Dress a girl around the world (and boy)

I recently stumbled across a great charity called "Dress a girl around the world"  through Louise Horder (@SewScrumptious), who is their UK ambassador. This charity encourages people to make dresses (and shorts) for underprivileged children around the world out of pillowcases, or leftover fabric. The patterns are easy to follow and the resulting clothes are really lovely.

As someone who has recently started working with an orphanage in Uganda (more on this later) I can really see the use in this charity. So many poor children in the world wear worn second hand clothes. having a nice piece of clothing that is theirs and was made just for them can make a big difference to their self-esteem. It may seem like a small thing when these children often don't have enough to eat. But  I think knowing that a stranger cares enough about them to hand-sew them something has the potential to improve their lives, if only minutely and for a short time. The photos of children receiving their clothes speaks volumes I think.

Malawi 2011

Uganda 2012

You can believe if I had a sewing machine I would be making up a batch of these straight away. However, as I don't I will instead be collecting a bundle of clothes from Louise in August and bring them back to Uganda with me instead. 

If you have some spare fabric and time please think about making some clothes for children around the world. You can read more on this, including where to get patterns and how to donate here on Louise's blog. There is also a useful magazine article pattern here.

Let's all dress some children!

A jar of love in the post

Last week I received a jar of love in the post! Yay!

Rae sent me this wonderful package:

How cute is that! I love the red packing strips.

Inside was:

It's a jar of marshmallow fluff! So cute! Rae had stuffed the jar with toy stuffing. When I pulled it out I discovered all kinds of wonderful goodies.

I especially love the ring you can just see on the top right. 

Thank you Rae! I love it all!

The great big stitched postcard swap

I joined the do what you love great big stitched postcard swap. The theme was 'Discover'. Above is the postcard I sent my swap partner in the U.S.A. You can't see it too well in this photo but I stitched around the M25 circular and sewed on beads for each place name within London. I made the map in a similar way to my mixed media book cover. But with more pastels.

This is what she sent me:

Very cute and lots of fun.

Review and Giveaway: Egg Cozies

This book has loads of quirky patterns and ideas for knitting your own egg cozy.

I like this apple one - it's cute. There are patterns for making a variety of cozies from chicks to a basket of violets.

I haven't actually had a go making any of these. That's partly because my knitting is not great and I can't follow knitting instructions, and I can only do one type of stitch. Having flicked through this book I'd say you need to be able to follow knitting instructions and do multiple stitches - it's not for beginners. 

It is cute though and I have one to give away to one of you lucky lot. All you need to do to enter is leave a comment telling me what else you could use an egg cozy for. I like runny eggs so have no need for something to keep my eggs warm but I'm intrigued what other uses could exist.

So leave a comment and I'll pick my favourite. My choice is final.

**Edit: Forgot to say that this giveaway ends on Friday 24th August at 11pm.

TLC Bird Swap

So I started my own swap a few months back in the TLC Coffeehouse. It was a bird swap. That was it. Nice and simple.

Above is what I sent to my swap partner. It's a pigeon portrait! I got the outline pattern from the very kind Lismer Photography who had offered the silhouette on their blog. Thank you kind sharer.

I was a little late sending this off. I hope my swap partner likes it and wasn't too put out at the delay. 

A heavy jar of love

In amongst my swapping frenzy I signed up to Booty-full Things' Jar of Love Swap.

This was a really fun swap. We were to select a jar, decorate it and then fill it with whatever we wanted to give our swap partner. I was matched with the lovely Rae from Felt By Rae.

First I selected my jar:

I decorated it:

I crocheted a cover for the jar, embroidered a felt flower and then glued it to the lid. Muha.

Then I stuffed the jar with goodies, made a card and sent it off. 

There was a competition for how many things you stuffed into the jar. I did count but I failed to write down the number. Oopsie. Oh well, won't be entering THAT competition then.

I hope Rae liked all the things. Decorating jars is fun! Luckily I have a whole cupboard full of them.

Popular Crafts Polka Dot Swap

Yet another swap. Huzah! This one was hosted by the website 'Popular Crafts'. It was a polka dot swap. That was basically the only condition. I love polka dots so eagerly signed up to it.

I was matched with the lovely Carla at The Ducking Fabulous Diary. We had until the end of July to send off our things so I haven't received a package yet but thought I'd share what I sent off to Carla - now that I know she's gotten them. This is what I sent:

Dotty about ducks

As Carla's blog mentions ducks in the title plus she has a wee duck in her banner I thought she might appreciate a duck portrait. A dotty one, of course. Plus when I found this fabulous purse I knew I also had to include it in her package.

Oh, I also made a card:

I'm really getting into making teacup cards.

It seems all this was well received so hooray!

x

House of Pinheiro Swap

As previously mentioned I took part in House of Pinheiro's Pincushion swap this month.

The lovely Katie from Booty-Full Things sent me the following:

I feel super-lucky to have been paired up with Katie. She sent me a beautiful hand-made crocheted strawberry pincushion, an embroidered card, a sewing set AND pins! I was actually ridiculously pleased with the pins. I've been in semi-desperate need for pins for ages (the only ones I had are lace pins, which get easily lost in things that are not lace).

Thank you Katie!

Her blog is full of equally wondrous crocheted goodies - I recommend going to read it. She's also currently hosting a jar swap. I'm taking part, you should too.

