Union Jack French Memo Board- How To

I've made a lot of French memo boards for friends and family over the years but I realised I'd never put one of my creations on the internet! So here is the latest one I made which was inspired by the Union Jack flag but I couldn't resist making it pink, floral and girly!

(That Forest ticket is from 2006! Oldskool!)

I used pink gingham ribbons, blue chintz fabric and stuck a big pink heart to the front (cos the middle pin was slightly wonky!).

If you'd like to learn how to make one of these for yourself click below to read more! A sweet little tutorial and more photos of the board follow! The best thing about this project is that it requires no sewing skills!

Another Pillowcase Skirt

I Spent last night making this skirt whilst watching the trials and tribulations of the characters on Eastenders. It was a pillowcase with a gorgeous broderie anglais trim. It seemed a shame to waist it so I hemmed it to the bottom of the skirt thus killing two birds with one stone.

The pillowcase was hella see through so I made a lining for it out of an old white duvet cover. All in all the skirt cost me less than 50p to make, which makes me a very happy sewer!

How To- Make a Skirt from a Pillowcase Tutorial

I bought this pillowcase ages ago from a charity shop and only just rediscovered it. It has everything I love.. polka dots and flowers! Plus the colours and panelling almost have a nautical theme about it. Anyway I turned it from this.......

To This!

I think it was 50p well spent!

Click 'Read more' to see my tutorial for how to make a pillowcase skirt yourself!

How to- Make A Circular Tablecloth Into A Full Circle Skirt.

My tutorial on how to turn a tablecloth into a kimono is reaching a high level of popularity on the Cut Out and Keep website. (#13 in the top 20 last time I checked.) I am absolutely over the moon, the response I have had for that creation has just been great. Such nice comments!
It got me thinking about how else can I use a tablecloth in other re-fashion projects? I then discovered this gorgeous full circle table cloth in my local charity shop and its fate was decided right there and then.
It went from this .........

To this..........................

A full circle skirt! The print just automatically decided its fate! It was too vintage to be any other type of skirt I think a 50s style suited it down to a T! If you are interested in how to do this project yourself you can find the how to if you click 'read more'.

Who knows how to crochet?

If anybody can crochet I'd love for someone to make me this... 

[it's my birthday in April]

I found it over at the rather cool 'Crochet Living' which is full of nifty vintage crafting patterns. In case you were wondering it is a poodle wine cosy! I don't know why you need a cosy for wine because I thought most should be served chilled, but hey who cares! I want a poodle wine cosy dammit!
 I so wish I could crochet. Oh well another thing for the 'To Do' list! 

If you are lucky enough to be able to crochet head over to 'Crochet Living' where the patten is available for free! Then get your hooks out and some pink merino and then pop it in the post to me! Thanks!

Total Recall T Shirt.

Total Recall is an awesome film, possibly my favourite Arnie film! 

Thinking it would look awesome on a Tee, I set about to make it become reality.  

This was the result.

Click below to see the inspiration!

How to- Turn a single little kid's duvet cover into a double big kid's duvet cover tutorial.

I am the biggest kid at heart and love cartoons and anything that remind me of my childhood. I became very aware that there were a lot of very cool, retro single duvet covers in my local charity/thrift shops. Alas they were too small! I am by society’s standard an adult now, so sleep in a big grown up’s bed! So how could I get around the problem of loving the too small duvet covers and having a too big bed? Simple! I refashioned and up cycled. Here follows my tutorial.

You will need:

• A cool, beloved or retro single duvet cover.
• Single Pillowcase to match. (optional)
• A double duvet cover/ or enough material to compensate for the lack of one.
• Matching thread
• Tape measure
• Tailors chalk
• Pins
• Calculator (if you suck at maths like I do!)

Key

• SDC- Single Duvet Cover
• DDC-Double Duvet Cover
• PC-Pillowcase

Spring is coming!

So I am turning my attention to Spring. It is definitely my favourite time of year and I always seem to have the most fun within that season. I have started to adjust my wardrobe to feel more springy and already looking forward to being able to drive my car with the roof pulled down. I suddenly remembered that springs means new life and decided to provide some shelter for it. I bought a little blue and pink birdhouse and birdfeed. I really hope it gets put to good use. I attached the box to my balcony and put food nearby so hopefully birds will start entertaining me as I gaze out of the window. 


I have also devised a recipe for making fat balls to keep young birds fed and happy. It is important to hang these as high as possible to avoid rodents. 

Accidental Kimono Tutorial

Very easy Kimono top by Minnie Burton

I am no expert! This is how I made my kimono style top! It was originally a table cloth that I was planning to make into a full circle skirt but I cut the waist too big! So I toyed with the idea of making it a poncho style top, but then inspiration struck and I wanted a gypsy style kimono! :D

My illustrations for directions are designed on MS Paint so please over look the god awful shaky hand drawn diagrams. They may not look neat but they hopefully will work!

Accidental Kimono

I made a kimono style top completely by accident! It was originally a table cloth that I loved the fabric of, so I decided to make it a full circle skirt. However I made the hole for the waist way too big and was pulling it over my head to work out how to fix it when I noticed it would make a pretty banging kimono/poncho style top. I think it worked rather well. Looks pretty cool too. Excuse the lack of ironing in the pics!