Tapestry Brooch Tutorial - Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew

Welcome to the April Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew Link Party.

The Link Party that aims to have you all organised with a cupboard full of handcrafted goodies by the time that December comes around :)

This month I am delighted to bring you a guest tutorial from Tina Francis, the creative genius behind such gorgeous makes as these colourful cushions,

and the driving force behind

Something we can all empathise with!

Tina has generously provided us with a tutorial for one of her lovely tiny, tapestries that can be made into a brooch or necklace like these. Aren't they great?

"You will need

12 count Interlock canvas
50 cm of each wool colour
A tapestry needle
Brooch finding (if using)

You can use tapestry wool or why not search in your wool stash for 4 ply, this project is about using what you already have so if you want to use the stitching for a card or gift tag (just attach it with stitch) then it does not matter what count of tapestry canvas you use.

These patterns are great scaled up and you can see from the images that they suit cross stitch too!"

 You can find instructions for the tent stitch used in the brooches here

The chart for the Inca pattern above can be downloaded here

If making a brooch, once you have completed the stitching from the chart trim the canvas so that is has a border of one canvas hole around the stitching. Place the trimmed stitching into the brooch front then push the back into place and fold down the flaps to hold the brooch back in place.

Tina has also offered either a Small Squares or Inca Pattern Booklet (£10), 2 goldtone brooch findings (£6.40), 12 count interlock canvas enough for all 7 brooch patterns in the booklet (£2.50), two John James Needles one size 18 and  one size 24, a small amount of wool to complete one brooch front as this month's giveaway prize. So, one lucky linker could be adding one of these lovely brooches to their Christmas gift stash!

The winners of last month's sewing themed charms were Melissa at Happy Quilting and Sally at Wonky Patchwork.

As ever the link party closes at 23.59 GMT on April 30th, so you have lots of time to get those projects linked up. No blasts from the past though, we are all about stockpiling throughout the year here so restrict yourself to links to projects you have worked on this month:)

An InLinkz Link-up

Thanks again to our lovely giveaway sponsors who have been so generous in their support of the link party.

  

 

Fabric Cards from scraps

If you are racing to get your projects finished before the FAL Q2 deadline, then maybe you shouldn't read this, but if you are so organised that they are all done and dusted already then pop on over to The Littlest Thistle to check out my tutorial for Fabric Cards from scraps!

We'll get that scrap pile reduced somehow :)

Ready for my close-up?

My tutorial for this Binocular Bag is on the Sew Mama Sew blog today!

Now it just so happens that my husband bought himself a pair of binoculars for our Silk Route trip and has since found them very useful for making sure he doesn't miss any of the action at the cricket! The bag that came with the binoculars was a particularly boring black so was definitely ripe for replacement :) That's another present ticked off of the list then.

This month's link party is hosted by Martha at Weekend Doings. If you haven't come across Martha before do check out her blog, she is an amazing knitter, quilter, gardener and baker and posts the most marvellous photos. Her baking photos are guaranteed to make me feel hungry :)

If you are new to the party, let me fill you in on the details. Paula and I decided at the end of last year that Christmas 2014 was going to be different, this time round there would be no late-night sewing sessions or frantic last-minute dashes to the Post Office. This time we were going to work on Christmas and Holiday projects throughout the year so come December we would be so organised we wouldn't know what to do with ourselves :)

We decided to share our plans with our blogging friends and invite them to be organised too, with a monthly Link Party to provide a gentle nudge. In addition, each month we have a giveaway prize for one lucky linker!

This months giveaway prize is a mini charm pack of Be Jolly by Moda from the lovely people at The Fat Quarter Shop So, if you want to be in with a chance of winning this to help you get ahead of the pack with your Christmas crafting head on over to Weekend Doings and link up your Christmas and Holiday projects for June.



As ever we are very grateful to all of our lovely sponsors, who have generously provided a lovely variety of prizes to tempt you.

Quick gift for Father's Day

When the lovely Kellie at Plush Addict asked me if I would be interested in writing a guest tutorial for her blog featuring some fabric from her wonderful store, she didn't need to ask twice :)

At the same time my son was looking for a new and improved holder for his CD's on his long drives to and from work. Having all your CD's fall out as you round a bend is not a great idea, it seems!

If you know a music-loving motorist that would appreciate a handmade gift this coming Father's Day, head on over to Plush Addict to find out how to make your own Visor CD wallet.