Felt Coin Purse 

So I’m at my In-Laws’ house for a few days - but what fun would vacation be without crafting? After all, the guys are going to be playing video games for days, so I need to keep busy. I arrived with my sewing machine, rainbow selection of thread, cutting mat, embroidery thread, basket of felt, and a stack of fabric all ready to go… and as if that wasn’t enough, somehow I found myself at a Fabricland and got even more fabric! 

As well as making two more zippered bags for friends, I whipped up this little felt change purse. Now that I’ve conquered zippers, I just can’t get enough! 

Proof that J is crafty too!

Presenting our Lego family - The McBlayCombes! (That’s our three family names mashed together, BTW.) J made everyone a personalised figure as a stocking stuffer. He gathered hair and accessories for everyone, and carefully drew on glasses and smiles (What can I say - We’ve got collectively bad eyesight, but we’re happy!) My figure came with a sewing machine and a little wee mac laptop, labelled “blog”. I’m so impressed! Thank you, J!

Photo Tent - Yippeeeee!!!!!

How cool is this?!?! J totally amazed me by giving me a Panasonic Portable Light Studio for Christmas. I’d been thinking about rigging up a homemade photo tent for myself come January - Somehow, it never even occurred to me that they might be available for sale! I’ve had so much fun playing with it already. Typically, the idea occurred to him while looking at a blog post about how to photograph Star Wars figurines. I’m so happy to be married to a nerd! 

Pom Pom Cowl

Who doesn’t love pompoms? They make everything more fun. This was originally going to be a Braided Scarf based on Put Up Your Dukes' tutorial, but when I tried it out, there just wasn't enough contract in the colours to make it sing! Instead, I cut two rectangles about 30cm x 130cm, and seamed them together with the pom pom trim down one long side. I gave the pieces a full twist before sewing the short ends together, so that they drape more interestingly. 

It was a gift for my sister - Merry Christmas, Anne!

Felt Applique Ornaments

I enjoyed having some hand-sewing projects to work on while hanging out with family - and these were the result! 

Button Magnets

Old buttons + glue gun + circle magnets = a 3 minute craft project! 

Merry Christmas! My Dad took this picture as I was finishing a festive table runner this afternoon - I love the editing he did! Thanks Dad! 

The house is full of family tonight, including my sister and her mother-in-law in the picture. I can hear J laughing and playing video games with the guys in the room next door… It’s great to be living in Canada this year! 

Merry Christmas!

Striped Wreath

I made this a few months ago, before I started the blog or even had a craft room set up! It is, as many people would recognize, inspired by Nest of Posies’ beautiful "Fashion Forward Fall Felt Flower Wreath". It was one of the first things I ever fell in love with on Pinterest. It was destined to be a Christmas gift, but I love it so much that I think I’ll keep it!

(The flowers are a mix of felted wool sweaters, actual felt, and scrap fabric, mixed in with felted wool balls. For the stripes, I cut up a thrifted t-shirt. The wreath form is also thrifted!)

Felt Circle Garland

This is what happens when my felt stash and I sit down to watch the 5 hour BBC version of Pride and Predjudice! It was fun and pleasantly mindless to make. It’s a bit of a tribute to the paper circle garlands that I made for our wedding, and the felt ball garland I made for everyone last year. What can I say? I like circles on a string! 

Fabric Necklaces

This is my second set of necklaces made from the same rainbow scarf. (The first set is burnt orange and ochre.) It’s a nice lightweight material, which makes the knots quite small. I’ve seen people make these necklaces with all kinds of fabric though, and I’m curious to try making them with something thicker!

Bunting Tree

After an up-and-down day of crafting today, I’m ready to celebrate some little things I’ve done recently… Starting with this “tree” we made out of felt bunting in our room! I made the bunting and all of these ornaments while we lived in Japan, so it’s particularly natsukashii (warmly nostalgic) so wake up to them every morning! 

Wool Felt Ornaments, Type 2!

I’ve made a bunch of these ornaments this year - In fact, I need to get some more styrofoam balls! It only takes a little bit of roving, and from the needle-felting takes mere seconds. A great quick gift!

Embroidered Felt Heart Ornaments

These hearts area stable in my family… My mom bought some at a craft sale when we were very young, and we’ve been making our own versions ever since! These are my most recent. I’m enjoying building up our supply of ornaments, in hopes that J and I will have a tree (and apartment!) of our own by next Christmas!

(My cat figured the heart was a new toy, so she kept rubbing her face in it!)

Festive Felt Pillow Tutorial, inspired by Betz White’s reverse applique tutorial in Whip Up Mini Quilt.

After making myself a rainbow felt pillow based on Betz White’s contribution to the Whip Up Mini Quilt, I feel in love with the process. It’s so quick and fun to sew the felt on, and requires little to no precision. The cutting out… well, it’s less fun, but it’s goes quickly enough in front of the TV! 

I wanted to make my Mom something to say thank you for hosting the big family Christmas this year, so I started dreaming of using the same technique to make her a pillow! It was really fun to adapt the technique from the original abstract design to a more figurative “picture”. Overlapping the trees took some creativity, but it all came together quickly. 

I hope you enjoy the process too! It could be really easily adapted to different designs. 

Merry Christmas, and thank you, Mom! I’m really looking forward to Christmas!

Washi Tape Quick-Fix

I recently repainted a old bulletin board for my craft room - but of course, I was way too lazy to properly mask of the edge between the frame and cork, and it it turned out messy! My quick fix was to line the edge of the cork part with washi tape. I tried a bright green first, but I liked the black-and-white polka dot better. I think the Collette Sewing esthetic is wearing off on me!

Knitter’s Wreath: 

My sister and her husband recently moved to a new (rental) house, and I made this wreath as a housewarming gift. Unfortunately, i forgot to bring it when we helped them move! Oh well. I guess it’s a Christmas gift now!

She’s an avid knitter and leader of the local knitting guild, so I wanted to make something appropriate for her… but not TOO feminine, if possible! I enjoyed cobbling this together from leftover knitting scraps of my own. I painted the needles with acrylic paint, but it scratches off really easily. I hope it lasts for a while at least!

Words To Live By

I made this one morning for a friend. We are both perfectionists, so I hoped my teaching slogan would help her out during a busy week! 

I mapped out the letters in yellow thread quickly to make sure I’d have room, then I adapted the letter size further as I stitched. It’s made on large Aida cloth from Japan, leftover from teaching cross stitch to my class. The frame is leftover from our wedding signs, so I hope it brings her good luck and happiness!