Festive handmade fabric baubles

Slow sewing with Rudy... Christmas baubles!

When trawling the usual Pinterest Christmas boards this bauble came up and I thought it would be a perfect sofa sewing project!

I have been really enjoying sewing sat watching telly sewing my badges onto my Guide blanket and thought this would be the next project to do without much thinking while watching Christmas films!

I thought it would be a great opportunity to test out using my Brother Scan and Cut to cut out all the circles as I knew I’d need lots of them! 

Fabrics used in this project:

Sweet Bee Sweet Blooms Pink Spot

Sweet Bee blenders Pea

Sweet Bee Shades of Grey Flowers

Sweet Bee Blenders Ice Blue

These are currently half price in the cotton sale!

What you’ll need is:

20 middle colour 2″ circles

20 other colour 2″ circles this can be mixed with multiple fabrics

20 1.75 inch circles in medium weight interfacing

20 1.75″ inch circle in iron in batting or felt

Hand sewing thread and needle

Wonder clips are also useful.

If you are using a digital die cutter to cut the fabric, I used freezer paper but please refer to your machine makers on how to cut fabrics. Using Freezer paper, I created a fabric sandwich of fabric wide enough for two circles wide and 5 down. This allowed me to cut the circles in the middle of the mat as I found if you cut too closely to the edge the machine chews up the paper and fabric. It was useful to have a little extra freezer paper either side of the sandwich to create a good seal. I even used the cutter for my interfacing as I stuck the shiny side to the mat and it meant it easily pulled off. The batting I had to cut by hand, and it looks nowhere near as neat! ha!

If you aren’t using a die cutter to cut your fabric you could use a cookie cutter to give you your uniform shape and draw around it giving you your cut-out lines.

Once you have your circles all cut out, iron the interfacing onto the inside circles. The reason the interfacing is slightly smaller is to give you space to hem but it won’t matter if they are the same size. On each of your inside circles cut a small slit for you to pull your circles ride side out once you have sewn them. You can then iron your batting of felt to the outside fabrics. 

You then sew all your circles up, right sides together and then turn them right sides out. 

Iron all the circles nice and flat to make them easier to sew together. You then will be best to mark an equilateral triangle onto your circles to show you where to sew or you will end up with a non-circular bauble. 

With your inside together sew each circle together along one of your triangle lines. You should end up with 3 circles attached. Keep attaching them till you have 5 attached together with the star in the middle. Keep adding your circles till you’ve used all 20 up. You can stuff it with stuffing if you want to give it a firmer shape, but I haven’t on this one. 

DIY quilted scissor pouch

I love making useful items for gift giving around this time of year. I wanted to come up with a project for the blog that was sewing themed and would be a great present for a crafty friend…
introducing the DIY scissor pouch!

What you need for this project:

Paper

Pen

Ruler

Scissors – plus the pair you want to make the pouch for!

Main fabric – Treehouse Flying Squirrels by Figo Fabric (pictured below)

Lining fabric –Flower Market Spots cream by ABM  (pictured below)

Batting

Zip (the length of your scissors)

Swivel clip (optional)

Step One:

Lay your chosen scissors onto a piece of paper and leaving a couple of centimetres around the scissors mark a diagonal line.

I have the Fiskars Amplify scissors which are quite big so my height and width measured approx 15.5cm x 30cm for reference.

 

Step Two:

Use something curved to round off the two bottom corners of the pouch template.

Step Three:

Use your template to cut 2 each of main fabric, lining, and batting. The batting I used was an offcut from a quilt I made and is fairly light weight.

Step Four:

Take a piece of main fabric and batting and quilt them together. I did a simple grid pattern with the lines approx 2cm apart and on a diagonal angle but you can do this however you wish or skip this step altogether if you want.

Do the same for the other piece of main fabric and batting and now you have two complete outer pieces.

Step Five:

Now to add the zip! Place the zip face down on one of the main quilted pieces which should be right side up. Then layer on the lining facing down on the zip and stitch in place using a zipper foot.

Step Six:

Repeat step 5 for the opposite side of the zip and then open out both sides, press, and topstitch through all the layers on each side of the zip.

My zip was much longer than the zipper pouch so at this point I trimmed off the excess zip.

Step Seven:

This is an optional step but it makes a handy carrier for the pouch.

Measure a 3″ x 3″ square of fabric. Press a fold down the centre, then open ut and of each side into the centre and press. Topstitch 5mm down each side of the tab and then add on a swivel clip, pin it in place for the next step.

