Merry Christmas from the Bissums!

Hello one and all,
with only a few days until Christmas I hope you're not running around like headless chooks, frantic with last minute tasks. This time of year can bring a lot of pressure and expectation but ultimately it should be about the people you're with, not the things you give or receive.

I read an interesting story in the Guardian recently about whether home made or shop bought gifts were better. It's an interesting question because from the mania I've seen from a distance at local shops, people certainly seem to be tending towards the shop bought. Who can blame them though when most people work right up until Christmas day and time is in short supply.

Something I decided to have a crack at this year was truffles. I have a few people to see over Christmas and thought no one would seriously turn their nose up at chocolate honey truffles. Maybe part of me secretly hopes they will though - more for me!

So have a great time over the next week fellow crafters and the Bissums will be back in the new year.
xx

Lamp makeover

I've always really admired the style of Dottie Angel and Ted & Agnes. They're the author's of 'Granny Chic: Crafty recipes & inspiration for the handmade home from Dottie Angel and Ted & Agnes'. One of the cool ideas in the book involves tarting up an old wire lampshade with scraps of your favourite fabrics and I decided to try my hand at it.

I picked up a scalloped wire shade in a thrift shop for £1 and cut the old cover off and used scraps and doilies from my collection for recovering. It can be a wee bit fiddly but once you get the first few scraps on, it's much easier. The trick is keeping the fabric taut and pinning and stitching as you go makes that easier.

I heartily recommend the book if you're serious about cultivating a love of all things granny chic. The photography is fantastic and the can-do spirit of the authors is inspiring.

For the love of a plate

I did a little plate arranging on a bare wall last night and added a linen napkin embroidered with a favourite line from a beautiful Wordsworth poem called 'Lucy'.

The collar obsession continues

I posted a while back about a collar I'd had a go at making one night. Since then I've improved the shape somewhat and here's some snaps of some collars I made last night. They're very, very quick to make and are an excellent way of using scraps of your precious vintage fabrics. They fasten with a button and crochet loop.

In the UK collars are on absolutely everything right now and they look awesome over a shirt/dress or worn as a necklace. If you're worried about looking like an adult woman who's still yearning for her school days (Rebekah Brooks anyone?) then spice your collar up with studs or spikes or wear with a more edgy garment underneath.
Enjoy!

Sweet Cath Kidston material

Yes, this is fabric from the duvet cover which I recently used to make a bag.

This pretty floral number is from an obliging bed sheet

Good times in London

Last week I journeyed off to London for work and decided to tag on a few day of leisure at the end of the week with my great friend Hilary. Our feet barely touched the ground for four days. We went to the ballet at the Royal Opera House and to the National Theatre in the evenings. During our days we visited the Courtauld Gallery in the beautiful Sommerset House with it's magical skating rink, the Pre Raphaelites exhibition at the Tate Britain and the Hollywood Costume exhibition at the V&A.

We also managed to squeeze in a trip to Spitalfields market where all manner of newly crafted and rediscovered objects could be purchased for the right price. I quite liked this beaut yellow coat stand.

We also trawled Portobello Road market on Saturday which left me with not one but two rugs to haul back north, along with the most fab pair of Doc Martens. London's markets put Scotland to shame but we're making our way ahead and the Edinburgh Drill Hall market this Saturday coming is surely helping to put our craft scene on the map.

Fab shoes on fab new rug

We also made a special trip to Liberty, one of my favourite shops of all time. That however deserves it's own post such was the fantastic nature of the visit. So, in conclusion London left me knackered but smiling and happy.

Duvet cover bag

On waking this morning the sun was shining and the sky was blue (this is worthy of mention given the time of year and the fact that it's Scotland) and I was tempted to spend the day pottering in the garden, very tempted in fact. But no, I said! I have crafting purpose today which must be fulfilled - but how?

