How to | Make a Tea Cosy from an Old Jumper

Turn an old jumper into a tea cosy with this simple make project

You will need:

Old jumper(s) with high wool content

Cloth bag or old pillowcase

Pen and paper

Scissors

Pins

Sewing machine, or needle and thread

How to make:

1 Put the jumper in a cloth bag or an old pillowcase into your washing machine on a hot setting. This may seem wrong, but it’ll help it felt, making it easy to sew.

2 Take your (empty) teapot and lay it on its side on the paper. Draw a semi-circle over the top to roughly work out the size of your cosy. Neaten up the curve so it’s symmetrical. Add on 1cm all around the curved edge as your seam, and cut out to act as a template.

3 Once your jumper is dry, pin on your template. Position so the bottom ribbing of the jumper can double at the bottom edge of the cosy. Cut out a piece for the front and back.

4 Pin the two pieces together, with the sides you want on the cosy’s outside facing in, towards each other. Leaving the bottom open, sew around your 1cm seam allowance. If you’re on a machine, you can zigzag stitch the raw edges together.

5 Remove pins and turn right way out. You could use leftover scraps for mittens or slippers (see TST149), and enjoy your supply of warm tea.

This project is taken from our January Miscellany pages, where you’ll find facts and fun to interest you each month.

More simple make projects…

More from our January issue…

Make | A Chalk Board Serving Tray

Serve nibbles in style in the garden with this simple project

You’ll need:
A thin plank of stained and treated wood from a hardware store (around 200mm wide) cut to your desired length
Chalkbboard paint
Brush
Masking tape
T-bar cupboard handles (180mm) with fixings
Chalk pen

To make:
1. Give the plank a quick rub down and then, using masking tape, tape off a ‘frame’ around the edge of the plank.

2. Paint the middle area with two or three layers of the chalkboard paint and leave to dry thoroughly after each layer.

3. Peel off the masking tape and attach the handles to either end using a screwdriver.

4. Write the names of your cheeses, charcuterie or other snacks on the chalkboard area, next to the respective food items, as takes your fancy. Or simply have a doodle as you nibble.

This is just one of the ideas to mark the month from our ‘Almanac’ pages. Read more things to note and notice, plan and do in our July issue.

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More things to make this summer…

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Project | Make Seed Bombs

For an explosion of flowers in a neglected patch of land, seed bombs are a fun way of
guerrilla gardening.

You will need:

Seeds (1 part)
Peat-free compost (5 parts)
Powdered red clay (available online and at most craft shops) 2–3 parts
Mixing bowl Plates

1 How many bombs you make will depend on how many seeds you have. It’s easiest to do this recipe using cups (actual cups, rather than US measurements) – for one cup of seeds, you’ll need 5 cups of compost and 2–3 cups of powdered clay.

2 Pour all the ingredients into a bowl and mix, then gradually add cold water until it begins to bind together – you don’t want it too wet.

3 Roll the mixture into meatball-sized balls (making sure each ball has plenty of seeds in it). Place the balls on a plate to dry out in the sun.

4 Once dried, throw them on to soil and cross your fingers for flowers. They make great gifts, especially if you put a few in a hessian bag.

Maker’s note: You can make these using air-drying clay, too. Simply take a large lump of clay and flatten it into a circle, sprinkle over compost and seeds then squish it all together so the seeds are evenly distributed. Pull off lumps of the mix and roll into balls, or roll it out and cut shapes using cookie cutters before allowing to air dry.

This project was taken from our feature Gather, Grow and Gift in our October issue, a collection of ideas for makes involving seeds, including seed papers and seed packets as well as these seed bombs.

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More seed inspiration…

More from our October issue…

September | Things to Appreciate

A few things to see outdoors this month and a thing to do, too…

As well as being a bountiful time for your nature table. September seems like a good month to appreciate the coast now it’s quieter and to make some memories to see you through winter, too. Here’s an idea for a simple make that does both those things - Scented Seashell Candles.

You’ll need: a bain-marie; a selection of seashells*; beeswax and tealight wicks (both available from craft suppliers); essential oil of your choice – we like sweet orange and ylang ylang.

1 Clean and dry your shells, then place them in a plastic container of sand to help them stay still.

2 Set up your bain-marie with a small metal bowl inside a larger pan of boiling water.

3 Add the beeswax to the smaller bowl and wait for it to melt. Once it’s liquid, add in a few drops of your essential oil and stir.

