Can I have a bun please?

Now that the kids are back at school I'm able to spend more of my time on crafting.  And as I spend a very pleasant morning sewing I realised that there is one thing in all of my crafty possessions that I use the most.  A little felt bun that my sister-in-law gave me two Christmases ago as a present.  I use it as a pin cushion and it is permanently beside my sewing machine.  Quite often  I can be heard asking one of my kids "pass me my bun please".

This got me thinking about other crafty things that I have that mean a lot to me.  At the moment I don't have my own craft room so these are dotted around the house and the first that I laid my eyes on is my Dad's old cigar box with a weavers knotter, vintage buttons and zips inside.  He was a weaver by profession but of all the tools and sample button cards that he had this is all that is left.

My button jar which is loved by my kids and whose contents are often spread all over the kitchen table.  And in this picture is a drawing that my daughter did when she was five of herself, my mother and me.  So cute!!

My mothers old sewing box.  A little worse for wear now being about forty years old.  I have memories of sitting on this as a little girl beside the fire while my mother brushed my hair.  I may be a bit battered but I love it.

The needle pot that stands on a shelf in my kitchen is one that I bought in a little pottery shop in Easkey on one of our first ever visits to the village.

And last but not least, my tablets.  Knitted by my friend to cheer me up when i was sick and going through a hard time changing all my medications.  Always hanging from my bookshelf, it cheers me up whenever I see it.

Baby Mobile

Last week a good friend of mine had a little baby boy.  Ahhhh I hear you say.
And so I set about trying to decide what on earth I could give her as a present considering that she is a master crafter herself and has been knitting cardis and blankets for months and also my kids wanted to help me make something.  So I decided that a baby mobile would be a nice idea.
(Apologies in advance for the pictures but the finished mobile was so long that the only place I could hang it to photograph it was in the kitchen).

Firstly I got a bag handle and covered it on ribbon and hid the seam with a green spotted bow.
Then the kids picked out buttons and helped me to sew them on little felt flowers and stars.  Great practice for them.

We cut out shapes in fabric that the kids thought they would like on a mobile for their room. A moon, , butterfly, fish and two different hearts.  We sat on a rainy afternoon and quite happily stitched to our hearts content.  They may not have been pure perfection but there was a lot of effort put into it.
I then laid out the pieces in rows as they would appear on the mobile and with a darning needle and a long piece of embroidery floss, I began to sew them together starting with the fabric shapes and knotting the thread under each new felt shape added.

I had some thick felt rope hanging around for ages and I knew that I would eventually find a use for it and this was just ideal.
I cut up five pieces, one for the loop and four to tie to the hoop of the mobile.
I must admit I got my hubbie to do one of his fancy fisherman knots to tie it all together and then I secured it by stitching on this fabric and felt butterfly.
I hung the embroidery floss and shapes to the hoop by stitching the end of the floss to where the felt rope is attached to the hoop, securing it very tightly.

 Oh geees, I hope that this has not been too confusing!