Felt pins/badges!

Hi guys, Issy here - it's been a while. So a couple of days ago I decided to make a felt pin. I had some felt and thread nearby, so I thought I'd give it a go. I don't claim to be any kind of pin expert (in fact, I've hardly used felt before and I've never made a pin from scratch!) so I was sort of just guessing as I went along...but it turned out pretty well...I think.

This is the front of the pin (the shape on the front is a cloud):

And here's the back:

Here's what you will need:

-a safety pin

-two different colours of felt (or more, or less, depending on your design)

-some thread of around the thickness that you would make a friendship bracelet with (again, you can use multiple colours if you like)

-a needle with a large eye

-scissors

-a pencil

Now I'll give you the instructions, but remember, I'm just writing about my own badge design, so feel free to adapt the following to suit your own.

Step 1:

With your pencil, draw on a sheet of felt the shape that you want to have on the front of your pin (a cloud, in my case). Mine is about 4.5cm long for reference. Then cut this out.

Step 2:

Next, draw a circle slightly larger than your first shape - I used my white felt again for this, and to get a perfect circle, I traced the outline of my little box of needles which was, handily, just bigger than my cloud. You can use any circular template, or none if you would prefer. And then cut this out. This is what we have so far:

Step 3:

Now cut a length of thread and put it through the eye of your needle (this proved to be quite a challenge for me, even though I was using the largest-eyed needle that I had, but I got there in the end!). Don't forget to tie a knot at one end so that the whole thing doesn't unravel! Then, using a simple stitch (or another one that takes your fancy), sew your first shape onto the circle. I turned both shapes upside down beforehand so that the pencil outline was on the back and therefore not noticeable.

Step 4:

Take a different coloured felt sheet (or use the same one if you want) and put your work so far on top of it. Draw a circle around it onto your new sheet of felt, making it around half a centimetre larger in radius than the first circle you made. I just went freehand for this bit. Afterwards, cut it out, following the pencil mark.

Step 5:

Time to get out your safety pin! Open it and put it through your larger circle so that the opening/closing half of it is on the side with the pencil outline - this will be the back of your pin.

Step 6:

You guessed it - it's time to sew your smaller circle onto your bigger circle! I used my blue thread again, but obviously you can choose a different colour if you want this time round. Make sure that you sew it onto the front of your larger circle, so that you can still clip and unclip the safety pin at the back.

And that's it! Your very own homemade felt pin/badge. Hope you enjoy it.

Catch ya later,

Issy :)

P.S. Make sure to check out our Instagram: cheekymonkeydiy

Peseta, Madrid

Hello!

So, I've been on holiday in Madrid for a few days now, and two days ago I found a lovely little sewing shop near the Noviciado metro station, in the hipster-y neighbourhood of Madrid (I'll put details at the bottom if you want to visit it). We were searching for a good place for tapas(a task rather difficult without a recommendation, as we found out) when we I wandered down a little street and saw this store.

What immediately drew me to it was the colourful exterior covered with leaves, but I was delighted when I went inside and realised that it sold sewing supplies!

The brand is normally just sells bags and accessories, but they run sewing workshops and this was one of the shops where they are held, and so they also sell sewing goods. Here are some of the cute handmade bags on sale.

They sold wool for knitting, many lovely fabric buttons as shown here and also some other miscellaneous sewing goods.

The store also sold fat quarters in loads of different patterns. They were slightly expensive, so I wouldn't buy lots, but I think it is worth it for the wide range of unusual patterns.

The English website is:

http://peseta.org/en/

And the address of this store is:

Calle noviciado, 9

28015

Madrid

From Annie

DIY washi tape

Hey guys!
As you all know, if you have been looking at this blog for some time, I like washi tape. And by like I mean that I have over 40 rolls, and it has overgrown it's original holder, so now it fills up an entire shoebox. Anyways, the only problem with my passion for washi is that it can cost so darn much. I mean, after a quick search I found that paperchase sells it for £3 each, and the official UK mt supplier for £2.75. This means to save money I go to some of the cheaper high street chains- for example, if you saw my insta post, you can see that I got 4 rolls of tape for €2 at Alehop in Spain. And though this tape is still pretty, it's just not as good quality unfortunately. So, trying to seek the resolution to all my washi filled problems, I decided to try my hand at making some of my own tape. And, though it does not have quite the same consistency(can I describe washi tape as that?), it is still pretty good.
















You will need:
- some double sided sticky tape
- nice paper
- an empty kitchen/toilet paper roll
-scissors
- a twist tie, or some string and a bead

Here are all the things you need

Steps:
1) Get your piece of paper, and place a strip of tape over one side. For some of my papers, I photocopied them as there was only a small piece, so I would have enough to make more tape.

2) Then, cut along the edge of the tape, so you have a nice long piece of tape covered in paper.

