Do you know Nova from A Cuppa and a Catch Up? She has a really lovely blog. If you are like me, you read many good blogs, but there are a few special ones - the ones that make you feel excited and happy when a new post pops up in your reader. A Cuppa and a Catch up is one of those blogs for me. I used her great quillow tutorial to make Tim and Holly's quillow, her Nesting Fabric Bowls pattern has become my "go to gift" and this year Nova's Liberty Scrap Challenge is helping me to learn to sew with Liberty rather than just pat it!

So, I was so excited when I was drawn out of the hat to be the June Giveaway Guest Challenger. And when the package of scraps arrived in the mail I squealed with delight! (Think about it... you go to the letter box knowing that the most likely thing to spring from it is your latest credit card bill and instead you find Liberty Fabric. That is definitely squeal worthy)

I've come up with two ideas.

Today, I will show you a little Liberty head band - more of an idea than a tutorial. I made two last night (in a rush as usual) for Pippa to give as gifts at a birthday party she went to today. They were very quick to make and I'm pleased with how they turned out.

Have you ever made a Suffolk puff?

They're funny little things. I think they are also called yo-yos. I have to admit - I think they are quite old fashioned, but I have been playing with them a bit lately. I have seen some very sweet necklaces and some great embellished t shirts that use Suffolk puffs. And one day... if Caroline and I can ever get the motivation we will finish our Project Run and Play Signature Look which uses... you guessed it... Suffolk puffs.

Suffolk puffs are very simple to make.

You can cut yourself out a circle of fabric and turn a small edge under. Do a running stitch right around the edge and pull it up tight. That's it - your done

Even easier - you can buy yourself a Yo Yo maker. I used a Clover one. You only need a scrap of fabric about 7cm in diameter to make a puff that is 3 cm wide. If you are desperate and working with really small scraps you can actually piece scraps together to make the 7 cm circle. I did it a couple of times and the puffs worked out just fine.
I won't give you detailed instructions on how to use it, because the yo yo maker comes with those. But this will give you an idea:

When I was making these, I got to the stage where you start to draw up the gathers and decided this must be how fairies make shower caps!! I can't imagine any thing more perfect than fairies wearing Liberty shower caps.

I had bought the head bands for another project that was not successful(!) involving hot glue. The satin ribbon that originally covered the band ended up ruined by the glue so I ripped that off and was left with a thin black plastic headband. I found some gros grain ribbon in my stash that was a little wider than the band and stitched a channel in the ribbon so the band fitted in snuggly. If you are going to cover your own head band don't forget to turn the raw edges of the ribbon in before you sew it on both ends. Once you have put the band in your ribbon cover, you can hand stitch the ends closed to create a nice neat finish.

I hand stitched the puffs onto some felt leaves and then stitched them onto the ribbon band. I am now scared of the hot glue gun!!

Here is Pippa modelling a band for us:

Let me interpret this look for you:
"Mum, why are we on the front foot path taking photos? Can't we just wrap this head band up and go to the birthday party? I'm late!!!!"

I'll be back soon with Liberty Scrap Challenge 2.