friedasfrills

Weaving!!

Posted on May 22, 2018 by friedasfrills

Hello 🙂

Today I thought I would share a new-ish hobby of mine.

WEAVING!

Last year I bought a Weaving Loom! I have been wanting to get a weaving loom for a long time… I even started to make one, but I finally gave in and purchased a beautiful rigid heddle loom from Ashford Australia. At first I was just going to buy their sample-it-loom but I ended up getting the 120 cm /48″ loom so that I could have more flexibility in my weaving width.

Finally after about a week of impatiently checking my tracking email every day (sometimes more) it arrived! Yay!! One of the things that I hadn’t realized when I ordered the loom was that the wood needs to be waxed before you put it together. So after I had waxed the wood and put the loom together I was ready to start weaving.

A while back I made a couple of woven rag rugs on a home made frame loom, it took a fair while to complete a rug and I had a lot of trouble keeping the edges from curving in and making my rag rug look like a strangely flat bow tie. I had done a LOT of reading about rigid heddle looms and I was expecting to have the same problem, so I was super careful to allow enough weft (the yarn that goes over and under) on each row so that the sides wouldn’t pull in… It worked!

IMG_20170427_162303181

This is my first attempt at weaving on my new loom. I was amazed at how quickly I was able to finish this mat. It was completely finished in about 6 hours!

I really love how easy it is to make a useful item with this loom. I have just finished making a scarf with DK yarn and (8ply) feather yarn, the novelty yarn adds some contrasting texture which I really like.

Anyway I hope you enjoyed this little update 🙂

Blogs, Planner

Planner Freebies! – Tropical Holiday Stickers

Posted on Mar 30, 2018Apr 8, 2018 by friedasfrills

Hello peps!

So a few weeks ago I launched my first ever planner product, a laminated kawaii sheep dashboard/cover, on Etsy. I spent ages drawing and editing the sheep and choosing all the colour options, check it out here. I had a lot of fun making the dashboards and it has inspired me to make some more planner accessories.

I have also been using some different inserts in my planner for the month of March. I decided that although I like the horizontal planner format I wanted to try a vertical layout and use sticker kits to decorate my planner! I’ve been enjoying finding free printable sticker kits online, there are so many beautiful ones! So I decided that I would make one as well!

So without further ado, here is my first free printable planner sticker kit!

Tropical Holiday Stickers – Free Printable

Print at 100% to make sure the stickers come out the right size.

These stickers are sized to fit the Erin Condren Vertical Planner, but can be trimmed to the correct size for any planner!

The kit contains:

8 Full Boxes
8 Half Boxes
7 To Do Headers
7 Today Headers
1 Important Header
8 Small Flags
6 Large Flags
8 Check Lists

I hope you enjoy these freebies and please tag us @friedasfrills if you use them!

These stickers are intended for personal use only!

Bye for now!!

Blogs, Planner, Uncategorized

Sneak Peek – My 2018 Planner

Posted on Dec 27, 2017Dec 26, 2017 by friedasfrills

Hello 🙂

I can’t believe how quickly 2017 went! As it’s almost 2018 I thought I would share my planner for next year.

In 2017 I started using a bullet journal as my daily planner and while I love how custom the spreads are and drawing cute little illustrations in it, I found that I got tired of laying out my monthly and weekly spreads. So for 2018 I bought a simple binder planner from the Kaiser Style online shop.

I wasn’t able to find many reviews of this planner online so I decided to share my thoughts on it. They have lots of different styles and two sizes to pick from. I chose this one and I am so happy with how it looks and feels! These planners also have coordinating sticker books and sticky notes which are soooo pretty.

The planner is in a 6 ring binder made from soft faux leather with four inside pockets, a pen loop and a magnetic clasp. It comes with two acetate dashboards and a snap-in acetate ruler too! The actual planner inserts are a minimalist grey-scale design which means its easy to decorate with stickers and washi-tape as there are no preexisting colour schemes to work around. Each month has a divider, undated monthly calendar, notes page, this month page, 5 undated weekly spreads and a month in review page.

I am so excited to start using this planner, I couldn’t wait to decorate it! So I added a tracking page, some journal cards and washi tape!

P.S. Keep an eye on our Etsy store in January, we have some new listings coming 🙂

À Bientôt 😀

Tutorials

Water Colour Letter Art – Tutorial

Posted on Jul 18, 2016Jul 18, 2016 by friedasfrills

Hi everyone 🙂 How are you all going? It’s the middle of Winter here in Australia so it is perfect weather for snuggling up in front of the fire with a project. So on that note, I thought I would share a quick tutorial on my version of those cute water-colour and word art works that are all over Pinterest at the moment. Here goes 🙂

You will need…

Water colour paper (pre-stretched to minimize buckling)
HB pencil
Black Fine line marker (make sure it’s one that doesn’t bleed)
Water Colour paint (I used pans, but tube paint is fine too)
Medium paint brush
Ruler
Eraser
Water

First, using the pencil, lightly rule some guide lines across your page. With your pencil again, lightly draw in your desired text/quote, take care to center it both vertically and horizontally. When you are happy with your text draw over it again with the pencil to darken the letters. Erase the guide lines but LEAVE THE PENCIL LETTERS ON THE PAGE.

