Tutorial and Giveaway!

To celebrate the opening of our new online store, I thought it might be fun to do a tutorial and giveaway!  We are currently running a special offer in our store: with every skirt purchased from our Summer Collection, you will receive a matching Puff Brooch FREE! Simply pin a puff brooch to any top and it will instantly coordinate with the beautiful colours in that skirt.  These brooches are made from a Suffolk Puff (or Yo-Yo) which has been embellished with a crocheted flower and button - so pretty!  


In today's tutorial, I'll be guiding you though the creation of one of my Puff Brooches - and will give details at the bottom of this post on how to enter the giveaway to receive this very brooch as well as two matching hair ties!

To make a Suffolk puff, you'll first need to decide on its finished size.  For a brooch on a little girl, I find that a finished diametre of just over 5.5cm (2 inches) works well, otherwise it can become a bit overpowering on her outfit.  For hair clips or ties, smaller is better again.


For this tutorial, you will need:

• a smallish piece of fabric
• fabric scissors
• a paper template cut into a circle of the desired size
• needle
• thread
• embellishments (I'm using a crocheted flower and button)
• brooch pin
• thread to match the button colour 

Here's what you do:


1. Using a paper template with a 12.5 cm (5 inch) diametre, cut a fabric circle.  This width allows for .5cm (1/4 inch) fold-over around the entire outside edge and will give you a finished puff of approximately 5.5cm.


2.  Thread the needle with a doubled piece of thread for strength - you'll be pulling tightly on those stitches!  Tie a knot at the end of the threads, leaving a tail of a few centimetres.


3.  Place the fabric circle wrong side up and with your free thumb, fold over half a centimetre of the edge to make your first stitch from the top side.  Continue to fold with your thumb as you go, making small stitches along the edge. (I'm right-handed, so I stitch from right to left and hold the edge down with my left thumb.)

4.  When you reach the beginning again, bring your last stitch through to the top side.  Gently pull on the thread to tighten your stitches and form the puff shape.

The gathering will end up as a tight circle in the centre and the folded edge will be hidden underneath.

5.  Keeping the thread taut, make a couple of small stitches inside the gathered edge to finish off.  Cut the thread, again leaving a tail of a few centimetres; knot this three or four times with the initial thread tail to secure. Cut the thread ends and you have completed your puff!

6.  Now for the embellishments!  Place the crocheted flower and button in the centre of the puff and stitch them in place, starting from the back (again, using a doubled thread and leaving a tail for later).  Once they are secure, stitch the brooch pin to the back of the puff and finish by again knotting the ends together to secure.

All finished!

How sweet does it look on our Kate Strappy Top!

Would you like to enter this giveaway??  Each of the following will give you one entry:

• leave a comment on this blog
• blog about the giveaway, and place a link to this post on your blog
• visit our facebook page, 'like' it, and leave a comment here to let me know
• follow us on twitter, and leave a comment here to let me know

On Friday December 3rd, I will select a winner.  International entries are welcome - I am happy to post anywhere in the world!  What a gorgeous treat for the little girl in your life!

Speaking of blogs, I follow Natasha's gorgeous lifestyle and cooking blog 5 Minutes Just for Me - today she is doing a '5 Minutes With....' segment about me!  Hop on over to read it! Make sure you stay for a while - she writes the most wonderful posts about home decorating, cooking and much, much more!

Thank you for visiting me today - I have also joined up with Beverly's Pink Saturday linky party.  Thanks for having me Beverly!