This Week Was a Total Crafting Mess – In the Best Way
Hi, I’m Alyona 👋. Very nice to meet you if you are new here. If you have been here before, you may remember me saying that my car gave up on me in the middle of nowhere a few weeks ago. The good news is that I finally have a new car 🎉. Getting used to it has been a bit bumpy, but I am very happy.
We already named her Maziken. In short, I call her Maze. This week turned into shopping for the new car, but not in the glamorous way 😂. I mean the sort of shopping that starts because your keys keep sliding around and making a ridiculous noise. In that middle compartment, I kept dropping keys, lipstick, coins, and little bits. Every time I drove, everything rolled left and right. It made me mad enough to start crafting ✂️.
Before I go on…
I should mention one quick thing. Last week I was working on Altering a Beautiful Jacket for Queeny because she completely ran out of outfits and she hates rain 💦. If you missed that article, go and have a look. Also, all my articles get turned into newsletters that I send every week, so if you go to My Website and scroll down, you can subscribe there 😉.
In the email, you can choose what you want to receive. You can pick the crafting newsletter, the sewing newsletter, or both. If you want to stay up to date with my life, Queeny’s life, and all the things we are crafting, you can click both. Then I send you a weekly reminder that is quick to read. After that, you can always come back to the full article if you want the whole story. Right, I told you the important part at the start, so now let’s go back to my weekly craziness.
Why I Decided to Make Felt Boxes for My Car
The whole problem was simple. Things rolled around in the compartment and made a crazy noise while I drove. I wanted to make a kind of box from felt that would fit inside it. That way I could stop the noise, keep the car cleaner, avoid scratches, and make the compartment easier to tidy. Shops never seem to have the exact thing I picture in my head. To be fair, sometimes my imagination is very weird 🙈😂.
So I looked through my supplies at home first. My black Soft Felt had nearly gone, and I only had a few small pieces left. On top of that, it was soft felt, and I wanted the box to keep its shape. What I actually needed was Hard/Stiff Felt. Sorry for my English, because sometimes I call things by very strange names. I was thinking of it as hard felt, but the right name is stiff felt 😂.
Usually I order my craft supplies online. Most of the time I buy them from Amazon because it is fast, reliable, and easy if anything goes wrong. This time, though, I needed the felt urgently. I also only needed black, not a bundle of colours. So I went out to the craft shops in the UK and found a good option in there.
They only had sets and not a single sheet in the colour I wanted. I did not really need a set, but the size was good and I wanted to start the project right away. I also ended up grabbing a few other interesting bits while I was there. And on top of that I do not go out that often, as you know, so it was actually nice to walk around and see what is going on in the craft world.
Measuring the Car and Stitching the Box
When I got home with my felt, I started measuring the car compartments from every side. I wanted the box to fit properly and look neat. After that, I cut the felt and stitched everything around. I used a double layer because I wanted a more rigid shape. The idea was good. The sewing part was less polite 😂.
The tricky bit came when I started joining the pieces. Two layers of felt already move about a bit. Then, once you stitch the bottom and the side together, you do not have two layers anymore. You suddenly have four layers that all want to go in their own direction. I had to make sure they all stayed in the right place. That was the hardest part of the project.
Then I finished stitching and discovered I had created a very Alyona problem 😂. The soft ruler I used inside the car and the ruler I used on the felt were half a centimetre different. I still do not know how that even happened. In my mind, centimetres should simply be centimetres and behave themselves. Apparently not.
On top of that, I got too excited and forgot to add seam allowance 🙈. I was rushing. That is the lesson here – never rush ☝️. I thought hand stitching would not eat much fabric because I was not using a sewing machine. I was wrong. Even with hand stitching, I should have added at least 3.5 millimetres. So the box came out a little shorter than planned.
The Result Was Not Perfect, but It Worked
The funny thing is that it did not turn out badly at all. Yes, the box is slightly smaller, and yes, there is a little gap in front of it. But that gap turned out to be perfect for a lipstick. So I am not complaining too much. Nothing rolls around now, nothing makes noise, and I am actually very pleased with it 👌.
Now I need to make a bigger one for the compartment that sits deeper inside. That part has a kind of velvet material already. Even so, I still want to protect it and keep it cleaner for longer. For that box, I will only use one layer of felt. I do not need double thickness there because the velvet is already inside and I only want a removable layer.
That way I can take it out, shake out the mess, wash it if needed, and put it back. It is much easier than constantly vacuuming. I still have not chosen a good vacuum for the car, by the way 🙈. I have been looking at a few Shark vacuums, but I am not sure yet which one is actually worth it. And I need to read more feedback before I decide.
So if you have the same problem in your car, or if I have just given you a new idea, this is honestly a handy little project. You only need Stiff Felt, Thread, scissors, and rulers. I used Gutermann thread and liked it very much because it is not fluffy. I think it will also stay cleaner for longer after washing 🧵.
A Good Project for Blanket Stitch Practice
This was also a very nice beginner project. If you are new to felt crafting and want to practise your blanket stitch, this is perfect. It is simple, useful, and not too scary. You get practice, and at the end you have something practical instead of one more random sample lying around the house.
That was basically my week. I went out for supplies, measured car compartments, stitched felt boxes, cooked, cleaned, and did all the usual home things in between. It was not glamorous, but it was very crafty. I hope you enjoyed reading about it 😉.
Sometimes, when I write these articles, I honestly think, who would be interested in the little things that happen to me each week? Then you read all the way to the end and send me lovely messages. That really motivates me because I still find it hard to believe that anyone wants to read my weekly chaos 😂.
So I always like to reward you for staying with me until the end. This time, go and grab my Free Sewing Pattern. I hope you enjoy making it, practising your blanket stitch, and getting familiar with my patterns if you have not tried one yet 🫶.
Before I Go
Also, if you struggle with sewing in general, if something confuses you, or if you simply want to chat about crafty DIY things, you are very welcome in my School Community. I reply to everyone there myself, so you are always speaking to me directly.
For this article, though, I am finished. Thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart, for reading me 🫶. I really appreciate it. I will see you in my next one, although I am not fully sure yet what that will be. and I still need to alter Queeny’s hoodies, rain jackets, and anoraks. If you were reading a few weeks ago, you will remember those. I also have a lot of patterns to test ✂️.
On top of that, I have been thinking about making a tiger from felt. I am still not sure, though, because I realised I do not have paint for the tiger’s stripes. Cutting all those stripes from felt sounds like a full nightmare, even for my eyes 😂. So I may need to do a bit more shopping, or another online order, before I decide.
Again, thank you for reading, and I will see you in the next one. Bye 👋.
