The 5-minute Christmas gift...

When most of your friends live far away and your Christmas budget is restrained, adding postage costs to your expenses can too often tip that budget over the edge. 

I have met some of the loveliest sewing friends during my ten-year journey in this craft, and almost all of these friendships have been nurtured online, so the expense of sending a gift to each of them at this time of year does add a little stress to the bank account. 

This Christmas I made the decision to scale back on gifts for friends far away to something small but sweet; something that could be posted inside a card. 

You see we have grandchildren and children who live far, far away, and next Christmas there will be two more precious babies to welcome into the clan, so we are being mindful of the future and saving our pennies for family gifts and the added expense of posting parcels.

When planning what I could send my sewing friends inside a Christmas card this year my thoughts rested on what I'd love to receive, plus I took into account the number of comments left on the blog and in emails about the pretty pins displayed in some of my design photos.

About mid-year I searched on Etsy for pretty handmade decorated pins and found a lady in Canada who had exactly what I was after. 

After gathering some scrap wool felt, pinking shears, a pack of gorgeous "Make A Wish" Foundation cards, double sided tape and those pins, I had five gifts made in 5 minutes.

Today the envelopes will be addressed and stamped, then off to the Post Office so they can arrive before Christmas.

Other card ideas are bookmarks, a pack of vintage or pretty buttons, a length of delicate lace, or what about the free little needle kit I shared HERE last year?

If you have other ideas for gifts that can be posted inside a Christmas card please leave them in the comments below as I know we'd all love to add them to our current or future gift giving lists.

In fact, preparing small gifts like this during 2016 means next Christmas we can shop from our own 'store' of goodies and get those presents in the post early.

That's my plan.

Have a blessed day,

Beaded jug covers...

Over the past month I have been methodically giving each room in our home a 'deep clean' and part of this 'refreshing' is to wash and rotate all the decorative quilts, table runners, doilies and cushion covers. So my spring linens are now ironed and folded away for another season, and the summer things have made their way out of the darkness and into the bright sunshine of this tropical house.

Whilst browsing through the linen cupboard I discovered that a bead had come loose from one of my jug covers. This cover is quite special to me because it's one of my very first designs (2009) and was inspired by memories of Nana, her life and her tiny simple home...

I'll repair this today and perhaps re-secure the other beads in place just to be safe. After all, that's exactly what Nana would have done - "a stitch in time saves nine, Jennifer"...

I love jug covers, and they are quite useful in this bug-lovin' tropical climate we've grown to love.

Occasionally I find the odd one in a thrift/charity store, but only once have I seen a new jug cover for sale in a gift shop (the blue beaded one below)...

In 2012 I shared THIS tutorial for making your own beaded jug covers from old crochet doilies...

...and I still use that cover today!

In fact, it drapes beautifully across a white jug my friend Michelle May gifted me many years ago.

 But what about using fabric doilies for jug covers?

Whilst rummaging through my big tub of vintage treasures the red and green of this simply stitched piece caught my eye - probably because the Christmas season is here. 

It was just 50c at a country market Mr E took me to earlier this year, and with a good supply of glass beads on hand that I'd inherited from our Blossom-girl when she lost interest in that particular craft, I had myself an idea to play with!

The doily already had tiny crochet edges perfect for attaching beads...

If you're going to make something similar choose a linen that has a crochet edge as it's very easy then to hide your thread, and choose a thread the same colour as the crochet.

If using stranded cotton you should probably use two or three strands, but I had some Presencia Perle 16 on hand which was a perfect colour match.

Turn your linen to the wrong side.

Choose a suitable edge to add a bead and weave your thread in from a little way to the right and bring it up just under where you want your bead to appear...

Make a couple of knots.

Weave the needle up to the edge of the crochet...

Thread your bead onto the needle, then bring the thread back down into the crochet edge.

The bead should have a little swing; don't pull it too close to the crochet.

Secure with a couple more knots, then weave the needle in and out of the crochet to the left of the bead.

