a new year's crafting
I didn't go out on New Year's Eve, but stayed home sewing instead. My mum gave me a lovely sewing box for Christmas, full of lovely coloured threads and vintage buttons, as well as new needles and scissors and all sorts of other goodies.
(the colours are a bit weird on my photos because my camera really hates the colours red and blue for some reason, so anything with a hint of them comes out looking weird and I don't always get it right when I edit in Photoshop)
Since the start of the year I have made over ten brooches, and have got started on three or four more. Sometimes the getting started bit is the most fun, because I like working out how things fix together, and building them, more than I like the straightforward sewing, which can be a bit boring. I didn't have many proper brooch pins, so I just used safety pins.
Mostly they've been flowers because I like making the roses and the little leaves (and I haven't seen the same style of roses anywhere else online, which is nice)
I also made a larger rose and leaf, which can be worn separately or together (though I'll make them with proper brooch pins next time).
And I made a robot brooch, based on the same design as Sunday George. This one doesn't have a name yet, though.
I don't really like the felt that I used to make it, as it's pretty cheap acrylic felt which bobbles and pills really easily, and isn't as nice to sew as the wool felt that I made Sunday George with (which I bought in Birmingham a few years ago). I don't know where to get some good quality wool felt in London, though, as all the shops I know which sell felt in small sheets (rather than by the metre) all sell acrylic felt rather than wool felt. Sometimes acrylic felt is just as good as wool felt, and sometimes it's just nasty. I did find this list of places I want to check out, but if anyone knows anywhere I can buy some nice wool felt (not online as I like to see what the fabric's like before I buy it), please leave a comment! I
If you want to have a go making some felt or paper flowers I just bookmarked a few different tutorials collected here. I haven't tried any of them yet, though.