Hey Dollface!

So I made this doll.....

It was meant to be super simple.... but basically I'm lazy and get distracted really easily so the four I'd initially planned to make aint gonna happen.

I thought it was ok but then the next day I got this in the post and realised I know nothing about making dolls.

How bloomin' cute is that? She's Kiki from the Ghibli film 'Kiki's delivery Service'.

She was crocheted by the very talented and lovely Heather who also has this wicked cute Etsy shop which you should all look at! 

Not only is she gorgeous but not wanting to be a bit odd..... she even has mini crocheted undies! Look!!!

I sent her some stuff too... but it's not arrived yet... the snow is playing such havoc with all the parcels I've sent recently... :/

The doll I made was called Molly but I pretty much hate her and love Kiki now. So Molly's taking a trip to the charity shop soon.

Make the most of it Molls... your days are numbered! 

Pacman Resin Bangle- Waka waka waka

I love PACMAN! I made this for a little swap I was taking part in on Cut out and Keep. I can post it now as my partner has recieved it and hopefully she likes it as much as I liked making it!

I also made this little sloth tote for our swap. He's just hanging there on a branch that has heart shaped leaves. 

You can check out her blog here. I think she was happy with what I sent.  :)

Also the contest to win a sweet Halloween craft book is still open! BUT you now have less than 6 days to enter. So be quick! 

What does everyone think of the new ribbon design? Were the mad flowers better?

**CLOSED**Giveaway! Free Craft Book! Witch Craft!

This give-away is now closed but check back for more freebies... coming soon!

What's this? A free book?
Yes my friends for the first time on this blog there is going to be a giveaway!
I am really pleased to be able to partner with PGUK and Quirk Books to be able to giveaway a fantastic copy of Witch Craft.

Initially if I'm honest I was a little dubious about hosting a giveaway as it's not something I really want my blog to be about...but this book is so fantastic I couldn't resist and I just had to share!

The book is all kinds of awesome with 25 spooky themed crafts to be made just in time for Halloween!

My particular favourite are the Ruby Slippers and the creepy Cross Stitch Button Earrings!

Click here to read my review on Witch Craft.

For your chance to win!

*YOU MUST BE A SUBSCRIBER TO MINNIE BURTON CRAFT*

1)Read my review of Witch Craft by clicking here!

2)Then leave a comment on this post or the review to let me know why you think you should be the winner!

*If you aren't already a subscriber don't panic! Go to the Subscribe tab and take one of the options, it's quick and painless! I promise!

The contest if open from today (Monday 11th of October) and will close on Saturday the 23rd of October 23:59 (GMT)

Good Luck!

*YOU CAN ENTER MORE THAN ONCE!...

*If you also feel like promoting this contest via your own blog, facebook, twitter or other means, you can enter more than once! Yay! Just send me a message with your link of promotion and feel free to leave another comment!

Any comments left by non subscribers will not be entered into the contest.

Second commens left without any promotion will be removed.
I reserve the right to remove any comment I feel inappropriate to this blog, book and giveaway.
The winner will be sent the book by PGUK or Quirk books depending on location. Minnie Burton Craft is not responsible for it's delivery.

Book Review- Witch Craft Magaret (McGuire and Alicia Kachmar)

The kind people at Quirk books and PGUK have sent me a copy of Witch Craft to review. What with Halloween just round the corner I felt it was fairly apt to have a look and see what kind of craft ideas were on offer.

Witch Craft- Wicked Accessories, Creepy-Cute Toys, Magical Treats, and More! Compiled by Margaret McGuire and Alicia Kachmar

This book is a cute little manual for all things spookily sweet. It has a range of crafts from crocheting to cookery and with over 25 different projects there is sure to be something for everyone.

I was a little dubious that the book would continue to have a good standing after the Halloween festivities had passed, but a lot of the projects (though Halloween themed) are transferable to other holidays or can be made into more gerneral crafts. For example the sparkly mary janes and the gorgeous recipe for posion Ivy lip balm could be made at any time of the year and still make a wonderful gift of project.

