Wipocalypse September

WIPocalypse check in again! 

A recap of what I achieved January - August:

1. The Mackintoshesque window
2. giant granny square blanket
3. Cotton granny squares - originally intended to be a blanket, now a cushion
4. crochet rug
10. Small vintage embroidery
11. Necklace kit from Spellbound
12. Necklace kit mum bought me
13. Tea wallets
15. Bathroom curtain
16. Picnic napkins
17. Wiggly bags 
19. Sewing machine mat with thread catcher
20. Ungar #2 
21. Fleece baby hat 
24. punch needle
26. mosaic house number kit 
32. Lynette Anderson needle case 
33. Silhouttes cross stitch
34. Scraperboard rabbit
37. Clay + Pebeo paint

42. Extruding clay
44. Bead loom

46. Friendly plastic

48. Lavender sachets from hankies
49. Lunch bag
53. Red scarf with beaded fringe
57. Mega chunky cowl
59. Decopatch
61. Crochet hat for me in Hug
62. UTEE
63. Hat for Samantha

Any finishes for September?  Yes actually, I did a bit better than the last couple of months, but nowhere near as well as the beginning of the year.

My Wips

14. Alphabet Chart

crafts /projects I have supplies for


40. Beaded Boxes



So that's 2 WIPs from a total of 37 (projects left) done -  5%. And 2 out of the total of 67 is 3%.  Overall I've done 33 from a total of 67 - 49%.  

Any progress on other items on the list?  Erm... nope!


So what's left?

My WIPs
5. crochet Yoda
6. crewel Jacobean pattern
7. Crewel fire guard
8. Beaded embroidery dress
9. Dancers cross stitch
18. Chair covers
22. Applique tea cups

crafts I have kits for
23. Enamelling
25. Lace making
27. Mosaic tray kit
28. Beaded santa ornament
29. Silk painting
30. Origami
31. Hessian reindeer
35. Latch hook kit
36. Beaded lillies

crafts /projectsI have supplies for
38. Cathedral Windows
39. Tatting Course

41. Sharp crochet hook
43. Hammering wire
45. Lino cutting
47. French knitting
50. Mum's chair covers

51. Jacob's quilt

52. Beaded bird panel
55. Crochet bag
56. Wedding memories box
58. Crochet fat friends (the other 7)
60. Lucet
64. Embroidered tablecloth
65. Kitchen curtains
66. Bunny jewellery - charm and ceramic beads
67. Paper beads

29th December 2012 = 67 projects.
26th January 2013 = 6 completed. 6 projects total. 61 to go
26th February 2013 = 5 completed, 11 completed total, 56 to go.
27th March 2013 = 6 completed, 17 completed total, 50 to go
25th April 2013 = 7 completed, 24 completed total, 43 to go
31st May 2013 = 2 completed, 26 completed total, 41 to go
30th June 2013 = 4 completed, 30 completed total, 37 to go
31st July 2013 = 0 completed, 30 completed total, 37 to go
31st August 2013 = 1 completed, 31 completed total, 36 to go
30th September 2013 = 2 completed, 33 completed total, 34 to go


And the projects added since Christmas?

a1 - Skill Builder sampler BOM
a2 - And Sew On... BOM - so nearly finished!
a3 - Daisy crewel alphabet sampler
a4 - Kumihimo braiding
a5 - Soft book animals
a6 - Hardanger SAL
a7 - CK Button kit (Christmas present from Mr CA)
a8 - fabric medium
a9 - Weekender bag

Next check in, end of October

Previous Wipocalypse posts:

August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

Bead weaving on a loom - a quick how-to

Following on from my Kumihimo post, bead looming is something else I failed to give you any proper information on in my previous posts!  I'm going to address that with a quick how-to.

This is the bead loom that I use, it's by Beadalon and costs about £8.  It consists of the plastic loom and a metal brace.  I'm going to show you how easy it is to set up and why it's better than a traditional loom.

Put the metal brace into the two holes.  The loom will curve up.  You are now ready to set the warps.

I use Nymo thread, size D.  I usually use a colour that will blend in nicely with my beads at the edges.  For this how-to I've used black as it shows up better.

On the underside of the loom are these little "buttons".  Tie the thread (straight from the spool, don't cut some off) round the button.

Pull it over the top and into one of the grooves.  You can start anywhere you like but I'd recommend near the edge so you can reach it to work and so you can count the grooves correctly.  Stretch the thread across and into the corresponding groove on the opposite side.  Make sure it's in the correct groove or your warps will be wonky.

This shows that I've put the thread into the 3rd groove from the edge, I'll make sure it's the same at the other end.

Take the thread to the back and wind round the button, put it into the next groove along.

