A long thin tool with a pointed tip which is used for sewing purpose is known as a sewing needle.  In ancient times, needles were made out of bones or wood, but in today’s world a sewing needle is manufactured from carbon steel. Ideally, a needle that is used for sewing has a pointed tip and contains a hole on the other side. This hole is known as “eye” and is used to carry the thread. The pointed end pierces the material that is to be stitched and the blunt end pulls the thread out of the fabric. Strange, but the fact is that the strawberry is used to keep these needles sharp and smooth.

Hand sewing needles come in various sizes and shapes. One of these can be selected based upon the requirement and fabric specifications. Most commonly used are known as “sharps”. Sharps are of standard medium length, have a circular eye, and are suitable for most of the sewing methods and works fine with most of the fabrics. For quilting, the needles that are used are known as “betweens”. These are short needles, shorter than sharps and with a round eye. As this has to join three or more thick fabrics together, the structure is slightly different than sharps. For beading again there is a different sort of needle that is used. These needles are very fine, even the eye is small and narrow so as to fit through the center of the bead but a long shaft so that it can hold multiple beads at the same time.

Other than these, there are few more types of needles that are designed for specific kinds of fabric and purpose:

• Tapestry: These needles are large as compare to sharps or betweens. They have a large eye to carry a thicker and heavy weight yarn. The tip of these needles is blunt so that it can pierce through a thick material without breaking its tip or tearing off the fabric. It is especially used for embroidery.
• Leather: Leather needles also known as wedges because they have triangular tip specially designed to pierce through leather smoothly. It is meant for material like leather or even plastic
• Tatting: These are long and thick needles. Even the eye is thick maintaining the uniformity of the needle which lets the needle to be pulled out through double stitching in the fabric.

Sewing needle is an inexpensive option with a wide variety specially designed for specific purpose and fabric.

The art by which thread or yarn is turned into a cloth or a fine material is known as Knitting. Knitting is performed by creating consecutive rows of loops wherein a loop is pulled through an existing loop. Creating loops by passing thread from an existing loop leads to a knitted fabric. Knitting can be used to make lot of designer things like scarves, sweaters and other clothes. Beautiful scarves can be knitted using homespun yarn which can be used in winters to protect from the chilly weather, but in a classy way.

There is an interesting history around the ‘traditional scarf’. The way it was knitted had its own significance and a reason attached to it. Even now if you pick up scarves from different parts of the world, the way it is knitted will be completely different and would definitely have a story behind its uniqueness. You can return to ancientRomefor its origin and use of scarf. Roman soldiers used to wear it in desert for cleanliness. Knitted scarves are used by worshippers in many religions. These are also used by sportsmen especially in countries likeBritainandAustralia. The football players in these countries wear colorful knitted scarves which are admired by their fans.

There are various scarf knitting patterns available.  Few of the wonderful patterns are:

1. Spontaneous scarf knitting pattern: This artistic pattern makes use of different pieces of yarn to create a colorful scarf. The different colors used add to the beauty of the knitted fabric. This pattern can be used with different homespun yarn, wool yarn and dyed yarn to create a variety of scarves.
2. Morning scarf pattern: The morning scarf pattern consists of a simple lace like structure which looks fantastic with any color scheme. Creativity around this pattern can be shown with any kind of yarn like homespun, dyed or any other material.
3. Ribbed Scarf: Its one of the basic patterns often used by beginners to practice two styles of stitch which is the knit and purl. In this pattern, ribbing is performed to bind the stitch and it is woven in the end. As the scarf takes it length, the pattern can be seen. You can add fringe to add beauty to the basic design of the scarf.

There are million other scarf knitting patterns and you can try your own pattern to create one. All that is required is a few basic concepts around knitting and then you can use your artistic brain to create wonders.

The art of holding three or more layers of fabric together by a stitch is known as Quilting. It is a stitching art to create designer product. Quilt can either be done by machine or hand. Special kind of thread and needle is used in the process of quilting. If performed by hand, quilting is done on a frame using needles which are specially crafted and are called “betweens”. Machine quilting is done on a conventional sewing machine and matching thread is used to bring about the design. An artist who creates quilt is known as a quilter. The three layers of fabric that are the top material, the sandwiched fabric and the backing material can be joined together either by straight, rocking or a running stitches. Quilting is done to create bed covers, clothing, wall hanging and other designer products.

