Papercut Church Tutorial

I wasn't quite sure what kind of tutorial I would do today... last night I had it in my head that I would do a tea cosy, but I will do that another day- today my time just expired, and I really wanted to make another papercut church to replace the one I made last year (I felt it was out of proportion to the rest of the houses I had made) and also I wanted to make "stained glass" windows to put into it.

So, I decided to do a tutorial today, for the ninth of December, of a Papercut church. There are photographs at the end of this post that you could print out onto A4 card and use as instructed below. 

Materials:

Clear plastic (I used a see-through sheet of printable clear film and painted on the "matte" side)

Paint (I use watercolour dyes from here)

Glue (I use my (*wonderful*) glue gun)

Craft Knife for cutting out the church model

Cardboard for the church model (I used A4 size contruction card in a dark maroon- which was all I had at the time! But works beautifully)

The How To:

Cut out your model using a craft knife.

Paint panels of colour using dots of paint on the clear film

Cut rectangles of coloured film, measuring larger than the window

Glue around the window and stick down the film (if there is a shiny and matte side, have the shiny side facing out)

Assemble the church, with pieces of tape (I use sellotape so that I can carefully peel it off at the end of the Christmas season and store it flat for another year)

I put some battery operated candles inside (I know I don't need to tell you NOT to put in real candles!!)

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For aesthetic purposes, I set it up a vignette with some of the cut-out trees behind-

how pretty is that?

These are the templates for your church- photocopy the photographs onto A4 card and cut them out with a craft knife (or photocopy onto paper, draw around them onto card and then cut out)

(I welcome everyone to use these templates, but if you do, please link back to me here 

(and so I can see your beautiful interpretation!) :-) )

Posted by Emily 

The No-Sew Blanket

I’m still without my own camera, but Fergal got a loan of one for me, so I can do the final pictures of this incredibly easy No-Sew Blanket

(I got the how-to from this wonderful woman called Tammy last year, thank you Tammy! XXX)

This makes a very fast, easy gift, you could easily make it in an hour or two, and once it is cut, any child able to make a secure knot can be employed to help put it together!

(Apologies for the quality of the photo! But needs must etc etc)

The No-Sew Blanket

Materials: fleece material (I use two different patterns, or one plain and one pattern to make it easier to see when putting it together), sissors, pins, measuring tape (and the obligatory cup of tea)

The How-To:

You cut 2 pieces of fleece the same size. Pin one side, approximately 5 inches in

Make sure you have a child in a boat made from a vegetable box, sail over and try to steal your pins, and after that, cut into the fabric, 5 inches in, 1 inch apart, the whole length of the fabric, then repeat for each side.

For the corners, cut them out like this: (i.e. cut a 5″ x 5″ square from each corner)

Once you have all the cuts made, start to knot (yes, just a knot!) around the sides. I tend to knot the middle of each side and corners first to hold it all together, 

then continue to knot, until all the strips are knotted together. Go back over each knot to secure, and and make sure the knot is tight (it is incredibly difficult to pull the knots out once they are tightly knotted)

This also makes a really great present for an older person, as a lap blanket, or for a small child as a buggy blanket. 

Make sure to buy enough fleece, because as soon as you have made one, due to the addictive, relaxing rhythm of the knotting, you are sure to want to make another!!

(Posted by Emily )

The Simplest Scarf

 

Regardless of whether you're a complete beginner or an old hand, this scarf is not only very simple and straightforward, it's also very, very fast: you can easily finish it in an evening (yes, photographic evidence follows.)

You need:
Approximately 100g yarn (about 3.5 ozs)
This will vary according to the width and length of the scarf!
An appropriate hook
Mine was made with half a 7oz-skein of Vanna's choice and an 'I' hook

Abbreviations:
ss – slip stitch / chain stitch
dc – double crochet [tr - treble - in British English]


Start by chaining the amount of stitches necessary to get your scarf's desired width. This should be a number that you can divide by three and it should be an uneven number (why? I'll show you later.)


Chain 27. Mark the 27th stitch with a piece of yarn or stitch marker.

Round 1
Then chain six more stitches. Crochet 1 dc [tr] in the fourth chain from the stitch marker (here my piece of green yarn) and 1 dc [tr] each of the next two chain stitches in the foundation chain, 3 ss (skipping the three stitches in the foundation chain below them,) then 1 dc [tr] in each of the next three chain stitches. Continue from * to just before the end of the row. You should have three chain at the end: chain 2 and then do 1 dc [tr] in the last stitch of the foundation chain. Turn.


Round 2
Chain 3, then 1 dc [tr] in the space created by the 3 chain in the previous row. Chain 3, then 3 dc [tr] in the space created by the 3 chain below. Continue to just before the end of the row. Do 2 dc [tr] in the space created by the last 3 chain in the previous row, then do the last dc [tr ] in the 'corner' (probably third or fourth chain) of the six of the previous row. Turn.





Repeat rows 1 and 2 till the scarf is long enough, finishing with row 1. This is my scarf after ten minutes (18 cm - 7 inches - long)

And, after one episode of House (43 mins, fact fans), the scarf is more than 60 cm (2 foot) long. 

 Keep going till the scarf is the desired length, and finish with a Round 1. Then add a fringe or tassels by looping the yarn through the spaces created by the 3 chain. We started with an uneven number of chains so we have a 3 ch space at the beginning and end of the first and last row.