Embroidered Jam Pot Covers...

Back in the Autumn I made a couple of varieties of chutney as Christmas gifts. Spiced Marrow Chutney and a Tangy Beetroot Chutney using a combination of recipe ideas from this brilliant site. They've been "maturing" since October so should be perfect for the Christmas table by now. The only thing left to do was make them look all Christmassy and add a little personal touch to them; so I opted for some hand embroidered jam pot covers tied with grosgrain ribbon....(I actually had about 12 jars in total but some had already been gifted before I had a chance to take these photos!)

I got all OCD on getting the right size circle for my covers. Just didn't like the idea of cutting a square and trimming it to size once in place. I just KNEW I would screw it up that way. So if anyone else is as mildly obsessive about these things as me here's my method...


I had several sizes of jar so just repeated the process for each different size. Firstly draw round the the lid of the jar on a sheet of paper...

Then find the centre point of the circle by folding it in half lengthwise then across the width. It's actually the circle itself that needs to be folded in half so I held the paper up to the light as I was folding so as to see through it and line the edges of the circle up as I was folding...

Measure the diameter of the circle, let's say this one was 3". Then mark a point the exact same distance, 3", from the centre point, extending out beyond your original circle, on each of the four fold lines...

Then find a plate/bowl/object (or use a compass if you want to be super precise!) and use it to draw a circle that encompasses these four points equally(ish)...

Et voila...Cut out your template(s)....

Because I planned to emroider my covers I cut out heavy weight iron on interfacing the exact same size as my jar lids....

And some squares of fabric (thrifted and upcycled of course!) slightly larger than my templates.....

Place fabric square RS down on the ironing board. Centre the interfacing sticky side down on top of the fabric and press to adhere. Then pin the template on top of this making sure the centre circle of the template lines up with the circle of interfacing....

Cut around the template with pinking shears...

It should look like this...

I then embroidered snowflakes on each cover with embroidery floss. These are a combination of French Knots, Lazy Daisy Stitch, and Back Stitch and took about 15 mins each to do so great as a last minute personal touch...

Secure the covers to the jar tops with elastic bands then tie with ribbon......

There are so many ideas out there for "Gifts in a Jar" and these would add a nice finishing touch to anything in a jar. Not just chutneys  :)
Px

Felted wool needlecases...

School's out for Christmas! Today was my last day of college this year. I like to take a little something in for my fellow students to mark the start of the holidays, that's just the kinda gal I am ;) . A couple of years ago it was homemade Elderflower Champagne (literally the best taste in the world!). Last year I made some dinky little pin cushions for everyone. This year I thought I'd whip up some needle cases and try my hand at some embroidery in the process. I kept it kitsch and silly. The overall effect is definately handmade, but I think they turned out pretty cute!

The blue felted wool that I used for the main body of the cases came as part of a joblot I picked up from freecycle.  The inside cover from thrifted fabric. The coloured felt was left from another project and the embroidery floss and buttons were all from my stash. So there was no outlay at all for these. In case you're interested, here's what I did...
I found something roughly the size and shape I wanted (yes that's an allotment card. I took on an allotment this week. Eeep!) and used it as a temlate to mark out my needle cases on the felted wool...

I cut out the number I needed plus a few extra in case I messed up...

The felted wool was a little too floppy on it's own and as I also planned to embroider the covers I interfaced using heavy weight iron on interfacing, a few mm in from the edges...

I cut the "inside covers" from a medium weave pure cotton (a thrifted curtain to be precise)and pinked the edges to limit any fraying. They are marginally smaller than the needle case but large enough to obscure the interfacing...

Then I applique'd (does applique have a verb form??!) and embroidered each cover with a different design using felt scraps, buttons, beads and embroidery floss(sorry about the picture quality. Light levels have been awful!)....

Sewed the "inside covers"  on to hide the back of all the stitching etc et voila!

I sewed with the RS up to make sure I didn't ruin things by sewing over the applique and used a dark thread on the spool and a cream thread on the bobbin to match the stitching to the colour of the two fabrics...

They're not perfect, but considering they were made from just what I had at hand, not too shabby either, and they were certainly snapped up at college with lots of  "oohs" and "ahhs" and exclamations of "did you make these" Ofcourse I concluded that they were just being polite but I did at least refrain from pointing out all the mistakes, lol! I'm getting better ;)
Px

Christmas Gift Planning....

Whilst I haven't yet made any meaningful practical progress on my handmade gifts (last minute? Self imposed pressure?? Moi? Of course!!) I have been putting in the planning and preparation. I do pretty much know what I am making for everyone, have most of the supplies I need and a clear schedule after this week to get cracking on everything. In the meantime I thought I'd share some of the ideas I've been furiously "pinning" in preparation....

Yummy huh? Even better, ALL of these ideas have free tutorials or pattern downloads!!! You can find all of the original sources and links to the original sites here :)
I'd better get cracking!!
Px