3) If you don't have a twist at this point, quickly fashion a similar item from a bead and some about 9cm string. I simply put the bead on the string, then tied the two ends together.

4) Then, cut a piece wide enough to put your tape on from the bottom of your roll. Wrap your tape around it, and secure with the twist tie/pull your bead through, then put the other end of the thread over the bead.

By Annie

Elastic bookmark

Helloooo!

As you might have seen from our Instagram, Issy and I just came back from a lovely trip to Granada, where, although beautiful, it rained every single day. Not what we were expecting for southern Spain. But now on to our post. Now, I I know that in these long winter evenings, we all like to read a nice book. And so, I designed this easy bookmark tutorial. The good thing is that the elastic goes around the book, so the bookmark won't fall out.

Also if you need any good book recommendations, please check out Kiki's blog, which posts great book reviews >> http://teenagereadsxo.blogspot.co.uk

You will need:

- two types of fabric

- elastic

- card

- scissors

- a sewing machine

- any ~embellishments~ you want

Steps:

1) Cut a rectangle out of paper, 16cm x 6cm, then pin it to both pieces of fabric together. Cut around, so you end up with two identical rectangles of fabric.

2) Add any embellishments that you want. I made this for a friend, so I put a felt L on mine.

3) Now cut out a 15cm x 5cm piece of card, which will go inside the bookmark to stiffen it.

4) Place you two pieces of fabric right sides facing inwards. Snip a pice of elastic long enough to go halfway around a book. Then lay it inbetween the two pieces of fabric, with a bit poking out at each end. Sew three sides of the fabric together, leaving one short side open. Make sure the elastic is now firmly sewn in on one end.

5) Turn your fabric inside out, so the right sides now face out. Slide in the cardboard.

6) Finally, place the other end of the elastic into the bookmark, and sew up the end.

By Annie

One year Birthday!

Hi guys!

I'm really happy to announce that it's our one year anniversary for our blog! It has really been a great year. I mean, we began from nothing and now we have way over a thousand views. We have also created our Instagram page so don't forget to check that out at cheekymonkeydiy.

I'm also really happy that we have (tried) to keep posting consistently, even if there are gaps sometimes. We have lots of posts planning coming up such as:

Making sock monkeys

Reviews of different craft books

How to use a sewing machine (in case some of our readers don't know how)

Making your own washi tape

How to make a tote bag

I'm also going to try to keep the posts more conversational, like a normal blog, and they might not all be DIYs, but they could also be other things, e.g. Ways to store washi tape.

Anyway, thanks to all our readers and followers for their support.

By Annie

PS: you can now pin all our pictures if you want to save them for later

Making a reusable calendar- A cautionary tale for crafters

Hello there,

Today I have faced what I can only call a tragedy in my life, so I will do something I do not normally do. I shall tell you a story. Here goes:

Once there was a fair maiden who lived in a faraway land. One day she decided to partake in the novel idea of making a whiteboard calendar. She prepared it lovingly, using the local tradition of 'washi tape', and by the end of this task she was very pleased with her work. Carefully she carried it over to the laminator, and put it in gently. But then, with a horrible roaring and slashing, the little calendar was cut into threads. For this was no laminator, but instead, a shredder. The little maiden cried her eyes out, but there was no more she could do. The calendar she had cherished was damaged beyond repair.

That my friends, is the true story of what happened to me this morning. So unfortunately there is no end picture in this tutorial, however I will put one in as soon as I make another calendar. Here is a picture of the last stage I got to anyway, so it should give you some idea of what it will look like:

You will need:

- A laminator (make sure it is one first)

- A laminating pouch

- A sheet of paper

- Pens

- Washi tape

- A ruler

Steps:

1) Collect your equipment, then turn on your laminator, so it will be heated by the time you need to use it.

2) Draw put a grid on the page, five columns high and seven rows across. For an a4 sheet of paper, my boxes were 3cm x 3.5cm. Put strips of thin washi tape along the lines inside, to mark out the boxes.

3) Write 1- 31 in the boxes, like in a normal calendar. Put a strip of tape across the top of the grid, and draw a line on it where each box begins. Each month work out what day of the week the first is on then write that day on the first section of the tape. Write the rest of the days of the week on the tape chronologically from there. 

4) Then put a rectangle made of tape at the top of the page. I cut each piece of tape in half width-ways for this, so the box will be big enough. This will be to write the name of each month in. I also made an 'important dates' section next to this, so I can see what is coming up at a glance.

5) (I have no picture of this step, as you will understand if you have read above) Put your calendar in the laminating pouch so no paper is poking out the edges, then gently slide it into the machine. It will do most of the moving of the paper, so don't push it, as that could cause wrinkles in the calendar. Once it comes out the end, gently tug it free, then wait for it to cool before using your new calendar. Please use only whiteboard pens with it.

By Annie