Let's put out the bunting

Some months ago, wandering aimlessly round the local Hobbycraft, pocket money burning my hand off, I happened on the felt aisle. Felt has only ever made me think of two things previously - fuzzy felt and comedy primary school "art" projects (which also generally would involve ric rac and macaroni and PVA glue). Then a chance encounter with Cath Kidston's "Make" made me realise that it was possible to use this childhood memory fabric to make excellent homemade goodness in my ripe old adulthood. And lo! burning pocket money made it out of Hobbycraft and was squandered on some felt squares from Lupin on etsy.

The deliciously coloured squares have sat atop my stash pile for sometime whilst I toyed with all the permutations of just what I could make. I sometimes struggle with this stage of the creative process as I will have seen a recipe for something amazing in Sew Hip! and then I talk myself out of making it for fear that it will be 'badly made with zero love and affection' going on. But I decided that it had to be done and I started making some bunting from felt, similar to a pattern in the first issue of Sew Hip!.

It is going to be a gift for my mighty fine neighbour, the lovely Ju-la-la (not to be confused with the super fine Shu-la-la, they are two completely separate friends dontcha know). I whipped up something hilarious out of paper for her birthday dinner the other month, and now every time I am sat in her kitchen wolfing down a chunk of one of her excellent cakes I see this paper joke of bunting hanging in what she loves to call 'Haversham Corner' (think dark and cobwebby, not that any part of Ju-la-la Towers is cobwebby, for she is the mistress of spick and span and if she wasn't so lovely she would intimidate me royally with her tidiness and spick-ness).

So one evening and one day of felt cutting and remembering embroidery stitches that I couldn't manage at school, not to mention a couple of cups of tea and the DVD of "4.30 from Paddington", and that's the lovely one with Joan Hickson, and the bunting is made. I struggled with some of the bunts (is that what you call each individual one hence giving you bunting?) my stars are a bit ropey and remind Toby of the logo for La Caixa bank in Spain, but overall I am pleasantly pleased and I hope that it adds a little j'ne sais pas to 'Haversham Corner'.