There are various kinds of quilting patterns available. Few of them are:

• Ditch quilting pattern: A “ditch” can be created by stitching close to the seamline of a block, patch or a border. Quilting in a ditch is usually done on the side without the seam allowance, so that it is not visible.
• Outline pattern: This design is used to create quilt with a lot of strength. In this pattern, quilting is done roughly about 0.25 inch away from the seamline inside the patch, so that seam allowances can be avoided.
• Accent quilt: In this pattern, the quilt doesn’t follow; it rather compliments the existing seamline.
• Motif quilt pattern: It is a kind of quilting in which the quilt follows the design lines that is created on the top of a quilt. This gives it a very classy look.
• Selective pattern: As the name suggests, in this pattern only selective portion of the design is quilted to highlight those areas.
• Fill: The quilt is filled and the background or the space is flattened in the quilt top to make the primary design stand out. Various types of filling are done like an Echo, as it echoes the shape of the patch work by line stitches (2 or 3 lines) that are spaced around 0.25 inches apart; a Crosshatching, in which the quilting is done in grid pattern by creating straight lines. Grid pattern can be either diagonal, straight or in the form of diamonds; a Channel in which channels are formed by quilting in straight lines.

As it can be seen there is a variety of quilting patterns available, any of these can be picked to create designer fabulous quilts.

Today the term “Gift baskets” appears on the top ten home creative businesses. It is a quickly growing business option for the talented and creative person. Gift baskets are a great gift to be presented to someone with care and affection. While wondering and mulling over a special gift or unique gift option, it is difficult to find a better solution than making your own gift basket. You can show your love in the form of a creative gift basket for any occasion like Birthdays, Weddings, Christmas or even a holiday. Though many find it difficult to make this sort of a gift, either because of choosing the contents or wrapping it around, it actually is quite simple. You just need your imagination and creative ideas to take a front seat and voila!

There are various types of gift baskets and it’s very simple to build a beautiful gift basket. Hope the following simple steps would help you in solving the query of how to build a Beautiful Gift Basket?

First and foremost you need to plan a theme for the gift basket. It could be a food or gourmet basket, a baby shower basket, a festive celebration basket and so on. Always remember to stick to the theme and select the items accordingly. Next step is to set aside a budget for your basket. You should be clear on how much you want to spend on making this gift altogether. Then, make a list of things you would like to see going into the basket. The success of a well thought of gift basket is how unique it is. So, a quick brainstorming session with close friends and family may help in selecting the right items to go into the basket.

Now, get ready to buy the items. You can either check them online or check the ones which are on sale or promotions. You can purchase items like baskets, tissue paper, ribbons, wrapping material; etc which is common to all gift baskets, from a wholesaler which would be more economical and you can get a quantity based discount from the retailer. By this stage you will not be daunted with thoughts of how to build a beautiful gift basket!

Once you have the items in place which would most probably be of different shapes and sizes, you can start selecting & arranging your basket. Attractively arrange the items you have selected and throw in some colorful nick knacks like candies or flowers. Then, add the final touches by wrapping up the gift basket elegantly with choicest paper or tissue and decorative bows and ribbons. Remember, the basket should be visually appealing as well.

Keep it ready in advance so that you don’t miss out on anything to be added in the gift baskets, as this reflects the thoughts & efforts you have put in. Happy gifting guys!

]]> http://craftshed.net/build-your-own-beautiful-gift-basket/feed/ 0 http://craftshed.net/darice-80-piece-professional-art-set/ http://craftshed.net/darice-80-piece-professional-art-set/#comments Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:01:43 +0000 Admin http://craftshed.net/?p=43 ]]> http://craftshed.net/darice-80-piece-professional-art-set/feed/ 0 http://craftshed.net/types-of-quilting-kits/ http://craftshed.net/types-of-quilting-kits/#comments Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:01:43 +0000 Admin http://craftshed.net/?p=313

Quilting is an artistic method of sewing which is used to join two, three of more layers to form a thicker material. All these base materials are joined together by using a needle and a thread. Hence, a process of making a thick padded material by joining two, three or more layers of materials using a needle and a thread is known as quilting and the final product is known as a quilt. The artist who makes a quilt is known as a quilter. There are various methods available to make a quilt:

• By hand
• Sewing machine
• Special quilting system

Typical quilt is made using three layers of base material which are the top fabric, an insulating material and a backing fabric.  The needle and the thread are passed through all the three layers used by quilter’s hand or the sewing machine. The process is repeated till a desired design is obtained. Quilting can be done to make wall hangings, bed spreads, designer clothes and so many other products. Quilt stores offer a variety of products for quilting. They sell fabric, patterns, thread, quilting kits and other material required in the process of quilting.

