 4 June 2019

A Year of Wreaths: June Felt Butterflies Wreath Tutorial

UPDATE: this tutorial is now available as a printable PDF pattern over on my Patreon.

Subscribe for a small monthly fee and you'll get access to a growing library of PDF patterns and tutorials, with an email whenever I add a new project. You can cancel any time.    

Click here to check out my Patreon page and sign up!

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This month’s wreath is an ode to two of summer’s great joys – clear blue skies, and beautiful butterflies!

yarn-wrapped wreath decorated with felt butterflies


The wreath is wrapped in some gorgeous sky blue yarn and decorated with butterflies made from wool blend felt. 

For an extra special wreath, you could use embroidery thread to decorate the butterflies’ wings or add sequins for a bit of sparkle. 

You can also use the butterfly template sheet for other crafty projects: cushions, greetings cards, hair clips, and so on.

felt butterflies


Click here for a tutorial for making felt butterfly hair clips!

Felt Butterfly Hair Clips Tutorial


Subscribe to my newsletter for a monthly(ish) free pattern and visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots more free projects.

Visit my shop to buy my printable PDF sewing patterns:


Saturday, 25 May 2019

Folk Floral Hoop Art Tutorial & Embroidery Pattern

I'm on a roll with adding new stuff to my shop this week, first the trio of felt flower patterns and now some floral wall art inspired by folk art designs:

Folk Floral Hoop Art Tutorial PDF Sewing Pattern by Laura Lupin Howard

My new printable PDF pattern includes two versions of this flower design: a step-by-step tutorial for sewing the felt applique version (complete with full-size templates, of course!), and an embroidery pattern for stitching the embroidered version.

Folk Floral Embroidery Pattern PDF by Laura Lupin Howard
Folk Floral Hoop Art Tutorial PDF Sewing Pattern by Laura Lupin Howard

I've actually included two versions of the embroidery pattern - the full design I stitched and a simpler one, too, so you can go for a less detailed look or add your own details with your favourite stitches. And, of course, there are reversed versions included in case you need them for your fave transfer method.

The designs both fit inside five inch embroidery hoops and would look lovely hanging on the wall to add some summer loveliness to your space. The embroidery pattern would also look fab stitched onto something like a bag or a quilt square.

Folk Floral Hoop Art Tutorial PDF Sewing Pattern by Laura Lupin Howard
Folk Floral Embroidery Pattern PDF by Laura Lupin Howard

When you buy any patterns from my shop you can of course make lots of things for yourself and to give as gifts, but you can also sell the finished items at craft fairs or in your Etsy shop, etc, as long as you credit me as the designer.

You can buy my Folk Floral PDF pattern from my shop - it'll be available to download immediately after your payment goes through! Shop before May 31st to get this design at the bargain launch price. 

 Folk Floral Hoop Art Tutorial & Embroidery Pattern PDF by Laura Lupin Howard

P.S. I actually shared a version of this tutorial with my newsletter subscribers last year. Subscribe to my newsletter for all the latest updates from me and my shop and to never miss out on my free projects!

Folk Florals PDF Pattern

Wednesday, 15 May 2019

Smartphone Snaps: DIY Travel Notecards Tutorial

Today's crafty project is inspired by travel and all the holiday snaps we take on our phones then share online!

Smartphone Snaps: DIY Travel Notecards Tutorial
Smartphone Snaps: DIY Travel Notecards Tutorial
 
ADVERTISEMENT: This tutorial is sponsored by Bostik, and is part of a series of crafty projects I'm creating to promote their range of adhesives. Click here to see all the posts in the series!

This is the second of a trio of Bostik-themed posts I'm sharing this week. On Monday I made fantastic festival hairbands with Bostik's Power Repair glue, on Friday I'll be getting creative with Blu Tack... and today I'm making cards with PVA Glue, Glu Dots, and Micro Dots.

 Smartphone Snaps: DIY Travel Notecards Tutorial

These fun travel-inspired cards would be great for sending to your social media loving pals! You can use the templates and printable provided to replicate my beach and mountain scenes or design your own travel scene then use the blank phone printable to sketch a mini version.

