Hanmade in Cornwall

Hanmade in Cornwall

Monday 28 March 2016

Learn to sew - Lesson 2


I hope you enjoyed the first lesson. Today is a similar lesson. 
Turn your machine on and familiarise yourself with the functions: pedal, pressure foot& needle. Once your sewing machine is threaded. Choose your fabric. 

When your fabric is secured with the needle in the fabric you can start a straight stitch. 

Follow the side of the fabric. 
When you get to a corner, leave the needle in the fabric, pressure foot up and pivot the fabric round. Pressure foot back down. Hands in place and start sewing again. 

Repeat this as much as you want. 
This is great practice; sewing along the length of the fabric and pivoting round a corner. 

We also learnt about using the reverse button. Keeping your hands in place, whilst pressing the reverse button and using your pedal - all at once. 


Today we have practiced:
My daughter is loving deciding where to see. Doing corners, straight lines and learning the reverse button. 

Happy Sewing :-) 

Lesson 3 here 

Sunday 27 March 2016

Learn to sew - Lesson 1

I am so pleased to be bringing this to you.
A few weeks ago I started showing my daughter, whose not quite 6 yeas old, the basics in sewing. And she loved it. Yay! Its begun!

My mum taught me to sew with the sewing machine when I was young. Looking back I dont know how much I enjoyed it. But I was learning new skills. I remember making different projects during the school holidays using different techniques. Like patch work and applique. Hand sewing buttons, choosing fabric and just being creative. She also taught me to be confident on the sewing machine. I later did textiles at university and saw so many other people so not confident on a sewing machine. And I realised that the many times I had played on a sewing machine as a child, it really gave me the confidence in the sewing machine. Knowing how to correct my mistakes, threading the machine and feeling confident in MY foot as it controls it all. What a lesson to learn.

This is what I would love to pass on to my sweet daughter. Just as my mum did for me.
Seeing my daughter enjoy learning to sew, fills me with joy. Im passing it on.
Some of my friends picked up on the fact that I was teachng her, they suggested I put it on here, for you to read. So here I am.

Lesson 1 is below. These lessons are for my daughter. I am going slow with her. Ive already threaded the machine for her. But these lessons can be a guide for you helping your kids or if you yourself want to follow along and learn.
The biggest part, like most things, is PRACTICE. The first few lessons with my daughter is repeating lots of the same things and making the machine familiar to her.


Lesson 1 
Firstly get comfortable in front of the machine. The foot pedal should be within reach. I put it on a tub for my daughter to reach it. 
Next explain about the machine: the power button, the thread at the top, the foot, the bobbin, the needle. Where each thing is and what it does. 
Explain about the pedal. "You are in control of it."
Next explain about safety. Where your hands should go. On top of the fabric, keeping it secure and guiding it through. 
Then we are good to go. 
After choosing some fabric folded in half, with some thread that can be easily seen. 
I reminded my daughter a few times about starting with the needle in the fabric. So that means using the side wheel to bring the needle down into the fabric. 
With the fabric in place and the presser foot down, the needle down. 
You may begin. 

We practiced using a straight stitch. Around the fabric. Stopping and starting. 
I really want her to be confident in operating the sewing machine and knowing that she is in control. As I encouraged her with the pace of the stitches and good hand placement. She was doing really well. She was listening and putting into practice what I had been telling her. 
This has been a great first start at sewing. She really enjoyed it. 

Today we have practiced: 
knowing how the machine works,
 using the pressure foot, 
putting the needle down into the fabric,
positioning your hands guiding the fabric, 
A steady pace using your foot on the pedal. 

I hope this has been helpful. 
Check out lesson 2 here



Friday 25 March 2016

Hanmade Scrapbook pages

Over the last few months Ive been playing catch up with my scrapbook. Ive been so far behind, but its been higher up my list of to dos to catch up. Ive definetly made progress, yay. But got to keep going.
So I thought you might like a look at some of my pages, here you go. I hope you like them.






Hanmade on * Etsy*

Its official, Hanmade is on Etsy!* YAY!

Go and check my shop out here.

Here is a sneaky peak at what you might find....







Hanmade shrink plastic ear rings

I love shrink plastic. Its so versitile and user friendly. If you dont know what it is, its a special paper that you write, draw or stamp onto. Then put it into the over, it shrinks making the image permanent.
So my next shrink plasic project was a pair of stud earrings.
I cut a couple of circles and started drawing. Then I put them in the oven. Used a glue gun to glue the stud backs.
So simple and effective.





Check out an earlier post I wrote on shrink plastic making, here

Hanmade christmas stocking

Christmas is coming... and everyone needs a stocking. I was asked by some friends so make them some christmas stockings with some of their own fabric.
They turned out lovely.
I have made it in steps for you to make your own.


So I started by making my own template. Something I could use again and again. I put twp pieces of A4 paper together and drew on that. I made the origional shape and also put a rectangle on the edge as this stocking will have a cuff at the top. 
Cut your template out. 

Pin the template onto your fabric. 
For one stocking you will need two pattern stocking pieces, two linings plus two pattern cuffs. The cuffs are rectangles folded in half. 

here they are

pin your rectangle pattern onto the top of the stocking, for the front and back. 


and pin the pattern to the lining too. 
Stitch those seams together. 

Lay the stocking on top of each other. 

This is when you add a ribbon or string to your stocking. Make a loop out of string and tuck it into the side of the lining. 

now stitch around the entire stocking. Leaving a gap in the bottom of the lining. 

i also added my label. 


once stitched all round, using the gap in the lining turn your stocking the right way round. Give it a good press with the iron. 


sew your gap lining up. 
Then insert the lining into the stocking, getting the cuff into place. 
Press again. 
Done! 
How simple was that?! 
And now that you have a template you can make lots! 


Arent they cute?!