Craft Books I Love: How To Make Jewellery With Tatty Devine

I thought I would start a new series where I talk about my favourite crafting books. I'm a self taught crafter, so books have played a big part in learning new skills. Stay tuned for more of my favourite crafting books.

I have been a long time admirer of Tatty Devine for a long time now. If you haven't heard of them, or seen any of their amazing jewellery before (where have you been?), then get yourself over to their online store and prepare to drool over pretty much everything. Unfortunately, I don't own any pieces of their lovely jewellery, largely due to £££, but still, a girl can dream...

So, when I heard about Harriet and Rosie of Tatty Devine writing a craft book, I knew I would have to have it. When I got this book, it was probably my first step into the world of crafting. Sure, I'd tried a little knitting and sewing at school, but I never really stuck at anything. I have to admit that the thought of making jewellery used to ring alarm bells in my head, as I always thought it involved beading. This looked fiddly, and the end results were simply not 'me'. This book started me thinking that crafting could be fashionable, mainly due to all the lovely projects inside (and no beading in sight!).

This book is great for beginners - I found the section at the beginning explaining all the tools and jewellery fittings very helpful, from the basic (pliers, lobster clasps) to the more advanced (drill bits, specialised glue). Even if you're an advanced jewellery maker, you're sure to find some inspiration, whether it's from a necklace made from an old pair of glasses or crisp packet jewellery.

Each project is very easy to follow, with photos for all the steps and simple instructions. There is even a list of stockists included at the very back of the book to make it easy for you to source all that you could need. Although what I particularly love about this book, is that Harriet and Rosie actively encourage you to go out to a car boot sale or a second hand shop and find your own unique items to make jewellery with. Which is great, because you end up with really special and unique results.

I especially like how personal the book is. Throughout the book, there are little anecdotes from the early days of Tatty Devine, the stories behind their iconic pieces of jewellery, and items that have been picked up from some of their adventures. It is very inspiring to hear Harriet and Rosie's story, and it certainly encouraged me to give jewellery making a go. Here I am, a couple of years down the line and still rummaging through second hand shops for crazy items to make jewellery from. And I haven't looked back since.

Bicycle Knitting Chart and Jumper Inspiration

At the moment I have a burning desire to knit a jumper. Yep, I understand that this is the kind of time that normal people start to consider their summer wardrobe, and whether they need any clothes for their holidays. But, there are two things you need to know about me:

1. I am not normal.
2. I am a jumper fiend. 

I have never knit a jumper before, and I have a feeling that it's the kind of project that could take a while to complete. So, perhaps this is actually the best time to start knitting a jumper in order that it is ready for the winter. 

I love a good old motif jumper, and a motif I really want to use is a bicycle one. I don't know how I had this thought - perhaps I was thinking that the Tour de France is coming up soon? It's a big event in our household. After a lazy afternoon spent on Pinterest, I quickly decided that a bicycle jumper was what my heart desired, and I quickly set about making baby steps towards making my first ever jumper. *Gulp!*

I used my knitting chart technique to make this chart, and this one actually didn't require any redrafting. Which was surprising, as I was worried that a bicycle might be a complex shape to translate into a knitting chart. I'm actually very pleased with how bike-like this chart looks! 

On second thoughts, I think it probably was the Tour de France that inspired this chart, as I can't stop thinking about making a jumper which has some kind of nod to the Parisienne. Perhaps some French flag elbow patches? Or a red white and blue colour scheme? Hmmm... This requires some thought. 

These are some of the photos that I think are going to inspire this project. Some of these beauties are worthy of a place in Gyles Brandreth's wardrobe, non? I might try to stay away from that area. 

Sources, clockwise from far left: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Here's hoping I soon get the courage/wool to start knitting the bike jumper of my dreams. I'll (hopefully) be posting the end result here (maybe with a pattern), but don't hold your breath!

Any tips anybody's got for knitting jumpers? What would be your dream jumper? 