Now take your brush and dip it in clean water. Paint with water, roughly making a circular area wet. Now paint over the wet area with water-colour. Be creative! Drops of clean water on the wet water-colour paint gives interesting effects!

When you are happy with how it looks, leave it to dry on a flat, level surface. Now that your watercolour is dry, carefully draw over the penciled letters with a black permanent marker. It is a good idea to test your marker out on another piece of water-colour paper.

When you are finished allow the marker to dry completely…. And you are finished!

I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial and that it make you want to give water-colour a go 🙂 If you do use this tutorial I’d love to see how yours went, post a photo below or tag me on instagram @friedas_frills

Have fun,

Gill

http://www.etsy.com/shop/FriedasFrills

Uncategorized

Work-In-Progress Wednesday (Socks)

Posted on Jun 8, 2016Jun 8, 2016 by friedasfrills

Hello 🙂 How are you all going?

It’s been raining here lately, so I have started knitting a pair of socks. I love knitting socks, there is something so nice about wearing a pair of cosy hand knitted socks. I know that lots of sock knitters love the magic loop technique, but I personally prefer using double pointed needles.

So anyway, a while ago a friend was knitting a really pretty fair isle cardigan for a baby girl and she told me that it was actually the yarn making the pattern, so there were no ends to weave in and no tricky pattern charts. Then a couple of months ago I was shopping in Spotlight and saw some balls of yarn called “Not Just Socks” which is self patterning yarn. I bought two 100g balls one orange one for my mum and one grey one for me which I put away until I finished some of my works in progress 🙂 .

I have finally started knitting a pair of socks from it and i love it! The yarn is 4ply and a blend of wool (50%), bamboo (25%) and polyamide (25%). The bamboo makes the yarn nice and smooth so it’s nice to knit with. I’ll post a photo of the finished socks so you can see the how the yarn turns out 🙂

Some things I have learnt that make knitting socks a little easier are:

Bamboo Double Pointed Needles (DPN), they are awesome! Not only are they eco friendly but they also help to keep your stitches from sliding off.
Pretty Yarn. Never underestimate pretty yarn! I find that knitting with bright, variegated or patterned yarn stops me getting bored with a project so I actually finish it 🙂
Always Finish The Round. This is a really good habit to get into, it makes it easier to remember where you are up to.
Leave A Tail When Casting On And Joining. This way you can always see where the round starts.
Short DPNs, they are easier to control (not poking yourself and everyone around you) plus they make your knitting much more portable.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!

Tutorials

Tutorial-Toadstool Pincushion

Posted on May 30, 2016Jun 6, 2016 by friedasfrills

Hello everyone 🙂 Today I thought that I would show you how you can make your own toadstool. You can use this as a cute little pincushion or just as an adorable decoration!

So here is what you will need:

Red Felt
White Felt
Cardboard
Toy Fill/ Stuffing
Scissors
Needle
Red Thread
Craft Glue suitable for Fabric (Hot Glue is fine too)
Toadstool Template

So first up you need to print the template and the cut out all the pieces. Now cut the top out in red felt and cut three large spots, two little spots and the stalk all in white felt. You will also need to cut the base out in cardboard.

Now lets put it together…

Thread the needle, and knot the end. With long stitches sew all the way around the top

until you are back where you started. (As shown in the picture above). Pull the thread tight so the top starts to gather and put a small amount of toy-fill or stuffing in.
Place the cardboard circle inside on top of the stuffing, pull tight and tie off the thread. Glue all around the edge.

Now take the stalk and put glue on one side, going from one end to the
other in a zig-zag pattern. Starting at one end carefully roll the stalk up all the way until you are almost at the end. Put some more glue on the end an roll it closed.

Okay, so now glue the stalk to the middle of the cardboard which is still showing on the bottom of your toadstool and let ALL the glue dry COMPLETELY.

You’re almost finished! Grab your spots and glue them on however you would like. Wait until its all dry, and you’re done! 🙂

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, and don’t forget to check out our Etsy Shop. Thanks for stopping by. 🙂

Uncategorized

New Listings!!

Posted on May 26, 2016 by friedasfrills

Hi everyone! Long time no see 🙂

Do you remember the Tablet Cover Tutorial posted awhile ago? Well, today we are adding a finished tablet sleeve cover to our Etsy Shop so you can buy the finished product. Woo Hoo!

From now on we will also be adding a NEW listing to our Etsy Shop EVERY WEEK!! So be sure to check back regularly so you don’t miss anything. We are also planning to post weekly blogs, starting (hopefully) next week. The first post will be a tutorial….

