I’m really excited to be teaching four workshops this weekend in the Crafts Theatre at The Country Living Christmas Fair in Glasgow. I’ll be showing how to make a rather lovely vintage style bag brooch. I don’t know whether this is a real thing or not but they look great pinned to a cloth bag or can simply be hung as a teeny miniature textile hanging.
I’m including the instructions here for anyone who takes part but doesn’t quite finish (we’ve only got forty minutes – gulp!) Also come and see me throughout the show on stand J15
Vintage Style Bag Brooch
Country Living Christmas Fair, Glasgow
Thursday 23rd – Sunday 26th November
11.00am – 11.40 daily
Find out more & book your place
Materials
The kit includes:
A scrap of old woollen blanket
Three fragments of 1940s French floral fabric
A teeny fabric photo printed from a vintage postcard
A scrap of lace
3 buttons
A safety pin with vintage style charms
Stranded cotton in pink, blue & green
A picture & instruction card
In addition to your kit you’ll also need a glue stick (I use Scotch) and a needle of course!
Step 1
I’ve started it off for you and attached one of the floral scraps to the blanket background. (Whenever I write a ‘To Do’ list I always include at least one thing that I’ve already done so that I can tick it off immediately – so there you go – you’ve already finished step 1!)
Step 2
Use the glue stick to put glue on the back of your photo. Try to get glue to the edges but don’t use too much – you don’t want it to seep through the fabric.
Step 3
Stick the photo about 2cm from the top, ever so slightly to the left rather than bang in the middle.
Step 4
Put glue on the back of the two small floral scraps.
Step 5
Slightly overlap the bottom of the photo with one scrap and then layer the other on top.
Step 6
Stretch the lace fragment over the top of the picture and using two strands of your thread stitch down with a running stitch.
Note On Using Stranded Cotton
Each colour of thread in your pack is made up of six fine strands of cotton. Pull out each strand individually and then put two back together and thread your needle.
Start and finish your stitching by making two or three teeny stitches into the back of the blanket layer – be careful not to go all the way through to the front.
Step 7
Make some long, straight stitches along your floral scrap going up onto your photo. Make them uneven – about 8 in total.
Step 8
Stitch little crosses at the top of these.
Step 9
Stitch a button at each end of your lace and one at the bottom of your picture.
Step 10
Make little stitches over the side edges of your photo – these don’t have to be even.
Step 11
Attach your safety pin at the bottom. You can either pin it into the blanket or stitch it with 3 little crosses.
Step 12
Attach your kilt pin to the top by stitching a row of cross stitches. I start with one in the middle and then make another two crosses on each side – before you stitch check that the opening part of the pin is to the top!
And Finally – Enjoy wearing!