One last minute Halloween tutorial before October is over! This time something sweet for parties, or if you just want to make something to celebrate at home, or they’re perfect for creepy birthday parties, super simple and very effective, I give you spider cupcakes! . You will need Cupcakes – There are a million and one cupcake/sponge recipes online, so I’m going to assume everyone’s google-fu is up to scratch on this one My basic one is 1 egg=50g of [...]

Katrina of Belsize square emailed me last night to let me know that she’s having a five day sale (until Sunday the 2nd) and offering between 10-30% off all fabric in the store! It’s a great time to pick up some of the beautiful Japanese prints she has in stock, get your hands on the new Heather Ross collection or just build up your stash with the fat quarter packs. Check out the Belsize Square sale today. If you’re an [...]

New crewel embroidery pattern up for your stitching pleasure! I originally created these little guys in their costumed finery with the intention of putting them on a Halloween wall hanging, but now I’m more convinced that they should be on display all year! They’d look great stitched onto black fabric destined to become a bag, a notebook cover or even just framed. Just download the pdf, print it out and transfer the pattern onto your fabric (I like to use [...]

Eventually I will post one of these on a Friday, I promise… just as soon as I find some way to actually find some spare time in between looking after two babies! Pincushions by Koala Brains – These were made these following the pincushion tutorial, and then KB was hit by inspiration to use the same technique to create a mushroom pincushion (see her thought process here), I love it! I have some red and white polkadot fabric that is [...]

ALLITERATION FTW!!! Continuing the Halloween specials, I give you a super cute trick or treating bag, guaranteed to last from year to year no matter what outfit you’re pairing it with I would like to stand up in my own defence before I get into this one, yes, I quilt, but I am a crazy/scrap quilter, I have a phobia of seam matching and precise measurements, so my methods (and finished product!) probably make seasoned quilters and patchworkers shake in [...]

My obsession with softies and plush toys continues! Softiemaking.com is the new blog from the creative force behind one of my favourite crafty blogs, One Red Robin, Jhoanna Monte Aranez. As I’m sure you can work out, the site is stuffed with everything related to making plushies, links to patterns, tips for sewing and design tricks. There’s everything you could want related to softies, whether it’s dolls, animals or even monsters you’re after, the site offers everything for both beginning [...]

This afternoon during the boys’ nap time I sat myself down with my new carving set and a pack of rubbers to carve my first ever stamps following Two Cheese Please’s stamp tutorial… a heart, it came out so so, a mushroom, pretty good if I do say so myself, so I was feeling bold enough to try and do my name… and that’s when it all went downhill! I’ve had my fair share of crafting brainfarts, switching between metric [...]

Allison of Cluck Cluck Sew has a new tutorial up, a huge flower cushion, perfect for adding some colour into your home as we come into spring! Best of all,the cushion is definitely deceptive in its simplicity, what looks like it took hours only took Allison half an hour and about $10 in fabric – bargain! See the full tutorial here. See more cushions on CraftBlog here.

kokeshi doll by Gugy – I’m going through a Japanese phase at the moment (I’m dreading my husband finding out how much I spent this morning on a fabric order from Japan!) and this is just beautiful, there are some other colourways and fabrics on her flickr site. Hexagon Doll Quilt by Jodie – I need to learn how to do this technique, I love the finished effect on this doll quilt. ..gnome embroidery.. by Harley – Harley will have [...]

A nice easy one to ease me slowly back into the tutorials! Continuing our Halloween crafts, I give you a pair of less than frightening monsters, some may even dare to call them cute! They’re entirely hand sewn and the fun fur is very forgiving, so they make a great project for beginners or for the young sewer. Make them in a variety of colours and spread them around the house for some fluffy Halloween decorations, put a bell or [...]