Getting My Craft On

Hello! I hope you are all well. The summer holidays trundle along here and, in between travelling, holidays and staying with family, I have been working on various crafty endeavours. Currently, I have three ongoing creative projects, three WIPs, or Works In Progress. That's not too bad, is it? One crocheted, one embroidered and one appliqued. 

First there is my crocheted blanket. I started this almost a year ago to the day. 

It's a slow burner, this one. I'm learning that it's all about the process, as much as the outcome. I don't see how you can rush a blanket this size. I couldn't anyway, I'd pass out. 

So far, I've done about 70% of the squares I need, and then of course they all need to be joined and a border added. I'd really like to complete this project this winter. It will take extraordinary focus on my part, but I'm going to try!

Then we have my summer embroidery, the last quarter in my seasonal collection. (You can read about my Autumn, Winter and Spring embroideries here if you like.) I've sketched the outline of the tree, the hill and some allium heads onto paper and I'll trace these onto the fabric with a fading pen so that they are all roughly in the right place. The rest I will draw freehand onto the white linen when I've decided what I want to include.

And finally my wall hanging. 

Like the embroidery, this should be a quick-ish project, completed within the next month (I hope!). I am currently stitching around each letter, a tedious task but one which needs to be done properly.

So that's my actual, real WIPs.

But there there are the other WIPs, that long list of "one day" projects that lives in my head. Do you have one of those too? A list I think about when I fall asleep. Like the quilt I want to make with all my scraps of fabric. I'm not sure yet if it will be hexies or triangles, but I've begun a Pinterest board for it, so that's practically starting a project, isn't it? And there's that soft, indulgent, cashmerino ripple blanket I'll make one day in greys, pinks and creams, like a Missoni-inspired hug. And the fun, appliqued set of family portraits framed in oval embroidery hoops that I want to make sometime. A modern, slightly daft take on such a Victorian idea, which I found in this great book.

So, I thought I would share some of the most useful online tools for crafting that I have come across. Some are obvious, some new to me. And I'm hoping that you'll join in and share your favourites too.

Word - Yes, everyday Word. A brilliant resource (that most of us have on our laptops or PCs) which I use when I need lettering that is neat, consistent, and in a certain style. For my wall hanging, above, I chose Ariel and typed my phrase into a new document, playing around with size and italics until I was happy. Then I simply traced it from the screen onto a blank sheet of white A4 paper. But, with applique, everything has to be in reverse, so I had to hold the paper up to a window and trace the reverse of each letter - a light box would have made this so much easier - so that it was all the right way round at the end. I suspect there is an app that can reverse text for me. I hope so anyway!

Google Images is brilliant for just simply providing a vast number of images to look at (but not copy - many are protected by copyright) from a variety of sources, and this can be incredibly useful and informative. For my seasonal embroideries I often just want a really good, clear picture of, say, a daffodil or seed head, but I don't want to be overly influenced by any one photo or illustration. I just like to look at twenty different pictures and then build a really solid mental picture in my head, which I then sketch freehand onto either onto paper or the fabric.

Mollie Makes - Even without buying the magazine, there are free patterns and a wealth of ideas and inspiration to be had on their website.

Pinterest - It doesn't really need that much of an introduction since it's so widely used, but it's simply an online noticeboard, a fantastic way to collect and organise ideas and inspiration.

The V&A website has this brilliant pattern maker which lets you upload your own photo and turns it into a colour coded grid, so that you can use it to design your own patchwork quilt, or, by the same reasoning, a cross-stitch pattern or even a Hama bead creation. You can download your own pattern in a PDF file for free. It's brilliant fun. I've uploaded photos of Dala horses and ice creams so far...

PicMonkey - A fantastic online photo editing website. Most of their features are free, although you can upgrade to access a wider range of ediitng functions. 

Now, I've recently been playing with a very exciting new toy, an iPad 5 from Argos, and this has opened up a whole new world of crafty wonderfulness to me. Apps!! I am like a child in a sweet shop, exploring and playing and wanting to look at everything at once. I suspect I have only scratched the surface in the last week, and that there are many, many more out there, but here are some that I've already downloaded, used and like very much:

These are the ones I consider to be the necessities: Pinterest, Etsy, Ebay, Facebook, iPlayer, 4oD and Instagram. You know, the things you need to function in modern life. And then there are the fun ones for playing around: Paint My Place for fun with paint colours and decorating, Simply Crochet's Granny Square A Week app, a fun way to broaden your crochet skill base, and Martha Stewart's Craft Studio. I suspect that whatever your hobby - baking, photography, scrapbooking, knitting, paper craft, sewing - there are many apps to choose from. I know there are many, many more out there. 

And the other fun thing I've discovered - magazine reading! On a screen, and at a fraction of the cost of the paper copy. Mollies Makes, Frankie, The Simple Things, Kinfolk... I'm not sure if this will replace the simple joy of leafing through a real magazine for me, but there is a lot of interesting stuff out there waiting to be discovered.

So, experienced iPad users, please tell me which apps you'd recommend the most highly. For crafting, or cooking, or anything really. I'd love to know which are your favourites. 


This post is in collaboration with Argos.