The Great Apron Swap 2010

Afew months ago I signed up for the Great Apron Swap hosted by Sarah from Red Gingham.  I was very excited to be partnered with Julie from Swedish House - my apron would be going to someone on the other side of the world!! 

Well I recently received the apron that Julie made for me and what a beauty it is!

Julie described it as a crafting apron, and to me that is exactly what it is. 

Something to wear while I'm crafting up a storm - perfect for keeping off those pesky bits of thread which seem to have a habit of clinging to my clothes, and pockets to stash scissors and the like so they are always near to hand!

I really love this style of apron, and the embellishments.

 

I mean how cute are those two little birdies cut from vintage fabric.

And the love heart is just perfect.

 

But best of all I love the Sweden badge. 

Every time I wear this apron I will be reminded of how far it has travelled, made especially for me,

by someone I've only ever met on-line.

I gave a sneek peak of the apron I made for Julie back in May;

here it is in all it's glory!

Thank you so much Julie, I hope you love your apron as much as I love mine.

And of course a big thank you to Sarah for hosting and organising this swap

xx

One per Month - June

So I'm afew days late with my June One per Month project, not for lack of trying to have it done in June though!

 

I was flicking through Handmade Home about a week ago trying to decide what project to do for the one per month challenge, when I came across the Family Sweater Hats project.  Perfectamundo - after making the upcycled wool scarflettes I had left over pieces from the jumpers I had used - this project was just perfect for using them up.

So I began the process of attempting to felt the pieces of woolen jumpers I had.  After several goes through my front loader at 60C and then 95C with no success I realised a couple of things.
1. front loading washing machines probably don't agitate the contents enough to cause the felting
2. no matter if the jumper is 100% wool, if it says machine washable on the label it probably won't felt! 

Now I'm no felting expert, since my one and only attempt has failed miserably,

so pleeeeeeeease correct me if I'm wrong.

As I had my heart set on making a sweater hat I decided to use the unfelted wool. 

Of all the three jumpers I had cut up, none of them had remnants large enough to make a single colour hat.  So I plugged in my beloved overlocker, stitched three strips together to make a stripy beanie and seriously, the rest of the beanie came together in about 5 minutes. 

I added a couple of overlocked circles held together with a vintage button as an embellishment and hey presto one fabo new beanie! 

It actually fits my head but looks way cuter on Miss A, my ever willing model.

Hope your weekend has been fabulous, whatever you've found yourself doing

xo

Swap show and tell

Last Sunday the Craftroom put on a Sunday craft day.  Cass organised one of her famous swaps, which involved making four items for fellow Craftroom gals.  On the day we were randomly divided into groups of five, where we each swapped our little goodies - therefore receiving four fantastic, handmade gifts to take home.

What did I receive you ask??

This too beautiful to be used linen teatowel.  It has now taken pride of place on the table as a table runner (and yes I have ironed it since taking the photo!!) made by Cass, said swap organiser

 

and because Cass is a Very Good  and experienced swap organiser, she made an extra lot of swap goodies, just in case of any late cancellations due to unforseen circumstances.....................  Lucky for me there was,  because I scored this super cute snap purse!!  Miss A has already tried to claim it as her own but I've squirrelled it away in the hope she'll forget about it.  I actually think Miss B should get this one.  Being second in line she usually misses out!

This very lovely and perfectly sized for on the go crafting pin cushion came from Jen who obviously is not only a keen knitter and crocheter but also an expert sewer!!

And just in the nick of time, to save me from making one (inferior, I'm sure) for myself, Fiona contributed this perfect little needle book.

Look inside.........................

Fiona went to the trouble of sourcing pure wool felt, as it is easier to push needles through than synthetic felt.  I can truly attest to that, as this little beauty is now full of all my needles which have been floating around looking for a home for some time now!

Thank you so much lovely ladies - I love each gift and really appreciate the time and effort that went into each one xxxxxxx

And what did I make for my fellow swappers?

Upcycled wool scarflettes.  This one has barely been off my neck since I made it as a prototype for the swap.

I only remembered to snap a picture when I was all set to gift wrap them, so this is the best shot I got.

Hope they keep my lovely swap partners warm and snuggly during this bitterly cold snap we are currently enjoying enduring.