so i've loved krissykat's needle felted brain slug ever since i first joined craftster.  And after lusting after it for nearly two years, finally, i went on a needle felting course last week and immediately produced my own!! 





OK, so its not so accurate to the futurama original, but i love him deeply.  And now I'm going to wear him all the time!   all comments welcome ...

ok, so i decided i wanted to learn to knit again.  i decided to start with the cute and fluffy rocky the grizzly bear!



He is knitted all in one piece (like a skin).  Unfortunately he is not very photogenic due to being massively fluffy (i actually had to give him a haircut once i'd finished as you couldn't see his legs!).  I've also ordered some eyes as you can't see the ones i stitched... If I did him again, I would use slightly less fluffy wool, and possibly put some rice or something in the feet to help him stand - he does stand now but has a tendency to topple!   He was great to learn with though as the fluffiness means you can't see any dropped stitches etc - a great practice piece!  What do you guys think?

ok so i know the world and his wife have decoupaged their trainers...  i've been meaning to do this for many months and finally got around to it!  Unfortunately i don't have 'before' shots, but think incredibly bashed up, hole-y, totally faded pink and white shoes.  I decided to stay with the pink theme and decorated them with flowers, pink berries and other things that i like!  i put a bit of glitter in the glue to add sparkle and when i put the laces back in, i ended up tying the bow on the side...





So a couple of learning curves for this one
1) it would have been a lot easier with a flatter surface - these had lots of random plastic pieces which were difficult to cut round or cover
2) a decent quality glue brush makes a big difference...

One problem i have had is that the decoupage has split away from the sole, so it doesn't sit flat - any ideas on how to improve that?

so this weekend i decided to finally use the floral fabric i bought last summer.  I decided it was more colourful with a yellow contrast (it kind of warmed up the other colours), so made a yellow bust panel and side pleats, and shirred the back - its the first time i've done shirring and i'm pretty pleased with it.  The back is not as wonky as it looks, i'm wearing it over another top!

Front


Back


Side


One problem - underneath the shirring, it is very 'full' - sometimes it ends up making me look hunchback!  I don't know if I should put another set of shirring lower down - i'm not sure if that would help?  any advice gratefully received!

ps - it also still needs pressing so excuse the creased look!

I made this bracelet for a swap and my partner has just received.  It was a total surprise - it was designed to be the 'little extra' but it turned out my favourite!



Its hand drawn shrink plastic, on a figaro chain.  I've been make my own chains for a while now but its my first piece of plastic and I'm totally addicted now!!  I got so excited that i've made about 20 more pieces in about a week (oops - now i just have to wear them all!)

i'm thinking about possibly starting to sell, but i honestly don't know if people would pay to buy this sort of thing (it would have to sell about USD$25) - what do you guys think?

i'm really pleased with these, i made them for a swap and they are my partners favourite bit!



They are actually made from offcuts of curtain (ALWAYS buy curtains too long, then trim = free material)...  The first tree was traced and then the rest were drawn freehand.  They close like pillow cases (with a flap at the back).  The back is a softer fabric (it was the lining) to make them a bit more cuddly, and the closure has contrast brown stitching.

Finally, I like the fact the covers are all slightly different sizes - I did this when I made my first cushions and it means you end up with one firmer pillow (for being lazy and lying on), plus squashy ones for cuddling!  Let me know what you guys think ...

Help!!

Whilst researching for my in laws wedding earlier this year, I saw the most gorgeous little wedding cake topper, in an amigurumi styleeeee.  I am now desperately trying to get hold of a pattern / copy of the picture and I can't for the life of me find it!!  Can anyone help?

thanks in advance for any help...

so i was chief bridesmaid at the wedding of my kinda sister last weekend.  We had a fabulous time, however i should have guessed that a not very organised person would be not very organised before her wedding (particularly when given 6 weeks to prepare said wedding!)...

Hence when i arrived the night before the wedding (having been told all was ready), i was asked to decorate the cake (I can cook pretty well but never bake and have never decorated a cake!!!)  Below are the results - I was pretty pleased.





The roses were the main part - constructed following a search for instructions on the fimo pages!  the figures are family heirlooms and the cakes themselves were just plain shop bought.

This post is mainly a big THANK YOU to craftster for (as usual) coming up trumps.  So THANK YOU CRAFTSTERS EVERYWHERE for sharing the knowledge and making sure her cake came out beautifully! 

The one downside was we established i'm not very good at floristry - however thankfully the usher was!! 

Arty photo compliments of non-crafty boyfriend - all comments / criticism welcome!

OK, so in keeping with my New Years Resolution to actually put some of the stuff I make onto craftster, I present my 'kids-duvet-cover-to-dress-and-potential-to-become-lots-of-other-things' post!  (hmmm i think i might need a more snappy name...)

So, it started life as a single kids duver cover, bought from my local charity shop (£3 - bargain!).  I removed poppers, added a zip, stitched a bit and hey presto!  a dress ...


front ...


back ...


close up of the paddington on the bust (ignore my ugly mug!)

Apologies for the grainy pictures, the only white wall in my house has very poor lighting!!  I combined a couple of different patterns to make the shape, and i'm happy to say it took under 3 hours to cut and stitch.  The best part is I still have half the duvet cover left!

Sadly I think two matching dresses might be a bit much ( )  so i'm now saving the other half for when I have kids, and can then make cushions, mini dresses/shorts, wall hangings, cot blankets, stuffed toys etc.  I'm amazed how much fabric came out of a single bed cover!

All comments welcome!

Hi All!

I'm a bit of a hedgehog fan and they make their way onto craftster in many forms!  Would anyone else fancy the idea of a cute hedgehog swap?