30 Days of Creativity - Day 1

June is here! How did that happen? I wasn't ready!

I thought I was ready but, now it's here, I find that I wasn't. I also wasn't prepared for how much else would try to get in the way today.

I am, therefore, easing myself gently into the challenge. Simple works today. Simple gives me the space to allow my jumbled brain some respite from to-do lists, "should-dos" and approaching deadlines. 

Inspiration came from a walk down the high street today. Our town, like the rest of the UK, is currently drowning in bunting (for the Queen's jubilee). It lines the streets and links the streetlights. It adorns railings and flutters from the guttering. It features in every shop window display. 

I thought our little house was missing out. So bunting became my first 30DoC project. But I have made miniature fabric bunting before and big bunting would require ladders (shudder!).

So I took a look at my stash and was drawn to paper. Some colourful patterned paper that came free in the latest copy of Craftseller magazine, to be precise.  I like freebies: useful freebies are by far the best kind. Team that with some crochet cotton (not free exactly but not a colour I'm likely to use) and I'm ready to go.

I cut the paper into strips and the strips into triangles

Then I glued the triangles along the strings. Easy peasy. 

 

Then it was all ready to hang up at the windows...

...(you can just see the bunting on the house opposite)...

...I think it looks quite good! 

Sometimes simple is best. Sometimes simple is just the best that can be expected! Tomorrow, I would like to be a little more adventurous... fingers crossed that nothing else gets in the way. 

The bunting does, however, make an excellent frame for my CraftFest poster!

Click on the 30DoC badge to visit the Pinterest page for today.

Bunting

This week I have been making bunting; inspired by the Liberty Scrap Challenge (here), I decided I would have to give it a go. 

After all, I still have loads of the lovely scraps raided from Mum's collection. I've already made hair clips (here) and an elephant (somewhere on this page) but my love affair with Liberty is far from over. This project has been calling to me for a while!

So here are my first attempts at Liberty bunting...

 

... not bad (though I say so myself)! 

The bottom string of bunting is sewn onto 3mm ribbon with flags at 50% of the pattern size and the top string is threaded onto No. 20 crochet cotton with flags at 40% of the pattern size. That makes the flags in the bottom row approximately 3cm long and in the top row about 2.5cm long.

To be honest, I was really tempted to make them at 25% of the pattern (flags of 1.5cm long) but luckily common sense prevailed (for the time being at least)! 

These were fiddly enough. 

Especially since for some reason I decided to sew the flags on rather than using the iron-on interfacing from the pattern. 

Not entirely sure why. 

Although, I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I didn't have any. 

And a trip into town to buy some seemed so much more time-consuming than sewing tiny flags on by hand. 

My logic never ceases to amaze me!

Anyway, after a small amount of mild cursing (having tied it in knots for the umpteenth time), I finally got it all finished, ironed, trimmed and looking lovely. Ready to be photographed.

Of course, the bears had to come and have a play at this point. Only to be expected really. It is 'bear-sized' bunting after all.

I have a feeling that it's going to be hard to separate the bears from the bunting in future!