Lately my hands have been busy crocheting. Since I discovered this craft relatively recently I haven't been able to get enough of it, as my crafting buddy Marion can attest to. Today I wanted to get back to my first love though - sewing. Since making my first 'proper' bag in Design and Technology class in high school (which I still use by the way) I've always loved the craft of sewing. There's something about the instantaneous nature of it which appeals to the easily distracted part of my nature. I like being able to see results quickly and sewing certainly gives you that, even if you end up spending just as much time unpicking what you've just sewn (as I have more times than I care to mention).

Anyway today I felt like making a bag and a quick Google search led me to a tutorial written by a lovely lady named Jodie on her blog Ric Rac. The thing that caught my eye about this was the fact that it said the bag could be made in only one hour, again appealing to the more impatient amongst us. Now I've got to be honest, this did take me more than hour but part of that was definitely due to have several ball-throwing breaks with my beloved pooch, Cleo.

Anyway I've got to admit I'm reasonably chuffed with the results. This is the first time I've included magnetic snap closures (note the cute heart shape) on an item and now there's no looking back - they're going on everything now whether it needs it or not!

A pocket on the inside, just the right size for phone or several lipsticks.

My ingredients for the bag included flower power fabric courtesy of an old duvet cover and an obliging doily from my extensive collection. Onwards and upwards I say, I'm off to get cracking on the next one!

This little crafter went to market...

The Bissums are super excited about holding our first ever stall at a market very soon. We're going to be at a Christmas fair in central Edinburgh on Saturday 1 December.

We can't wait and are busy beavering away every spare minute we have making bits and bobs to take along. The hard part is not wanting to keep everything we're making!

I've taken a few moments to look on Pinterest for collections of stalls that have cheered the hearts of others. Here's a few I like:

Rene Trewern's collection

Natalie Souprounovich's collection

Deanne Wild's collection

Crochet necklace

I've enjoyed playing around with some quick projects this week and one of the results is this crochet bow necklace. Each bow takes no more than half an hour to complete and would be a good project for a beginner because the stitches are super simple.

 

 

Fireside paraphernalia

When I moved to the sticks a little over a year ago one of the things I loved about the house was the fire in the living room. This beauty not only heats all the water and runs the central heating, it also does a good line in atmospheric and romantic light of an evening.

Anyway I'm ashamed to say that for all this time I've continued to use the ratty old gardening glove the previous owners left behind to open the doors when they heat up. You'll see from the picture below that this was not an item befitting a crafty bissum's home.

I decided it was about high time that I replaced the ratty glove with something a little sweeter. I hope you agree that the owl inspired crochet/applique creation is much more appropriate.

Crocheting with t-shirts

After what can only be described as a horrible but thankfully temporary loss of crafty mojo it's come back full swing with a little help from my good friends. Apologies for the hiatus.

When you meet a true crafting genius you begin to feel that everything is possible and there's no limit to what new skills you can learn. For me, my crafty soul mate is Marion, my fellow Bissum. Fueled by cakes and bucket loads of tea, I came away from a weekend with Marion having tried my hand at needle felting for the first time, rug making with wool and hooks and crocheting with strips of unwanted fabric.

Marion presented me on my arrival at her lovely home with the worlds fattest crochet hook. This beast promised to allow creation of bigger stitches and larger items in record time. It did not disappoint and not that I want to play favourites with my hooks, but this could be the best one of all.

We set to work cutting old t-shirts into a long continuous strip of fabric, stretching as we went and rolling it into a ball of yarn. I decided a new bath mat was in order so off I went using a simple treble crochet to whip up this mat in no time. It's 50cm across in diameter giving an overall circumference of around 160cm. Not bad for two old t-shirts eh?

Another skirt adventure

I've been itching to make a skirt ever since I picked up a fab tablecloth last week so the how-to is over on the DIY page now.

Crafty holiday goodness

For the past week I've been in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales staying with the fella and the pooch in a wee cottage in lovely Sedbergh. If you're ever in the area I can highly recommend Farfield Mill if you want to get a sense of what the local crafters are all about. They actually still use the 80 year old looms in the mill to make all sorts of beauties such as rugs and textiles.