Take the thread the length of the loom, into the corresponding groove and round the back to the button.  Repeat until you have enough warps. You need one more warp than the number of beads in a row.  The patterns I learnt to weave on are 7 beads wide, so you need 8 warps.

You can see here that I missed groove on the right hand side.  I just moved the threads along using the tip of a pair of scissors.

Here are my 8 warps all set up.

Take the thread round the back, tie around the button with a knot and cut the thread.

Now remove the metal brace.  Hold one end of the loom against your chest or stomach and gently flex the opposite end to wiggle the metal brace out.

The loom relaxes back down, as far as it can go with the warps.  This provides a high tension.  On traditional looms it's hard to keep the tension taut enough and involves a lot of rejigging as you work. No need with this.  And no, I'm not paid by Beadalon, I just think it's genius!

So now you're ready to weave.  Cut a length of Nymo thread and thread it into a long beading needle - size 10 or 11 I believe.  Leaving a tail of about 6" weave in and out of the threads away from you, and then back.  This will keep the thread held until you've finished your beading.

Following a chart (you could use cross stitch charts for this, anything where the chart is on a grid) put the first row of beads on your needle.  Size 11 beads are the best size, you can use larger beads but will need to miss a groove each time when setting up the loom.  I've put 7 beads on this needle.  Put the needle underneath all the warps and press the beads up with your finger so a bead lies between each pair of warps.  Keeping your finger in place, pull the needle through.

Now thread the needle back through the beads, making sure you are on top of the warp threads (if you miss one, the bead will drop a little lower, just sew back through it).  Pull the needle through and you will have your first row of beads.  Continue until your weaving is the correct length.  Oh, I didn't take photos of removing it from the loom!  You simply weave your remaining thread back through previous rows to secure it and flex the loom until the warps come off, cutting the thread at the back where you tied the original knot.

I haven't provided a chart here, but there are lots either free or for sale on the internet.  You could start with my Pinterest board. 

So, you've woven your bracelet, now what?  How do you finish it off?  You need some jewellery glue (strong, but flexible) and ribbon ends which I bought from Ebay.  They come in different sizes so it's an idea to measure the width of your bracelet to get the right size.  Or buy the ends and make sure your bracelet is the right width.

First, cut the warp threads where they looped round the button on the loom.  Your bracelet will probably be a bit crinkled up as you've just relaxed the tension.  Lay it on a flat surface and gently run your finger from left to right, pushing the beads along a little until they lie flat.  Tie each side's threads in pairs, then in a reef knot tie them all.  Put some glue on the knot and let dry.

Once dry you can cut the threads near the knots.

Put some glue on the top row of beads on both sides, front and back.

Put the ribbon end in place.

Use nylon-jawed pliers or flat nose pliers to squeeze the ribbon end shut. You will hear some of your beads cracking.  Don't worry about it, the glue will hold them in place.

Add a jump ring to one end and a trigger clasp to the other and you can put your bracelet on.  I can't show you that bit as my jewellery making supplies are still AWOL amongst the kitchen stuff.

Any questions?

Kumihimo - what's it all about

Back in the summer I wrote about my experiments with Kumihimo.  From some of the comments I go, I realised I'd just dived right in and expected you all to know what Kumihimo is!  My apologies for that, but I hope this post helps explain.

These are Kumihimo disks.  They cost £2 - £5 each and are readily available in bead shops, craft shops and online.  There is no difference between the small and large circles, they create the exact same braids.  The square one creates flat braids.  I put the ruler in the photo to give you an idea of their size.  They're made of foam with slots between each number to thread the cord through.

My first braids used cord, but I then used rattail and much preferred it.  I bought some more rattail - this is 1mm but you can also use 2mm.  To be honest, you can use anything you like from embroidery floss to yarn and, I suspect, wire - I must try that out.  I bought my rattail from a supplier in ebay based in China.  27m of a colour for just over a pound.  Buying it from the UK was a LOT more expensive than that.

The rattail comes in nicely wound skeins as above.  Once you've opened it to cut some off, it looks like this!  I must make some large card bobbins to wind it onto.

I'm not going to give a full tutorial here, just an overview.  There are a lot of good free tutorials already out there and the discs also come with instructions.  You take 8 lengths of rattail for an 8-strand braid (you can also do 16 strand braids, but they're very chunky), the rule of thumb is 3" of rattail for every 1" finished braid you want.  Tie a knot in the bottom.  The instructions and some tutorials say to use a weight and to wind the rattail onto tangle-free bobbins.  It's not really necessary, I just give the end a little tug with each round.

