Creative Thinking It’s time to get creative More and more people are making crafting and designing their own stuff It’s satisfying and fun to do and it means that you can have things that no one else has It saves you money too If you really enjoy it you could even end up designing or making things for a living A Room of Your Own Your bedroom is your own place where you can chill out with friends read chat or spend time on hobbies Use the projects in this book to stamp your own style on your space as well as making it more cozy and comfy Get the Gear 4 Safety Remember to keep strings cords and sharp things like pins needles and scissors away from small children The projects in this book mostly use sewing and craft materials such as card stock glue felt fabric thread pins needles ribbons and buttons You may have a lot of these at home anyway If not there’s an equipment guide on page 30 to show you where you can find them
Tip You don’t have to follow all the projects exactly If you like you can use the ideas and methods in this book to come up with your own original creations Reuse and Recycle Crafting can help to save the planet For many of the projects in this book you can reuse old clothes fabrics cards and other things instead of buying new stuff that uses up the earth’s resources or sending old stuff to the landfill 5 Tip If you have a sewing machine and know how it works you can use it for some of the projects in this book
Little Birds These cute birds are easy to make Hang them on your window frame wall or bed Trace this bird shape onto tracing paper and cut it out Get the Gear Lay your two pieces of felt one on top of the other and pin the paper shape on top Then cut around the shape through both layers of felt Take off the pins and paper Make your piece of ribbon or yarn into a loop and put it between the felt pieces as shown Pin the two pieces together leaving enough space to sew around the edge of the bird 6 l Tracing paper and pencil l 2 pieces of felt fabric about 5 inches 12 cm square l Scissors pins and needles l Colorful strong thread or embroidery thread l Tape measure or ruler l About 4 inches 10 cm of thin ribbon or yarn l Handful of toy stuffing from a craft shop or you can use a wad of yarn l 2 buttons or beads for eyes
Finish off by sewing on two small buttons or beads for eyes see box on page 13 Thread your needle and tie a knot at the end Sew around the edge of the bird using a running stitch see box below Sew about ¼ in 0 5 cm in from the edge Make sure you also sew through the loop to hold it in place When you’re nearly all the way around stop sewing and leave a gap about 1 in 2 cm wide Remove the pins Poke in some toy stuffing or yarn Finish sewing along the gap knot the thread and snip it off Tip If you’re hanging your bird up high or need to put in a hook or nail to hang it from ask an adult to help How to Do a Running Stitch A running stitch is a very simple stitch where you simply sew in and out of the fabric in a straight line It is most useful for sewing thick fabrics to gather fabrics or to make a decorative stitch 7
