Tagged with 'make'

Create your own Valentines Day Gifts

When it comes to Valentines Day, choosing the right gift can be particularly tricky. You need to show your partner how you feel about them – without spending less than they do on you – and also reflecting how they feel about you. For instance, if you turn up with a bouquet of garage forecourt flowers, and they buy you an expensive, personalised watch, you could find yourself single by the 15th February. For that reason, we’ve come up with some great ideas to help you make your Valentines gift at home.

Creating something from scratch allows you to put your heart and soul into the gift, with the recipient immediately aware of the effort you’ve gone to in order to make them the perfect present.

Going shopping for the perfect gift can be a chaotic process. You finally find yourself a couple of hours to hit the high street, (normally the day before), and after what seems like a week of window-shopping, you’re still uninspired. Unless you’re born with that unique trait of knowing exactly what to get your loved one, (please share it with me), making your own can be the way to go.

As mentioned earlier, you can show your loved one how you feel by making them something unique that you’ve poured your heart into, and there are several other advantages to making your gift. For instance, nobody knows your partner like you do. If you pop to the shops for a gift, it’s inevitable for the item you want to be unavailable in their favourite colour or size. By creating your own gift, you have the opportunity to make it according to the tastes of your partner, making it extra special for them.

It can also be a way of saving money, without it looking particularly inexpensive. Using materials bought from the Abakhan store, you can get everything you need for the perfect gift, such as wool, card, sewing patterns and accessories, without having to pay the over-the-top high street prices.

Still struggling for ideas? Well don’t tell your partner, but here’s a couple from us. Firstly, you could try making them some jewellery. If you’ve made it yourself, it’s certain to be unique, using the materials and colours they love, and you could customize it if you wish to let them know it’s from you, or include your Valentines message. Another option is to make them something for the home. If your partner is always talking about their love for throws or cushions in the living room, make them one to fit the décor of your home. Or if your partner loves to cook, you could make them something for the kitchen; They’ll need something to wear as they make the dinner! (Only joking!)

For all your essential accessories to make the perfect Valentines gift, including those mentioned here and anything you may already have in mind, visit or contact your local Abakhan store, or place an order online.

Make Your Very Own Mittens and Keep Your Hands Warm and Stylish

The last few weeks have been possibly the coldest on Earth right? Ok, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration – but they’ve been pretty close! If you’re the sort of person who is always leaving the house without their gloves because you’ve left them in your other coat, you might be interested in our latest ‘how to’ guide, which is going to tell you how to make your own mittens using products available in the Abakhan range.

A lot of gloves and mittens available in high street stores just don’t appeal to consumers. In most cases, shoppers go in looking for a new pair and leave with a product that they don’t really like purely because it’s too cold to go without! By making your own out of stylish fabric you can personalise your hand wear to match your tastes, something you can’t do when buying from the high street.

What You Need

• Fabric

• Needle and Thread/Sewing Machine

• Pins

• Marker Pen

• Paper and Tracing Paper

What to Do

1. Draw around your hand onto a piece of paper and then use the drawing to create a neat, tidy template on a second sheet. Ensure that the template is slightly bigger than your hand to ensure that you can get the mitten on – this will be the size of the final product.

2. Cut out the template and use it to make a second template from another piece.

3. Lay out your chosen fabric and place the two templates on top. Line up the bottom of the templates with the bottom of the material and pin them in place for extra stability while you work.

4. Cut the fabric 1-2cm around the outside of the template, giving you the material you need to sew the edges together afterwards.

5. Repeat the process so you have to left hands and two rights.

6. Sew both pairs of glove shapes together using a sewing machine or a very small backstitch. Use the paper template as a guide and then cut any excess material 1-2mm away from the stitching.

You should then have your own pair of mittens to keep your hands toasty on those cold winter days! To get all your materials, visit your local Abakhan store or contact us to find out more information about any of our products.

How to…make cushion covers

Have the pillows in your home seen better days? Why not give them a new lease of life! It’s much easier than you think!

What you will need:

Pillow

Fabric

Thread

Dressmakers chalk

Scissors

Pins

Sewing Machine (Although you can hand-sew if you wish)

How to:

First, you will need to measure the pillow you want to cover. Take this measurement and add a 3cm seam allowance to each side.

Lay your chosen fabric out and measure and mark out the size of fabric you require with dressmakers chalk. Do this for each side, and then cut out your fabric.

Place your two pieces of fabric on top of each other, with the patterned sides face to face and pin together leaving a 1.5cm gap from the edge of the fabric on all four sides.

When you have pinned the fabric together tack the two pieces together using large runs to make it easy to remove later.

Using your sewing machine sew three sides up, leaving one side open.

Remove your tacking thread and turn the pillow case right side out.

Push your pillow into the pillow case through the open side.

Fold in your seam allowance on the remaining open side and hand stich together and you have your quick and easy pillow case!

It’s so easy to improve your home with a few pillows strewn around. You can embellish your pillow cases with buttons, lace and so much more. You can also use a zip fastening or an overlapped opening to allow removal of the pillow insert.

Happy crafting!

Dressmaking – Become the next big designer

Every dressmaker has to start somewhere; all you need is a little creativity and some fabric. Are you sick of stepping out of the house only to find that 7 other people are wearing exactly the same outfit as you? Well, we have the solution; make your own! Why spend a fortune on one-of-a-kind pieces when you can make them yourself, specific to your own measurements. If you’re interested in learning how to make your own clothes, but have no idea where to start then try one of our dressmaking workshops.

A Taster in Dressmaking

If you’re a complete beginner looking to see if dressmaking is for you, then this 1-hour taster session is perfect! Take a test drive through dressmaking by constructing an apron, and the best part? All materials are included!

Advanced Dressmaking

Ideal for an advanced sewer looking to shift up a gear, if you are familiar with patterns and can work independently, this is the workshop for you. This workshop is designed to aid you with the more difficult tasks of dressmaking but also allow you to work on your creations independently, away from the class. You will be designing and creating a fitted jacket and we will provide a choice of materials in different colours.

Why not really delve even further into your creative side with a Corsetry workshop?

This 3-day course will guide you through the important steps of corset making with a hands-on approach – using lacing, binding, boning, seams, eyeleting, cutting and fitting over 3 days you will create a corset specific to your own measurements. This course will provide a starter pack, patterns and notes, but you may need to purchase additional items during the course.

Check out our workshops section for classes close to you and don’t forget to tweet any of your new creations at @AbakhanFabrics – we’d love to see them