how to clean your cutting mat
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NB I must preface this by stating you should always follow manufacturers instructions for caring and cleaning your mat. I am no expert.
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Hello. My name is Lucy and I have been abusing my self healing cutting mat. I generally just want to get on with the sewing and have neglected my poor mat. Here it is in it's sad state:
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Notice the warping at the top, ironed on it by accident I think - whatever, just DON'T ever put hot stuff on your mat ok?!
After asking advice a couple of weeks ago people gave me some good ideas for how to tackle cleaning it, thanks to everyone that left a comment! And special thanks to Agnes, Corrie H. and Carla who gave directions and a link to this tutorial. So I did as recommended and stuck it in a cool bath with some white vinegar, then scrubbed it with a little washing up liquid.
It came out prune like and the cuts were really obvious, and even with gentle scrubbing a lot of fluff and small threads remained. Not really surprising given how bad it was. Still it was an improvement:
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Then Catrin (I think it was you! Correct me if I'm wrong?!) mentioned that you could use the end of a frixion pen to rub the mat and remove all the little pieces. Well wouldn't you know that works perfectly! But my mat is big and I was not about to attempt to rub the tiny end of this pen all over it. Nicky suggested a rubber glove, which I'm sure would work too but I hate them so instead I grabbed one of my kids trainers (sneakers if you prefer) that has a rubber sole and scrubbed it with that. That worked too! So I suggest getting something fairly large, made of rubber and get to work!
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That is the fluff I got off, the bottom one with the pen and the top one with the shoe!
And now my mat looks like this:
Still sad and I probably really need a new one but until that time this is a lot better!!
When I do get a new one I will definitely take better care of it by doing the following:
- giving it an occasional soak, these mats do love moisture
- wiping it down after using it and using the rubbing method if there's lots of bits!
- and definitely rubbing it after cutting wadding, that seems to be the main culprit.
Now back to cutting (and subsequent cleaning!)...
tradition ~ le challenge ~ dresden lola pouch
I picked some of my very favourite fabrics (most of which are scraps from my green tea and sweet beans quilt) and then realised I had no clue what I was doing. Luckily I had an Easy Dresden ruler (that I won from Lisa in 2012, about time I used it!!) and found this tutorial for using it, really easy!
I got to work, with little help from my lovely assistant - she reminds me of a flower fairy in this picture!
Then I made a circle to appliqué in the centre, I basically use this method - although I do a running stitch around the edge of the circle to baste it slightly before putting the foil on. It also helps hold the seam in place while you appliqué.
Then I had to do something with it! So I made a bag using the Lola pouch pattern by Svetlana. This is such a well written pattern with clear instructions and I adore being able to have a binding on a zip bag, it gives it such a gorgeous finish. She has directions for two sizes of the Lola pouch in the pattern, although my dresden was too big and not wanting to cut it off I just made the bag 4" taller. It's pretty big but all the better to fill with stationery ;) I will definitely sew more of these and am itching to make a matching small version!
Excuse the stray thread in the picture above and the fact I haven't rinsed off the blue pen from my embroidery below! This is making and blogging with three kids around ;) Actually it was the kids watching Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium that inspired me to add this quote from the film. An excellent quote and nice reminder. I really enjoyed the film too!
I used Joy Mesh, Gossamer by Sharon Holland for the main fabric; 50wt Aurifil #2375 for the appliqué and quilting as it perfectly picks out a hint of pink; and the accent fabric / binding is Make Patches Shabby, Maker by AGF Studio. I used one strand of black embroidery thread for the quote and 12wt Aurifil #2214 for a bit of hand quilting on the centre circle. A pale green zip for a little pop of colour and I like that it adds to the retro feel.
I could not love my large Lola pouch more! I enjoyed making a traditional quilt block and creating something new with it.
Head over to Le Challenge to see what other people made based on the theme 'tradition'. If you have a finished project (all types of crafts welcome) that fits the theme and was made in the last month, come and link up for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop!
Black Sheep Wools ~~ Giveaway and discount code!
**GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED**
I am really excited to welcome Black Sheep Wools as a sponsor here at Charm About You! They are a family run crafts business based in the North West of England. They are the largest knitting store in the country and their selection of yarn is really impressive (they've won awards) and yarn lovers can check out all the yarn here! Regular readers will know I'm a quilty person and I'm excited to show you that Black Sheep Wools have more than wool.
They run the magnificent Craft Barn in Culcheth, Warrington, which houses many crafting goodies as well as a large workshop and the lovely Tea Bags Full café.
And there is a dedicated fabric room. It really is beautiful, a wondrous nook of fabric joy!
They stock fantastic lines, from great designers such as Tula Pink (and there is currently 15% off all Tula Pink fabric), Denyse Schmidt, Tim Holtz, Kaffe Fassett and more!
Of course they have lots of accessories and handy bits and bobs too! There is plenty to inspire you and get you crafting your heart away:
Lots of inspiring books! Like one of my favourite embroidery pattern books Doodle Stitching by Aimee Ray and for quilting Quiltopedia by Laura Jane Taylor
Beautiful cushion kits, these ones are by Anna Maria Horner.