As well as making notecards, these designs would also be great for decorating a notebook cover to make a travel diary. You could also easily adapt this project to feature one of your own holiday photos! Simply print out a full size picture for the background, then trim a smaller version to fit the phone screen.

You'll find the links to the PDF templates and printable at the bottom of this post. The templates are designed to be used with 5 x 7 inch card blanks. You can make bigger or smaller cards, of course, by printing the templates at different sizes, but remeber that you'll need to stick to the same proportions.

Summer Holiday Beach Scene Notecard Tutorial
Summer Holiday Mountain Scene Notecard Tutorial

To make the cards: 

1. Use the templates provided to cut out all the pieces from coloured paper or card, using the photos as a guide when choosing colours.

Turn each paper template over and draw around it with a pencil. Once you've cut out the shape flip that over so the pencil marks will be hidden at the back.

For the very small pieces (the shells, the starfish, the flag, and the trees) just use the drawings on the template sheet as a guide and draw your own shapes directly onto the coloured card/paper.

2. Begin building up the picture by sticking the largest pieces in position with PVA glue. Apply the glue evenly on the back of each card/paper shape and press them down firmly. PVA is quick and easy to apply and will allow you to reposition each paper piece slightly before the glue sets so you can make sure the edges line up neatly with the sides of the card.

For the beach scene, add the sky and the sand...

Smartphone Snaps: DIY Travel Notecards Tutorial

... then all the overlapping wave pieces, working from the top downwards. Use the photo as a guide when positioning these pieces.

 Smartphone Snaps: DIY Travel Notecards Tutorial

For the mountain scene, add the sky...

Smartphone Snaps: DIY Travel Notecards Tutorial

... then the mountains...

Smartphone Snaps: DIY Travel Notecards Tutorial

... then the grass.

Smartphone Snaps: DIY Travel Notecards Tutorial

3. To attach the next set of shapes, I used Bostik Glu Dots. These mess-free permanent sticky dots come on a little roll  and create a firm hold when they're pressed into position.

Because the edges of these card/paper pieces won't be stuck down (as they would be if you'd stuck them in place with glue) this helps give a sense of depth to the card.

Add the sun, boat and sail to the beach scene...

Smartphone Snaps: DIY Travel Notecards Tutorial

... and the sun and snow pieces to the mountain scene.

Smartphone Snaps: DIY Travel Notecards Tutorial

4. Now it's time to add the smallest pieces! For these I used a sheet of Bostik Micro Dots. You peel off the top sheet of plastic and press your shape onto the dots and then when you lift it off again it's become like a little sticker. Magic!

On the beach scene, add the flag of the boat and several shells and starfish to the sand...

Smartphone Snaps: DIY Travel Notecards Tutorial

... then add the river and an assortment of triangle trees to create a little mountain forest.

Smartphone Snaps: DIY Travel Notecards Tutorial

Your two cards will now look something like this:

Smartphone Snaps: DIY Travel Notecards Tutorial

5. Use a fine-tipped black pen and a ruler to add the mast of the sail boat and the line dividing the two mountains. Also add details to the shells and (if you want) little smiley faces to the starfish. Then turn the cards over and carefully use craft scissors to cut away any excess paper/card overlapping the edges (take care during this step - I accidentally cut away too much from the side of the beach scene! Oops!)

Smartphone Snaps: DIY Travel Notecards Tutorial

6. Next, use colouring pencils or felt tip pens to colour in the hands and phones. Make sure the colours on screen match up with the scenes on the cards.

Smartphone Snaps: DIY Travel Notecards Tutorial

7. Finally, carefully cut out the pictures (I left a very small bit of white all around each drawing so the outlines remained clear) and stick them in place on the cards. I stuck my paper pieces straight onto the cards with lots of Glu Dots but if I made these again I think I'd use the PVA Glue to stick them to some white card first to make them a bit sturdier, then cut them out again and use the Glu Dots to stick them in position.

Smartphone Snaps: DIY Travel Notecards Tutorial

And you're done! 



DISCLOSURE: this post is sponsored by Bostik, who also provided all the adhesives I used to make the cards.

P.S. Fancy some more free crafty goodness? Subscribe to my newsletter for a monthly free pattern and visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots more free projects.

Smartphone Snaps: DIY Travel Notecards Tutorial