Thanks for visiting our web site 🙂

Gill

Uncategorized

Custom Orders

Posted on Dec 30, 2015 by friedasfrills

Hi every one!

Sorry its been such a long time since I updated my blog, but things have been a bit busy! I thought that I would take a couple of minutes to let you know that our Etsy shop is now taking custom orders for make up pouches. At the moment we have three sizes available:

-Small (13.5cm x 9cm) Perfect for holding coins, lipstick, mascara or jewellery.

-Medium (16.5cm x 12cm) This size is ideal as a cosmetic bag to go in your handbag, for traveling or even to use as a small clutch bag.

-Large (23cm x 15cm) The large pouch is ideal for your cosmetics whether your travelling or just to keep your make up organized at home.

These pouches make great gifts and are perfect as bridesmaid/wedding favours. As always please contact with any questions at friedasfrills@gmail.com or on our Etsy store.

Thanks for reading,

Au Revoir!

Uncategorized

Tutorial – Easy Rolled Hem

Posted on Nov 4, 2015Nov 4, 2015 by friedasfrills

Hello again. Today as I was finishing a pencil skirt that I am making, I thought I would make a quick tutorial to show you how I sew a rolled hem. Rolled hems are especially handy when sewing curved hems as they don’t put puckers in the hem. In this tutorial I will show you how to sew one without a special rolled hem foot. Enjoy 🙂

Firstl I overlock (serge) the raw edge, this just makes sure everything is neat. You could use your sew a zig-zag stitch over the edge instead if you prefer.

Now carefully press the overlocked edge over onto the wrong side of the fabric.

Next, fold the hem over again, covering the overlocked edge completely and press flat. If you need to you can pin this fold or even baste it closed.

Using the usual foot (normally called a zig-zag foot) on your machine, set it to a straight stitch with the needle on the left side. carefully sew the hem along the left edge of the fold (wrong side of fabric should be facing up) around the whole hem. Trim threads and press hem.

This is what the wrong side (back) of the hem should look like. Notice how the hem curves nicely around, and doesn’t pucker.

<— The right side should look like this.

Voila you have a rolled hem, pretty easy huh?!

Thanks for reading I hope you find this tutorial useful 🙂

Uncategorized

Tutorial- Chevron Friendship Bracelet with Adjustable Closure

Posted on Sep 30, 2015Sep 30, 2015 by friedasfrills

Hello! Recently I was trying to find a tutorial for these pretty friendship bracelets, but I couldn’t find many simple instructions to take you from the start to the finish. Once you get the hang of the two knots these bracelets are actually really quick and easy, and then you can move onto more complicated patterns. So here’s my tutorial:

Materials:

Cotton Thread in two colours ( Embroidery Thread, Yarn and String work too.)
Scissors
Tape
Clear Nail Polish
Needle (optional)

First we need to cut four 41cm lengths of each colour thread. So I have 4 brown and 4 purple. Tie a knot with all 8 threads about 12cm (5″) from one end of the thread, pull tight. Now tape the thread to a flat

surface just above the knot, this anchors your work.

Separate your threads into two groups of four (two of each colour) and arrange them like in the picture (brown, purple, brown, purple, purple, brown, purple, brown).

Taking the thread on the far left (brown) lay it over the thread

immediately next to it (purple), making a 4 shape, now take the brown thread under the purple one just above where it lays over the purple thread. Holding the purple thread taunt pull the brown one to the right and slide it up to the knot, that’s your first Forward Knot. Now we need to tie another forward knot with the same two threads, so take the brown thread placing it over the purple thread and then under the purple thread, pull tightly.

Now we need to move onto the next brown thread. Take the first brown thread and tie two forward knots around the next brown thread and then tie two forward knots around the next purple thread. It should look something like this.

Now take the brown thread on the far right, and lay it over the purple thread in a backwards 4 shape. Take the brown thread under and over the purple thread just above where they first crossed. Pull tight, that’s

one Backward Knot. Tie another backward knot on same thread. Tie two more backward knots on each of the next 3 threads. It should look like this photo ——->

Now taking the purple thread on the far left tie two forward knots on each of the next three threads. Take the purple

thread on the far right and tie two backward knots on each of the next four threads. Keep repeating these steps with the far left and far right threads until your bracelet is long enough to almost fit all the way around your arm. Knot all of the threads together.

Adjustable Closure

Trim the excess threads to the same length (about 12cm) and plait/braid the length. Knot the ends of the plait/braid and paint the knots with nail polish or craft glue so that they don’t come undone.

With two strand of matching thread

carefully make several square knots around both plaited lengths as shown in <——–this photo. (sorry about the blurry photo). Flip the bracelet so the wrong side is facing you and tie the ends. Paint the knot with nail polish and trim the ends. Allow your bracelet to dry and