It that a blue cucumber in your shoes, or are you happy to see me? (Tutorial)

Have you ever had a pair of sport shoes you loved so much, but was also smelly?

Well, if you're a runner, climber, rower...it is likely you wear the same pair of shoes over and over again. Sure, you can chuck them in the washing machine, however it won't take long before they start smelling again. And their life span might be greatly shortened.

I'm a climber and my comfy(-er) pair of shoes have a very unique smell... It seems only to my standard though.
Yes, we had a sniff test with other climbers and I'm happy to say mine are at the bottom of the smelly ladder. Which to a climber only means one thing: I'm need to climb more!

I spotted a climber with bananas in his shoes. Honestly, bright yellow scented bananas.
What a brilliant idea! I immediately though about some particularly unsightly fabric I bought some time ago that I could use. I'm not quite sure what I was thinking that day.

The content of these shoes inserts is simple enough:

• Bicarb Soda
• Lavander
• Tea Tree oil

All ingredients are easy to find. Wilkinsons seems to be the cheapest for bicarb soda. Just buy this one and not the cooking one.

You'll also need about 50x50cm of fabric to make the shoe inserts and the tape to pair them together.
They're a bit like gloves, if they're not tied together, one could go walkie.

Tutorial

The shoe inserts are made of 6 panels of fabric stitched together. They're united by a length of tape to stay together. They can also be clipped on a carabiner and kept with the rest of your equipment.
 

1. Measure the shoe length and diameter at its widest. Take a bit out for each measurement and divide the diameter by 6.  Draw a diamond shape on a bit of paper: Trace a long horizontal line (length), at its middle trace a smaller perpendicular line (diameter / 6). Join the points and draw flat endings. Your pattern is done!

2. Cut 12 pieces of material following the template. 6 per shoe. I folded my material multiple times to cut 6 pieces at a time. Accuracy is not paramount with this pattern.
 

3. Using the wrong side of the fabric, pin all the sides together.

 

Many, many pins.

4. Stitch all the sides together (6 pieces by 6 pieces).

5. Stitch close one end of the tube and turn inside out.

6. Cut a strip of fabric (4cm x 25 cm), fold the side length-way, then fold again in two. Iron flat, then stitch length-way.

7. Take a scrap of fabric (6cm x 6cm), soak it in Tea Tree oil and cut it in tiny bits

8. In a pot, mix together 200g of bicarb soda, 100g of lavender flowers, and the bits of soaked fabric.

 

9. Take a funnel and pour the mix until you fill 3/4 of the shoe.
 

10.  Insert the end of the tape, stitch the shoe insert closed.

 

 

 

 

Your first shoe insert is ready. Repeat the steps to make the second one.

If you have some mix left-over, you can use it up in scented bags.

Now it is your turn, let me know what oblong shapes and colours you come up with!

Xmas pressies for 2013 - Jewellery

Since I had a little more time this year re-Christmas, I decided to make most of the 2013's Christmas presents.

I am always torn between using existing skills and being on the safe side or trying something new and exciting which could potentially turn bad. I also do not tend to leave myself enough time as creativity isn't always there when you need it. Maybe we should have loan-in muse for such times.

Do you plan you present well in advance, even if it means loosing the thrill of a timely present, or do you hope to find the perfect fit risking to rush or have to settle for an okay present?
If you're the former, then being late is not an issue.
If you're the latter, like me, adrenalin is your friend.

I started a bit of an industrial making of little lingerie bags. After tuning in an excel document to get the dimensions rights (did I mention I loooove Excel?) I made 4.
Fabric is key with this model and good quality cotton is delightful to work with, especially the interfacing bit. I'll create a post on this at a later date.

Today let's talk about...beads and jewellery.

In the midst of pressure and not many ideas, I set off to put together a few things most of the ladies awaiting a gift. These pieces had to be small and light enough to go by post. Once mad and posted, I would light up a small candle for the parcel to arrive and on time. And it did!

The first item is a sterling silver bracelet with pearls and beads purchased in South America. I used freshwater pearls, silver findings and tiger eyes with silver pieces to give the impression of fullness with clean lines.
The bracelet closes with a toggle clasp for ease of fastening and has a bigger fresh water pearl dangling to keep the bracelet facing the right way up. The weight of the dangling pearl positions the fastening facing down.

  

The second bracelet is made of many garnet pearls mounted on a silver plated chain. The fastening is a sterling silver toggle on this one too. I thought it would be much easier to fasten given the weight of the bracelet.
The garnet was initially mounted on a pair of earring a friend gave me with the instruction "I'm not wearing those anymore, do something nice with them". I'm glad they found a new lease of life.

 

For this present, I wanted to create a classic piece that this person could wear for a long time. I knew it wasn't the type of jewellery she was into right now, however the idea is that this would be a failsafe necklace for a special occasion. The 3 freshwater pearls are mounted on a sterling wire pin and fastened with 2 twists. The chain is a 16" snake chain.

 

The last pendant was created for a younger lady who has a very unique sense of style. A young a urban-stylish lady. The chain is different this time, it is what is called a "trace" chain. the links make it very flexible, which makes it interesting to attached a weighty pendant! The pendant is made of 5 freshwater pearls stacked up and threaded onto a sterling silver pin.

 

What did you craft for Christmas?