Tutorial: Last-Minute Halloween Decoration

Last year when I decorated the house for Halloween I decided that I needed a few diy decorations to compliment the two garlands and lantern that I had bought a year before. I just don't have a hand for decorating and while some people can make a few shop-bought things look really amazing, I'm not one of them. After a pinterest search I got the idea to get a few bare branches and hang some small decorations from them. So I came up with these little felt bats:

They're really easy to make and look pretty good hanging from a branch. Last year it was too late to make a tutorial so I'm doing it now.

Here's what you need:
paper pattern (Make your own by drawing a similar shape about 15cm across and 5cm high. That size they hang the nicest, the wings are just light enough to not droop.)
Black felt
Bits of toy stuffing (or some bits of cut-off felt)
Black thread
Scissors
Sewing needle
Pins

Cut out two felt bats by placing your paper pattern on a double layer of felt, pinning it into place and cutting around it.

Pin the two felt shapes wrong sides together and sew them together with a simple running stitch around the body first, kind of cutting off the wings:

Leave a little gap in the seam and push some toy stuffing into the body before stitching it closed.

Then stitch a line of running stitch around the edges of each wing. And that's it! Attach a long piece of thread from the back of the head and hang on some branches or the ceiling.

Two Bags

It's a year since I've started this blog! I'm glad that I got this far and nearly managed to post at least two entries each months. The words still don't come easily but my writing ability has improved at least a little. It doesn't take me that long any more to write an entry.
For the next year I just hope that I will be able to keep this up. With a new baby coming along, the chances that my posts will be more frequent are not high. But I'll try my best. There will surely be more posts about babies and less about craft projects.

So here is another crafty post:

Apart from knitting about four things at the same time, I've also been sewing a little:

This bag is made completely of left-over fabric from other projects. I had meant to make a bag with the flowery fabric for a while but it just wouldn't come together until I got the jeans fabric. And suddenly my head was overbrimming with ideas. The three flowers are made with Suffolk Puffs (little fabric wheels, great for using up scraps) and buttons, the stalks and leaves are embroidered. I should have taken a better photo... I just took one quickly before sending the bag on it's way to Germany for my mum's birthday.

I made this bag, excluding the strap, quite a few years ago before I moved to Ireland.

For some reason I considered it finished without a strap, though it was uncomfortable to hold like a clutch. It was lying around on my sewing table recently while I was sifting through some ribbons that my aunt had given me. And this beautifully woven band just fitted it perfectly. I love when this is happening!

There isn't much sewing going on at the moment. Aidan doesn't nap anymore during the day and in the evening I prefer to knit. It seems to take less effort when I'm tired. But I do have a few ideas in my head and hope to be able to sew more before the baby comes.