Also world, if you're into swaps - don't forget to enter my bird swap over at Tre La Creativity.

Making a pincusion

I've recently discovered craft swapping and have decided to launch myself into it. Mainly because I love getting post, love making things and love a challenge. Swaps involve all of those things. Swoon.

So when I heard about House of Pinheiro's pincushion swap I signed right up!

Having received my swap partner I went and stalked her blog and started sketching ideas. I decided that it should be summery, and made of felt (of course). Felt sharpens needles so is in fact the perfect material for making a pincushion.

I decided to make a felt watermelon pincushion.

I assembled my ingredients:

Pincushion ingredients

I cut out my shape and started to piece it together. I decided that black beads would make good pips.

I folded the halves together and stitched in up with blanket stitch, pausing to stuff it with fluff and rice. 

The finished pincushion, avec pins.

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Winnings

I took part in Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway day by both offering my own giveaway item and entering other people's competitions. I was very lucky! I won two! Huzah. I rarely win anything so I was pretty chuffed. 

First I was informed that I'd won a crocheted flower ring on Coprnije's blog.

It arrived last week and is beautiful:

Coprnije's lovely ring on my finger.

She also sent me some of her branded badges and business cards. Thank you!

Next, I was delighted to learn that I had also won The Willow Nest's bird necklace. 

Bird necklace, photo from The Willow's nest

This is also very lovely. I haven't worn it yet, I'm planning just the right moment to whip it out. Thank you also.

Last week was a good week for post. I'm feeling very chuffed with myself right now.

Sew Mama Sew results!!

And the winner of Fishy McFish is...........

qltmom9


Am e-mailing you now. Congratulations!

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway day

Fishy McFish wants to go home with you*

I know I only just finished a giveaway but I really want to participate in Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway day. I am always late aboard these trains.

I am offering one of my felt goldfish decorations to be won. Note: I handmade this fish BUT it is not from my own pattern. The pattern is by Lisa Jordan and I got the pattern from Fa La La La Felt edited by Amanda Carestio.


The Details:

The fish measures approximately 7 cm x 3cm. The string is 11cm long. He is decorated on both sides and is stuffed. He is made of felt.

This giveaway is open internationally. I will send Fishy McFish anywhere in the world to you.

This giveaway is open until the 25th of May. Make sure you leave a way for me to contact you to let you know that you've won. If you win you have 24 hours to respond with an address before I pick a new winner.

How to Win:

This one is slightly different. To enter this giveaway I want you to EITHER leave a comment telling me IF YOU WERE A FISH WHICH WOULD YOU BE? AND WHY?


OR flick through my previous posts and leave a comment here telling me which of my projects you like the most.

I will pick the best answer. My decision is final.

To enter more May giveaways go here.

Good Luck!


* Port is not included in the giveaway

The String Empire's first Giveaway!

Two spring flowers looking for a home

In celebration of the weekend and there finally being some sun in London (also me being in a good mood due to having secured Amanda Palmer tickets) I am having my very first giveaway! I have two of my felt flower badges to give to two lucky people.

How to enter:

Mandatory - Leave a comment to this post (easy). 

Additional entries:

1. Tweet about this giveaway "I've just entered @TheStringEmpire giveaway - have you? - http://tinyurl.com/c62s4b7 " Or words to this effect.

2. Follow @TheStringEmpire on Twitter

3. Follow The String Empire on a reader of your choice (and leave a comment telling me you've done so)
4. Write about and link to this giveaway on your blog (and leave a comment here with a link to it)

Winners will be chosen through a random number generator.

This giveaway is open world-wide.






Winners will be announced on Friday the 18th of May!!!

Creative swap = post and exciting item

When I was thirteen I got heavily into pen-palling. My school had set up a pen-pal exchange with a school in Sweden and we all got given random letters. Mine was from a girl called Viktoria. It was very exciting to hear about a whole different type of life. In many ways she was the same as me, a typical 13 year old girl, but her day to day life was intriguingly foreign. That was it. I was totally hooked.

For the next four years I wrote religiously to a variety of pen-pals from all over the world. Every day after school the FIRST thing I would do was check the mat by the front door for post. And every time there was a letter I was rewarded with a fuzzy warmth in my belly. Oh, those letters were magical. I still have every single one in a box in my parents attic. And I still check for post every day - hope crisp in my mouth. It's a habit I'll probably have forever. Although these days, sadly, I don't get so many letters. Everyone is busy, no-one has the time or energy quite like a thirteen year old girl for writing letters.

One of the most exciting things my pen-palling introduced me to was the concept of swaps. This is where everyone signs up to swap things with each other. In those days it was mainly pictures of bands we loved with "I love you" written all over it in pink glitter pen. Or stickers. Man we loved stickers.

So imagine my excitement at seeing a 'Swap' section in the TLC Coffeehouse! It was empty though. Bereft of swaps. Only one way to fix that! I started my very own first swap. You can see it here.

It has the theme of 'birds' and is very easy. Basically you sign up, make something (could be a drawing, a model, a story, some music, a puppet, a badge, a button, a poem, a bead, some printed fabric - anything), and then post it to where I tell you to. And you'll get something amazing, beautiful and unique in return. Brilliant?

Come join us! The more the merrier! Exciting post is guaranteed!