November Recap

So, here we are at the end of November. Blimey, that month went quickly! Still no house, but plenty of crafts going on.

The first thing I made this month was, unfortunately, the only thing that involved the sewing machine. It was, in fact, the easiest and speediest sewing I have ever done. It has inspired me to sew more, although this month has been spent planning, rather than sewing anything.

My first make was an eye pillow that I made for my friend's birthday present, as part of a relaxation theme. The tutorial I used was from here, and I used some of my fat quarters for the fabric.

These things are really difficult to capture in photos, but I tried. Front view:

Back view:

I closed up the remaining side on the outside once the pillow was filled (the rest were my usual french seams). Not the neatest thing in the world, but it holds up.

The side view, showing both fabrics. The pillow is filled with dry rice and some lavender from my garden (also dried). It smells amazing. :D

The pillow is roughly 9 inches by 5 inches; I realised too late that I hadn't put any size comparison in the photos.

So my next make is going to look huge in comparison! :)

After making lots of bracelets with wire in October, I moved on to working with elastic. What with this being a busy month, this is the only one I've made so far (more supplies shipping as I type). I'm really pleased with it, and I love the two-tone beads (which are more purple in RL). All components from local shops and stalls, as usual.

Mid-November was all about the big event: my brother's graduation. I was wearing my purple dress, and I wanted to make something to go with it. I had these shamballa beads from the local bead stall, and my aim was to make some jewellery that would help them to stand out.

I couldn't quite get the rich purple to come across in the photo, but I'm really pleased with them. The bottom piece is a bracelet, but I wanted to look at the detail, rather than zooming the photo out to include my usual trigger clasp and the rest of the chain.

And now for something much more eccentric. The event I have been looking forward to since August: Steampunks in Space!!
I really wanted to push myself with this, and I tried to make as much as possible.

This bracelet was originally going to be joined by a lighter chain, but it didn't arrive, and actually I think the jump rings suit it better. It was a bit of a pain to get on and off my wrist, but it looked great over the shirt.

Now, Steampunks in Space was a 'no photography' event, meaning that you could take pictures of your friends and family, but not strangers. Of course, I went on my own. So when I found a mirror in one of the gravity and mass exhibits, I attempted a picture so you can see my armour.

Very blurry and my face is rather serious, but you should be able to see the foam armour on my left (mirror, so it's on the left, and it is my left...) arm, which actually includes sewing! The foam was EVA craft stuff, heat-shaped, then painted with acrylic paint, and finally with elastic sewn on through needle holes to keep it on my arm. Except on the shoulder piece, which I inevitably snapped the elastic on, and had to velcro at the last minute. But I did it! First time I've set myself a really difficult and odd challenge and achieved it. Now let's hope I can manage that with sewing some clothes...

December is mostly centered around Christmas, of course, but if I make things I will endeavour to upload them towards the end of the month, hopefully followed by a rough plan for 2016.

October Crafting Summary

We're in the very slow process of buying a house, so things are a bit chaotic, but it turned out that I did make a lot of things in October. For the time being it's easiest for me to summarise what I've made each month. So here is what I made last month:

The Delphine skirt is getting there, and since this photo was taken I've also attached the waistband to it (sorry for the quality of the set up, I might update this with a better picture later):

My next task will be inserting the invisible zip...my procrastination skills are in full force, so while I'm finding reasons not to do the hard bit just yet, that doesn't mean I've stopped creating. :)

This is the perfect time of year for making things. I love Autumn, I love Halloween, and I have lots of events and people's birthdays and all sorts happening at the moment.

- First, I went to a workshop at my local bead shop and was taught how to wrap wire, and make loops. I really enjoyed making these, and it's a really calming process, time just flies by.

Two pairs of earrings and three bracelets (one was for my friend for her birthday), not bad for two sessions of work.

- Next up was some more jewellery, but in a specific style. I am a member of the local Steampunk Society, which I'm sure I've mentioned before, and I wanted to make something for one of the meetings. This started out as a bracelet but looked too heavy on my wrist, so after some tweaking and thinking, it turned into this necklace.

I'm so pleased with how it turned out, and lots of people asked about it on the night. That's the first time that's happened and it was such a great feeling.


- Now we're on to Halloween, and I had my first commission! :D
This is a cape I made for my boyfriend's sister out of a sheet. This was my first attempt at making a channel for elastic and I winged it and made it up, as I was away from home and borrowing a sewing kit! I also forgot to take a picture of the full cape, clever me, but you get the idea.

Again I'm really pleased with how it turned out, and it was really theraputic to sew. I still need to work on the neatness of my hand sewing, so this was great practice.

Bonus points for purple, of course. :)

And finally, my favourite. I was dressed as Mrs Lovett for Halloween, and I wanted to make a choker to finish off the outfit. I went shopping for some red blood-like drops, and bought so many that I ended up making earrings too, as you do.

My favourite thing about these is that every single component is from a local independent shop or market stall. This jewellery is 100% Nottingham!

November includes a good couple of events to make things for, including 'Steampunks In Space' at the end of the month, which I am hoping to make foam armour and a plastic jetpack for. I do talk myself into these things...