4 Pour some of the beeswax into the empty shells and then add a tealight wick to each one. Wait for them to set before lighting, and enjoying the relaxing scent and a reminder of happy days by the sea.

*Only take empty shells from the beach and only a few at a time. Have a look round your house and garden, too – you may well find a few seashells from beach days gone by.

This kitchen table project was featured on our Almanac Pages, where each month we collate a few seasonal things to note and notice, plan and do. The nature table image above was taken by Alice Tatham of The Wildwood Moth who takes a photograph for our back cover each month, featuring things to appreciate in nature. She also runs workshops on seasonal photography and publishes seasonal journal stories from her home in Dorset.

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More from our Nature Table…

More from our September issue…

How to | Make a Thread Journal

Keeping a record of your days doesn’t have to mean picking up a pen and paper; you can be as
creative as you like

If we say so ourselves, we loved the weather scarf in our February issue (pictured above by Josie George). It seems like an ingenious way both to keep a small record of each day as well as to keep up a hobby. But if you aren’t a natural knitter, you might like to try a different sort of thread journaling.

Look up ‘thread journaling’ on Pinterest and you’ll see hundreds of examples from people who’ve kept an embroidery record of their year. Here’s how it’s done. 

What you’ll need
An embroidery hoop
Some cloth (a large napkin is good)
A good collection of differently coloured embroidery threads
Needles, thimbles, embroidery pen and other notions

How to do it
* Think about how you want to record your days. You can do a year (you don’t have to start with January, of course) or just a month or a specific period in your life.

* Sketch out a few ideas on paper for how you’d like your design to work. You could set it out like a calendar grid, present it as a wheel or just go completely higgeldy piggeldy and stitch each day or week’s motif wherever you please.

* Pop your cloth in your hoop and get started. You might like to stitch a motif to represent each day or each week. What you stitch is up to you. You could do a castle or a hill to represent a relevant day out, a cake to represent a party you went to, a pair of curtains for a theatre trip, a flower or vegetable for something you’ve grown in the garden. If you prefer, and have the chops, you could get quite specific - perhaps embroidering something to represent every book you read in a year, or everything you grow in your veg patch this summer.

If you’d like to read more about Josie’s Weather Scarf you can find out all about it on page 108 of our February issue. Buy this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

More from our February issue…

More journaling inspiration…

Make | Chocolate & Peppermint Lip Balm

A simple project for a sweet-smelling Easter gift to make a change from a chocolate egg

Homemade lip balm is easier than you might expect. Once you’ve got the hang of it, you can experiment with different flavour combinations. This version is like mint choc chip ice cream for your lips.

Makes two pots of lip balm

1 tbsp coconut oil
1½ tbsp shea butter
1½ tbsp cocoa butter
1 tbsp cocoa powder
3 drops peppermint essential oil
2 x 30ml jars

1 Put the coconut oil, shea butter, cocoa butter and cocoa powder into a jam jar or bowl.

2 Set the bowl over a pan of boiling water, taking care not to let it touch the water. As soon as they’ve all melted, remove from the heat. Alternatively, heat in the microwave for 60-90 seconds, or until melted.

3 Let the mix cool for a few minutes before adding the essential oil.

4 Stir well before pouring into your jars. Be careful not to spill the mixture around the top of the jar as this’ll make it difficult to open once cooled. To speed up the cooling process, put your jars in the fridge or freezer.

This recipe is just one of the creative projects by Lottie Storey that feature in our Heart, Body and Soul pages, which this issue focuses on chocolate (of course). There are also instructions for making a chocolate and rose petal salami, chocolate tagliatelle and a pain au chocolat miso pudding. Photography by Kirstie Young.

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More from our April issue…

More chocolate (because there can’t be too much)…

Make your own espadrilles

Put your best foot forward and make your own espadrilles in an afternoon

In our July Unwind issue we have a lovely how-to on making your very own pair of espadrilles. Below are the printables for the patterns you will need to make them and you can find all the instructions starting on page 39 of the July issue.

We only recently learned this nifty trick for drying espadrilles that get caught in a rain shower - stuff them with scrunched up newspaper to help them dry out without shrinking or wrinkling.