These days there are different kinds of quilting kits available in the market that provide all that is required to create a quilt. A quilting kit consists of fabric, thread, needle and other required items. These kits are available to produce quilts of various patterns and these are reviewed to ensure that the design is clear, complete and accurate. These days quilt kits can be bought online as well.  Selection can be made by looking at the design, the fabric, texture and color as per your specifications. Few of the quilt kits available are:

• Jigsaw Puzzle Quilt Kit: This is made out of “H” shaped quilt block. In the jigsaw puzzle design, the puzzle pieces are emerged by flipping the blocks. Its one of the famous pattern available and the kit is one of the best selling quilt kits.  The needle that is provided in the kit is perfect to product jigsaw pattern. The fabric available in the kit will be of various colors to bring out an amazing colorful designer pattern.
• Hatchet Rag Quilt kit: This kit contains the fabric and the pattern to create an Indian Hatchet Quilt. The fabric is available in two or three colors.

You can select any of these quilt kits available in the stores or book them online and embellish your house with these stylish and colorful designer quilts.

Art and Crafts is a fun filled creative hobby. However, nowadays crafting supplies are expensive and even if interested we try to divert the funds to more important essential stuff. If you are still wondering how to craft on a budget, there are various options available. You can express your creativity without burning a hole in your pocket. Here are a few tips on how to craft on a budget:

Most of us have a stash of ribbons in different sizes and shapes at home. Use a bit of creativity and overlap these strips of ribbons to form a pattern of a rose. Glue the edges and you have flowers of all sizes and colors. Use them on cards, envelopes, plain lamp shades and see the transformation! The ribbons with a bit of lace can also be used as trimmings for making tiny purses or sachets of potpourri. Border your cushion covers with them and they will surely get you compliments. Also use them in alternate colors over a plain flower vase to transform into a rainbow vase.

Invest in different colored glitter as they come in handy for all sorts of crafts. If you want to make a personalized gift with a picture, look around your home to see if you have any photo frames lying around. Else just pick up a plain, inexpensive one. Make 2 or 3 borders with glue and pour different colored glitter on them and dust of the excess. Stick buttons from the sewing kit and different colored fruit loops (make sure to coat them with transparent nail paint and allow it to dry, before using) on the glitter border and be amazed at the brand new frame.

For garden lovers and to encourage the same among little ones’ buy seeds of different plants and vegetables. They are not expensive and many even mail them to you, free of cost online. Using bright colored old greeting card covers make small envelopes and fill with seeds. Paste painted dry herb sticks and twigs with gold paint on these seed pouches for decoration and fasten with a twine.

Ever thought of making your own jewelry and converting it into a crafting hobby? So, how to craft this on a budget would be your next query. Nowadays online stores sell gemstones, metal links, metal & stone beads, wires etc at very low prices. Check out patterns in magazines or the internet and soon enough you will be making your own bracelet! Happy crafting!

Kirstie is really getting into the swing of Christmas now and if you really want to get in the mood yourself it really is advisable to watch this edition of Kirstie’s Hand Made Britain because her enthusiasm for this time of the year really is infectious.

If you watched last weeks programme you will know that she has mastered the 12 crafts of Christmas and it wouldn’t be a surprise if many of the people at home had not also tried their hand at these crafts, after all, the final results from Kirstie’s efforts looked absolutely stunning and if they are as easy to put together as she said they are then there will be a lot of happy people up and down the country.

This weeks offering revolves around a Christmas fair and all of the craft friends that she met throughout the summer are invited. If you think back over the course of the series you will remember that some of England’s very best craftsmen and women were involved and the skills that they showed were absolutely breath taking. On a more serious note, it is hoped that these marvellous people will be able to keep practising their skills because in the day and age in which we live, many of these skill are being replaced by cheap and tacky alternatives and crafts people everywhere are discovering that the demand for their products is dwindling.

What people fail to realise is that many of these skills get passed down through the generations and if they are not needed any more the skills will simply die out. This would be such a crying shame and all credit has to go to Kirstie and the team behind this programme as they are making the general public well aware of what is going on and how it can be stopped in its tracks.

Anyway, on a lighter note, back to the Christmas fair. Kirstie arranged a Yule log competition which looked like a lot of fun and the people who got involved produced some pretty good efforts, including Kirstie.

There was a feast of fine food which has been arranged and lots of singing Christmas carols with spiced cider to relax the vocal chords. Everything about this programme has been a delight from start to finish and this episode was arguably the best of the lot.

We again saw Kirstie’s lovely home in Devon and you can also tell that she has settled in there perfectly. She may spend her time between Devon and London but it would not be a surprise if Devon is where her heart is and it wouldn’t be a surprise that in the near future she moves to that part of the world permanently.

There will be many people who hope that another series of Kirstie’s hand made Britain is planned for next year because it has been a breath of fresh air, especially these Christmas themed editions which have just about been the icing on the cake.