My Poppet: Your weekly dose of crafty inspiration: Page 10

How To: Applique Template Free Printable

A little while ago I posted this tutorial on how add knee patches to jeans. It’s a simple way to get some extra life out of your kids clothes. This week the lovely and very talented Draw!Pilgrim has created some free printable templates that can be used to create cute patches to make those tired duds into something special. Read on for links and instructions for using template…

Here is the link to the template

So be gone yucky hole, and HELLO cute pants!

You will need:
How to add knee patches tutorial
Printed applique template
Scrap fabric
Double sided fusible web (like heat n bond)
General sewing supplies as per knee patch tutorial

How to:
Follow knee patch tutorial for general sewing instructions.
Print out the template to your required size 100-120% is a good size depending on your hole.
Iron on your fusible web onto scrap fabric as per product instructions.
Trace on your template shape and cut out.
Position your patch.

Peel off backing paper and iron on to pants.

Now with a thread that matches the colour of the patch use a wide zig zag stitch (satin stitch) to sew the patch onto the leg.

For pear or apple, iron on and sew the stem piece first, then the body of the fruit.

Thanks Miss Pilgrim for these cute designs, I bet they’d look cute on all sorts of sewing projects.

I’m thinking on bags, pockets, pillow cases, tea towels…

What will you put them on?

www.mypoppet.com.au

Product Review: Tefal Steam Generator Iron

Product Talk by Nuffnang

Guess who did a little dance when she was offered to review the new Tefal Steam Generator Iron? As a crafter and sewer, an iron is my most important piece of kit after my sewing machine, so I couldn’t turn down the chance to give these fancy steam generators a try. In the interest of full disclosure, I was not paid for this review but did get to keep the product. All opinions are my own.

Product: Tefal Steam Generator Pro Express
Even though I do (occasionally) iron clothes, I’ve reviewed the iron from a crafter’s perspective.
How does the Steam Generator differ from a normal iron? I’m glad you asked!
It has a base station that holds a reservoir of 1.8L of water which pumps high pressure steam through a cable to the iron. I’ve always just had a conventional iron so was really dying to give this a try.

My first impression was at how big the whole unit was. It’s BIG. I needed to tidy my sewing space and rearrange to find a spot for it.

The unit was too big to sit on my rickety ironing board (which I picked up off the side of the road and have set up permanently), so I have set it up on the bench behind the ironing board. When I’m working I have the iron sitting on the board, and then return it to the base unit when the sewing session is over. The steam cable is really long so one could easily have the base unit set up in a cupboard or a table.

The No.1 feature that I look for in an iron is AUTO Shut off. I’m notorious for forgetting to tum my iron off, and was really pleased that the unit turns itself off when its been unused for a while and when the water runs out. It also has an ECO setting which is a power conservation mode.

When I’m sewing I leave my iron on the whole time, as I press seams as I go. Usually I find it so frustrating constantly refilling the water tank, but the Tefal has a 1.8L tank which lasts for ages with plenty of steam. The tank is removable and can be refilled when the iron is on, so no waiting for things to cool down.

And wow, talk about powerful steam pressure! One button gives you a big burst (as pictured in this animation), another, a more gentle constant release more suited to pressing seams and such.

But how does it iron you ask? It’s brilliant. Seriously. I mean for the price you would almost expect it to do the ironing for you. But really the steam makes such a difference, you only need to go over things once and you are done.
My Mother-in-law was visiting and she wanted to have a try. She was especially impressed how light the hand unit was (because the water is held elsewhere I suppose) and how just one stroke of the iron did the job. So it’s Mother-in-Law Approved!

