Sunday 8 April 2012

Happy Easter!

First would like to wish everyone a Happy Easter and a good holiday tomorrow (if you are lucky enough to get the day off from work).  Starting on an Easter note - I saw this in window when I was out yesterday -


Not the best picture - I did actually go to the door to see if someone was in and ask if it was ok to take a picture but no one was in so took the picture from the pavement as opposed to their garden.

Craft wise, my friend Emma who has the kilt shop has asked me to come up with a corsage type thing for little and bigger girls. The kilt shop is mainly a male dominated area - for women there are only really tartan sashes so she thought it may be a good idea to have some little corsages for upcoming weddings.  I have been trying to come up with something incorporating tartan as opposed to just a flower of sorts.  I did get a bag of some really great tartan fabric scraps so have been trying to use them.  The problem I'm finding with the tartan material is that it is thick and also it frays easily to so use it I have to really use it doubled to avoid any fraying.  (Any suggestions on the fraying would be greatly received.)Here is one of the things I've come up with -


The other idea I had was to use tartan ribbon - not so bulky as fabric -


The advantage of using the tartan fabric is obviously firstly that the cost would be lower and also there would be a chance of matching it to the kilt tartan of the man. The ribbon is a lot easier to work with but there is cost involved and limited choice.  Anyway, that is what I've been working on/thinking about this weekend.

As my holidays aren't too far away now (only 6 weeks - it seemed to suddenly almost be here!) I decided to start a wrap that I could take with me for evenings when it will no doubt be a bit cooler when we are staggering er er sorry walking home from a bar/restaurant (more about the upcoming holiday later!) Anyway, got some cotton/acrylic blend yarn and a nice open stitch (the lacet stitch) and started it yesterday - it is coming along  and now I have the pattern rows in my head can quite happily do it while watching TV (with one eye on it of course too!)


Anyway, that is my weekend.  Pop over to 1st Unique Gifts to see what everyone else has been up to and have a good Easter Monday.

Mich :)


24 comments:

  1. Oooh, that wrap is SUCH a gorgeous colour!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like the colour of the wrap too! My sister-in-law does a lot of quilting and she uses bondaweb to give fabric a bit of 'body' and to stop it fraying. Would this be any use to use for the tartan? Oh btw! thanks for your comment on my blog. You beat me to it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I will have a look at that Alison - if its a simple iron on thing may be ok.

      Delete
  3. Could you use tartan wired ribbon and make a flower from that? I have made very successful corsages using wired ribbon, removing the wire from one edge, then pulling up the other (if you see what I mean?).

    ReplyDelete
  4. iron on interfacing would help to an extent - especially if you could team it with a zig-zag edging. You might still get a few stray threads though - depends how neat you want the edges. They're lovely x

    ReplyDelete
  5. pva glue on the back? that's quite good at stopping fraying, so might be worth experimenting. they are a great idea though. x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mmm have some pva so may be worth trying this ty!

      Delete
  6. I love the blue wool that you're using for your wrap and those tartan flowers are really sweet, sorry I can't help with any tips to stop the fraying though. Happy Easter. x

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love the tartan flowers, you could do the same on a hair band too. Good luck with them.
    Crikey, your wrap has grown quickly. Looks like its gonna be lovely when finished. A pic of you modelling it perhaps? lol

    ReplyDelete
  8. The tartan roses are beautiful. I was wondering if you could take advantage of the fraying tendency by making petals of tartan and sewing around the edges (about 1/8" in) with a very tiny stitch, then fraying it on purpose. It would help if the petals had straight outer edges - something a bit like a pink, maybe. Or perhaps a yo-yo type of flower might work - single or double. Or a sort of kanzashi flower:

    http://www.fabrics-store.com/blog/2011/07/21/tutorial-japanese-kanzashi-fabric-flower/

    Do you have the product called Fray-Check over there? It's a brush-on fabric sealer that might come in handy for this project. Good luck!

    P.S. Lovely wrap!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the suggestions Mrs M - I am going to have a go with pva glue first then will look for the fray check stuff - I like those kanzashi flowers and will try them. The big problem is the thickness of the fabric - will have a go tho. Mich

      Delete
  9. Those tartan roses are beautiful, have you tried fray check not sure will work on that thick a fabric but you never know.

    The wrap is so pretty and will be perfect for those oops, falling over legless evenings. Did I say that I do apologise for a lady like walk down the road, lol

    ReplyDelete
  10. The tartan roses are lovely and so nice you have the material - lovely to match them to the man's kilt as well. I am a pinking shears gal and for some of my new work (yet to be photographed and displayed) I use it to keep the edges neat and tidy as I am not stitching anything. the colour of your shawl is very pretty - forget-me-not blue perhaps? Bet you are almost counting the days to your holiday. Hope you avhe a good week Mich.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I don't know anything about tartan sorry but the corsages you've made look lovely, especially the blue one :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love the idea of the tartan corsages....a great way to tie the gents tartan into the bridesmaids attire...fab!
    I really love the wrap you're making too....I love blue!!
    XX

    ReplyDelete
  13. Cannot wait to see the finished corsages... I love the process of working out how to make an item. And the stole looks really lovely, in't it great when things grow so quickly :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. What a great idea those corsages are!
    I know what you're saying about it fraying though, although I am one for taking advantage of frayed edges, sometimes I just put a small zig-zag stitch along a raw edge, that can discourage it from fraying too much.
    But then you can get so many tartan ribbons now I should imagine that would be easier and quicker!
    Both lovely options though!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Love the tartan corsages - I would love one! I was also going to recommend fray check, or there are quite a lot of tartan ribbons out now.
    Jo x

    ReplyDelete
  16. How bizarre - i've been trying (unsuccessfully in my case) to make fabric roses today too!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Ooo I love the wrap, will be very handy for your nights out.
    The corsages are fab, wish I could help with the fraying problem, could you stitch around the edge?

    LH
    x

    ReplyDelete
  18. That corsage looks lovely, and how fun to make it from tartan. A really nice touch. x

    ReplyDelete
  19. I received a Versatile Bloggers Award this week and I am pleased to nominate you to receive this Award too. Have a look at this post for details of the Award:

    http://christmaspiecrafts.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/versatile-blogger-award.html

    ReplyDelete
  20. I really like your wrap, such a nice colour.

    ReplyDelete