The printables

Espadrille heel

Espadrille toe

If you don’t have a copy of the issue, you can buy it from our online shop or in shops now. Here’s a list of the rest of the things you’ll need so you can start gathering them now:

What you will need:

Espadrille soles – we got ours from prym.com
Outer fabric – 1 fat quarter (approx. 55x50cm)
Lining fabric – 1 fat quarter (approx. 55x50cm)
Needle Embroidery thread (or strong thread)
Pins
Fabric
Scissors
Knitting needle
Iron
Sewing machine (optional – can be sewn by hand)
Pattern templates (above)

More makes for summer…

From our July issue…

Make | Rhubarb leaf stepping stones

Turn over a new leaf with this simple project for your garden

You will need:
One rhubarb leaf per stone
Chicken wire, cut to just under the size of each leaf
Plastic sheeting
Sunflower/olive oil spray
Ready-mix concrete Trowel

How to make
1 Put down your plastic sheeting and lay your leaves on top, with veins facing upwards. Spray on a layer of oil.
2 Prepare your concrete mix, and smooth on a layer of concrete, to around 3 cm. Tap carefully to get rid of air bubbles.
3 Lay a piece of chicken wire on top for strength, then cover with another concrete layer of about the same depth. Tap and smooth edges with your trowel.
4 Cover with plastic, and leave to dry out overnight.
5 Spray with water to remove the leaf. Over the next week, spray regularly until the concrete is hard enough to take a person’s weight.

You’ll find more ideas for intriguing things to make, do and just know in our regular Miscellany pages.
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More from our April issue…

More miscellaneous fun…

Make your own | rosehip tea

Fancy a cuppa? We’ll just pop to the end of the garden and brew up

In our November issue, Lia Leendertz showed us how to forage rose hips and threw in a few delicious recipes, too. If you had a glut though, you might like to dry some to keep for rosehip tea, a delicately flavoured beverage that will warm you through the colder months. 

Here’s how to make rosehip tea, from hedgerow to armchair. 

1. Pick your rosehips. After the first frost is best but if they get too frozen they’ll be no good. Lia recommends you pick them whenever you spot them, frost or no, and pop them in the freezer for a few hours to create a fake first frost. You can cut them off with scissors or a knife or just pick them off. Gloves are a good idea.

2. Rose hips can be used whole, or you can trim either end if you prefer. You can also cut them in half and scoop out the seeds if you like. Again, not a must but the seeds are covered in tiny hairs which might spoil your tea. It depends how ‘rough’ you like your hip tea really. Give them a good wash and dry them on newspaper in the sun if you can, or just leave them to dry off indoors.

3. To fully dry them, either put them in a food dehydrator (not many people have one but they are rather fun for all sorts of projects like this) or simply put them in the oven on its lowest heat for about three and a half hours.

4. Once the hips are dried, pop them into a food processor and give them a quick whizz. You want the pieces to be fairly chunky still.

5. Put the blitzed hips into a sieve and shake through any tiny bits. If you didn’t remove the hairs earlier this should get rid of them.

6. Ta da! You have rosehip tea! Just put your tea into an airtight jar.

7. To serve, put one teaspoon of the tea in a loose-leaf infuser (we like the one Teapigs sells), put it in a mug and pour boiling water on top. Allow to steep for five minutes before removing. Enjoy with a blanket and half an hour to yourself with the November ‘Cosy’ issue of The Simple Things, which is in shops now. 

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More teas to make and sip…

More from our November issue…

In praise of | teeny, tiny books

Find your bi-focals. Who could resist a teeny, tiny, elf-sized book?

Hands up who DIDN’T, at least once in their childhood, try to write a teeny tiny book? We thought not. It’s a rite of passage, like making perfume from rose petals that smelt like drains and building a den from old wood and rusty nails in the garden that collapsed on top of you and gave your mother an attack of the vapours.

We were reminded of the joy of making a tiny book as we put together the Weekend Project, Booksmarts, for our September issue. (Pick up a copy of our ‘Begin’ issue in the shops this week and learn how to make various tiny books yourself.) The project is by The Travelling Book Binder, Rachel Hazell, who has many more similar projects in her book Bound: 15 Beautiful Bookbinding Projects (Kyle Books) and extolls the excitement of making something three-dimensional out of a bundle of old paper. 

Being able to write a story is an amazing talent, but having the ability to create a story from nothing and immediately transform it into a physical thing that can be held and shared by others is simply magical.

