Tag Archives: crafting

A Winter’s Afternoon Craft Project: Mini Lavender Cushion

Our ‘crafter in residence’ Jill Amanda Kennedy has come up with this great little crafty project, perfect for whiling away the chilly days of winter.

 

Simple and quick to make, this cute little lavender-filled cushion project is ideal for using up scraps of leftover fabric and trims and can easily be adapted to suit a room’s colour and decor scheme.

Instructions:
1. Cut 2 squares of linen fabric 6” x 6” (15cm) square.

2. Find the centre of the fabric and mark out a 5 ½ “ (14cm) square – this will be your stitching line.

3. Using rubber stamps (Jill chose a tea cup) and a black ink pad, print directly onto one piece of the fabric on the left hand side, away from your sewing line.

4. Now stamp the words “Tea Time” above the tea cup, and leave it to dry.

5. Pin a pretty strip of fabric along the right hand side of the printed piece of linen fabric and lay ribbon and lace strips either side of this, covering up any raw edges. Pin them in place and carefully machine stitch them down.

6. Picking out the colours in your pretty fabric strip, add more decorative trim on top to complement, and sew in place.

7. With wrong sides facing each other, place both pieces of square linen together.

8. Place a piece of ribbon, folded in half, into one of the top corners of the square, making sure the fold is pointing towards the centre.

9. Machine stitch a ½” seam around 3 sides only, catching in the ends of the folded ribbon.

10. Turn right sides out and press flat.

11. Stuff the cushion with wadding and add dried lavender into the centre of the wadding.

12. Turn under a small seam along the unstitched side of the cushion and hand sew this closed.

Hang it on a door handle, pop it in a drawer, or place it next to your sewing machine for an instant scented lift, refreshing the fragrance with a few drops of lavender essential oil when necessary.

These would also make perfect little stocking filler gifts too!

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Albert Einstein Said “Creativity Is Intelligence Having Fun.”

We are firm believers in this at Freathy Farmhouse…

 

We also believe that a fulfilling life is more than just routine or a series of mundane patterns that we hypnotically follow day in day out, lamentably having this somewhat numbing effect upon our senses and creativity, keeping our souls locked away, peeping longingly through the bars of a hum-drum existence at a shower of radiant jewels of beauty that bedeck this world around us each and every day.

All too often we lose connection with our environment; an environment with which we are inextricably linked. The rhythm of life that is the essence of each one of us, dances like a cherished melody through the very air that we breathe into our hearts, filling us with new life and healing energy. But how often do we listen to the message that nestles within this melody and allow it to comfort and soothe us? We all hear it, that whispering whimsy of words that greet us as we step over the threshold of wakefulness into slumber, telling us that ‘if you can dream it, you can do it!’

We’re all creative beings, and if you let your creativity play, then the being inside us becomes whole and life becomes magical; the key to self discovery unlocks your potential and you begin to realise that deep inside you there is a master baker, a seamstress, a florist, a poet, a chef, an artist, a craftsman, a painter….patiently waiting in the wings for you to indulge and celebrate.

Bearing this in mind, we have been working non-stop here at Freathy to put together a packed programme of workshops and residential courses that will appeal to everyone regardless of whether you are a novice or an expert. The themes include Farmhouse Cookery, Bread Making, Baking, Textiles, Mixed Media, Free Motion Embroidery, Paper Making, Crafting your own Book, Pottery, Wedding décor and crafting, Flower Posies, Healing Therapies, Yoga, Meditation, Sugar Crafting, Wood Craft, Needle Felting, Foraging, Making natural dyes from Nature and Tie Dying.

Very excitingly, we’re going to be welcoming James Woods (From BBC One’s Countryfile) to Freathy in May, to run a wonderful week-long course based around in-depth foraging for food and materials, where you can make paper from wild mushrooms, and preserves and colour pigments from plants or wines. Take a look at this link to one of James’ paper making sessions which he made for his foraged book project James Wood Mushroom Paper Making.

Attention to detail and exemplary quality of service is something that we pride ourselves on here at Freathy, and we’re repeatedly complemented for it by our guests, so we can promise that when you attend one of our workshops you will find it to be like no other. We want you to feel special, spoilt and simply wonderful during your time with us. Therefore, there will be plenty of homemade edible treats and drinks along the way and a reassuring sense that nothing is ever too much trouble for us in our desire to give you a day that you will remember for many years to come.

And who knows, you may just discover a passion, a talent and a new skill that allows you to unleash your creative potential!

   French Linen and Lace Pillow   flower