turkish market and knitting needle head cover tutorial

Do you love traditional markets? I love them.
This week I had the chance to go to one of the famous turkish markets in Berlin at Maybachufer.

There were stands for fabrics, vegetables, fruits, household goods, cheese, meat, and so on. It was also rather crowded, so I couldn't take many pictures, but at least I managed to get the stuff that I needed:

A pair of size 10 (Europe) knitting needles, some sewing thread, zippers and some lace (one of them was needed for my dress). Also, I got myself some of these:

These are called "Sesamringe" (sesame rings) and is one of the most delicious bread in the world - for me, at least :) A pack of 3 rings was sold for €2,00 - cheap and yummy!

Back to my shopping goods - the knitting needles were also very cheap compared to those sold in stores, but the drawback is that they don't look as pretty. So I thought, why not cover the head with something more presentable for the eyes? And since I was in a good mood I thought I could make a tutorial as well!

You'll need:
- a pair of knitting needles
- fabric scraps
- ribbon
- batting
- sewing thread and needle
- glue

1. Cut out two circles from your fabric scraps. Mine had a diameter of 7,5 cm, since the needle heads were pretty big.

2. Do a running stitch along the circle, about 5 mm from the edge. Pull the thread lightly so the fabric forms a cap. Leave the needle on the thread, you'll need it later. You might want to try this half-finished cover on the needle head to see whether it fits.

3. Next, try out the amount of batting you'll need to cover the needle head.

4. Then stuff it into the cap.

5. Now place the whole thing on to the needle head. Last chance for adjusting the placement of the batting inside the cap before sewing everything up!

6. Wind the remaining thread tightly around the base of the cap a few times (did I tell you to use longer thread than you think was needed? well, you do...), then sew up with your favourite finishing stitch.

7. It should look like this now. Carefully trim the fraying edge if needed.

8. Glue a ribbon to cover the base. I'm sorry I couldn't take a better picture, but this is how it's supposed to look like afterwards.

Do the same to the other needle, and you're done!

I did this to my size 10 needle only, so I don't feel the need to put any label to the heads, but if you want to cover different sizes of needles you might want to label them so you can tell them apart. Use stamps, beads, buttons, embroidery, anything!

As usual, please forgive the dark pictures (my next tutorial should not be made at night!), and don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions!

mouse pad tutorial

This cannot really be called a tutorial since it's too easy...
And I could swear I've seen a similar tutorial somewhere, but I can't remember where...
So here you go!

You'll need:
- a mouse pad (mine is from IKEA, old and battered)
- your choice of fabric (preferably something thin and glossy, but do experiment!)
- spray glue


1. Iron your fabric - you'll want your mouse pad to be free from creases.

2. Spray the mouse pad surface with glue - do this outside/a place with good air circulation!

3. Turn the mouse pad over onto the wrong side of the fabric, making sure that there are no creases, then press down hardly.

4. Cut the fabric closely along the edge, then wait until the glue completely dry - this is an important step, no matter how much you want to use your new mouse pad already :)

And you're done!

Actually the old mouse pad belongs to my boyfriend - he forgot to take it with him to Munich. Now I'm contemplating whether to give it to him back or to keep it for myself...what do you think? :D

elastic band bookmark tutorial

My fried JF turned 30 last Saturday.
This guy has such a unique taste I just can't keep up with - meaning, I adore his taste but I still have no idea what to get him as a present. Since it was his 30th birthday and I didn't want to experiment with presents, I decided to just ask him what he wanted (boring, I know). He, being a crime/thriller fan, told me to get him a particular murder mystery book. Okay, done.

But, I can't just give him a book, right?
So I was thankful when my brain got a sudden inspiration a few days before his birthday: a knife bookmark to match the murder mystery book!

It's very easy to make, but I was in the mood to make a tutorial anyway, so here goes nothing:

You'll need:
- flat elastic band
- cardboard
- thin felt sheets in white and black
- glue, scissors, pencil, black felt-tip pen

1. Tie the elastic band around the book cover like shown on the picture. Make it fit just right, don't pull too hard or too loose. (Oh, the book is not the murder mystery one :))

2. Cut off the ends close enough to the knot. Your elastic band should look like this now.

3. Next, use your drawing skill to draw your version of a convincing Rambo knife on the cardboard (I consulted Google Image for reference...)

4. Cut it out, then use it to trace another one on the cardboard. Cut this out, then you should have two identical knife-halves like shown.

5. Now glue the blade part only on to the white felt sheet. I used a glue stick (for paper), but you can try other types of glue as well. Cut along the blade, be careful at the zig-zag part...

6. Your knife-halves should look like this now.

7. Do exactly the same for the shaft part with black felt, and you should have these now.

8. It's time to assemble them together! Glue the knife-halves together layered like shown. Be careful so that the elastic band is not stretched or folded during the process. Press the knife-halves hard together, then wait until the glue dries.

9. Your knife should look like this now. You're almost done!

10. See the orange cardboard peeping between the two knife-halves? I would suggest you use a white cardboard so the knife blade would look pretty, but then you'd still see some white cardboard between the shaft parts, right? So grab the black felt-tip pen and colour the still peeping cardboard black!

Congratulations, you're done!

Sorry for the dark pictures, I was working in the middle of the night and my room is just not suitable for taking pictures at night. This is my first tutorial ever, so I hope it's easy to understand. Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions :)

How about making different kinds of elastic band bookmark for different kinds of book theme?
The sky is your limit!