Dreamy pin cushion.

Hello again fellow day dreamers.

I love, love, love, pin cushions.  I have about a billion pins so I need lots of lovely cushions to poke them in.

About a year ago I decided that I needed a cushion that would a) take lots of pins b) stay next to my sewing machine no matter how hard I poked a pin in it & c) stay upright (some of my novelty cushions fall over and it drives me bonkers!).  So I had a good think and came up with my beloved Embroidery Hoop Pin Cushion.

Isn't she lovely? 

I've been selling these on ETSY for quite a while and have been happily sending them all over the world.

Just recently I have been informed that my design has been copied :( at first I was a little upset but then I though "what the heck! Let's share the joy that is pincushion love"

So here is a tutorial for you to make your own lovely Embroidery Hoop Pin Cushion.

You will need:-

A 3 inch hoop,

Your desired fabric and a plain piece the same size,

Wadding,

Glue,

Felt,

Scissors,

Lavender (optional)

Cut out your fabric (I use a 5 inch hoop to draw round) & cut out your wadding so that it fits inside the 3 inch hoop.

Make a lovely stack with all your materials

Inside loop-plain fabric-wadding-lavender-wadding-nice fabric-outside hoop..

Squash it all down and tighten the screw half way. Straighten out any wrinkles.   Now turn it over.....

Gently pull the plain fabric to flatten the wadding.  Put a good amount of glue around the inside of the hoop and tuck in all the fabric.

Carefully apply a line of glue to the hoop, as bellow.....

Turn over the cushion and press it down on the felt.

Add some weight (I use a book and a door stop) and leave until the glue is dry.

Once dry, cut off the felt

Now enjoy your lovely new pin cushion.

I do hope you enjoy the tutorial.

Sweet daydreams xxx

New Year, New Dreams

Hi there,

Just thought I would pop in with a quick ta'da.  

My NY resolution was to use yarn in my stash, instead of buying more, in an attempt to save some money.  Over the last few nights I have been rummaging through my yarn stash looking for inspiration.  

I finally found some Hayfield Bonus Aran which I bought years ago and never used.  Now this stuff is 80% acrylic and 20% wool, not what I would usually go for, and hence why it has been ignored, but I thought I would give it a go and see what happened.

So, with no real project in mind, I sat myself down with a cup of tea and reruns of 'Bates Motel' and started to happily hook away.

Before I knew it I had made a lovely Granny circle.  I had doubled up the yarn and used a size 10 hook so progress was super fast.  With just one 'pull back' during the whole project I went to bed knowing that there was a lovely crochet rug waiting for my little toes this morning.

It's really soft and cosy underfoot I'm really pleased with how it has turned out.  I think I'll pop this one in my living room and hook a blue one for under my crochet chair, what do you think?

sweet day dreams xxx

Day dreamers roundup

I've been super busy since my last post.  Young children, new job, old illness, crochet addiction.  You know, the usual stuff that most people out there are dealing with.

I thought I would start the year off with a roundup of all the lovely crochety things I've made in the last few months.

Beautiful doilies, I love them and have them all over my house.

Christmas star doily, turned out a bit too big for purpose but it's nice all the same.

My pillow. It took me ages but it was worth it.

A flower tea cosy.

A pompom tea cosy

Another tea cosy, one can never have too many :)

Spotty pin cushion, christmas gift for my crochet class ladies. (tutorial to come) 

Garland for my niece. 

And loads and loads of coasters, they make me happy.

Happy New Year to you all & I hope to find the time to pop in with more happily hooked projects

Sweet dreams xxx