How to Sew Arm Sleeves for Gardening and Driving

This simple garden sleeves are easy to sew for beginners. You don't really need a pattern, and you can use any type of soft comfortable material you have. It is cheap to make these at home using either leftover material from other projects or upcycle a long sleeve polyester or spandex shirt. This project can be completed within 15 minutes. These sleeves are useful when working in the garden to keep arms from getting sunburnt when we wear short sleeves summer clothing.

Cacti Design using Double Cast Embroidery

The double cast embroidery stitch gives a beautiful effect for the cacti design. The completed design can be used to decorate anything or just hung as a wall decor.

Home Decor Embroidered Cushion

Debra Valencia, pattern artist and author of the book Embroidered Lettering: Techniques and Alphabets for Creating 25 Expressive Projects, says, "One reason hand stitching lettering and inspirational phrases have become so popular because it helps soothe people in today's high-stress environment." This book has unique embroidery lettering projects that feature heartfelt sentiments and witty statements. I replicated a design from this book for a cushion cover.

Sewing a Zipper Pouch

This zipper pouch we sewn using our Brother sewing machine. It is a convenient way to store our game pieces in one easy to access place. Follow these steps and make your own zippered pouch to store anything you want. 

DIY Draft Stopper for windows and doors

This DIY draft stopper is easy to make at home. It is very useful in keeping cold air from entering through windows and doors. This economical DIY is cheaper and easier to make at home, and it will save us a few dollars while keeping the cold air out.  

Poppy Flower Inspired Fabric Painted Cushion Cover

Fabric painting is a fun technique to use on clothes to add unique designs. For this cushion cover project, I chose to do a bright poppy flower inspired cover.

DIY Embroidery Top Wooden Stool

We wanted to a customize and make our own DIY wooden stool with a soft cushion top that can be used as an extra seating, a table, or a footstool. The colours we used are inspired by our love for Moroccan and Bohemian designs and colours. We feel this gives the punch of colour we want to make the interior of our home feel brighter even during the long winter seasons!

Learning Needle Tatting

I have been waiting to learn the craft of tatting, however I couldn't find the tools at any of the stores in Ontario. I searched it up on Amazon.ca and was super excited that it was available to purchase.

Win Klutz Kits for the Holidays

Klutz Kits have great play value, they are educational and fun for children and adults. We love using Klutz kits to learn new crafts. These kits have all the necessary tools and material needed to start the projects right away.

The Excitement of Machine Embroidery

Machine embroidery is a fun way to add unique touches to our sewing and home décor projects. I found that once we figure out how to setup the machine by switching the embroidery foot, inserting the panel, and embroidery hoop, it becomes simple as pressing a button and changing the thread.

Inspiring Sewing Books

Learning the craft of sewing is lots of fun, as it gives us the creative freedom to sew our own clothes and home décor pieces. I recently checked out a few books and found some of these useful and inspiring. 

Sewing a Crotchet Hook Case

I recently invested in a set of crotchet hooks, and really like how comfortable this set of crotchet hooks are. I use these hooks for variety of projects, and wanted to make sure I keep the hooks in one place. Since these hooks did not come with a case, I stitched a crotchet hook case using felt. 

Few Books to Keep Us Engaged This Summer

Growing our own vegetables is a relaxing and rewarding experience. Even though we don't always harvest a whole lot because weather plays an important role in this, we find that tending for our vegetable garden becomes addictive. 

The Fabulous Brother ScanNCut Home and Hobby Cutting Machine

Everyone that loves to do paper crafts, sew or quilt will love having this fabulous ScanNCut device from Brother. Once I started using this device, I wondered what I did without it! This is the world's first home and hobby cutting machine with a built-in scanner. I love all the creative possibilities that we can do with the Brother ScanNCut.

Denim Basket: Sewn and Fabric Painted

When school's out, it's perfect time for craft camp! Children and parents will enjoy the creative 40 projects in the Craft Camp book published by Lark. The projects include simple beading, sewing, felting, bookmaking and so much more. The book has ideas on how we can create colourful piñatas, eco-friendly mobiles, upcycled necklaces, hats, T-shirts, and many more projects. Children from 6 to 12 will find inspiring ideas in this book. We like the inspiring photographs that were useful when we were trying the projects. I would have preferred if there were more illustrations to accompany the written steps to make it clearer.

Embroidery using the Doodle Stitching Transfer Pack

Using colourful thread to embellish clothing, household items, and art is lots of fun. As a child and teenager, I enjoyed learning the basic embroidery techniques. I think it is a fun way to add unique touches to our belongings such as pillowcases and napkins.

Cupcakes Made With Felt

These felt cupcakes look good enough to eat :) I made these following the instructions from the Made by Me book. It would be neat to make these cupcakes, and give as a toy for children to play with, or use it as a pin cushion, or make mini ones to wear as a brooch.  To make a cupcake you will need...

Patchwork Envelope Style Denim Cushions

Finding cushions that suits our decor and style is very difficult, so I enjoy making my own cushions. This envelope style denim cushions are made with an easy patchwork design using leftover fabric.

For this project you will need... 

Denim cloth

Printed fabric cut into shapes

Inspiring DK Books for Mothers and a Middle Eastern Recipe To Enjoy Eggs

Middle Eastern Egg beid bi tom recipe follows

Mothers must be celebrated everyday! In celebration, DK is hosting a Mother’s Day Boutique with a collection of inspiring and intriguing books that are 30% off for a limited time. These books such as Mediterranean Cookbook, Dressmaking, Ultimate Food Journeys, and The World's Must-See Places are for mothers of all ages and interests.

Inspiring Crafting Books

Image of the cozies from Sewing for All Seasons book

Happy National Craft Month everyone :) I enjoy doing a variety of different crafts because it is fun and a good way to add personalized decor in our home or give as gifts. I also like learning new ones, and have been curious to do quilting and needle felting. I have done some projects that closely fall into quilting, but never did the full process of placing the batting etc. I checked out some inspiring needle crafting books 1 2 3 Quilt and Sewing for All Seasons, which has wonderful projects to get us started. I also got the Woolbuddies book to learn and try the hobby of needle felting.