Whatever level of craft you are at, the book will have something it can offer you... But I must warn that some of the projects involving crocheting or knitting can only really be completed with some prior knowlege of these techniques. The book seems to assume that most of it's readers will have basic knitting or crocheting experience so a little learning as you go along may be required.

Some of the projects are also suitable for more littler ones, such as the graveyard cupcakes and the spooky crystal balls. As well as some fantastic gift ideas it also offers decoration tips which is great if you thinking of planning a Haloween themed bash!

Overall it is a great little book, especially with Halloween just around the corner. You can currently buy it from Amazon for the bargain price of only £6.99 or for even more of a bargain you can enter my giveaway and win a copy for FREE!

8/10

 

Make Do And Mend Resin Bangle

So when I bought that resin sewing bit and bobs bangle, it got me thinking if I could produce the same sort of thing myself. It's just a natural reaction I seem to have to anything I buy, 'Could I have made that myself?' 

So I got Google-ling and realise that I probably could have made it myself. I then purchased myself some jewellery resin making supplies and have been messing about experimenting since. 

This one of the things I came up with. Inspired by the bracelet I already purchased because quite frankly you can never have too much sewing inspired jewellery.

I still need to file and gloss this one but I'm really pleased with how it turned out!

I got these little sewing decorations from my 99p store which are actually card decorations but they worked so well embedded in my bangle.

I added my own gold decorative paint to the sewing machine...not really sure if I like that part so much!

Ah well more of my pieces to come soon!

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!

Vintage Silk Scarf Cushion

I love scarves and I have lot and lots of them! I collect them and they sit in a drawer and unless they're woolly and warm I just forget to wear them. I just never think, 'I know this outfit needs a scarf!'
So as a result I had a little clean up of my scarf collection and amongst the cashmere, wool, silk, chiffon and pashmina scarves  I set aside some that I could use in sewing and crafting projects.

I loved the particular silk scarf I used, it was made in Japan and the colours made me feel so summery! But I find square shaped scarves really hard to wear and the colours of this was perfect for sprucing up my living room!

So I turned it into a cushion cover. I think it worked pretty well. The back fabric was also recycled material (I bet you can't guess what it used to be!? Yup a pillowcase!)

Aladdin Sane David Bowie- Silhouette T-shirt

I am a massive Bowie fan! He's had many looks over the years and I love them all even the Labyrinth look but my personal fave is the one he sports on the front cover of Aladdin Sane. There's something so striking about that zigzag across his face. Anyway I have to admit that this idea wasn't entirely my own, it came about from one shirt I saw in a shop for a whooping £30, Will's ideas and Mine and all together we came up with this...

More pictures after the jump! 

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!

I phone Sock

I had a little bit of spare material left over from the pillowcase skirt I made. I recently got an I-phone and was dithering about what case to get to protect it. I wasn't sure if I wanted a flip one, a skin style one, a sock style one....There are just too many to choose from so I decided to take the decision making into my own hands and make myself a sock for my I-phone.

It was so simple and easy to make and took me less than twenty minutes! I just measured my phone and worked out how much material I needed. I made a casing for the top so it was a nice tight elasticated fit. I'm just loving red at the moment so luckily it matches my bags, shoes, purse and other things. It must be an Aries thing being a fire sign and all.

Because it is a sock for my I-phone and I use my phone for taking pictures for the blog I can't get a picture of my phone inside the sock! Doh! Ah well just use your imaginations!

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'.

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

What will this become!?

I bought this lovely pillowcase from my favourite type of shop- charity! I just loved the vintage retro print. I am currently making it into something to wear I wonder if you can guess. I'll post the completed version when I'm done! 

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!

Dog Bed- Made From Ikea Scrap Fabric

Ikea material dog bed. It was made using a quilt which I had left over from re-upholstering Will's old headboard. The flower pattern material you can see on top, is Ikea material I bought from a charity shop for 50p! I had designed it with a pillowcase type opening to put some sort of stuffing inside but Scarlett loved it as soon as I put it down I decided not to bother.