Pros:
-No need to constantly refill the water tank.
-Auto Shut off
-Iron locks into base when not in use.
-Retractable cord (like a vacuum cleaner) means no messy cables.
-Light hand unit that can be kept on ironing board.
-Powerful steam which does a brilliant job.
-Anti scale system which hopefully means no brown spitting on final pressing of a special made to order garment (don’t you hate that!!)
-Temp adjustable for delicate fabrics

Cons:
-Large size of unit. Would ideally need to be set up semi permanently, or at least in an accessible cupboard. Stable surface required.
-Steam is mega hot and powerful, so steam burns are a real possibility. Fabric is still very hot to touch just after ironing. This may be a problem with small fiddly projects.
-Price. At around $300-500 this is a real investment piece of craft equipment which is not affordable for everyone.

So in summary, I’m really pleased with the Tefal Steam Generator and won’t be going back to my old iron. I think its a great product that will be a real asset to my sewing. I’m not sure if I could personally justify paying several hundreds of dollars for an iron just for ironing clothes (although it would make that job SO much quicker and easier), but if you look at it as an investment (like a good sewing machine), I think the price is justifiable.

Thank you to Tefal and Nuffnang for the opportunity to review this product.

www.mypoppet.com.au

Kids Craft: Doughnut Garland

Yesterday we had a small party at home for Emma’s 3rd birthday. She is a little obsessed with doughnuts (calls them pink bagels, lol), so I thought a doughnut themed party would be fun.
Whilst the cake was baking, we made this pretty garland together with bits and pieces from the craft drawer.

You will need:
Paper Plates
Pink craft paper
confetti
glue stick
scissors
hole punch
yarn or string

How to:
Parents to pre prepare- Cut hole out of center of paper plates and cut pink paper into irregular shaped rings to form ‘icing’.
Child to stick paper icing to plate and have lots of fun gluing on confetti ‘sprinkles’
Parent – Punch two holes in ‘doughnuts’ and thread with yarn to form garland.
String up your work and admire.

This is a great party project as each child can make their own doughnut to take home or combine to string up as a garland.

I also made a cake that vaguely resembled a doughnut, and had fun decorating some balloons by gluing some confetti on them.

www.mypoppet.com.au

Optus MeTV: The Verdict (and yummy Salted Butterscotch Popcorn!)

How To: Dip Dye Wooden Cutlery

I acquired a ton of this ‘disposable’ wooden cutlery recently which was crying out for a fun and colourful makeover. With Emma’s birthday approaching I thought it would be a pretty alternative to the usual plastic fare widely on offer.
To ensure the cutlery would remain ‘food safe’ I used food colouring rather than paint or fabric dye for this project.

You will be able to find this wooden ‘eco’ cutlery and most good party supply stores and some supermarkets. The rest of the materials you probably already have sitting in your cupboards.

Liven up a party, barbecue, picnic or even lunchbox with these colourful eating accessories.
Here’s how…

What you will need:
Wooden cutlery (uncoated)
food colouring/dye (liquid or paste)
water
a few bowls or containers
paper towel
a protected work surface

How to:
**protect your clothing and work surface as food colouring will stain everything, including hands. Mop up spills promptly**

- Make up some strong solutions with your food dye and a little water. The stronger the solution the deeper the colour result.
- Place the cutlery in the solution, it will be absorbed up the wood by capillary action. Get the kids to place bets on which will win the absorption race!
- Once you are happy with the colour result, rinse off the excess dye on the handles under running water. We don’t want our guests to go home with stains on their hands.
- Allow to dry on some paper towel.

Don’t they just look so pretty?

And if you are wondering what happened to the cake…

www.mypoppet.com.au

How To: Embroidered Toasties

Today’s tute comes from Nellie at Dabbles.com.au (where the craft inclined go to download e-patterns that teach as you make!). Nellie is currently running a ‘have-your-say giveaway’ where you could win one of four printed pattern sets, and when each set is worth $47.45(AU), you should definitely put it on your to-do list! The winners will be announced on the 30th of April so stay tuned to the Dabbles blog and facebook page.

