Nero

On of my office colleagues has no less that four computer monitors. Its like Baron Greenback from Dangermouse.So he was obviously in need of a Nero, a villainous Caterpillar.
I crocheted this freeform from scraps using an image from the internet as a guide.


Cheerio!

Cushions!

I did warn you there would be some more cushions. I bought this fabric as fat quarters from the Aberdashery in Aberystwyth. It is a lovely woodland fabric and I actually took the time to choose some complimentary backing fabric.


The lighting doesn’t do the colours justice. The first has a cream/linen coloured background and the second is the same fabric but with a subtle mauve/brown hue. They look lovely next to each other. I loved the fabric so much I decided the cushions should be a simple as possible on the front to showcase it. The envelope backings allowed a little bit of design (and fudging!).
The first cushion was backed by a grey flower fabric with outlines of yellow and red.

I highlighted the envelope closure with a yellow ribbon sewn with red thread on the end seam. This cover lacked some precision with the measuring and came out a touch baggy. This gave me ample opportunity to try out the buttonhole stitch on my sewing machine and the self covered buttons make it look like it was an intentional design rather than a last minute fixer.

The second cover came out tighter as i used the first cover as a template and adjusted the width a little. The tighter cover didn’t need buttons but I still wanted it to tie into the other cover.
I still had some yellow ribbon left over from the first cushion so attached a length to the edge of the seam and added some piping. The first piping I have ever attempted so I am super proud of this. I think in hindsight fabric piping would have been easier than sewing the ribbon as I find it hard to get the tension right with these ribbons but I loved the shade of yellow with the cushions so I persevered.

If you like the woodland fabric it is Wildflower Wood by Lynette Anderson.
Cheerio!

N Er Dy

Nerdy? Bit of a Geek?? I’m afraid I am guilty as charged!!
So when a fellow scientist announced a new baby was on the way then we put our thinking caps on. We needed a project that people could contribute to keeping in mind time and ability levels. These play blocks were Just the thing and between 5 of us the project soon took shape.
We crocheted or knitted 10cm x 10cm squares. Each was embroidered with a letter or had a felt letter sewn on. We whip stitched them together around a foam cube and voila Periodic Element Playing Blocks!
It was a genuine collaborative effort and utilised lots of scraps but I think the finished blocks are brilliant and would love to have the stamina to make a set for my own son!



Apologies for the photo backgrounds. Many of these pictures were taken at work on the camera phone. If anyone is looking for foam blocks or indeed any shape of foam I can highly recommend twfoam. They cut foam to any specification, were reasonable and fast!
Cheerio!

Make it so!

Your eyes do not deceive you. A captain Jean-Luc Picard Baby rattle courtesy of this pattern here. The future mum is a fan and hopefully she will like this version with mini communications badge and a cat ball stuffed into the oversized head to add the rattle element.

Cheerio!

Checks to dots

Do you remember one of my first nursery makes? A V-shaped cushion cover. You can read about it Here. The fabric was upcycled from a duvet cover found in a local charity shop.

   

It cost less than 50p to make and at the time I was really happy with it. Well 18 months later my little boy is not so little and the cushion cover has been well worn! An untimely cocoa spill sealed its fate and with its change in use from general baby support to comfy sofa friend warranted a bit of a re-vamp. This time I chose some lovely blue fabric with bright lollipop dots.

I used the same steps as in the original post using the cover as a template. The original cover utilised existing poppers from the duvet so I cut the backing section into overlapping segments to create an envelope closure. A generous overlap meant no buttons were necessary to maintain the nice lines.

I like the simplicity of envelope closures (when I get them right!) but I am a big fan of turning them into a feature. It helps to find them and adds a little interest and sewing challenges. For this v-shaped cushion I added a strip of the fabric at a different orientation and hid the seam with some blue ribbon. Spare polka dot binding in turquoise came to hand and I bound the end seam with it. I think it adds a nice bit of interest and contrasts nicely with the fabric.

There are a few more cushion covers to showcase soon.

Cheerio!