Day 329: Sewing, here we come...

On Saturday, I put up a picture of my unopened presents, which is pretty and all, but it's a bit mean if I don't share what's actually under the wrapping paper. There were a few creative gems in there, one being the massive one at the back (scroll down to take a look). My lovely Mum, Step Dad Mark and grandparents gave me a sewing machine!

I am so excited. My creative enthusiasm hasn't been let loose on one of those since I made a Mickey Mouse Apron in Year 8 (which was awesome, of course.) I can use the Meet me at Mikes Book (see Day ...) I got for Christmas to sew toys, coasters, skirts...pretty much anything really. What would you make?

I have banned myself from even getting it out of the box until after Uni. Final slog now. Knitting is destracting enough without a new creative toy to play with.

If you know any good sewing websites/blogs, leave a comment below. Best to help each other out with all this creative stuff, right?

Day 217: Wooly Winters

Good News Folks! I found out from BBC this morning that wool is on the up. More people are buying knitted stuff. More people are knitting. Which means, British wool is making money for our country, yay!

You wanna know why I'm banging on about this, don't you?

Well, the truth is guys, knitting is cool! Creating your own bags, clothes, toys...is the way forward.

So get out there and start creating. There's never been a better time to support our country's economy. Plus, it's real good for the environment too. Hardly any fossil fuels needs to be used to produce yarn and British wool is being sold all over the world.

If you need an excuse to get creative with wool, here it is. No more excuses people. It's time to be inspired by sheep!

Day 155: Spread your creative passions...

I'm pretty sure I've spoken to you a few times about how I've got stuck into knitting, but really credit has to go to the knitting club at Uni. We hold it in town every other week at a coffee shop. Yesterday I went along and there was one girl making gloves and another who had never knitted before. That's the great thing about it, anyone can come and join in the fun.
We sit. We chat. We knit. Simple.

It's great fun and I've really got into it. I've even started making some baby booties (I will show you when they're done, I promise)! It's fun doing something creative that's separate from my course. I do it when I'm watching tv in the evenings or watching a film. I love it!

The knitting club was set up by my friends Celia and Beth just because our Uni didn't have one and I am so glad they did. I wouldn't be into knitting without them and the knitting club.

 Does it annoy you that your school/college doesn't do what you love? Well, my challenge to you is to set up a club. If there's something you like doing creatively and it's not there, do it yourself! Get permission, put up posters, start a facebook group and away you go, you've got your very own lunchtime club going on. Maybe you're into writing lyrics or poems, sewing or dance. If you like baking why not set up a recipe club where one person brings in something they've made for everyone to try and give feedback? School/college is the perfect place to get more people involved in what you love.

Just because something doesn't happen, doesn't mean it shouldn't happen, so start it. That's what my friends did and it worked out great.

Give it a go. You won't know until you try...

Day 68: Trash to Treasures

I was looking around on the web the other day, as you do, and I found this competition which asked people to make things from recycled stuff. As I was looking through the entries, I thought how many creative things you can make out of rubbish. The closing date had already passed (which is a shame), but luckily for us, the winner has been announced:

This crocheted flower is by Jane of Hooked Yarn. Can you believe its made from carrier bags? How amazing! check out her technique here.

There were loads of cool entries like necklaces made from Cheerio boxes, a heart wall hanging made of paper shopping bags and even some frilly knickers made from an old wedding dress!
Check out all the entries at http://www.makers-online.co.uk/blog/ You could follow their creative endeavors on their daily blog too.

What do you make? Do you knit, sow, make cards, jewellery...why not try making it out of unusual stuff? Be inspired by the stuff that's already out there and do your own thing with the ideas it gives you!

Be different, be creative...