I'm bringing Spring to my front door this month with some help from the lovely folks at Hobbycraft (craft supply heaven) and will be showing you how easy it is to make this pretty paper cut wreath. It's pastel of course and is going to be staying on my front door all year round!
You can find all of the materials over on the Hobbycraft website, i've linked them above for you to easily find the bits I used.
Step 1
First of all wrap the raffia lengths one by one around the polystyrene wreath securing to the back with glue and tucking in the ends as you move through the lengths.
Step 2 Once you've wrapped the entire wreath shape then tidy the ends tucking them into others or trimming them with scissors. Use a little glue if you'd like them really neat. Step 3 Cut out a selection of shapes from the coloured paper either by hand using a scalpel and cutting mat or using a Cricut machine like me. If you haven't seen one before it's going to blow your mind. It's a table top paper cutter. You can draw your own designs and simply upload them onto the Cricut app which then cleverly cuts the shapes out of paper or fabric or vinyls... i've yet to try all of the many options but can't wait. I have the Cricut Air 2 model and have to say it is amazing! I was so impressed at the cutting time and literally made this project in an afternoon.
Step 4 Then all you need to do is peel the paper cut shapes away and attach them to your wreath using a glue gun or strong glue.
Ta da! As simple at that, do let me know if you have any questions and if you make one do tag me @heartzeena I love seeing your creations.
A huge thank you to Hobbycraft who sponsored all of the materials for this make.
Last week I popped along to celebrate some Spring crafting with the fabulous folks at Hobbycraft . The event was hosted by One Roof Social at a lovely London venue called Carousel. I spent the afternoon crafting some floral Easter wreaths using products from their spring collection. Scroll down to see what we got up to and my faux floral wreath that will be lovely hanging up over the Easter weekend and beyond. You could make a version with fresh flowers but the great thing about the florals we used from Hobbycraft is that they're fake... And so my wreath will last forever!
Thank you to the One Roof team for such a lovely afternoon. You can find all the materials over on the Hobbycraft website. Happy making!
I recently shared this snap over on my instagram feed and it received an amazing response. The reason being is that I made this pink gingham dress of dreams myself. Hand stitched with love and care and it came out exactly as I had hoped. I am still incredibly smug about it.
I've dabbled in dress making since I was a teen and wanted to share my top tips and insights into starting to make your own clothes and how you might go about it if you're new to the world of sewing and textiles and really want to have a go but just don't know where to start. Hopefully this guide will give you the confidence and some of the know how you need to get started. I'm sure i'll be back with a few more posts on this but will cover the basics for now.
As much as I love to shop (and if you follow me on instagram then you'll know I do) there is nothing more rewarding than sewing your own clothes and making something unique by hand that will be treasured AND that no one else will be wearing!
1. The Sewing Machine
First things first you will need a sewing machine. It is possible to make clothing by hand stitching but who has the time for that. John Lewis have some brilliant models and this very pretty pastel pink machine is under £100 and a very good basic starter machine. If you've ever been into their haberdashery department you'll also know they are always on hand with lovely friendly trained staff for advice. That's where I bought my machine about 20 years ago (OH GAWD) and it's still going strong.
Now if you have never used a sewing machine do not fear, it is much easier than you think often all you need is someone to show you how or a bobbin tutorial.
If you're in London there are some great introductory courses run by brilliant independent sewing brands to name a few here;
There are of course thousands on Youtube you just need a cup of tea and google and some patience.
You'll also need a good pair of fabric scissors, some pins and a tape measure. (I've linked some of my recommendations at the bottom of this post).
2. Sewing Patterns
I suggest you start with a super simple sewing pattern. I would recommend some of the newer more modern pattern brands (I've linked some below) out there rather than using a vintage pattern or something found purely because of the amazing blog sew-a-longs and step by step tutorials you'll be able to access to accompany them. It really helps when you haven't read a pattern before and have no idea what serging is for example. (It's a zig zag stitch way of finishing seams) and all of these pattern brands come with a glossary so don't worry.
Most patterns come as PDF downloads, all you need to do is print them out at home and assemble them. This can be quite time consuming but I just zone out and do mine in front of netflix. It does mean you can't ruin it as you can can always print it out again.
The online #sewist community is also amazing and you'll always be able to find a friendly person to answer any questions you might have.
Seven Indie Sewing Brands I am loving right now;
1. By Hand London fashion forward and come with an online sew along to follow.
There's also a Zeena Dress which is a great sew for a beginner and super flattering dress.
2. Named Clothing Stunning patterns set up by sister duo based in Finland.
The Fold Line is an amazing resource of sewing patterns and a great place to join the sewing community.
3. Fabric
Fabric shopping has become a bit of a guilty pleasure for me lately and you'll soon get addicted.
I've listed my current favourites here but there really are lots of brilliant sources out there Ebay and your local charity shop can be a low cost start to your first sewing project. I've even made dresses out of old duvet covers and have an old Cath Kidston one waiting for it's turn.
If you're based in London these are my favourite stores to shop for fabric in (they have online stores too);
Goldhawk Road (Classic Textiles, A-One fabrics & more) is another haven for low budget fabric shopping and you're guaranteed to never find the same fabric twice but if it's for a one off and you're on a budget head there. When I was studying textiles at Chelsea School of Art our studios were a short walk away and we'd go in daily trying to grab the latest bargain or ex-designer fabric.
I would say you're even more spoilt for choice online and here's a list of some of my current favourites here;
Fabric Godmother (My pink gingham is from here and she really does have a great selection of ex-designer fabrics).
I really hope this post has inspired you to have a go at sewing your own clothes and do comment below if you have any questions or would like me to add anything in a new post.
Above all remember sewing is not something you can rush, enjoy it and you're doing this for the first time and you're only human. The first dress I ever made was a total D I S A S T E R but I learnt from it, fixed it and gave it to my cousin.
Happy Sewing!
Zeena X
PS. This post contains affiliate links, this means I may earn a very small % of any sales that are made through the link, this doesn't add any cost to you it just helps me run my blog :) Thank you for reading!
