2013 Craft Challenge - Leftovers - Rosie

So I teased this great and awesome craft challenge I've been invited to participate in.

 

Now it's here.

 

Each month there is a challenge, and three hostesses to share their take on the challenge.

 

Finally there's a chance for YOU to join up your ideas and vote on which of the hostesses ideas you liked the most.

 

Rosie is sharing this week, I'll be sharing mine on Monday, and Anja the following Monday.

 

Let's see what Rosie made out of leftovers.

 

 

 

I am really pleased to be guest-posting my leftover craft with Anja and P.J this week. If you want to know more about me (Rosie) then you can find me over at Craftbotic: a blog about craft, blogging, life, tea, reading and much more.

 

I am so excited to be sharing this leftover project with you guys today. Can you see the cracked, plastic, door 'wedge' to the left of the photo? That has been expertly wedging my door open for four years and while functional, we all know that it can always be beaten by something pretty AND functional.

 

The craft challenge this month is to make something with leftovers. I decided to attack my fabric remnants, the very large bag of rice I bought once and never used and my embroidery thread collection. To do this you need:

assorted fabric, threads, a sewing machine, some parcel or pattern paper, a fabric pen, embroidery hoop and nearly 3kg of rice.

I drew out a pattern on some old parcel paper, before pinning it to my fabric. I didn't cut out the front piece using the pattern dimensions, because my embroidery hoop was a bit larger.

Dimensions:

Front & back - 8.5 inches (H) x 7 inches (W)

2 x sides - 8.5 inches (H) x 4 inches (W)

Bottom - 4 inches (H) x 7 inches (W)

2 x top pieces - 2.5 inches (H) x 7 inches (W)

I placed the embroidery hoop on a window and slipped my design underneath before tracing the pattern with a water soluble pen. Using a range of stitches, I embroidered around the pattern. I don't know all the names for the stitches, but googling 'embroidery stitches' brings up a lot of information. I wiped the outline with a damp cloth to remove it, before ironing the fabric and cutting it to the pattern size.

Before sewing I laid the pattern pieces out so I could think about how I would approach the sewing. In the end, I pinned parts together (facing the 'right' sides against each other) without really knowing if it is the best approach. If I did it again, I would sew on the top and bottom pieces first, before the sides. I then sewed it edge at a 1/4 inch seam allowance, remembering to watch the line not my needle. I took one edge at a time leaving the split between the two top pieces open. This was the last part I sewed together, except I left a 2 inch gap in the middle so that I could fill it with rice.

 

Now, my flat isn't damp and doesn't have any animals, particularly rodents, so I didn't plan to put the rice in a plastic bag or even a fabric sleeve before filling it up. If you live on a farm, have inquisitive pets, or a moist environment then I would suggest you leave the top completely open so you can fit in packets of rice placed in freezer bags.

 

I filled the bag with the rice as tightly to the top as I could, before stitching up the gap at the top by hand. I was so excited at this stage that I took no pictures. Whoops!

Here's my little hooter in holding the door like a pro. I love this craft and not only because it turned out well despite being an experiment. Using leftover craft materials gave me more confidence than usual as it really didn't matter if I failed or not. I had a back-up plan for my owl embroidery in case it went very wrong....and a big bag of chocolates by my side.

 

If you fancy taking part in the Craft Challenge then you can! We will be holding a link-up on 28th January and then the last Monday of every month throughout the year for you to share your crafts. Link-up your leftover posts with Rosie, Anja or PJ. If you are not crafty, come back and vote on your favourite project from the month. We'd love the feedback!

PJ from Planned Pencil will be sharing her leftover craft with us next week and I can't wait.

 

Now all I need is a name for my owl - can you help?

Take care!