Step Eight:

Add the tab to the right side of the pouch approx 1″ down from the zip and pin/ clip in place

 

Step Nine:

Open your zip to the halfway point and then open out the layers of the pouch. Pin together the two lining pieces right sides facing and do the same with the main pieces right sides facing.

Stitch all the way around leaving a gap of about 3″ in the lining fabric to pull the pouch through after it’s stitched.

Step Ten:

Clip all the curved edges and then pull the pouch through to the right sides. 

Step Eleven:

Carefully poke out all the corners and give it a press then stitch the opening in the lining closed.

Et Voila!

This project is a great stash buster, would make a lovely gift, and would work in all types of woven fabric, you could even try making a faux leather one and omit the lining for a really quick make!

We hope you love this and if you do make one please tag us so we can share it!

Debbie x

#samanthaclaridgestudio

Christmas Crafting! Festive stocking filler purse

Festive purse

We love a quick little sewing project for when you have 5 mins and want to get a quick fix or want to make a handmade gift that doesn’t take too long.

Our quick purse tutorial is perfect for a stocking filler or a unique thoughtful teacher present or secret Santa. It’s a great one for kids or beginners too!

We’ve designed a curved purse but you could easily make this square or oblong, the process is the same.

We used some of the festive fabric we have in stock here

For this project you will need:

Printed out purse template (below)

Main fabric

Lining fabric

7″ zip

Basic sewing kit

Scissors

Download free pattern here

Step one

Use our template to cut out 2 pieces of main fabric and two of lining fabric.

Step two

Place the zip face down on the right side of the main fabric so the top of the zip lines up with the top edge of the fabric

Step three

Place a lining piece right side down on to the zip so the zip is sandwiched between the main fabric and the lining fabric and pin in place

Using the zipper foot on your sewing machine stitch in place through all the layers.

Open it out, press and then do the same with the other side

Step four

Press both sides and topstitch either side of the zip if you want.

Now open the zip to the halfway point, this is a very important step to help you turn the purse through once it stitched.

Step five

Take the two pieces of main fabric and pin together right sides facing. Do the same with the lining fabric and then stitch all the way around leaving a 2.5″ gap in the lining fabric, at the bottom curved edge, to turn the purse through.

Step six

Turn the purse through the gap you left in the lining and make sure you poke out all the corners,  then stitch the gap closed and give it a final press!

We hope you like our Christmassy projects and we can’t wait to see what you make! Tag us on Instagram if you do make any of these projects or anything with our fabrics!
#samanthaclaridgestudio

Handmade Christmas pajamas in a fabric gift bag

Alexa's handmade Christmas!

Since everyone has been spending more time in pyjamas this year, I thought that pyjamas would make great Christmas gifts for my nearest and dearest. My favourite patterns for pyjamas are the Sew Over It Ultimate Pyjama bottoms with the Sew House 7 Toaster sweater. These are both great and really straightforward patterns, and not more complicated than I can deal with in the midst of a global pandemic.

I picked the gorgeous organic leopard print jersey for the Toaster sweater and some pink Figo wishbone quilting cotton for the bottoms (the cotton is on sale, just saying…). These were both quality fabrics that sewed up beautifully. For two completely unmatched fabrics, they go together beautifully!

These were meant for my sister for Christmas but she is impatient and refused to wait! However, she has fed back that they are her favourite ever pyjamas and super snuggly, so at least I know that these will be a winner as Christmas gifts. 

I love giving gifts in bags that can go on being used afterward, either to gift next year’s presents or for laundry or shoe bags, or whatever else people might want. I made this one from some Dashwood Christmas tree cotton that I’ve been eyeing up for ages and a gorgeous velvet ribbon. This is a super basic square bag that I’ve stitched a channel into at the top for the ribbon. The bag is the perfect size for a pair of pajamas and some fancy tea, which is what everyone I know is getting for Christmas!

Happy gifting all!

Christmas Crafting! Re-usable bottle gift bag

10 Minute reversible fabric bottle bag!

Gifting wine or a bottle of something yummy this year? Forget about buying gift bags that are hard to recycle and make a quick and festive fabric bag that will add something extra special to your gift and can be re-used for years to come! I love the idea of this bottle bag doing the rounds between family and friends!

I used this penguin print matched with a black and white star print fabric for a fun look but raid your stash and get creative…you could use a plain fabric and jazz it up with some fun trimmings, make a patchwork version or use metallic fabric for some extra sparkly goodness!