You put the knot through the middle of the disc and put the strands into the correct position to start.  This is the positioning for the basic 8-strand braid.  Colour placement makes a difference.  You could make a single coloured braid or use anything up to 8 different colours/shades.  In this example I'm using a colour placement designed by Dream a Little Bigger - I did the 5th one.  Dream a Little Bigger has a lot of kumihimo tutorials so I'd recommend a browse if you fancy trying this.

The basic premise is that you take one of the strands from the bottom and move it to the top.  You then move a top strand to the bottom.  Turn the disc 90degrees anti-clockwise and repeat.  That's it, it really is that simple and that quick.

Here you can see the braid starting to appear.  It takes about 15 minutes to make a braid long enough for a bracelet and can be done whilst watching TV as it's quite mindless once you get into a rhythm.

I turned back to Dream a Little Bigger to see how to put on end caps for the braids I'd made.  You should use 6mm end caps for 1mm rattail in an 8 strand braid, the endcaps I'd bought are 4mm but it worked fine.

These are the end caps.

All you need is some glue, some tape and the end caps.  I've now glued all the braids I made and just need to add the findings.  Unfortunately they're in a box in the dining room along with the cupboards etc for our new kitchen so that won't be happening any time soon!

If you're looking for Kumihimo tutorials or patterns, check out my Kumihimo Pinterest board.

Is it all a little clearer now?  Next up, I'm going to try braiding with beads, I also want to try wire now I've thought of that!

And Sew On - Sewing Sanctuary

Today I have the very last of my And Sew On blocks designed and offered for free by Kristy at Quiet Play.

I can't quite believe I've finished it and within the month too.  

I took these photos whilst I was sewing the sections, before I'd trimmed them and I always look at them at this stage and can't imagine how they'll turn into the finished block.  I'm always convinced I've chosen the wrong fabrics and the completed block will look like nothing.

Then I trim them, and lay them out, and they start to look like what they're supposed to be.  It's like magic.

That is unmistakably a chair in front of a desk with a basket below.

There were a lot of tiny pieces, but I didn't have any trouble.  I think after this, I'm going to upgrade myself from a beginner- to an intermediate-paper piecer.

I kept all my trimmings and off-cuts in a big pile.  Look how many there are!  I may have just crowned myself an intermediate-paper piecer, but I've still got a long way to go in terms of judging how big the piece of fabric needs to be, especially for angles.

Want to see the finished block - Sewing Sanctuary?

I am SO pleased with it!  The view through the window in no way reflects the real view from my sewing-room window.  I think I've shown you before, it's urban.

The framed pictures just had to be of rabbits of course!

I wish I did have funky wall paper like this in my sewing room!

Of course, I'm sewing with Bliss and Ruby fabrics, though I have to say, I don't much like the piece of patchwork I'm sewing up there!

This little basket was the only part that gave me some grief, I struggled to get the handles on the edge of the basket.

I laid all the blocks out on the floor to see the whole thing.

I already know how I'll finish it - it will be a wall hanging for my sewing room.  The blocks will be trimmed and have a narrow border of white, then scrappy patchwork sashing, using Bliss and Ruby of course as that's the common theme throughout these blocks.  I'll then remove the paper (a joyous job from what I've heard) and add the embroidered details.  I plan on quilting the sashing, but I don't want to quilt the actual blocks as I think it will ruin them.  Thoughts anyone?


Related posts

block 1 - Measure Twice
block 2 - disaster
block 2 - You little ripper

block 3 - Spoolin' Around
block 4 - Snip It Real Good
block 5 - All About The Iron
block 6 - A Stitch in Time
Block 7 - Rotary Cutter
Block 8 - I Like Big Stash

A little bag and a giveaway

Good morning ladies.  Back to work after a long weekend.  I had Friday off to watch Mr CA jump out of a plane.  Luckily, some bloke strapped himself to him and wore a parachute or I could have been off work today spending his life insurance ;0)

When I showed you the completed alphabet chart, I mentioned I'd tried to make a drawstring bag for the letters and failed.  Well I tried again and succeeded!

Just a simple drawstring bag, made from the same fabric as the backing of the chart and with a pink spotty lining.

My god-daughter's birthday was last Saturday and so I took it over.  It was a huge hit and she played with it straight away!  I'd call that a success.

As for the giveaway part, does anyone want these magazines?  All are duplicates that I have:

Beads & Beyond August 2012 (been meaning to give this away for... well, a year!)

Beads & Beyond August 2013

Cross Stitcher January 2013

If you want one/all of them, please just let me know which one in the comments.  And make sure I have a way of contacting you, so if you're a no-reply blogger, or if no-one has ever emailed you a reply to a comment you've left on their blog, please leave your email address too.