I love embroidery but haven’t ever posted an embroidery project, so when Nellie offered this cute French Toastie bib project, I couldn’t resist. So cute! She also includes some very clear diagrams to teach you the various stitches used.
Take it away Nellie…

One of my favourite friends is having her first baby in the next couple of months, (Maud, if your reading this – Spoiler Alert!!). I love her to bits, so I wanted to hand embroider her some baby bibs as a gift. Both the parents are French, but the newbie will be a little Aussie, so I thought one bib should have a picture of French toast and the other should have a toast triangle with Vegemite!

Today, I will show you how to transfer the French Toast template to fabric, then how to fill it in using Back Stitch, French Knots and Long and Short stitch. You can then apply a similar method to the Vegemite design.

You will need:
• 1 plain bib (prewashed)
• Dressmaker’s carbon paper (if your bib is a flat fabric) or tissue paper (if your fabric is fluffy like terry toweling)
• Embroidery hoop – optional
• Embroidery needle
• Embroider floss (DMC brand) in colours: 975 (warm brown), 310 (black), Blanc (white) and 437 (camel)
• Toastie Template

1. Download and print the Toastie Template from the Dabbles website. Check that the size of the French Toast design is right for your bib, if not, resize it using a photocopier. The template has a colour and style (of stitch) guide needed for each section : )

  2. Cut out the template and position it on the bib. If your bib is made from a flat material like cotton, transfer the design using dress maker’s carbon paper (just follow the manufacturers instructions here). BUT if your bib is made from terry toweling (like mine), this method just won’t work! You’ll need to trace the template onto tissue paper then tack it to the bib around the design. If your tissue paper is a little thin, use two layers.

3. Optional – Put the bib into an embroidery hoop.

4. Following the stitch guide on the template, outline the design with Back Stitch (please scroll down for Back Stitch instructions) shorten your stitch as you go around curves. Please note: Embroidery floss is formed from six floss strands, you only need three for this project. Cut a length of floss, split it in two groups of three then load your needle with one of the groups.

5. If you’ve used it, peel off the tissue paper (using tweezers) and remove the tacking.

6. Again, following the template guide, fill in the remaining areas with Long and Short Stitch (please scroll down for Long and Short Stitch instructions).

7. Add two little French Knot pupils in the toasts eyeballs and some Back Stitch in two of the toast corners (please scroll down for French Knot instructions).

8. Neaten all loose threads at the back of the bib then…

9. Take a photo of your handy work for the archives!

Back Stitch

Insert your needle a stitch length in front of your intended start point, then working back, re-insert the needle into the designs starting point. Continue inserting your needle a stitch length in front of the last then working it back into the previous stitch.

Long and Short Stitch

Following the curve of your design, create a (close) row of alternating short and long length stitches (the ‘short’ stitch should be approx half of the ‘long’). For the following rows, use only one stitch length and start at the entry point of the stitch above (your stitches will appear long and short, but don’t be fooled!). Repeat until the area is full.

French Knots

1. Insert the needle through the point you want the knot to be. Hold the thread taut with your (left) fingers approx 3cm (1.1″) from the entry point hold to the left.

2. Holding the needle above the work, wrap the taut thread over and under the needle twice.

3. Insert the needle into the entry point, continue to hold light tension whilst passing the needle through the material.

www.mypoppet.com.au

How To: DIY Tee Pee Tent – part 2

My sister asked me to help her make a Tee Pee for my niece Eva. It was fun to make and took us a couple of leisurely afternoons. This Tee Pee is a fun weekend project that can be used either indoors on a rainy day, or in the back yard when the sun is out. We’ve made it with an old bed sheet to save money on fabric. This is a very detailed tutorial so this project will stretch over two posts.

I know you are all super excited to get started on your Tee Pees. This part requires some basic straight line sewing skills. Don’t be intimidated by all the measurements and charts, there are lots of diagrams and pictures to guide you through every step.

Link for Part 1 – Making the frame
So here is Part 2 – Making the outer covering of the Tee Pee

Continue reading →

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