If you are interested in some other sustainable ways of wrapping gifts you should also check out Christine Leech’s new book ‘Zero Waste Gift Wrap’

“Embrace zero waste living with this collection of sustainable gift wrap solutions including furoshiki, the traditional Japanese technique of fabric knotting. What could be nicer than receiving a present AND the beautiful scarf it’s wrapped in!
Whether you use a vintage silk scarf or create your own fabric with patchwork, piecing and dyeing techniques, or reuse unwanted items to make quirky gift wraps – this collection is packed full of ideas for reducing waste.”

 

For this project you will need:

Outer fabric – 12″ x 16″

Lining fabric – 12″ x 16″

16″ piece of ribbon or string to tie the bag

 

Step one

Fold each piece of fabric right sides together longways so that each piece measures 6 x 16 inches. Then sew down the long raw edge and the bottom raw (making an L-shape) using a 1/2 inch seam allowance.

Step two

Next, we are going to ‘box’ the corners on each side of the bottom of the bag. With the sewn fabric still right sides together use both hands to pinch and pull apart the corner. As you pull the fabric will begin to form a little peak with the corner point at the top and the seam lines running down the middle of the front and back. Align these side and bottom seams. Place a pin in it to hold it together and measure 1.5″ down from the point and mark a line and stitch. Do the same for the other side and the lining.

Step three

Clip off the excess on the corners making sure you don’t cut your stitching. Do this on both the main fabric and the lining.

Step four

Now turn the main fabric right side out and keep the lining inside out.

Step five

Iron a 1cm hem on both bags, ironing the hem inwards on the main fabric and outwards on the lining so when you put the lining inside the main fabric bag the hems are facing.

Step six

Place the inner fabric bag inside the outer fabric bag making sure the seams match up. Pin around the top and topstitch in place using a 1/4″ seam

Now all you need to do is give it a press, pop a bottle inside and tie it up with some pretty ribbon!
We hope you enjoyed this quick fun tutorial! Next time it’s fancy festive fabric napkins!

Christmas crafting -handmade felt decorations

Back so soon I hear you cry! Well if you don’t know me you won’t understand my love for all things Christmas and when I saw there were festive projects on our upcoming blog themes list I jumped at the chance! 
 
And, once again, I’m not sewing! What’s wrong with me?! Well, it’s actually been quite refreshing getting crafty again with different materials. In my last post I used papers and this time I’ve gone for felt. Sammy has a few different selections of felt packs in different colour-ways and, while I’d have loved to go ‘neon Christmas’ I decided traditional would be better! 

In this pack of 7 sheets, you get two dark greens, one lime green, one mint, two reds (slightly different shades) and a burgundy, all complementary colours, perfect for festive makes. They’re not super thick but that makes them fine for all of the projects I made. And again, I’ve got some tutorials for you to have a go at home.

So let’s start with something simple, a holly decoration. I prepared myself two different sizes of holly template and cut out two of the bigger size in dark green and two smaller in lime green. I cut small red circles for the berrys. I used some matching lime green embroidery floss to sew a line of running stitch down the middle of one large and one small leaf. I then attached them together using red floss and adding the berrys and a hanger. Simple! 
 

Next up is this trio of baubles which I just love! I used the burgundy, rich red and dark green felts and cut out two each of three bauble templates which I drew out myself on some card. Then I took some embroidery floss in greens, reds and gold to sew on simple designs. I put the two layers together and sewed around the outside leaving a small hole to put some stuffing in (if you don’t have stuffing you could cut up some scraps of felt into small pieces or just leave this out entirely) then I closed up the gap. I added a piece of string to hang it and there you have it! 

Now this one is a little more time consuming but, I think, worth the time. Just gather your supplies and sit in front of the telly one evening. I’m not sure what to call this bauble but I was inspired by similar ones I’ve seen on Pinterest. You’ll need 8 circles, I used 4 dark green, 2 lime green and 2 mint along with a needle and thread. I stacked them up and sewed a line down the middle through all layers (this would have been better done on a sewing machine but worked ok by hand). Now sit it in front of you and pick up one left piece and one right. Bring them together and sew at the edge in the centre to connect them, finishing with a knot to secure. Now take the next piece on one side and connect it to one of the pieces you’ve just sewn which is next to it but this time above and below the original knot. As you go around you will alternate between one and two connecting points and your end result should be something like this. It’s not difficult, I promise!
If my instructions are not clear I’m sure a quick search on Pinterest will help you find step-by-step instructions with pictures.

