Craft Competition Time

 Last year I took part in the Hillarys Craft Competition and really enjoyed creating my project.  A fortnight ago I thought I would look to see if there was a competition this year.

I was pleased to find that not only was Hillarys running a competition this year but I had just made the deadline for applying for my fabric. 

 There were four beautiful fabrics to choose from DAISY PISTACHIO, SAFI TURQUOISE, HATTI RASPBERRY and RAYNA APPLE.

I decided on SAFI TURQUOISE, this is a lovely bluey grey with fern fronds.  It reminded me of tree fern fronds and as there is a family connection to New Zealand I thought I would try and make a kiwi cushion, the fern fronds sweeping towards the back of the bird to resemble feathers.

 I have seen pictures of Kiwis but I wasn't entirely sure how to get "the look".  An online search found a sketch and I used this for my base pattern.  A trial run on a small scale meant I wasn't going to spoil my one metre square of Hillarys fabric.  http://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/birds/birds-a-z/kiwi/

  Having cut all the fabric out I

 pinned the pieces together before tacking and finally machine sewing my seams.  A kiwi without its fluffy feathers resembles a mis-shapen pear so I pieced several gussets to shape the body and head.

turned right side out to see how things look.

Hillarys fabric is a joy to use, although this one does fray a little.  http://www.hillarys.co.uk/blinds-range/new-collection-roman/

 For the feet and beak I used some very soft pale grey leather.  Rolling the pieces to get the right shape and putting florists wire in the beak to give it structure.

 Beads sewn onto the sides of the head gave my bird his finished character and we went into the garden for a photo shoot.

 My cat wasn't that impressed with the new arrival and kept trying to join in.  I am very pleased that I have enough fabric left after making my larger than life kiwi to make a medium sized clutch bag.

VINTAGE KITTEN - HILLARYS BLINDS COUNTRY CRAFTS COMPETITION

I have been wanting to make a cat dressed in fifties styled clothes for some time but had not found the fabric to inspire me enough to put starting at the top of my to do list.  Then I saw the choice of fabrics in the Hillarys Blinds country craft competition and I knew this was exactly what I had been looking for. 

 I know that this fabric may not be everybody first choice for dressing a soft toy but it has worked perfectly. It is a very forgiving fabric and was easy to use even making the bodice of the dress, which was a little fiddly. The 'give' in the fabric meant turning the hem was a doddle. 

 First I had to make the cat so I could dress her.  She started life as a teddy bear from an old book, altered to make her taller so I could make her skirt as long as possible. 

To make sure the legs were the correct length I pinned and sewed the pattern pieces together before cutting them out.

 I cut a meter length of a similar type of fabric to do a trial run.  I wanted an eight gore double circular skirt to get the "NEW LOOK" style.  While doing the trial fitting I saw that a double row of buttons would look pretty on the bodice.

  I found a ruler that was a perfect length for the skirt and made a quarter circle pattern which I cut out eight times. To make the bodice pattern  I adapted the bear that I had used for my cat.

Double circle laid out so the fabric pattern can be matched (as well as possible).  I lined the bodice, I find that with full heavy skirts this gives strength to the garment and stops any fraying.

I sewed flat seams on all but on of the seams of the skirt, the last one I made a narrow hem so there was room for the tail.

waiting for a new dress

 I used five layers of tightly gathered net for the petticoat to give maximum lift to the skirt.  This was to show off the lovely fabric as well as to be in keeping with the style I was creating. This was all nice and straight forward, simple hand sewing and fabric that was a joy to handle. I loved making this project and am pleased with the result, thank you HILLARYS BLINDS for giving me the opportunity to see how good your fabric is. http://www.hillarys.co.uk/inspiration/the-hub/2014/country-craft-competition/
The hardest part was choosing which fabric to send for.

Petticoat on and dress ready to go, just a few finishing touches.  A bow to go in front of the ear, a bead necklace and some fish ( fish shown were made as a bag charm).  A few shakes to fluff out the petticoat, a few tweaks to the skirt and she's ready to go.

a summer dress for a spring day

HILLARYS BLINDS COUNTRY CRAFTS COMPETITION - a teaser

A few weeks ago I got sent details of the HILLARYS BLINDS COUNTRY CRAFTS competition.  It sounded exactly right for me so having looked at the fabric choices sent off for a piece.  I had chosen WILD POPPIES.  When the fabric arrived I was very impressed with the quality and very pleased that it would be perfect for the design I had been thinking of.

So now with the closing date very close I am two thirds there and happy with the way my project is progressing. 

30th March and my project is finished here is a link so you can see it.  http://dreamtimemakes.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/vintage-kitten-hillarys-blinds-country.html