Tutorial: Square Patchwork Heat Bag (wheat bag) with Handle

Heat bags (or wheat bags?!) are the best and I use them all the time - on sore shoulders, a weary back or just to keep me warm in winter. I've got a few long-shaped ones but none that are square, which seems like a massive oversight! So today, when I got some sewing mojo after making up some fabric scrap packs for the shop, I decided to make a big square patchwork heat bag and add a handle, so I can hang it up when it's not in use.

It was such a fun project and didn't take long at all - around 1-1.5 hours. I just grabbed a bunch of fabric scraps (some tiny!) that when laid out made a square around 32cm x 32cm. I then arranged the fabric in a way that looked good (sometimes cutting the bits to make them look/fit bitter), sewed 4-5 horizontal lengths into strips about 26-28cm long, sewed the strips together until they were about 24-26cm high, added some batting and did some very basic quilting stitches to hold it in place, made a handle (you don't have to patchwork this if it's easier to use a length of plain fabric, but add a bit of interfacing to give it body/strength), then sewed it up and filled it with wheat.

The bag's finished size is 24cm x 22cm (9.5" x 8.5") and the handle's 13cm x 4cm (5" x 1 1.5"), so if you want to make one a similar size add 1cm to each side for a seam allowance :) 

Happy sewing!

Click through to see some in progress shots

Craft Tutorial: DIY Customised Felt Pillowcase

If you are looking for a fun craft project for yourself, a gift or the school holidays, why not try making a custom felt pillowcase?! So easy, so fun and they make a great personalised gift. In place of a pillowcase you could use a tea towel, T-shirt, a piece of fabric (then frame or use as part of a quilt) - so many options! I made a few of them recently and here are my very basic instructions.

CRAFT TUTORIAL: DIY FELT PILLOWCASE

TIME:

1-2 hours

TOOLS:

• Paper and coloured pencils

• Sewing machine

• Iron

• Sharp scissors

• Pins

• Blank pillowcase (or T-shirt/ tea towel/ fabric piece)

• Various pieces of coloured felt

• Coloured thread to match the felt (or use a contrasting colour!)

• Iron-on interfacing

METHOD:

1. Take your paper and pencil and sketch out a little version of your pillowcase, and mark up the shapes and letters you’d like to include on it. Think about the scale of the different objects, and what colour you’d like them to be, and mark/colour in any of this detail.

2. Once you’ve finalised your design, sketch out to-scale versions of the shapes and letters onto another piece of paper. Cut the paper shapes out.

3. Iron the interfacing onto the reverse of the felt pieces, using a low heat (so you don’t burn the felt!) This will give it a bit of reinforcement, and will also make it easier to sew.

4. Pin the paper shapes onto the front of the felt, and cut them out with sharp scissors.

5. Arrange the felt pieces onto the pillowcase, and pin them in place.

6. Topstich the felt pieces onto the pillowcase, about 3mm from the edge of the felt, backstitching at the start and end. I use a wide stitch and set my machine to its lowest speed. Don’t worry if some of them end up a bit wonky - this adds to the charm.

7. Admire your handiwork!

If you make one, I'd love to see it so remember to share (tag me on Instagram @hellospinspin) :)

DIY Craft Tutorial: Fabric Covered Buttons

I always have so many scraps of tiny remnant fabric, leftover from sewing projects and whatnot. These bits might be small but they're full of colour and texture and personality - little snippets of designs I dreamt up in a notebook and turned into a real-life thing. And the texture of the fabric really shines when you've got little itty bits - the raw roughness of flax linen, the supersoft and pure white of quilting cotton and the body and texture of organic hemp.

Yonks ago I made a heap of buttons and did a little DIY tutorial (hello, old blog!) Back then I started out with a process that was a lot more complicated (involving sewing the fabric edges and gathering it, eek) but there's a much easier way and all it involves is buying a couple of really cheap tools, so I figured it's about time I did an updated tutorial. It takes no time at all to whip up a bunch of buttons yourself once you're set up, so get onto it!

CRAFT TUTORIAL: FABRIC COVERED BUTTONS

TOOLS

• Fabric scissors

• Fabric scraps (preferable of different prints and textures, but that work together)

• Metal self-covered buttons - shells (the front) and backs (shanks). I use the 23mm size, 7/8", which is US size 36).

• Self covered button assembly tool, to match your button size (these cost around AU$5, you can buy them online)

• A circle template to match your button size (you can get fancy ones with an inner circle cut out, so you can see how much of the fabric will show on the finished button, but I like the surprise of not quite knowing! You can see mine below - I made it using a piece of plastic cut to 22mm)

METHOD

STEP 1: Use the circle template the cut a bunch of fabric scraps to the right size.

STEP 2: Place the fabric, right side down, on top of the tool base. Then place the button, right side down, on top of the fabric, along with the blue presser tool.

STEP 3: Press the button and fabric into the base. You may need to apply a bit of pressure and sometimes it's easier to turn it upside down, as per step 6.

STEP 4: Smooth out any kinks in the fabric at the button edge. 

STEP 5: Position the button back/shank on top of the neatened fabric.

STEP 6: Place the blue presser tool on top of the button back (hollow side down) and turn upside down. Press the tool base. You'll feel it click when the back is locked in place.

STEP 7: Admire your handiwork!

That's it! Sooo simple. Once you start making some buttons, you'll get addicted and want to make a heap. What do you do with them? I've put them on clothes, cushions, used them as decorations on gifts, used them tied into hair elastics - the possibilities are many. Or get flat backs and glue a magnet on the back and put them on your fridge. Happy crafting! 

TUTORIAL: Pysanky Easter egg decorating

How is it possible that I've only just discovered the art of pysanky, ie: the decoration of eggs with fun patterns, using beeswax?! I do vaguely remember doing some basic egg decorating as a child, maybe using a fern and a stocking and some dye. But being able to 'draw' really detailed patterns onto an egg using a fine tipped wax pen, called a kistka, is so much more fun.

If you're at a loose end over Easter and you can get your hands on a kistka, some wax and dye this week (hello, online shopping!) I'd highly recommend giving it a shot yourself. Below is a really basic tutorial, with the method my friend and I used - it really is so simple!

PYSANKY EGG DECORATING

TOOLS

• Eggs (free range of course!) - try a range of shell colours and sizes

• A pin

• A small screwdriver

• A kistka hot wax tool

• Beeswax

• Dye

• Hairdryer

• Paper towel

METHOD

1. Wash your hands thoroughly. You want to remove any natural or other oil from your skin, to make sure you don't transfer this to the eggs - it will stop the dye from penetrating the shell.

2. Hollow out your eggs. Prick a hole at each end using a pin and then use a small screwdriver to make a slightly bigger hole, being careful not to crack the egg. Blow the eggwhite and yolk into a bowl and use in baking, or make some scrambled eggs for lunch.

3. Light a candle and hold the kistka tip in the flame to warm it up. Scoop the tool through the beeswax to fill the well with hot wax.

4. Decorate your egg using the kistka. You can transfer a pattern onto the egg using a pencil, then trace it with the tool. Or go freehand and decorate however you want. If you need some inspiration, hello Google!

5. Mix up some dye and submerge the wax-decorated egg for at least 15 minutes. You can buy natural egg dye or try making your own, using beetroot or onion skin or eucalypt leaves or whatever else you can dream up.

6. You can now do some further decorating and then dye in additional colours, or you can stop at one colour.

7. To remove the wax, heat the egg using a hairdryer. Be careful not to burn yourself or blow the egg out of your hands (tricky!) As the wax heats up, use some paper towel to wipe off the wax. And that's it! Admire your handy work.