Summer in the Rose Garden

Hello

Well I have truly failed to meet my target of setting up a blog, as I don't think you can call one entry a 'blog', but here I am having another go at it.

 The highlight of the past week, well year to be honest has been the arrival, and just as quick departure of the Tour de France.  Yorkshire welcomed Le Tour on Saturday and Sunday, with The Rose Garden Family attending both days.  Flags were duly sewn and created, with only a small overnight change needed to update our flag from 'C'mon Cav!' to 'Get Well Soon Cav!', after the dramatic crashing out on the first stage of my personal favourite Mark Cavendish.

A total of seven hours of waiting was done over the two days, to see what was a little over 2 minutes of cycling, but surprisingly enough not many complaints were made, and the consensus of the family was that it had been well worth it.

Of course my preparations had started well in advance of the race, in fact almost a year beforehand, when I decided to take part in the challenge of Cragg Vale, to create the world's longest line of bunting.  The community of Cragg Vale nr Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire had decided that with the help of local groups they would try to break the World Record, and I as an avid bunting maker and cycling fan could not say no to this opportunity.

With the help of the local craft group that I run, and visitors to the local library I was able to create just 50m of the eventual 12115m that was created by the people of Calderdale. Here is a photo of it in situ up Cragg Vale Road, just a few of the eventual thousands of flags that were all cut and decorated by hand.  Luckily we found out with just days to go that Cragg Vale had indeed taken the World Record, the icing on the cake for all those months of cutting, sewing and logistical planning, Well Done Everyone!!

So to my latest make, here are some details on how you can make your own easy bunting, even if you do not have access to a sewing machine and 8km of road to hang it on.

What you will need:

Coloured or patterned card

Scissors

Pencil

Ruler

Ribbon, string or wool

Hole Punch

Method

1. Make a template to draw around first, flags can be any size or shape you like

2. Draw around your template onto the reverse side of your coloured card

3. Cut out enough flags to make your bunting

4. Punch a hole in each top corner of your flag pieces

5. Thread through some parcel ribbon to hang your bunting flags on, or alternatively use string or wool

6. Hang up your Bunting!

Quick and Easy Outdoor Bunting

Make a flag template to the size you wish out of cardboard, and cut flags out of an old pvc table cover or shower curtain.  Cut out sufficient flags for the length of bunting required.  Fold over the top edge of each flag and either sew or staple onto a length of cotton tape. Et voila!

www.facebook.com/therosegardenuk

www.facebook.com/buntingcraggvale2014

Flowers in The Rose Garden

One of the resolutions I set myself at New Years was to not have a single resolution, but instead to have a series of 'personal challenges' that once achieved could then be replaced with another.  Well here is my first, to create and publish a blog, about mainly my business, but also perhaps craft tutorials, top tips, craft projects and any other ideas that come into my head at the time.

The Rose Garden is a small business I set up in October 2012, after being made redundant from my job as a Careers Advisor...probably a million miles away from sewing and craft as a career.  On a related note have you ever noticed how almost no one seems to be doing the job they wanted when they were 16, I certainly am not, I wanted to first work in TV, then be an artist, and then finally a geologist.  At no point in my life did I say I wanted to sew as a career, but then neither did I say I wanted to be a Careers Advisor.  If being a Careers Advisor is a job I 'fell' into, sewing as a job is one I actually 'jumped' into.

At the risk of this sounding like my life story I first learnt to sew from my Nanna.  A lovely Yorkshire lady who had an ancient but reliable Singer Sewing Machine, that she let me loose on when I was probably a bit too young to understand the dangers of sewing through your finger.  It was definitely her patience and understanding that helped me nurture an interest in crafty things.  Whether it was creating pom-poms from leftover wool, knitting a scarf for my Cindy (showing age there), or doing that strange French Knitting with an old bobbin with nails in it that produced a long snake like woollen rope, that I never figured out what to do with.

Anyway fast forward 30ish years and here I am trying to run a small business sewing fabric items and trying my hand at a range of other crafts such as jewellery and card-making.

To celebrate this as my first post I would like to share with you a great little project I have been making for quite a while, fabric flowers!

You will need the following items;

Fabric

Pen

Thread

Needle

Scissors

Button

Small circle of felt or thick fabric

Something round to use as a stencil (a cup is ideal)

A brooch pin (a safety pin would also do)

Method

1. Draw round the top of a cup onto the fabric 6 times and then cut the circles out with the scissors.
2. Take a circle of fabric and fold in half, then half again to make a quarter.  Sew a running stitch along the curved outer edge and then do this another 5 times, each time onto the same length of thread.
3. When all 6 circles have been sewn pull the thread tight until the fabric forms the petals of the flower.
4. Stitch the petals together where they meet, and secure the rest of the petals with another few stitches so that the flower shape is formed.
5. Take a small circle of felt or thicker fabric (approx. the size of a 10p piece) and sew it to the back of your flower over the middle, this will give you something more substantial to sew the button to, and to also attach the flower to the pin.
6. Next sew the button to the front of the flower, attaching it through onto the small circle on the back.
7. Lastly attach the pin to the back of the flower, and you have a lovely Flower brooch!

Top Tip

The flower can also be glued onto a headband or sewn onto a hair elastic for a range of different uses and looks.

If you like what you read then please take the opportunity to either visit my facebook page at www.facebook.com/therosegardenuk or folllow me on twitter @therosegardenuk

Thank you!