Mid-Week Treat: The £1 Eyebrow Pencil

When I think about it, me and my eyebrows have been through a lot. From generally worrying about their bushiness, to the first time I plucked them (ow!), going through an over plucking stage, and letting them grow back out again. I've actually got to a stage where I'm actually comfortable with my eyebrows, which means a lot coming from someone who used to pluck them everyday (I'm not actually joking). Yep, I still have moments where I panic that they are not symmetrical, but I've come a long way with them.

One thing that has definitely helped in my acceptance of my eyebrows, is using an eyebrow pencil. I like my eyebrows to look natural, but using an eyebrow pencil just to enhance the shape of my eyebrows and to fill in any sparse areas means that I rarely have any 'bad eyebrow' days.

Recently, my favourite No7 eyebrow pencil broke - eep! - and I was a little heartbroken. I knew I needed a new one pronto, and in the spirit of being a cheapskate thrifty, I decided I'd give a budget one a chance.

This one cost me the grand total of £1, and it is from the MUA range at Superdrug. I have to admit, it draws on a lot thicker than I was expecting - the first time I used it I felt like K K Slider (geeky reference, sorry) - but now I'm used to it, I can't actually notice much difference from my old No7 one. It even has a brush on one end like my old one! If anything, the colour of the MUA one is better, as the No7 brunette colour was actually quite red, and not brown enough for me personally.

I've heard quite a few people recommending eyebrow shadows, so that might be the next step on my eyebrow adventure.

Any products for eyebrows that you would recommend?

How to: Make a Porcelain Pieces Necklace

It is no secret that I have a love of all things porcelain related. Possibly because it reminds me of drinking tea? I made this porcelain necklace last year, and it became a summer staple for me; I was hardly seen without it. So when I came across even more pieces of random porcelain in the garden, I knew I would be making something similar.

I used exactly the same technique as last time, except that because my pieces of porcelain were smaller this time around, I simply used more of them on one necklace. I like the kind of relaxed, boho vibe of this necklace, and can't wait to wear it with all my summer clothes.

I wouldn't be telling the truth if I said that all of these pieces of porcelain are equal. Let's face it, the one with the blue and white square pattern takes centre stage here, hands down. Keep an eye out for old, cheap second hand porcelain with a nice pattern on, as I think it is these pieces of porcelain that look the best.

As before, I used a strong glue to stick a large jump ring to the back of each piece of porcelain. It's worth using a good glue for this, as porcelain is not a glue friendly zone.

When the glue dried, I used smaller jump rings to attach the porcelain shards to a necklace chain. Play about with the arrangement of your porcelain until you come up with something that you really like.

This is such a simples project, but every time I do it I always love the results. Of course, the same technique could be used to make a bracelet, or simply glue your porcelain to a ring base to make yourself a really unique, eye catching ring. Now all I need to do is make myself a tea cup bangle and my life will be complete.

I'm off to drink tea whilst wearing my new necklace to celebrate. Cheers!

Vintage Crochet and Knitting Patterns: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

I've been having a bit of a sort out lately, what with it being a typical time for a "spring clean". It always takes me so long, because I always just end up reading books and looking at thing I haven't seen in a while. One of the many things I "sorted out" was my collection of crochet and knitting patterns, making me eager to start many new projects! Here are a few of my favourite vintage patterns, some of them lovely, some of them cringe worthy, and others just hilarious. Enjoy!

My obsession with peter pan collars flows over into my crochet pattern haul. Who knows, maybe I was Oliver Cromwell in a past life? No, I can't be, I love Christmas too much. These are just a few of my collar patterns (I have many, many more!). I've actually never made a collar, so seeing these beauties again has given me the push to pick up my hooks again, and get chaining. I've chosen to make the "rose motif" collar, so I'll keep you posted on my progress.

I have a bit of a love for nautical style (hello, Breton stripes), so it's only natural that I love these jumpers. French flag elbow patches? *Swoon*. Unfortunately, the two jumpers on the left are knit up in 4-ply, and I ain't got time fo' dat! Sorry. The ribbed anchor jumper however, is knit in DK, so it might be put on my to-knit list (which is ridiculously long).

This idea is so simple, I don't know why I haven't though of it before. Crochet a lacy motif, and attach it to a plain bag and voila! So chic! I love the 60s styling in this little booklet, it's making me want to cut my hair into a bob.

