New Photos

Yet again I must apologise for my absence on the blog front. Life just seem's to get in the way a lot lately!
Before Christmas my friend Alison Hoyles had done my the great offer of asking to use Crafty Ginge for her University Photography project. So all my bits and bobs were carted off for a proper photoshoot (don't worry no nude shots) and turned into a beautiful book made out of recycled fabrics. I'm still waiting to see the finished piece and I can't wait!

So I wanted to share some of these lovely photographs with you.

I am booked to do more markets over the next few month's so I shall do my upmost to keep you updated. But for now good afternoon, good evening and goodnight.

when you go shopping........

you should always have your shopper on you! Well at least I always try to as I'm sure you're all aware we need to stop using those pesky carrier bags. So to encourage people to use shopper bags I've tried to spruce them up a bit and make them not only something to carry your fruit & veg in but also a bit of a fashion statement. I shall be selling these at the monthly Old Mother Hubbarb Market in Fuel but I have also booked my 1st xmas market in Prestwich so need to build up my stock!
Most of the applique used on the 2 calico bags is from recycled fabric and the striped bag is fabric donated to me by a friend when she was moving down to London.

TBH this is how I have come across most of my fabric as i can't bare to see it be thrown away, sadly this does mean although I am in the biggest room in the house I am already running out of space!
Yet when we had a clear out at work did I turn down the fabric we were throwing out, NOPE! Already started a cushion with some of it, shall post a picture once finished.

And yes I've mentioned Christmas because it really is not that far away! Don't get my wrong I love Christmas but not the fact it gets shoved down your throat for 3 months in advance. But alas being a crafter who also has a full time job I've had to start preparing now as not only to I need to make stock for the market I also have to make presents for my darling family!

So be sure to see updates on all the presents I shall also be making over the next 2 months. So far all I've made a start on is a scarf I'm knitting for my friend.
Will keep you posted.

From Graze box to Gift Box

If you've not heard of it Graze is a snack box you can buy online. It's supposed to encourage healthy eating, you go online select what nuts, seeds, fruit etc you like and each week they send you a snack box with 4 different selections in. Anyway after sampling a free trial I thought how the box's would make good gift box's. So as I do with so much would be rubbish/stuff I kept it and put it aside to do something with at a later date.


So finally many many months later, it really takes me a long time to get round to turning said ideas into something real, I got round to having a go at turning said graze box into a gift box.

First of all I needed to make something to make the box stay fully closed as it opened slightly unless stuck down. So I cut a slot in the bottom to thread some tape through, then stitched down a button to wrap the tape around. I then cut out 3 different pieces of some floral wrapping paper I've been storing. I piece to cover the graze logo on the front then 2 bigger pieces to cover the images on the inner of the box and where I had secured the tape.

Then I just needed to fill the box with gifts! I made a plain card of spotted fabric with a floral stuffed heart, A owl brooch, a small bag of buttons and some tape.

Am pretty pleased with the end result and can make lot’s of different types depending on the paper I use etc. So watch this space for more creations.

Some new bits and bobs...............

So been making a few new bits and bobs for the market stall. I recently bought some alphabet stamps off ebay and wanted to use them in my cards so had a go at a few, also used recycled fabric. Still need to improve my stamping skills as can't get them quite straight, but overall am pleased with them, think more will be made. Have also just bought some red ink for my Christmas cards, yes Christmas I know!

There's more to come but it's past my bedtime and I've got work in the morning, so more creations to come soon.
x

Swap Shop.......................

Just thought I'd let you know that the Stitched Up girls are holding a Swap Shop tomorrow at Fuel Cafe in Withington as part of the Old Mother Hubbarb market.
You can drop clothes off at 1pm and swapping is from 1.30-5pm. It's £2 if you bring clothes and £3 if you don't so either way you can go away with some lovely new clothes for only a few pounds!

And as always I shall be there selling my hand-made cushions, bags, bunting, cards and more. I've made a few new cards and bags too so come on down and have a look (if not I'll get some pics up soon). There will also be lovely vintage clothes, hand-made jewelry and much more.

Hope to see you there.
x

This month I have mostly been sewing.............

It's been another hectic month but last week i went away to Corfu with my lovely Ma for a much needed break and a lot of sunshine, although I did find myself pining for my sewing machine a few times!
But anyway back onto September craft news. At the last Old Mother Hubbarb Market I got a order for some bunting to go around a baby's cot! Luckily it was nothing on the scale of the stuff I made for my friends wedding! Was quite pleased with the finished result and think it will look lovely around a baby's cot.

Alongside this it was also my dearist Nan's birthday this month and as she is always shopping I thought I'd make her a shopper bag. This one is even lined with a inner pocket. The only MASSIVE pain was after I'd finished it I realised I had sewn the a in nan on back to front!!! Warning when using bond-a-web remember that although you have to write everything back to front that you should turn it the right way round when sewing on! But oh well she loved it anyway. And of course had to make a classic Crafty Ginge Birthday card to go with it.

And last but not least here's a photo of my latest market stall. There are a few new things I've recently made that I'm really chuffed with, just need to start on my stock for Christmas now!

sorry it's been a while

So I've been really rubbish at keeping this up to date over the past few months. Anyway I'm back and i promise to try and keep on top of this!
So here's a brief up-date of what I've been up to of late! My biggest project up until the end of June was the 50m of bunting I was making for my friend and work colleague's wedding! I tried to make as much of it as possible out of recycled fabric using old curtains, bed linen and fabric that's been donated to me. It was a tight squeeze to meet the deadline but I managed it, even having time to decorate a old shoe box using old music sheets, to put the bunting in! The icing on the cake was that my friend was so pleased with it that the other 50m of hired bunting was relocated to the barn and mine was used in the dining area. I still need to get a picture of the bunting in use but have a picture of the box below.

I also have a big pile of clothes I’ve collected from various charity shops across Manchester that I have plans to re-style in some way and I’ve finally gotten round to re-styling the below summer dress. I forgot to take a before picture but it had sleeves, so all I did was cut the top off and add elastic around the top! My friend Alice also made me the lovely belt out of recycled lace and buttons!

I also have a very large bag of jersey that I have been wanting to use to make various creations and I finally got round to making the below top using a old pattern from a top I made years ago but adding more of a sleeve.
I also was donated some gorgeous Laura Ashley esc fabric from a friend when she was moving down to London and couldn’t take it with her. I knew I wanted to make a dress from it and decided I would make one in time for my birthday, every girl needs a pretty dress to wear on her birthday! I already have a vintage dress that I love, so I took the pattern from this, minus the zip (they still scare me slightly)! I was really pleased with the outcome and got lots of lovely comments!

And last but not least via Action for Sustainable Living I met the lovely Alice and over the past few months she has been working with friends to set up a sustainable/ethical fashion network that provides work and swap shops and from this Stitched Up was born!
http://stitchedupuk.blogspot.com/
I had the honor of being invited to become part of this amazing group of ladies and over the next few months we have lots of amazing workshops planned. Please check out the blog and what were doing and I hope to see you at some of the workshops.

Ok I have lots more to tell but I think that will do for now. As you can tell I’ve got lots of exciting things planned for the rest of the year and I shall do my upmost to keep you updated! But for now I need to pack for Berlin, who know’s what amazing vintage treats I’ll find there!