It reminded us of seeing the Bronte children’s teeny tiny books years ago at the Bronte Parsonage Museum in Haworth. The elfin-sized novels with stories that looked like they had been penned by fairies are spellbinding to see in the flesh. Particularly, perhaps if you saw them as a child, or through a child’s eyes. These tiny manuscripts, unlinke the later Bronte novels, were never penned to be read, and certainly not by mere grown-ups whose shoddy eyesight and sausage fingers would barely be able to turn the pages and read the words. They were written by the Bronte children for their own, and no one else’s, pleasure. So they’re without pretence, uninhibited by any perceived lack of skill or concern to impress.

Many of the stories follow the rise of two pretend worlds: Angria (penned by Charlotte and Branwell) and Gondal (written by Emily and Anne). Before that, the children wrote about the part-fictional, part-reality-based Glass Town, as well as many miscellaneous stories. Some have been uploaded by Harvard University and they can be read (squinted at) online here. They’re well worth an afternoon’s browsing with a cup of tea when you have a moment. 

And if you’re inspired to pen your own nano-novel, The Bronte Parsonage Museum has kindly made its own printable, which you can download to help you get started. Click here for the printable.

Happy tiny crafting.

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More from our September issue…

More lovely things to make…

Weekend project: Brioche tin candles

On a gloomy January day, why not take a bit of comfort from the relaxing glow of a candle? 

These projects offer bright ideas for refashioning bits you may well already have about into candleholders – then strategically place around the home, for instant cheer. We even tell you how to make – and scent – the candles themselves.

A quick word about wax. These projects use soy, which is made from vegetable oil (paraffin candles use petroleum oil). Soy candles have a longer burn time and less black soot than a paraffin equivalent. Using soy also means you can add essential oils to scent them – try vanilla oil for the hint of freshly baked brioches, or mosquito-repelling citronella oil to conjure balmy summer nights (remember those?). To get even fancier, you can buy colour wax flakes or add dyes. For wicks and wax, try Hobbycraft (hobbycraft.co.uk).

Brioche tin candles

Turn your old tins into something as sweet as the bread itself

Makes three candles
You will need:
3 x 10cm pre-waxed wick assembly
3 small brioche tins or metal jelly moulds, roughly 150ml capacity
Glue dots or glue gun
6 wick-supporting sticks (or wooden cooking skewers cut in half)
750g flaked soy wax – about 225g (or roughly twice the volume of your tin) for each candle
6 small elastic bands
Small pan or metal mixing bowl
Large saucepan
Old spoon
Scissors

1 Fix the wick assembly to the centre of the bottom of your tins by using a glue dot or a dab of hot glue from a glue gun. 
2 Take the supporting sticks or skewers in pairs and bind them together by wrapping a small elastic band around them at either end. Use the skewers to hold the wicks vertically by resting them across the rim of each tin, the wicks pinched firmly between the skewers. 
3 Put the wax in a small pan or bowl and set the bowl in a pan of water on the hob over a medium heat. Add about three drops of fragrance oil (if using) to the wax. When melted, the wax will appear completely clear. Use your spoon to stir the oil into the wax.
4 Pour a small amount of the liquid wax 5 into the bottom of your prepared tins to just cover the metal wick assembly in each one. Leave to harden for about ten minutes. This is to make sure that the wicks stay in place for the main pour in the following step.
5 Return the pan to the hob to ensure the wax is fully melted, then pour it into your tins to within about 6mm of the top edges and leave to cool and harden fully. If the wax dries with a small dip around the wick, top it up with more melted wax and thinly cover the surface of the candle evenly.
6 Using scissors, trim the wicks to about 12mm from the top surface of the wax. Leave your candles for at least 24 hours before lighting.

Adapted from Take a Tin by Jemima Schlee (GMC, available from thegmcgroup.com)

Turn to page 113 of January’s The Simple Things for two more candle projects: gold painted hurricanes and a candle in a jar. 

More from the January issue:

More projects:

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View the sampler here.

Make: A macrame planter

Projects to perk up the plant life in every corner of your home

Creative gardening need not be restricted to outdoors. Or, indeed, to off-the-shelf plant pots. Making a hanging plant holder is a craftier way to display greenery, and a great project for anyone finding themselves low on either time or space. 

The ancient craft of macramé was a hit with the Victorians, although it’s most associated with 1970s homespun style. Plant hangers are back, given a colourful – and, dare we say, tasteful – makeover. You can, of course, buy one (see page 8 of February’s The Simple Things), if all that knotting brings back painful memories. 