An orange dress, with purple crochet side panels. Nice. Don't forget the matching headband too! I love me some 70s style clothing, but it's easy to see why people see the 70s as the decade that style forgot. This is just one of many, many bad patterns. Bad bad. But funny-bad, all the same.

A crochet toilet seat cover? I can't even... I have no words for this. It's only after you stop laughing that you realise that it's made in a lovely burnt orange and brown colour scheme too. Nice.

Do you like old knitting and crochet patterns, or do you prefer more orthodox modern patterns?

Toby

As you can probably tell by scrolling through some of my posts here, I am definitely no professional photographer. That said, I still enjoy taking photos, so when my cat was looking rather cute the other day I pulled out my camera. I'm rather surprised at how well these turned out (and that Toby actually stayed awake long enough for me to take his picture). Hope you enjoy x

*Making myself look cute so that you tickle my tummy and then I bite you. Mwah ha ha!*

*Zzz*

*You woke me up for a stupid photo? I am most unimpressed, human*

Weaving With Sticks

I think everybody's tried paper weaving, right? Where you cut slits into one sheet of paper and weave paper strips through the gaps. I think it's actually an essential part of Primary School learning. Well, I'd heard of peg loom weaving before, but as a peg loom can be quite an investment, just to find you don't like weaving (not to mention the space it takes up), I'd never tried real weaving. That is, until now.

I attended a lovely event at my local library recently which focused on heritage crafts i.e. traditional crafts, some of them still in use today, others not so. The wool spinning was fascinating, as was stone carving and henna tattoos. What really caught my attention though, was a lady who was weaving using sticks. After a chat with her, where she explained the technique and the history behind it (it can be traced as far back as the early settlers of America), I came away with a set of weaving sticks.

*Hit Me With Your Weaving Sticks!*

Friends, these are weaving sticks. Essentially, they are pieces of dowling rod with a hole through one end, and the other end is pointed like a knitting needle. I had never heard of them until a few days ago - who knew you could weave on sticks? This is a set of five, but you can use two as a minimum, and work up from there.

If anything, it was just really interesting to try the technique, as it offers great insight into how everyday fabrics are made, if albeit on a much smaller scale.

You start off by building the "bones" of your weaving - threading a warp thread through the holes in the top of your sticks, and knotting them together. These determine the length of your weaving.

Then, you simply start weaving at the other end of your sticks. This is the weft of the weaving (sounding familiar, sewing friends?). The weaving will creep up to the top of the sticks, where it meets with the warp threads.

The weaving works up very quickly - I couldn't believe how easily I'd grasped the basic technique on my first try. I then set about playing with different textures.

This is jersey yarn, which I have made from an old t-shirt. I really like the bulky weave this gave, and it was nice and stretchy too!

My first finished weaving :) Now all I need to do is make several more strips and sew them together to make a rug. My mind is actually in overload thinking of all the possibilities and potential this new technique has.

Hmmmm... I feel some weaving experiments coming up!

Have you ever tried weaving before? Any ideas on what I could use my weaving sticks for?

Thrifty Finds

Second hand shopping can be a little like a desert, and recently I've been trekking through a dry patch. When you're an experienced cheapskate second hand shopper, you learn not to let this get you down, because probability states that you are going to find something amazing really soon. The thrifty Gods were smiling down on me this week, as I came away with some particularly lovely things.

I have a little bit of a book habit. And when I say little I mean that I should really consider starting my own library. As much as I love reading, I still manage to buy more books than I can keep up with - isn't this every bookworm's problem?

Whenever I read Dickens I always thoroughly enjoy it, so I want to get back into reading more of his works. The main issue is that I find his works sometimes take a while to get into, rather than something that grabs me and pulls me in straight away. Although it can be hard work to begin with, Dickens is always very rewarding to finish, as his skill with plot always comes through at the end. I picked up this charming copy of Hard Times to inspire me to read more Dickens, although I think the next one I will read will probably be Bleak House. I remember watching the TV series and loving it - I've now waited long enough to forget what actually happened, so I'm looking forward to reading it. Doesn't Charles Dance die?