Cut the thread.

Trim both edges of the thread so that they are 'just' hidden in the crochet.

I'm sewing a red/green sequence around my doily...

This will become a cover for the teaspoon mug which sits on the kitchen bench...

 This sort of project uses what's already on hand and would also make a lovely gift for *home made stitched with heartstrings*!

Only 28 more beads to sew in place.

I guess you know what I'll be doing this afternoon, right?

Have a wonderful day,

Make a pretty 10-minute fabric bow...

I'm a girly-girl who loves a homely handmade bow so I thought I'd show you how to make them yourself.

They are so easy and quick that I promise you, once you've made your first 10-minute bow you'll be setting up a production line for an afternoon's crafting session. Imagine a box of pretty bows made from small scraps of your favourite fabrics!

You'll need two pieces of fabric -

Fold the larger piece in half across it's narrow side and the smaller piece in half across it's widest side, with right sides together...

The larger piece - sew down both sides and a little way across the bottom with a 1/4 inch seam. Leave an opening for turning out.

The smaller piece - sew down the side with a 1/4 inch seam. Trim away half the seam...

Turn both sections right side out.

Press the larger piece flat, and the smaller piece with it's seam centred at the back...

Concertina fold the square with that unstitched opening along the bottom edge... 

(you don't need to sew the opening closed on the square unless you want to. I don't bother as it does not affect the final presentation of the bow)

 Sew a few securing stitches to the centre of the folds...

 Wrap your smaller piece of fabric around the centre of the bow with it's seam line facing the bow.

Secure the two ends by hand sewing a line of running stitch across them.

Sew close to the edge of the bow but don't catch it in your stitching...

Trim away most of the excess from the ends...

Fan out your bow, and finger press the centre flat.  

You might like to give it a gentle press with your iron...

 Alternative Idea: wrap ribbon or lace around the centre of your bow!

From here you could use a glue gun to fix your bow to any number of projects, or attach it to fabric with a few stitches.

Are you ready to make bows?

Tutorial - make an I LOVE YOU heart...

Today I'm sharing a very simple gift you can make for our Homemade Stitched with Heartstrings project!

Small projects that use our fabric scraps and don't require hours of time to sew are perfect for making a few at a time.

This little heart has a simple embroidered "I Love You" message down the centre but you could omit the stitchery and replace it with a strip of lace or contrast fabric instead. 

Let's begin!

Download the free "I Love You" stitchery pattern HERE.

Stitch the embroidery on a piece of fabric 3 inches wide and 8 inches long, and trim back to 2" wide after stitching...

Sew pieces of contrast fabric down both sides of the embroidery.

I used pre cut scraps but if you're cutting your fabric you'll need pieces at least 3 inches wide and the same length as the embroidery...

Fuse a piece of scrap Pellon or Parlan measuring 6" inches wide x 7 inches high behind the block...

Trace the heart outline from your pattern sheet onto a piece of template plastic and cut out.

Trace the shape onto the centre of your block using a pencil.

Alternately, just cut out the paper heart shape and use it to trace around...

 Sew a line of running stitch just outside the edge of your embroidered section...

Cut along the traced line of your heart shape...

Choose your backing fabric and lay the heart face down onto it. Pin in place.

Sew around the edges with a 1/4 inch seam, leaving a 2 inch opening along one side.

Carefully clip notches in the curve of the heart...

Turn your heart right side out, fill with polyester toy stuffing (and lavender flowers if you like) before ladder stitching the opening closed.

 If you have some orphan stitcheries lying around you could even use them as the entire heart front, or what about doilies? I shall be playing with my doily stash to make more hearts and I will show them to you once they're made.

Please leave your blog link in a comment below if you're joining the Homemade Stitched With Heartstrings project in the lead up to Christmas and I'll add your link to my sidebar with the other lovely bloggers who are sharing ideas!

(don't forget to visit them and see what projects they've found on the web or made themselves)

Have a lovely Friday!

hugs