Things to make - ideas and tutorials now ready!

Hello and thank you for calling in on this section

I make a great deal of things - straightforward things mainly that you can make at home with no fancy equipment!    I thought that I would try and corral all my 'sort of' tutorials and ideas about things to make on to one page for ease of access.

 It would be great if you would leave a comment and let me know what you think.  Those comments are what keep me going!

 Please note that I am not very skillful but I do like to give things a go!

1. Crinoline Lady Bag  - This one has proved to be the most popular - the Crinoline Lady Bag post  Still makes me laugh when I read it!

2.  Vintage embroidered purses - I am rather fond of a nice vintage embroidered purse and these ones here are my favourites of all time!

3. A kiss clasp coin  purse - If you have been given a free Mollie Makes purse here is my tutorial to make up the purse to your own design here -  this is a small coin purse


4.  Duffle bag - I don't usually use a pattern to make my bags and I will do a more detailed tutorial for my weekend bag - but here is a rough outline of how to make a duffle type bag  I find that the fabric will determine the size and shape of the bag

5. Vintage window garden cold frame -This was a vintage garden idea that I had - if you are not handy with a saw you might need some help with this one

6.  Valentine choco hearts lollipops  - For Valentine's I made this very simple heart choccos on a stick very easy to do

7.  Cathedral window using vintage embroideries -Something that I have made since I was a teenager is cathedral window patchwork and particularly like using old fabrics and embroideries - so you can whip up a little gift quite easily as demonstrated here

8. Vintage fabric covered lampshade -I have made many lampshades for our house and a few are here - you do not need to buy an expensive book to learn how to make these. THEY ARE VERY VERY EASY TO DO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

9.  Little zipped coin purse - I love these little zipped purses  and again easy to make follow the links in the posting to find the original tutorial

10.  Printed purses using vintage emphemara - Here is one of my favourite things to make - and I made lots of these using personal family ephemera - please let me know if you make any of these and this is one that I made using a special envelope for a friend's mother

11.  Peg bags using vintage embroideries - I love to peg out my washing (free drying - what could be better) so please make a new peg bag each season - again easy to do and use an old wooden hanger - some variations here

12.  Embroidered childhood photographs - With this one I used an old photographs of my good self and printed it onto fabric - a bit of embroidery and you are all done

13.  Vintage building blocks decoupaged - The wooden blocks were covered with vintage children's book illustrations - and I particularly liked how they turned out. You could use old photographs or fabric and really go to town!

14.  Mixture of sewn items from vintage embroideries and lace This was just a post that showed a few things that I made for a vintage fair that I did a while back - just some ideas for you

15.  Vintage fabric pencil case - Oh I did like this pencil case that I made using some fabric that I printed coupled with some vintage Jonelle Daisy Walk fabric - again simple to do


16.  A mix of simple makes - There were some simple but effective makes that I did with the children one half term when the weather was not too good


17.  Larger zipped purses and make up bags - Yet again a few more zipped purses that I am fond of making from vintage fabric

18.  Bunting - lots of it - Over the years I must have made miles and miles  as you can see here - oh dear and also a bit more in the  bunting using vintage embroideries - this is a small section!

19.  Windbreak made with vintage fabric - As we live by the sea I like to make seasidey things such as these windbreaks - again using old fabrics.  I have added pockets which are handy

20.  Beach umbrella made with vintage fabric - And together with your wind break you will need a big beach umbrella - here I used an old one that I bought for a few pennies from Rodney's and covered each section with a different piece of vintage fabric - much easier than I think it looks - give it a go

21. As you know I am rather fond of a vintage embroidered bag - or two here are some of them!

22. I love my printer's tray with vintage wallpaper - I did this a few years ago now but it is still in use and I see that they are popular on ebay!!

23. I love vintage lace doilies so here I made a Dorothy bag and applied a nice doiley for extra decoration

24. Of course if you are not in need of a Dorothy bag I also made a soft leather clutch bag/purse and appliqued a nice doily This one also shows an adorned apron that I wear for washing up together with some Edwardian lace and doily bunting (especially nice for wedding I think)

25. Finally - in the doily section - here - at the end of the post - you find a doily make do for Christmas time

25. These are the heart shaped heart warmers that I made for Mollie Makes

26. And also easy peasy paper bunting for Mollie Makes

27.  Also the trunk that I got from Rodney's which was on Mollie Makes and also here - should you need to see it the inside of the trunk became my travelling shop

28.  Oh another embroidered purse

29. Here I made a wallpaper tree and added some vintage fabric hoops as leaves!

30.  I was feeling nostalgic so I made a 'Four Marys' school satchel type bag

31. My old bike gets a makeover every once in a while - as it is old and was cheap I am not precious about it.

32.  Collars - Another use for vintage embroideries and old fabric is to make detachable collars I just made a pattern out of a piece of newspaper - easy to make.  This is the embroidered one that I made.  I also made some Dr Who style ones that I quite liked

I have some more to add in if these have been of interest - many thanks