I've never studied any Keats, so I feel like I've missed out a little. I don't even know that much about the man himself, but being a fan of poetry, I picked up this lovely anthology of his poems to slowly digest over time. Any particular Keats poems anybody recommends? There was also a Tennyson anthology in the same style which I didn't buy, because I already have a collection of his works, and as much as I love his poetry, I think one Tennyson anthology is enough for anybody, amirite?

This little book really appealed to my rather silly sense of humour. Advanced French For Exceptional Cats is essentially humorous cat cartoons with captions in both English and French, and I think is meant to be a cat's guide to learning French. I don't think it's that old of a book, being published in the 90s, but it tickled me. I suppose this is how people laughed at funny cats before the internet and Lolcats.

I picked up these bracelets thinking that they would definitely be useful in a future jewellery making session. However, I have actually decided that I like them just as they are, as they look really delicate and sophisticated when worn together. I don't know whether their original owner donated them together, or if they are three separate bracelets that just happen to fit together so well. They have a luxe, but laid back feel, and can be worn with pretty much any outfit.

These loafer/slippers (sloafers?) cost me a ludicrous £2. Although I don't really need shoes, I couldn't let these ones slip me by as they are a typically 'me' pair. They cleaned up very well, despite being a velvety suede fabric and they fit comfortably, which is important in flat shoes. They are black, so will go with everything, but I will be wearing mine with ankle grazing trousers and a plain t-shirt, for a simple but smart look. And for £2, I will probably wear them until they break!

What has been your best bargain lately? Where is your favourite destination for second hand shopping?

How to: Make a Dolce and Gabbana Inspired Roman Necklace

Sometimes, a DIY will sneak up on me quite unexpected. This Roman layered necklace was one of those serendipitous moments, when inspiration and means strike both at the same time. I love it when a DIY comes together!

I'm such a nerd when it comes to anything history/art related, that I jumped at the chance to buy the below keyring. It was a mere 10p from one of my favourite second hand haunts.

Like any child of the 90s, I had an extensive collection of keyrings (I had some incredibly Harry Potter ones). Sadly, I rarely succumb to buying keyrings now, as I only ever need one. This one was destined to come home with me though, as when I saw the gorgeous Roman charms, I knew I would use them somehow.

It wasn't until after my purchase that I remembered the Dolce & Gabbana Roman influenced Spring/Summer 2014 show, and I smiled smugly as I realised how on trend I was. Quite a happy accident, I assure you.

Source

I decided to make a two layered necklace using the charms, as I thought it would be more wearable on a day to day basis than some of the more eccentric items from the show. This is quite a simple tutorial, and you can adapt it to include more than two chains, and to use any charms you want. 

You Will Need:

• Charms of your choice
• 2 necklace chains (one longer than the other)
• Pliers
• 5 Jump Rings
• A fastener

I decided to use the coin charm and the fresco charm - I found the dog charm to be a bit creepy (and I'm more of a cat person anyway). I simply used pliers to take them off the keyring.

If you want to make a necklace like mine, you can find some coin charms pretty easily all over the internet, like these ones. Funnily enough, Roman fresco charms are a lot harder to find, so I recommend using this technique to make your own (you could use any painting you like). The fresco on my charm is known as "Portrait of the Baker", a painting of Terentius Neo and his wife, and was discovered in Pompeii. See, this blog is educational too!

First up, attach one charm to each of your necklace chains using jump rings. Think about which charm you want to be on the shorter chain, and which one on the longer chain. Personally, I think bigger charms work better on longer chains, but it's up to you. 

Add a fastener to the end of one necklace, and a jump ring (or loop) to the other end. You are now going to attach the other necklace chain to this necklace. 

Using a jump ring, attach one end of your loose chain to the top of your necklace chain. Repeat this to the other ends of the necklace, so that your four chain ends have become two. 

Now, you're finished!

All that remains is to wear your new layered necklace, preferably with a toga and a laurel crown. Alternatively, I think layered necklaces always look amazing when worn with a floaty summery dress, or a t-shirt and shorts. They have a very laid-back, boho feel. 

Let me know if you try this, and what themes you choose for your necklaces. Have you ever had inspiration from a second hand find?