Pin Board Wizard!

Wowsers what a wizard weekend! I hope everyone enjoyed the sunshine. We paid tribute to the sun god by having the first BBQ of 2011. I hope he will be pleased with our sacrifice of giggly pig sausages and marinated ribs- yum yum yum.

It was perfect weather for doing some painting. I discovered a sad looking table in the basement of out flat and decided that what it needed most was a lick of teal tension (doesn't everything?). So while man work was being done on the van (read into that stuff I wasn't so interested in), I amused myself by playing rescue operations with abandoned furniture. I don't have a before shot but I think you will agree the after shot shows it to be a very worthwhile project!

It also provides a handy space shows off the amazing geological map of Britain which was last years birthday present to Slim and that I have only just got framed (like Guinness says...)

I have also been busy making birthday presents and commissions. As the title of the blog suggests- I have been making pin boards. What larks Pip!

Last year I picked up some cheap canvases from the awesome Harry Tuffins Store in Knighton and they have been sitting in a cupboard waiting for inspiration. After making the little flower pins I thought it would be a nice idea to make a fabric covered pin board to go with them and these canvases were the perfect size. So I ordered some cork sheeting and it arrived just in time for Friday night crafting. None of you will be surprised at which fabric I used for one of the boards...

So spring-y and fun. Love it. I used some silicone adhesive I had lying around to stick the cork sheet to the canvas. I then made sure the fabric was well iron and pulled it tightly over the frame. It is secured using PVA glue around the back of the frame and on the corners. The flowers are stuck to drawing pins just using superglue. And there you go- a super quick, beautiful and useful gift.

It also proved to be the perfect use for an old top my friend ask me to commission something out of. The fabric is so lovely I have been too scared to cut it up but I think you will agree it looks pretty good.

She certainly seemed happy when I gave it to her in the pub on Saturday (but that could have also been the wine). I was able to use one of my business cards as a gift tag and I am really pleased with how they look.

I was also asked by another friend to make something new out of loved but no longer worn clothes. I had won some heat'n'bond on ebay for upcycling appliqué fun so thought this would be a good opportunity to have a little experiment.

Laura's Mini Appliqué Tutorial
So here is my starting point. Slim's mum had donated some haberdashery bits which included some old net curtains. I also had a skirt, a dress and a few tops to work with from my friend.

After cutting, ironing and salvaging I had my fabric ready to work with.

check out the glittery buttons!

The next step was to cut out some fabric and heat'n'bond and iron them together.

I decided to go with a crafty bird design (of course!) so I drew my shapes onto tracing paper and then traced them onto the back of the heat'n'bond. Remember to make sure you trace the design back to front!

So here are my cut out birds. Next I arranged them on the bit of fabric and ironed them on to secure them in place.

Now comes the fiddly bit! I was determined to to this bit using my sewing machine. I don't have a fancy setting for doing satin edges so all I did was a regular running stitch around the outline of my shape. It may fray in time but I don't think it will ruin the effect and it won't be washed in a washing machine so I think it will be ok.

not too shabby if I do say so myself

For the beaks and eyes I hand stitched in different colour threads.

And it's nearly done! All I had to do now was cut the fabric to make the back of the cushion. TA DA!

At this point I got a little carried away and went appliqué crazy. Here are some other little bits I messed around with before I tuckered myself out and had to have a lie down...

I am pretty pleased with the bunting

Oh Amy Butler fabric- how I love thee.

Final cushion

And that's about it for now folks! I really enjoyed appliqué  and have lots of little bits of lovely fabric I would hate to waste so am thinking up some new ways to use it- maybe some framed pictures? Stay tuned!

xx.