Anyway, as you would expect I did my own tour of the surrounding thrift stores and on the very first day of the holiday I had what can only be described as the shoe find of the century! Normally I only give the shoes in thrift stores the most cursory of glances before moving on to more interesting territory. After all, feet are very personal parts of the body and shoes are rarely given away in good condition. I nearly had a conniption in the Oxfam store in Penrith when I came across the glorious clogs you see below.

I'm going through a love affair with wooden shoes at the moment. The trick is to wear them in slowly over time I think and for the more fashion forward amongst us, you might brave wearing a cute ankle sock with a sandal like the one above.
Also in the weeks thrifty haul was the best part of Cumbria's supply of doilies and linens (apologies if anyone else wanted some!). Now although it's lovely just to look at these treasures and wonder what you'll do with 50 vintage tea towels and tray mats, it's also nice to use them in a crafty creation.

Recently I felt it was time to put some of my materials to use so I decided to make a skirt. With all the right tools, like a sewing machine, you can make this skirt in under an hour.

Materials:
I used a double sized flat bed sheet for this and I think the pattern is really delightful.
A length of elastic
Doily or any embellishment you have to hand.
 

How to do it:

•  Fold the sheet in half lengthways, right sides together. If you have the part of the sheet which was already hemmed at the bottom, you can cheat and use this as your skirt hem.
• The next step is to decide how long you want the skirt to be and then add approximately one inch to that for a waistband. Mark and cut across the sheet at that line.
• Now sew a line of straight stitching down the long side of your fabric so you have a tube. If you're a skinny minnie or want to have a less-full look to your skirt, you can simply cut a strip off the side before you start sewing.
• Now you've got your tube, still with right sides together, fold a half inch of fabric down and press all the way around the top of the skirt. Fold down another half inch and press again. This will provide the casing for your elastic.
• Sew a line of straight stitching all the way around the bottom of your casing leaving a small gap to thread your elastic through.
• Cut your elastic to fit around your waist (or wherever you want the skirt to sit) and add a couple of inches to that measurement.
• Thread your elastic through and had stitch the ends together. Close the gap you left in the casing either by hand or with your machine.
• Add any embellishment you fancy! I added a linen doily to this skirt so it had a pocket but anything goes. Enjoy!

1/2 hour collar creation

Upon knocking off work this evening I faced a dilemma - do some much needed housework or settle down with my sewing machine and waste some time. Guess which I chose?

I've jumped on the bandwagon of collar-loving recently and I'm not ashamed to say it. A wee collar on top of a plain t-shirt or dress can really make it pop. So I strolled to my fabric collection and hauled out a much love piece which I am slowly snipping bits off here and there to make all sorts of things.

This peter pan collar took less than half an hour to make. In fact the fiddliest part was hand stitching on possibly the world's smallest popper for the fastening at the front. What do you think?

Maybe you can have a crack at one yourself. All you need is:

• A strip of fabric you can fold in half that is the right length to sit comfortably around your neck (or two strips if you want your inside and outside pieces to contrast) 
• A popper/snap fastener
• A sweet button to decorate the top if you roll that way
• An iron is ESSENTIAL for this otherwise you're headed for lumpy unevenness (and maybe even tears)

1. Fold your strip in half length ways with right sides together. Iron flat.
2. Use a tea cup or other rounded edge to trace a line at either end to make your curved edge. Trim fabric to  match curved line.
3. Sew a seam close to the edge, starting at one curved end, running along the bottom edge and leave a wide enough opening at the other end to turn inside out.
4. Turn tube inside out so right sides are showing. Iron flat.
5. Turn under a seam on the end you left open and iron down.
6. Top stitch around all edges as close to the edge as you can.
7. Sew your popper and decorative button on.
8. Hit the town in your new creation and smile sweetly and get ready to say 'I made it myself' a lot!