I would encourage you to go and visit the website to see their full ranges and have a browse around! There is free shipping on all orders over £25 in the UK and very good international postage rates starting at just £5!
Now on to the giveaway...
Now on to the giveaway...
**GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED**
The giveaway is open internationally and will close on 20th April 2015. The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced here on the blog.
Please make sure you leave your email address, e.g. soandso (at) theworld (dot) com, to be sure I can contact you if you win.
Good luck!
Black Sheep Wools have been kind enough to offer all Charm About You readers a 10% discount code, which is valid until 20/8/2015 so make a copy of it and use it to stock up on goodies. Enter code CHARMED10 at the checkout to take 10% off everything in your basket!
make it happen FAL Q2 2015
To be perfectly honest I wasn't sure I was going to join in the Finish-Along this quarter but hey I really need to get some projects finished and I definitely need a cheering squad right now! Plus once I had a look around I realised how much I want to do. Some of these projects appeared on my lists last year so I really should get cracking. I would like to be more productive.
1. First up something new - isn't that always the way!! A little secret project that has a upcoming deadline, though as of now it's just this pile:
2. And another project, that will be revealed on 25th May as part of the Busy Girls Sews Tour:
3. A sad looking tea cosy that my Nanny asked me to remake (it's totally fallen apart on the inside), this needs fixing ASAP!
4. The commissioned vintage quilt that I'm hand quilting, I'm making slow but steady progress:
5. Summer dresses for my girls, I cut all the pieces last year and now I'm worried they won't even fit but might as well give it a go:
6. Baby star quilt, I think I have one row to add and it's been sat in a crumpled state next to my sewing table for too long!
7. A skirt for me, just because I couldn't resist this beautiful Japanese denim:
8. A basket using this tutorial, I thought it would make a cute make up holder, rather than the free travel bag I currently use - and really I never travel so it's sad that I use it everyday, I need something prettier!
So that's my lot. I'm hoping I can resist working on my green tea and sweet beans blocks enough to pull off these finishes but we'll see ;)
diy project life notebook and a kitty needleminder
I've made a couple of little things involving thread and fabric, though there's no difficult sewing involved!
The first is these little notebooks made from Project Life journaling cards. They end up 4 x 3" a perfect size to fit in my organiser / planner and handy to have just to scribble down ideas. I will be using them to keep my sewing and quilting project ideas in!
They were very simple, take one Project Life card (or piece of card that's 6 x 4") and fold in half. I then folded up some regular A4 printer paper and used a ruler to rip it into pieces that measure approx 3.75 x 5.75", I like those torn edges but you could cut the paper if you prefer. I used 10 pieces of paper in each notebook. Fold the paper in half and place inside the card. Using a strong needle, pierce through the card and paper - once in the middle, then make two holes above and below. Take some thread (I used perle), thread your needle making a small knot at one end and stitch through the centre. Stitch through the next hole and then through the one above, you are making a figure of eight essentially... come back through the holes until you are at the centre and then do the same thing on the other side. Once you are back though the centre, make a knot and snip off any extra thread. I decided to clip the corners because they were poking out a bit, you could use a punch or fingernail clippers to make the corners rounded if you prefer.
I decided to embellish them with some cute stickers!
Next I made a needle minder, I have been wanting to make one for ages! I bought some magnets (these are the perfect stength) and a self covered brass button (perfect size for the fussy cut fabric I used):
I popped out the little wire doodad, stretched the fabric over the front, pushing it into the grippers and smoothing the edges then pushed the back on.
I found the most perfect fabric, from Hello Petal by Aneela Hoey because hello?! that's my name printed right there!! :)
It was such a simple make and took about two minutes to do. Blob of super glue to stick one of the magnets on the back and done! I need to be getting back to some embroidery and cross stitching so I can use this baby.
I recently got a haul of zips, some felt and some cute twine from Rickety Rose Crafts - great selection and excellent prices - this should keep me going for a little while (though I might need more peach, pale green and gold zips because I love them so!)
Wishing you all a happy weekend and do pop back Monday because there's a giveaway brewing ;)
Linking up:
currently... {& discount code!}
I am finishing my le challenge project, sneak peek only!
Working on my green tea and sweet beans - excuse all the creases it gets taken around with me and chucked about!
I'm working on making a row for Catherine for Bee A Brit Stingy, I've done three blocks so far:
All the blocks are from Fat Quarterly Shape Workshop for Quilters. The last one worked out a little small so I will need to add borders of some kind, I'm thinking about a strip at the bottom and to one side but will see how it works with the other blocks before I do anything. One more block to make to complete the row.
In case you haven't seen Pink Castle Fabrics currently have 20% off all in stock bundles with the code BUNDLE20! They have heaps of gorgeous bundles, I'm particularly loving the Heavy Metal, the limited edition Retro Calico and the Scrappy Sorbet 16th Bundle - which contains so many of my favourite prints! Take advantage of that code today!
wordless wednesday*
* except to say if anyone knows a good way to clean a filthy self healing cutting mat then please let me know!?!
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