Hanging plant holder

 
You will need: 
textile yarn* 
scissors
2 plant pots, ideally already containing a plant

1 Cut five pieces of the textile yarn, each of about 4m long, and one more of about 40cm (you can adjust the measurements to your desired length).
2 Fold each of the longer pieces of yarn in half. Group all the folds together, then create a loop by wrapping the smaller piece of yarn around the grouped threads several times and tying firmly (A). 
3 Divide the 10 pieces of hanging yarn into five pairs (B). 
4 About 20cm below the top loop, take the first two threads and knot them together. Repeat for each of the pairs (C). 
5 Then, take the right hand thread from the first pair and, further down, knot it with the left hand thread from the second pair. Repeat for each thread until each piece of thread is tied to another (D). 
6 Repeat the process down the length of the yarn. The bigger you make the gap between the knots, the more space you’ll have for the pot, but you’ll need to make the knots closer together to hold the bottom of the pot. 
7 Test for size with your plant pot, before tying a secure knot underneath the pot with the threads. 
8 To add a second pot, repeat under the bottom knot using exactly the same knotting system. 
9 Finish with a large knot containing all the yarn and neaten the ends with scissors.

Project by Laetitia Lazerges, a Paris-based pattern designer who blogs at www.vertcerise.com and www.doityvette.fr. She has also written several DIY books and sells bright and fun paper goods on Etsy at www.vertceriseshop.etsy.com.

Read more:

From the February issue

Think posts

Mindfulness posts

Craftier and Craftier: White Rabbit & Cheshire Cat Masks

Celebrate the birthday of curious classic Alice in Wonderland with this easy make.

This year is the 150th anniversary of the publication of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The world would be a considerably less curious place without the likes of the Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts. From 2 May to 1 November, the V&A Museum of Childhood in east London will be hosting a free display called ‘The Alice Look’, exploring how Alice has been a trendsetter over the years, or to mark the anniversary you could simply curl up with one of the beautiful editions of the book (see page 115 of April’s The Simple Things) and transport yourself to Wonderland.

You could also try your hand at a make or two, taken from Everything Alice, a whole book of Wonderland-inspired craft projects. The masks are perfect for parties and festivals, and should put a smile on your face worthy of the Cheshire Cat.

White Rabbit & Cheshire Cat Masks

You will need:
Templates - download cat or rabbit templates
PVA glue
White mosaic grout
Tile clippers
Hot glue gun

For the White Rabbit:
1 sheet of white A2 mount board 
10mm square mosaic tiles: approx 230 white, 100 cream, 90 pink
35cm length of 5mm dowelling rod, for the handle
White acrylic paint

For the Cheshire Cat:
1 sheet of black A3 mount board 
10mm square mosaic tiles: approx 120 black, 50 grey
35cm length of 5mm dowelling rod, for the handle
Black acrylic paint

1 Print out the templates and cut your selected mask shape from the mount board (or you could cut them out from sturdy card and decorate with crayons for an ultra-speedy make).
2 Paint your dowelling the corresponding mask colour – white for the rabbit and black for the cat – and allow to dry.
3 Cover your work surface with a protective sheet – mosaic work can be messy! Apply a small blob of PVA glue to the back of each mosaic tile and adhere to the first mask shape, leaving a 2mm space between each tile. Get creative and make up your own pattern. Trim away any overhanging tiles with the clippers. Allow to dry thoroughly for at least two hours. 
4 As an alternative to readymade 10mm mosaic tiles, you could make your own tiles from old pots and crockery. Wrap the crockery in sheets of newspaper, then place into a thick plastic bag. Put the bag on a durable surface before smashing the crockery with a hammer. Remove the pieces carefully – they’ll be sharp!
5 Mix the white mosaic grout to the manufacturer’s instructions in a jam jar or plastic container. Keep a bowl of water and a sponge nearby. Use your hand to spread the grout over the mosaic, working it into the spaces between each tile. Try to keep the surface of the grout as smooth as possible. Leave the mask on a flat surface and allow the grout to dry fully. It’s best to leave it overnight.
6 Once dry, wipe down the mosaic with a damp cloth to remove any excess grout. Allow to dry for a further few hours, then give it a final polish with a soft cloth.
7 With a hot-glue gun, stick the second mask shape onto the back of the tiled one, with the dowelling in the middle.