P.S - making the dog wear it is also an option you could consider. Don't be fooled by the fear in Cleo's eye - she's loving it, honestly.

Restyling junk

Ever wondered what to do with some of the junk and ornaments you have lying around the house, or find in your local thrift shop? Well today I came across this guy, Chad Wys, who has taken upcycling to a whole new level. Check it out...

 

Those crafty French

Well Paris was fabulous but you'd expect me to say that wouldn't you? One of the great things about the French is their fearlessness I think when it comes to trying something new. A few years ago when I first visited the Palace of Versailles there was an amazing Jeff Koons exhibition in the rooms of the main chateau. It was controversial at the time but it made a big impression on me.

Not to be beaten this time, there was a series of amazing installations by the Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos. Her work is pro feminist and uses many of my favourite techniques such as knitting and crochet, as well as materials I love like old doilies and tray mats. Here's a couple of snaps of some of my favourite pieces- crafty no?

There's a marble lion underneath all that lace!

I spent a good bit of Saturday trawling the flea market at Clignancourt, coming home with a 1937 and 1940 edition of French Marie Claire which I plan to re-craft into something else shortly. Here's a couple of snaps from the markets, well worth a visit if you ever get a chance.

Child's chair covered with Louis Vuitton fabric

Happy Monday everyone!
xx

Bons baisers de Paris

Bonjour mon bissums. That's the extent of my French so I'll just stop that carry on right now. Tomorrow I'll be leaving on a jet plane for a few days in Paris. I can only hope the grey skies and thunder storms of Edinburgh will give way to sun shine and general loveliness in the city of love.

Paris is a favourite destination of mine because even with only a few days, it's possible to feel like you've been on a true adventure and there will always be something wonderful to come back to next time. On my hit list this time are Chateau Versailles mainly for the gardens which should be looking super at this time of year. The other favourite haunt is the famous Les Puces at Clignancourt. This is the largest market in Paris and I've no doubt I'll be wiling away a good few hours there on Saturday. This market has proved a little overwhelming in the past but I'm going in with a renewed sense of purpose this time and hope to come away with some interesting little bits and bobs that the Bissums can put to good use back home.

The rest of the time is really up for grabs. There's no end of fantastic places to go in Paris but one of things I like best about it is just wandering around soaking it all in - coolness by osmosis? Perhaps not, but I intend to have a good time anyway! I always make a point of visiting Colette when I'm there but it's really just to have a sticky beak at all the impossibly cool and usually useless things they stock (fabric marker pens 'designed' by Stella McCartney anyone?). The other unmissable destination has to be the Art Nouveau rooms in the Musee d'Orsay. Some of my favourite objects in the whole world are contained in these rooms. I'm yet to figure out how I can smuggle an oak bed frame out of there unnoticed but I'll keep working on it.

So mon amis, here's wishing you a lovely weekend when it arrives and good crafting whatever you may be putting your hand to.
xx

Reckon I can get away with this get up for a trip to the flea market?

Weekend schenanigans

On Saturday I went trawling through some more local thrift shops and to my amazement I rocked up outside one just in time to see a tub full of old 1970's annuals being deposited out the front with a sign saying each book was only £1! This was a truly fortuitous find as these are becoming quite the collectors item. I snapped up six of the best, not wanting to be greedy and hoped someone else would be as thrilled as I was to find these treasurers.

Filled with enthusiasm I knew what I wanted to do with some of the pages from these nifty books immediately. I had a terracotta plant pot that was crying out for a makeover so off I went.

Sad pot before makeover

Happy pot after makeover

It's only been a couple of weeks since I got my new sewing machine so I am still in the honeymoon phase and wanting to spend every spare minute with her. I decided to have a go at making an envelope purse which is super simple. I drew a pattern onto some thick paper and then cut out on two different bits of fabric and away I went.

Pattern shaped something like a house

Lining made from an old sun dress

 Lastly I did make time to take the pooch for a clamber through our nearest local castle. She jumped straight on the battlements and I think she looks like she belongs there.