Natural Bird Mobile

I LOVE this bird mobile.  The simple beauty of it blows me away. The folks over at Spool Sewing have been generous enough to share it so we can all have one!  All you need is some beautiful fat quarters, fishing line, some hook and eye swivels and some attractive branches.  The pattern is simple and instructions are downloadable from the sidebar in pdf form here.  Happy Stitching!

Fat Quarter Handbag

Here is a link to the etsy shop of a very talented handbag artist.  Her name is Jennifer Ladd and her work is bright and refeshing.  She has shared a fat quarter handbag with Sew Mama Sew and I thought it would be a crime if it was not included.  For this project you will need a fat quarter of fabric in a print you love, a fat quarter of corordinating fabric for the lining, a magnetic closure and some medium grade interfacing and some stylish bag handles.  This is a beautiful project.  Tutorial here.  Happy Stitching!

Chefs Hat

Here is a project for all of your budding chefs in the kitchen.  It's a chefs hat so your child (or you!) can really feel the part.  I do like the coloured example that Curly Pops has pictured but I personally would do one in a basic black or white for a more professional look.  For this project you need either 3 fat quarters (if using patterned fabric) or a little under a yard if doing a plain one.  a little bit of medium grade interfacing for the headband and some velcro or snaps for closure.  The pattern is working with a 56 centimetre head but you adapt it to the circumference of the intended head.  Tutorial here.  Happy Stitching!

Teacup Pincushion

Have you ever seen beautiful a lone teacup sitting folornly in a corner of a thrift shop without mates or plates?  Well now you can give that lonely teacup a home and a brand new life as a teacup pincushion! 
A very very simple project from the folks over at mmmcrafts, all you need is a 6 inch circle of coordinating fabric, a bit of poly stuffing, some tread and and a hot glue gun.  and ta da!  Tutorial here.  Happy Stitching!

Cloth Thongs for inside use

Would you like to make some of these?  Lady Harvantine calls them Summer Slippers, but for the sake of this blog lets just call them inside thongs. The fabric she used looks Japanese and I must say they look elegant and refined.  Yes, even for thongs.  All you need a a gorgeous fat quarter, a small amount for fabric for backing, a bit of bias binding or a scrap fabric to make the straps, a bit of polyester batting and enough vinyl to comfortably stand on (you'll be tracing around a set of your thongs onto your vinyl)  A bit of a handful of supplies but trust me these are getting good reviews.  A suggestion is to take these to wear when getting a pedicure insted of wearing the ones the shop supplies, because who wants to wear communal thongs? Ok ok  enough talk.  Tutorial here.  Happy Stitching!

Baby Booties

The other day while I was posting Tea towel projects I came across these.
Flickr member Bianca Wickers states that they were made with a vintage tea towel.  There was no pattern link so sadly I had to leave them out.  But here it is! Found at Stardust Shoes, These cute little booties can be made with one fat quarter, a scrap of leather and some elastic.  (if you want a stiffer option you can fuse interfacing into the heel and toe areas.) Made to fit babies 6 to nine months.  Or if you like, as a good friend suggested, you could enlarge the pattern and make yourself booties for any age! As an added bonus, here is a link to a Cloth Shoes for Babies Flickr Group.  The example pic above is the work of group member Katherine Meadows.  This group can be used for inspiration, ideas and just plain old showing off.  Pdf tutorial downloadable here.  That's it, off you go!  Happy Stitching!

Shopping Trolley Caddy.

Our first fat quarter project is a handy organizer from Blue Cricket Design for your shopping trips.  This cute little caddy is a a handy place to put your shopping lists, Biros and coupons next time you head out. The project uses two coordinating fat quarters, and is secured to your trolley with Velcro.  Clear photo instructions here.  Happy stitching!

Fat Quarter Time

What is a fat quarter you ask?
A fat quarter is simply a yard of fabric cut in half horizontally and again vertically. A fat quarter measures approx. 18" x 22" (45cm x 56cm).
SO.. I wanted to share some brilliant fat quarter projects that I have found in my travels.  These little beauties can be picked up for approximately 80 cents to 1.50 each and like the picture above, often come in coordinating sets.  some of these projects use more than one fat quarter, but that does not mean they are overly complicated.  Ready? Here we go!