And I don’t know why but I think this one might be my favourite! And it’s super quick, there’s even a time lapse video on my Instagram (@Aliivens) if you fancy checking it out! All you need for this one are a selection of small strips 3cm x 1.5cm and a needle and thread – a great one for using up scrappy bits of felt. Fold a piece of felt in half and put your threaded needle through the centre of the square, pushing it down the thread but not off the end. Repeat this until your heart’s content! But I think I did about 30 pieces, then tied the ends of thread to form a hoop and add a ribbon to hang. Done! You could add a bow or mini bells, whatever you fancy, but I like it simple.

Then, because I had some felt left over (and nobody was stopping me), I made a wreath with some twigs shaped into a small circle and I knotted on strips of felt and matching ribbon from Hobbycraft. Again, you could go crazy with this one, adding sparkly bits, bells, berrys, pom poms etc but I kept it clean. Not a glue stick in sight! How much easier can you get?!

I hope you liked these ideas. I quite like giving people who I wouldn’t buy gifts for a handmade tree ornament with their Christmas cards, it’s just a special little gesture. A few years ago I crocheted quite a few sprouts adorned with googly eyes to give out! But I love these projects and think the rich colours would make them really stand out on a tree. Now I can’t wait to get mine up and decorate it with my new me-mades!
 
Thanks Sammy for the lovely felt. Happy Christmas, everyone! (OK, too early…)

Christmas Crafting! Re-usable gift bags

Easy drawstring gift bag DIY

We are officially on the countdown to Christmas here at Samantha Claridge HQ…we’ve got to have something to look forward to haven’t we! 

What better way to spend our spare time over lockdown than some mindful, relaxing sewing and crafting. I am going to make some handmade gifts this year but we really are keeping gifts to a minimum this Chrimbo, everyone is stretched money wise and over the top consumption and needless spending just doesn’t seem appropriate this year. I’ve been enjoying making my own clothes this year which has lead to me shopping less and really the thought of buying something that I could potentially make just seems unnecessary, how about you? 

I’ve designed 4 easy tutorials that are Christmas appropriate, but really these would work all year round depending on fabric choice, and are great for using up scraps of fabric. I’ll be popping them on the blog over the next couple of weeks so you’ve got plenty of time to make them before Christmas.

The first project is for reusable drawstring bags which can be made in any size, used year after year, and are much more sustainable for wrapping pressies in! This is a very simple DIY suitable for a beginner..this would also be great to do with kids under supervision.

You can use a festive-themed fabric (as I have done and you can buy it here) or a plain calico or hessian would work really well jazzed up with some pretty ribbon or ric rac…the creative possibilities are endless!

SHOP HERE

For this project you will need:

Fabric  12″ x 28″ ( I used Jingle polar bears which is now only £2.33 per half metre)

Ribbon or cord for the drawstring approx 26″ long ( I used glitter ribbon)

Scissors

Sewing machine

Step one

Hem the two long edges of the fabric strip. I did this using my overlocker and a narrow 1/4″ hem but if you don’t have an overlocker you could either use a zig zag stitch or simply fold the hem twice, press and stitch. 

Step two

Fold the short end in by 1/4″, press the fold then fold over again by another 1/4″, press then fold down by 1″ and press.

Top stitch close to the edge of the folded hem.

Repeat this process for the other end of the fabric.

This process creates the channels you will thread your ribbon or cord through for the drawstring.

Step three

Fold the fabric in half with right sides together and stitch down the side seams starting below the top channels for the drawstrings you made leaving them open.

Step four

Finally, attach a safety pin to one end of your ribbon or drawstring and thread this through the top channel of your bag and tie in a knot at one end…et Voila!

Over the next couple of weeks, we will share the following tutorials…an easy bottle bag, coin purse, and festive fabric napkins which we hope you will love
Let us know if there are any other DIYs you would like us to feature!

More handmade Christmas fun!

DIY Christmas baubles!

I don’t need an excuse for crafting…but Christmas is a pretty good one!

Hand-making your decorations is fun, a great way of using up craft materials from your stash and gives you something special to hang every year…handmade is always best!

Today’s DIY is a great one to do with kids as it involves lots of sticking and a wild imagination!

