designerlicious

The Stitches and Craft show is on again in Brisbane. (One of my favourite craft shopping events).

And you only have a few days left* to grab a copy of “Real Living” magazine and score yourself a coupon for 2 for 1 entry. Considering entry is $16 per person, this means a huge saving. If you grab your closest crafting buddy to split the cost, you can spend the dollars you save on more crafting supplies! (heaven forbid)

*(the new April issue of Real Living magazine is due out at newsagents approx March 3rd, and Im not sure they will have the same offer again)

The same offer is valid for Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide Shows as well.

A little while ago I became a prefect for the Brisbane chapter of Brown Owls, a crafting group and the brain child of Pip from Meet Me at Mikes.

So today, after a lot of busy organizing behind the scenes by myself and the other three wonderful prefects

Rebecca, Belinda and Emily we had our first Brown Owls meet.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect (being that I had never met any of the other members before) but i ended up having a great time!

Turn out was pretty good (approx 15 members) and the atmosphere was friendly and chatty.

Bel baked some delicious cupcakes for the whole group….yes, those are icing owls on top (genius!)

Bel and Em, two of the other prefects hard at work.

A lot of the girls chose to make my badge kits at the meet, and I felt like such a proud mother! It was great seeing how everyone personalized their badges and I was jealous of how skilled some of these ladies were with a needle and thread.

One of my problems with crafting and finding time to make things is that none of my friends are really into it. The meet today made me realise exactly just what I was missing by hiding away in my craft room alone.
Wonderfully talented people to inspire, and share your joy with, to help you when you hit a crafting snag (yes the letters do have to be written backwards when you transfer on an embroidery pattern) :p , and just to have a good old fashioned giggle with.
I had heaps of fun today and hopefully I will make some great friends from the whole experience.

Probably not what you were envisioning, and defiantly not one of my good photos (11pm photo shoots aren’t my forte) but I hope you like it anyway.

One of my big passions is crafting using recycled or utilized materials, so of course my first ever tutorial has to include this element.

You Will Need :-

• Scissors

• Sewing Needle

• Thread or Embroidery floss

• Scrap pieces of felt and fabric

• Badge pin

Instructions

1. Print out the oval template.

Here - oval_template

2. Cut 2 oval shapes from felt.

3. Take 1 of the felt oval shapes (this with be the back of the badge) and sew a badge pin to the back.

4. Take your scrap fabric peices and cut 3 circles of different sizes.

Note - these circles do not have to be perfect or even, but must be smaller than the oval felt shapes.

5. Arrange the circles on top of your other felt oval (this will be your badge front) until you are happy with how it looks. Remove the top 2 circles of fabric. (you should have one still positioned)

6. Using a running stitch, stitch around the circle remaining on your felt 3-5mm from the edge. Then using the blunt edge of your scissors fray along the edges of your sewn circle. Note - Do not fray too close to the stitching; The frayed area should look uneven and rough.

7. Using your scissors, neaten the frayed area by evening it out.

8. Now arrange the second fabric circle and use running stitch to sew 3-5mm in from the edge. Once finished, fray and trim the edge as before.

9. Now arrange the last fabric circle and use running stitch to sew 3-5mm in from the edge. Once finished, fray and trim the edge as before. If you plan on embelishing the badge further, (with beads, or decorative stitching) now is the time to do it.

10. Line up and place the oval badge front good side upwards on top of your badge back peice. It should be assembled exactly how you want it to look when finished.

11. Starting between the layers (to hide the knot) use running stitch to sew both pieces together.

YOU ARE NOW FINISHED!!!!

As this is my first ever posted tutorial, I would love any feedback and would absolutely love to see images of your finished project.