knitting progoress

I promise you tomorrow I will post a round up of what I have accomplished knitting wise in this year and a progress report on the business. If you would something more up to date then please check out my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/JFMCS?ref=hl

Update

I have no idea why this summer my blog seems to have gone by the wayside, I think having a tumblr hasn't helped but it has and I apologise for this. Any way I recently took part in a Princes Trust entrepreneur course   which has thrown up a lot of personal questions about what I want. The simple answer is I don't know..


In terms of knitting I am in the middle of a couple of projects and will post when I have completed them. I am also in the process of looking for wool jumpers and cardigans so that I can felt them and use them to make other more interesting items of clothing. so far I only have two a black and a grey purple striped cashmere jumper. :)

Second time lucky

    On Sunday I will be doing a vintage and craft fair which is the second one that I will have done however the first one was a complete and utter waste of time as it wasn't advertised at all and hardly any one turned up and many people left early without making a sale at all!! I asked the person who runs it for my money back and she went on this massive rant calling me a child and saying that I didn't know what I was talking about. So that didn't end entirely well however, the company that I have gone with this time is much more experienced and well known, unfortunately this means that a table at one of their fairs is slightly more expensive however, I know that there is a chance that if my stuff is good enough that I can make my money back.
   So any way see you there hopefully on the 29th of July at Fat Cats bar in stoke on trent Hanley! :)

Bottle plants

So I looked at my innocent (innocente according to my dad LOL) and I thought "I could do something with you but what?" Then I remembered my need for something to love and nurture and I thought about plants in my room.

 Cut off the top of the bottles around the line that is on there (its kinda wibbly wobbly) I used a craft knife but a pen knife may have been better.

 Get your plants.

 make sure their not dead I used alpines much to my mothers disgust.

 Fill your bottles with a third of pebbles or gravel, then a third of compost and then top it off with your plant making sure to break up the bottom slightly with your fingers and flatten it down a little with your fingers. If they are a little dry add water but don't drown em.

 I used an elastic band to put the names back on cos I'm lazy and I'm not going to remember the names LOL or how to look after them.

Finished!! :)

Tutorial Thursday

So I'm going to America in November (shhhh don't tell BCU... yet) and I went to brum to look in paper chase to see what they had to offer and so see how much the magnets that I got from the charity shop cost new (I got them for £1.50 and I guess they were around £4.50) any way I saw that they were selling travel keepers, those things you keep all your receipts and tickets in and it was £5. Now I'm a cheap skate and when it didn't even include a note book I was like nahh I'm gonna make it myself!  

I started with a  HARD BACK book and some paper and a clasp from an old folder of my dads the paper cos £1 for 200 sheets I went for lined.

I removed the book from the spine using a pen knife.

Then I got some fabric from my sisters stash I did have some but couldn't decided what to do until I looked at my fave tumblr http://loveandasandwich.tumblr.com/ and I made a face in felt and faux fur.

I cut it like this so that the folds and such are in the right places.

This is where the folds should go in these places you should cut down the middle folds and have two 'tabs' so that it will bend when you open and close it.

I covered the brown cardboard spine with some white paper so that it didn't look crappy.  

BEFORE I glued the fur to my book I sewed the face on by sewing the whites of the eyes on then the black of the mouth. I glued the black of the eyes and the teeth and tongue then I sewed them on when they were stuck on its just cos that was easier than pining them on such a small area

For the ticket keeper I cut up some envelopes like below I used 3 the whole pack cost me £1.45

You can now put your paper in you may need to cut it to fit a bit.

I secured the ticket keeper with tape about 4 lengths of it.

You are now done over all it cost me £2.45 that's less than half  the one in paper chase. Not that I don't like that store but why buy something that looks home made when you can actually make it home made! 

Pictures of Jewellery

Here are some pictures of my work so you can have a look at the progress and the gathering of stock so that I can do more fairs around the stoke area. I am doing the one at Fat Cats Stoke on the 4th of July hope to see you there! 

 The above ones are button rings that are made vintage and second hand buttons.

 These rings are made out of Lego pieces I will make some more so that the box will be full of rings.

 Here is the first box that is full of button rings that I have completed in their display box

 Here is the same box from another angle and closer

 Here is a sample of the puzzle rings there are more to come but I need to buy more boxes which I have found on Ebay for those who are interested

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WANTED

I really want any old laptops, computer keyboards, and scabble sets that anyone has got?? Email me if you have one! :) x

New knitting basket

Just a quick one my knitting basket broke (because I stood on it) and so while it was disassembled I decided to change the fabric on it from the grey flowery one that it had on before to this material and the sides which are made out of jeans. I used the original as a pattern and sewed it up on my bernina although I had to do the bottom by hand x
Just a not i got the fabric (polyester i think) from a church sale x

Tutorial part two

Step four: sew up the bottom of the t-shirt

Step five: sew the neckline making sure that you don't sew both pieces together

Finished!!!

Alternatives:

• Add flowers
• Tye-dye 
• Use tank tops and shorten them
• Appliqué 

Etsy

Just a note to let every one know that I am now selling 4 types of items on Etsy take a peek and treat yourself x