I had some styrene balls in my stash (you can buy them at any large craft shop). I wanted to create a modern bauble with brown paper and gold glitter to match my other tree decs, so here’s what I did…

I gathered together the craft materials I thought I might need:

Styrene ball

Velvet glitter ribbon

Metallic snake skin ribbon

Narrow cotton lace frill

Mod Podge (or a mixture of PVA and water would work too)

Scissors

Brown paper

I also ended up using my glue gun and some bakers twine

Tear the brown paper into small strips/ pieces and start covering the ball with mod podge and the brown paper. I only did one layer and just made sure there were no gaps. I covered it all in plenty of glue smoothing it down with my fingers as I went (which also means you get to peel the dired glue off your fingers later -ha!)

Make sure you stick a big pin in the bauble so you have something to hold onto and somewehere to prop it up to let it dry…I ended up popping mine into a cotton reel after much faffing!

Leave to dry for a good few hours or overnight if possible

Once it’s dried you can start decorating it. Dipping it in glitter would be lovely, but I wanted to use some of the fabulous velvet glitter ribbon from the shop!

I used a glue gun to stick it down as I’m fairly impatient and like quick results!

Continue sticking the ribbon all round the bauble until you are happy. I used a simple criss cross design, but you could wrap lots of differnt ribbons around the middle for a jazzy bauble!

I then decided to keep things simple with some bakers twine for the hanging loop. I glued this to the top and et voila!

I think this looks pretty effective and definitely matches my other Christmas decorations! Let us know if you give this a go and tag us #scsblog
Happy festive season!

DIY Christmas stocking

Embellished DIY Xmas stocking!

Over the last few years there has been a huge trend for embellished adorned, scandi and rustic Christmas stockings. We absolutely love this trend and when it comes to Christmas our motto is more is more!

When Sammy tasked me with making a stocking with some of the trimmings available at Samantha Claridge Studio HQ…I couldnt have been more excited! There is literally a treasure trove of sprakles and glitter and ribbons over on the web shop…oh my!

I decided to stick with reasonably traditional colours for our stocking but added in a citrus green for a pop of colour…

I used an old McCalls pattern (5549) as I’ve had it for years and it’s well used! But you could make yours whatever shape and size you wish using a large sock as a template!

I used some cream wool coat fabric I had in my stash, this would work well with any coat fabric or felt, in fact we have some gorgeous fuchsia and rose pink coating fabric in stock at the moment!

I cut out 2 stocking peices from the wool fabric and then started to lay the ribbons and trims on to the front (think about which way round you want your stocking to hang as which ever peice you adorn, this will be the front). This fabric does not fray so I simply used a piece of glitter ribbon along the top of the stocking so it looks neat.

Once I was happy with my layout, I stitched each row down using gold thread for extra sparkle! I used a straight stitch on some of the ribbons and trims and zig zag on others (i.e the glitter ribbons) The joy of this project is that it doesn’t matter if it looks a bit messy!

To finish the stocking I stitched the front and back together (right sides facing)  with a small seam allowance so I didn’t trap the pom poms!

Turn it through and stitch a piece of looped ribbon to the top so you can hang it! 

This is a great stash buster but remember we have an incredible range of trimmings, ribbons and buttons in stock at Samantha Claridge Studio! 

You still have some time to order your trimmings before Christmas and this is a great little afternoon project that looks stunning!

We used:

Pom Pom trim

Mini bobble trim

Jumbo Ric Rac

Glitter velvet ribbon

Metallic snake skin ribbon

Lace trim (grey) 

Elastic trimming gold arrows

Narrow cotton lace frill

Crafty stocking fillers!

Stuck for gift ideas for your crafty friends or kids? Look no further… From stationery to accessories, craft kits and tools of the trade, we’ve got you covered… we even sell gift vouchers!

Here are some of our faves currently in stock…and of course we have plenty of fabric too!

Top row:

Create! Craft kit Lightening banner £6.25

Elastic trim wrapped around a dolly peg £1.50- £1.95

Rico tropical Washi tape set £13.50

Macaron tape measure £2.75

 

Second Row:

Verigated Embroidery thread pack £9.50

Rico cross stitch pendants £3.60 – £7.80

Create! Craft kit arrow banner £6.25

Jilly Jilly pincushion earrings £5.15

 
Third Row: 

Mitten knitting kit £9

Easy Grip Crochet hooks £2.50 – £19.50

Stork emboirdery scissors £9

Rico tropical spring stickers £3.90

 
Fourth Row: 

Clover Pom Pom Makers £6-£7

Tape measure charms brooch £10 

Gutermann Neon thread pack £10.95

Samantha Claridger Studio Gift Vouchers!

We hope this has given you a few ideas!

Want to give these gifts in an actual Christmas Stocking? We have a fun tutorial coming soon…keep your eyes peeled