new start....

Just a little update on the story of littleteawagon/teawagontales so far... in 2010 I started littleteawagon and this blog as a way to share crafts and things I made. It grew from a pile of vintage fabrics and some imagination into a little business which I ran while my boys were still small. Time rolls on and now I find myself in a different place but still wanting to create and share. I do different things now to scratch that creative itch... like volunteering, running workshops and growing things. I decided to focus on my love of textiles and set myself a goal to use up all my yarn, fiber and fabric this year (ready for a big move in a couple of years time) So Fiber and Fold became the new name...from fibers of fabric and yarn to folding papers and a bit of doodling new illustrations in between. (american spelling because it looked better)
So very soon I will be updating my newly named shop with new weaves, sewn things, prints and some reusable items.
Thanks for reading! I know this space is rarely updated these days but the stats show that it still gets lots of visits, especially the craft tutorials and Craft Camp projects so I thought it was worth putting this out there.  And if I have any crafty ideas I will always share them over here.

Plant Banner DIY Craft Camp 2018 #5

 

I do love a banner! This was inspired by my jungle of a house which is full of plants inside and out. 

It involves one straight line of stitching which can be missed out if you glue it so this project is for little people too. 

You will need : white fabric 25 x 40cm for the larger banner, green fabric 18x 20cm some white cotton tape white felt, grey felt, pink and red felt (for face) thread, pencil, sewing machine, iron, double sided iron on interfacing (use glue if you don't have this) a stick 30cm long, some string, PVA glue, letter stamps, ink pad.

Cut out a square of green fabric measuring approx 18cm x 20 and cut the same size in the interfacing, iron the interfacing on to the reverse side of the green fabric. Draw a leaf shape on to the wrong side of the fabric and cut around it. Peel off the paper backing.

Cut a rectangle of the white fabric measuring 25 x 40cm and cut the base into a point. Place the leaf shape on to the white fabric approx 6cm up from the point. Iron on the leaf to attach. (if using glue cut the shape out and then glue straight on to white fabric, don't use too much glue to stop the fabric from getting marked or going crunchy) 

Once attached you can stitch some lines on to the leaf for detail (miss out this part if you are not sewing)

In felt cut out two white circles, two grey circles, two pink cheek circles and a little mouth in red and stick in position with PVA glue.

Using the cotton tape stamp out the words, any words you like for this bit...

 

Cut the tape to size and attach to banner with PVA glue, allow to dry. Fold over the top of the banner 2cm and stitch along the top to make a channel wide enough for the stick to fit through. 

Push the stick through and add string to hang (40cm of string tied on at each end) 

To make the smaller version, follow the steps but reduce the size, this one measures 22 x 17cm 

Hope you like this last installment of my summer Craft Camp. Apologies if I have made mistakes or missed bits, these are all done in my spare time and take a long time to edit and write up.

Don't forget to check out all the projects in my tutorial tab above, they go back a good few years so can keep you busy for a while.
Thanks for reading and have a lovely summer
Jane x x

A group photo of Craft Camp 2018 x

Ice Cream Plushie DIY Craft Camp 2018 #4

So the second part of the tutorial is how to make the ice cream cone, I enjoyed making this so much I made another one...you could go on and on, think of all the different types you could make. If I hadn't had other stuff to do there would have definitely been a nobbly bobbly in the gang...
For this little guy you will need : white dot fabric, brown/yellow fabric and some red felt, also white, grey, pink and red felt for the face. sewing machine, scissors, thread, needle, PVA glue, iron, toy stuffing and a pom pom (optional)

First cut your ice cream fabric (white dot) in a shape like above pic x 2 (18cm x 14cm)  Then cut the cone shape as above x 2 (18cm x 16, tapering to 7cm at the base) Then cut a piece of the red felt in to the strawberry sauce shape as above (14cm x 9cm approx) Glue the red sauce felt on to the dotty ice cream fabric and allow to dry.

Place the ice cream and cone right sides together and stitch 1 cm seam, repeat with the other piece. Press flat.

You should now have two pieces with ice cream and cone fabric (one will have the sauce on too)
place them right sides together and sew withe a 1cm seam around the edges leaving a 10cm gap for turning.

Trim the seams and snip in at the curves and then turn the right way out. Press.
Fill with stuffing and sew up the hole as in the previous tutorial.

Cut out two white circles, two grey circles, two pink cheek circles and a little red mouth and glue in position with PVA as previous tutorial.

