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Wednesday 28 December 2011

Welcome

Hi There,


Thanks so much for stopping by. I've decided to re-start this blog from scratch now I'm working from home 80% of the time and have more spare time to update. That means all my old posts have been removed to make way for lots of sewing tutorials I plan on adding.


Here's a little info about me...I'm 28 years old and I'm happily married to my lovely hubby of 2 years. We have a gorgeous 8 month old son who is so precious I have to pinch myself sometimes because I can't believe he belongs to us. 


My earliest memory of crafting was when I was a little girl and I used to spend hours with my Auntie Ju Drops making handmade cards. The first thing I remember making aside from the cards were little gift boxes made out of old Christmas cards. Such a useful thing to do with them. (I'll add a tutorial for this at some point!)


I sew and bake for a living (yes I know how lucky I am!) and although I've been doing both things as hobbies all my life, being paid for to do something I love only came recently - just over a month ago for both things to be exact. 


I set up my little online shop in November after a couple of frinds told me I should be selling my creations and luckily my Paris themed personalised cosmetic bag was featured in The Sun Newspapers' Christmas Gift Guide and sure enough, in came a flurry of orders! At weekends I bake for a fabulous supper club in The City, which I adore. It's so nice to be back in a work environment after working for myself for 4 years (I usually do freelance PR for restaurants). 


Now my days are filled with baking, sewing and looking after our little boy. Happy days :)


Please do leave a comment and say hello - it would be nice to know that someone, somewhere has stumbled upon my little blog. Also, if there's a sewing tutorial you would like to see added, let me know and I'll see what I can do. 


Here are all my links:


Website
Folksy
Etsy
Flickr
Facebook
Twitter


Happy Christmas and may you have a fabulous New Year!

Rice Hand Warmers: Easy Sewing Tutorial





As it's still in midst of winter here in England, I thought I'd share a really quick and easy tutorial for making super cute hand warmers. These are perfect for popping inside your gloves for extra warmth or putting into your pockets. You only need a few things to make them and it's a perfect sewing project for using up fabric scraps that, if like me are taking over your craft area! Plus you can easily adapt this to make other things - for example, make it bigger and it works a treat for period pains or fill them with beans and they make great bean bags / juggling bags. You can even add dried lavendar and use them as scented drawer sachets. They only take around 10-15 minutes to make and are super easy so lets begin...


You Will Need:
Fabric Scraps
Rice - I used regular long grain
15 minutes!


Step One:
Create a template from craft card that measures 4" x 3" - this size is perfect for adult hands. For children, make a smaller rectangle around 3" x 2.5".


I should say that I hate using my rotary cutter so I will do anything to make my life easier and if that means making and drawing around a card template then so be it! Feel free to use your rotary cutter by all means.


Using the template (or indeed your rotary cutter), cut out 2 rectangles from your chosen fabric. Here I'm using a gorgeous show print available from Fabric Rehab











Step Two:
Place right sides together and sew around leaving a gap on one of the sides to turn it inside out.


Note - I start sewing on a long side, then continue all the way around so that the gap is in the centre of one of the long sides. I have added a green line to show which direction I sew in.




Step 3:
Turn it right side out and poke out the corners. A crochet needle or a coloured pencil works great for this.




Step 4: Fill with rice. Do not overfill, you want the hand warmers to have enough room for the rice to move around inside so that it's more comfy to hold onto.




Step 5:
Sew the gap closed.


To use: Pop them in a microwave for approximately 15 seconds. I find 15 seconds usually does the trick and my microwave is 850w. Don't leave them in there too long otherwise the rice will burn.


That's it! Now wasn't that a quick and easy sewing project. They make great gifts too. I tie a pretty ribbon around them and include a little note explaining how they work.


Enjoy :-)







Share this tutorial: Please feel free to share this tutorial on your blog / site. You're welcome to use one image from those above. Please ensure I'm credited and that there is a clear link back to this blog for full instructions. 


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