Easter and Bag Prep!

It's almost Easter but there hasn't been much in the way of Easter crafts this year. Last week was the first we saw of any Easter projects. Margaret knitted these little bunny egg covers. The kit was free with one of the knitting magazines, Let's Knit. She knitted them up in just a day. They are both going to her daughters. Don't be fooled by the image. They are both the same size but the pink one seems to be bowing it's head.

Janice has also been knitting bunnies. I think this was a pattern she found online. The bulk of the body is made from just a square of knitting. Quite effective and yet simple! I love all the different colours.

 Lyn also gave us some info on an Easter Parade that Hobbycraft are holding. You can read the details but basically there is a bonnet contest and a raffle with some good prizes. The proceeds of which are going to Together For Short Lives. This is a charity which support children and families with serious illness.

Margaret is still on the baby knitting. She has finished another baby set. This time for a boy. She is knitting for a friend who is expecting and has been knitting for either as she doesn't want to know what the baby will be. Having done the girls outfits and blanket she is now working on a set for a boy.

Alison is still working her way through all those freebie cross stitch patterns. This one is one of two and came from Cross Stitcher. She is working on the second one of the kit.

A while ago I posted some photo's of dresses that Izzi had stitched up from old pillow cases. She has been at it again and made these two beautiful dresses. The yellow one was made from a pillow case that Roberta had given her. Both are gorgeous. These are for a charity called Dress a Girl Around the World. A worthwhile cause. Izzi is hoping to do more so if you have any old pillow cases that still have life in them but you don't want pass them on.

Izzi is also continuing with bag lesson preperation. She took some of those making bags into another room to get their material ready and taught us all a few things while she was there.

First of all she taught us about the grain of fabric. It's more important than you would think. For example the stretch in the material is different. You can see in the photo above that the fabric is stretching out but if you had tried to stretch it in another direction it wouldn't happen. By not paying attention to that it can cause sagging where you don't want it to sag or not enough give where you need it.

Here Izzi has layered up the fabrics that are going to be used on one bag and used a pattern to mark it out. Izzi would normally just use fabric chalk to mark it out but she is showing everyone how to pin the pattern down and cut around it.

Here is one all ready. This lovely owl fabric is going to become a bag for Fiona. You can't see it but under the fabric are another two layers. This is to stop knitting needles from poking through the bag when it's done.

I can't wait to see them all finished. The final work will be done during Gartmore.