If you have a pom pom maker you could add a pom pom on the top, you could use a ready made one or there are lots of tutorials on how to make them with forks or cardboard rings. You could just add another felt circle or a button or bead.
Hope that's all clear, it's very similar to the Popsicle/Lolly tutorial previous to this one and you can adapt the sizing and style to your favourite iced treats.
Have fun! Back soon with the last  Craft Camp DIY which is my favourite and is plant related
Thanks for reading x

Ice Lolly Plushie DIY Craft Camp 2018 #3

So I was thinking I wanted to make some kind of plushie/softie (not really sure what to call them) and it was very hot in my little shed so this lolly idea seemed the right thing to do. It requires basic sewing skills but younger children can help choose colours, cut out and help with sticking. Also I'm pretty sure they would be happy to take them off your hands once you've made them.
You can make these any size so you could go really big and make them as cushions or tiny and use them as key rings or bag charms. I have included approx sizes of the ones shown for your reference.
You will need: fabric in pink, gold, and a pattern, double sided iron on interfacing (if you don't have this to hand you can use glue) small amount of felt (for features in white, grey, pink, red) toy stuffing, needle, thread, scissors, sewing machine, pencil or knitting needle, PVA glue, iron.

Using the pink fabric cut out two identical pieces in the shape of a lolly 17cm x 24cm (rectangle with rounded corners at the top) Cut the patterned fabric in to a square that will fit over the top part of the lolly 17cm x 14cm  Cut a piece of the interfacing in the same size and iron onto the reverse of the patterned fabric. Place the patterned fabric under one of the pink pieces and trace around the shape at the top, then draw drip shapes at the bottom and cut this out like pic above. Peel off the paper backing of interfacing and iron on to the front pink piece to attach. (if using glue use same technique to get the shape and then glue on and allow to dry, don't apply too much or it will dry hard and crunchy and tricky to sew)

Next take the gold fabric and cut out two rectangle shapes for the stick 6cm x 8cm, with right sides together pin as photo and stitch down, repeat for other pink piece. You should now have a front and back piece with 'sticks' attached, press the two pieces.

Now place right sides together and sew a 1cm seam all around the edge leaving a 10cm gap for turning on one side. (I'm using contrast thread so it is more visible on the photo)

 Trim the seams and snip in at the corners

Turn the right way out and press, fill with toy stuffing (or if you don't have any like me I raided a cushion) no one ever notices and I do it a lot! Fill it nice and full, use a pencil or knitting needle to get it right in to the corners

 Then neatly stitch up the hole at the side to close up the gap.

Now for the fun bit (some people like to add faces before sewing up but I like to do it after)I'm just a bit contrary like that so if you prefer the other way then feel free to add this step in before sewing together. Cut two white circles, two smaller grey circles, two pink circles and a little red mouth. Position them where you want them to be and then glue on with the PVA.

Now as you see below I also made an ice cream version and that DIY will follow very soon!
Thanks for reading x

Sunglasses Case DIY Craft Camp 2018 #2

Need something to keep your shades in? This nifty little case will protect your glasses and is pretty easy to make, some sewing skills required but it only involves sewing straight lines so not too tricky for a newbie stitcher.

I have a lot of sunglasses so I made a few. They only need a small amount of fabric. For one case you will need approx : Fabric (19 x 22cm) Felt (19cm x 26cm) some thin nylon cord or ribbon, button, scissors, pins, sewing machine, needle, thread, iron. 

Cut the fabric to 19cm x 22cm and the felt to 19cm x 26cm, place fabric right sides together (felt is double sided) The felt piece will be longer than the fabric so don't worry that they are different sizes. Pin the 19cm edges together and sew with a 1cm seam. Pin the other 19cm edges together and insert a small loop of the cord (loop folded is 4cm) or ribbon at the centre point (loop sandwiched inside) and sew along in 1cm seam. Reinforce the bit where the loop is by sewing over again to make sure it doesn't come out.

Because the felt is larger than the fabric it will look a bit odd (see photo below, sorry the fabric is different as I forgot to take a photo first time, but hopefully you get the idea)

Turn the right way out and gently press the felt flat (not too hot an iron if it is acrylic felt) so the felt sits like a binding on the top and bottom edge of the fabric. (see below)

Then with the felt facing out fold the top edge down 3cm approx and the bottom edge up 9cm  approx so that the edges overlap slightly. Pin and stitch down each side (1cm seam) I added a loop of ribbon in the seam here just as an extra detail not essential. (see below)

Trim the seams and then turn the right way out.

Gently press and sew on the button at the base of the loop. I'm worried it all sounds a bit complicated but once you have made one and see what each step does it becomes clearer. The idea is based on a tissue holder I found on pinterest and I adjusted the steps and size to make this case. Finished case measures roughly 17cm x 10cm so if you have very big glasses you might want to add a few extra cms on to the original sizes.

Have fun and thanks for reading! Back soon with the #3 DIY x