Tea Towel Pot Holders

I found this great tutorial for a potholder made from a tea towel over at Artsycraftybabe.  Thanks to some clever folding it is sewn with no exposed raw edges!  It looks like ribbon has been used here, but i say waste not want not, part of the trimmed hem can be used as a loop instead.  Finished with some applique or decorative stitching, a set of coordinating pot holders would be a snazzy housewarming gift.  Photo tutorial here.  Happy Stitching!

A Toddlers Bathrobe

Well I hate to let one blog hog the spotlight but this tea towel toddler's robe just sang at me and I needed to include it.  The talented crafters around at Obsessively Stitching explain that this colourful bathrobe is perfect for the beach, pool or bath time and is incredibly simple to make.  Fluffier tea towels with good absorbency make the comfiest robes.  (The project uses two identical tea towels, but you could go two tone and get nice results with solid colours.)  Photo Tutorial here.  Happy Stitching!

Custom Coasters

Would you like to create some custom cocktail coasters?  (try saying that three times fast!) These are so ridiculously simple that I almost feel silly posting them as a tutorial.  But here they are.  The folks over at One Pearl Button made a set from one tea towel but if you want matching pairs of coasters then an awesome set can be made from a pair of identical tea towels.  Three steps and you're done!  Tutorial here.  Happy stitching!

A cake of another kind

A tea towel cake is a perfect present for all sorts of occasions.  Ucreate has instructions for making this colourful gift idea fo the kitchen.  (after all why should expecting mothers have all the fun!)
Filling it with kitchen goodies is MORE than thrilling (I'm a real sucker for kitchen accessories..Oh shiny metal and bright plastic, you soothe my mind.....)  Instructions here.  Happy Stitching!

Baby Shorts on the Cheap

Heather at Dollar Store Crafts came up with a pattern for a lovely pair of (cargo length) pants made from an  tea towel measuring 38 cm x 66 cm (15x26").  Now THIS is customisable!  And I must say that I love the pockets.  The tutorial is easy, and the tea towel is large enough to make shorts for a newborn to 12 months.  A larger tea towel will produce pants for a older child perhaps up to 24 months.  Photo instructions here.  Happy Stitching!

A Diary Cover with STYLE

For the pretty miss in all of us, here is a beautiful diary cover made from a larger tea towel.  This project would be a wonderfuly inexpensive girl for any twen or teen, you'd just have to find the tea towel to match her personality. The only thing I would add is a pen loop made from the a peice of the contrasing ribbon.  This is, in my opinion, gorgeous and very easily adaptable.   Jenny of ELEFANTZ has produced a wonderfully clear photo tutorial here.  Happy stitching!

Peg Bag Anyone?

For project number two I have found a spartan peg bag made from a standard tea towel.
The simple fold over design means that it is easy to whip up in a few minutes while the hook repurposed from a clothes hanger mean it is easily transportable from inside to out.  The only thing I would of added was perhaps a border of decorative stitching in red or forest green
The folks over at All About You have written instructions here. 
Happy stitching!

Kids art smock from a Tea Towel

 I wanted to start of the craft adventure with something simple.  So this week we are going to be focusing on Tea Towel crafts and sewing projects.  Although I am going to be going away to see my wondeful family on Monday so I will not be here to update this week, I will post a handful before I leave to tide anyone over till i get back.

And that said, here is number one!    Check out this cute art smock made from a average sized tea towel.  The wonderful artists over at Obsessively Stitching made this one in green but a cute cartoon, floral, or animal theme would look great too.  The only thing I would perhaps add would be a strap of elastic or cloth at centre chest for a notepad to slip over.   Click here for the tutorial, and happy stitching!

Good morning and Hello

 My name is Tui. I am a lover of all things creative and crafty and I would love to share my favorite sewing and craft projects with the world. Projects, tutorials, and inspiration shared on Glue and Stitches are from artists I  consider talented, invovative, crazy and cute.  There is a little of everything here.
So here we go!