Minifelts are for sale in a gallery!

I have some exciting news. A few weeks ago I was contacted by the 20-21 Arts Centre in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire about stocking some of my Minifelts and today I finally finished the order and sent them off!


They requested about twenty items plus a few replacements which is practically all of the stock for my Folksy shop!

So I've been hard at work replacing items and working on some new designs.

Including new animal face purses. So far I've made a bear, owl and cat which will soon be available to buy from the gallery, and hopefully I'll be expanding this range for the website and folksy shop too. 

I also made a few keyrings, the Owl Keyring and the Penguin Keyring are for sale on my website.

This is the first time I've supplied a gallery, so it's a really exciting opportunity but scary too as I  really hope they sell! It's also given me the confidence to start approaching more shops and galleries, I just need to get much quicker at making things...

Unfortunately Lincolnshire is quite far away from me so I won't be able to go and see them on display but the gallery have kindly agreed to send me some photos, so I will give you all another update when they go on display. 

Minifelt Purses

Firstly apologies for the lack of blogging lately. I blame it all on the fantastic weather we've been having, as it's just too nice to stay indoors on the computer!

Anyway I have been hard at work on these new additions to my shop, felt purses. I've always wanted to have a go at sewing a purse but thought it'd be too complicated as I've never sewn a zip in before...

Here is my first attempt. I started with two layers of felt, cut to about 12 x 8cm.  Then I sewed my design onto the front layer first, I choose a fox's face, as I'm quite obsessed with foxes after watching Fantastic Mr Fox on DVD the other day!

Then when it came to sewing in the zip I cheated and cut a gap the size of my zip into two pieces of felt (the inner layer and outer layer). Then I stitched around the outside of the zip to hold it in place, which seems to work perfectly!

I then finished the purse off by sewing the sides together of the inner layer which I made slightly smaller than the outer layer, as I thought that two layers of stitches would make it more sturdy.

Here's the finished purse plus I've made a few more too with some different designs:

New iPod cases!

I've been working on some different animal designs for new iPod / Phone cases. I've also slightly expanded the size of them to fit Blackberry phones and other gadgets of a similar size. 

Anyway I thought I'd share some photos of the new range, I keep meaning to take some photos of them in progress, but forget until I've sewn them together! I'll definitely take some of the next ones... 

Fox iPod / Phone Case

Lion iPod / Phone Case

Bear iPod / Phone Case

Tiger iPod / Phone Case

They're all available from my new website Minifelts.com if you fancy one (or you can just click the link below the photos). Anyway I'd love to know what you think, what animals would you like to see that I haven't made so far? 

Minifelts.com

It's ready! The new website is up and running, and it's looking great thanks to boyfriend's mad skills. He taught himself web design from scratch!

Minifelts.com even has it's own shop, which is easy to use, payment is done via PayPal and I can ship items worldwide. The best bit is that now all my Minifelts are available from one place, and it's simple for me to update, so I will definitely be constantly listing new items and updating the site.

I'd love if you could spare a minute to take a look and let me know what you think. Any suggestions for improvements, or feedback of any kind would be most appreciated. I've also got some free Minifelts desktop wallpaper that you can download for your computer, as a little thank you for visiting the site.

Please check it out and suggest it to anyone you think would like it!

Raccoon Netbook Cover

I have been working on a very special custom order. After purchasing one of my raccoon brooches a customer asked if I could make her a matching raccoon netbook case.

I love a challenge, so I took the template I'd drawn for the badge and enlarged it to make a mahoosive raccoons head! When coming up with designs I always start by sketching a basic shape/outline on paper, then cutting it out and pinning it to the felt.

I started by cutting out the different pieces of the raccoons head from some redy brown, white and black felt and sewing a few white stitches to add detail to the eyes.

(Check out how tiny the original badge is in comparison)

I decided to make the case double layered to make sure the netbook was well protected, and recycled some old material to make the inner and outer layers. I used an old blanket dyed brown, for the cover and some green baize for the inner layer. I stitched the whole thing by hand, not a sewing machine in sight (plus I'm absolutely useless with one!)

Next I sewed along the top and sides of the green inner layer and the brown outer layer, to make a pouch for the netbook, leaving some excess so I could cut it to size later. Then I sewed the raccoon pieces to each other and then down onto the brown cover.

Here it is ready for the opening to be cut to size. After I'd cut the edges to fit the netbook, I sewed the green inner lining to the brown outer lining so that they'd stay together, and added a velcro strap that stretched around the back of the case for extra security.

Here it is finished!

I even scanned in the image to create a matching desktop wallpaper for the customer to use on her netbook!

I'm pretty pleased with the result, since it's probably my biggest project to date. I'm planning on making a whole range of netbook and maybe even laptop covers, as they're a lot more interesting than those boring black ones you can buy in PC World! I've even been on a special visit to the big Abakhan in Wales to stock up on huge rolls of felt, so watch this space for some new designs very soon...

Folksy Friday

Time for another Folksy Friday instalment. The theme I've chosen is.... Rhyming things! A cat, rat, bat, mat, hat, meerkat and a tat (tattoo!) They're all also animal themed coincidentally!

1. Bat! Kooky Bat Fabric Applique Brooch - Tailor Made
2. Cat! Cat Paper Weight - Millicent
3. Hat! Frog Animal Hat - Doodles In The Margin
4. Mat! Mat Bag Birdies - Devon Red
5. Rat! Roderick Rat - Ukke-Puk Crafts and Toys
6. Tat! Temporary Tattoos - Lou Peajeux
7. Meerkat! Big Meerkat - NiftyKnits

Badgeorama

I've managed to get a lot of sewing done this week. I've been making the most of this amazing weather by doing my sewing outside in the garden. Lots of felt did keep blowing away in the breeze, but I managed to design and make quite a few new badges/brooches. There was even enough sunshine for some nice photos. Take a look...

Dog

Little White Kitten

Black Pig

Bear

Lion

Raccoon

Mouse

Tiger or stripey cat!

All these brooches are available from my brand new Zibbet Shop, which I've just launched, please pop over and take a look. It's a great site as it's easy to sign up for (as a buyer or seller) and doesn't charge listing fees or take commission on sales. 

Does anyone else sell on there? If you do please leave your shop link below, I'd be interested in checking out some other peoples shops, as I don't know many people that sell on there yet. 

Anyway here's hoping this lovely hot sunny weather continues!