Kid's Crafternoon Blog Tour!

Book Invaders (Project by Elod Beregszaszi)

Today I'm excited to be kicking off the Kid's Crafternoon Blog Tour for two of a four series of books edited by Kathreen Ricketson of Whip Up and published by Hardie Grant out of Australia. Kids' Crafternoon Sewing and Kids' Crafternoon Papercraft puts the fun back into a kid's afternoon (and couldn't be better timing during our summer holidays)! Each title contains 25 projects (including templates) from specialist crafters across the globe. The projects vary in complexity and the time required for completion is never longer than a whole afternoon; the books are structured by project themes designed to appeal to young crafters.


I had a reverse interview with Kathreen via email this week where she sent me answers about the book, and now I will pose the questions to go with them:

Tell me how you created the book and came up with the projects ideas?

I worked with my husband Rob on this book - although he is not mentioned anywhere - he did all the illustrations in both of the books and contributed a couple of projects to the papercraft book too. And our kids helped out with many of our projects, and tested others as well. They helped to make many of the Paper beads and the origami water bombs and the paper planes, and the puppy in the Origami card project was mostly my daughter's design. Turns out both my kids love origami. So I know that the projects in this book sit perfectly in this age group, difficult enough to challenge and easy enough to complete in an afternoon.

Pencil Pouch (Project by Laura Lynn Wilson)

How was it to work with all the contributors from around the world?
I was glad to work with so many professional and talented crafters on this book. Working on a contributor book is actually really difficult. So many other people to rely upon, deadlines and reminders and coordination - it is really tricky. But everyone who committed to getting me a project came through, and although there were some hairy moments with packages not turning up and things getting lost in the mail - it all turned out fine in the end.

What age group are the books aimed at?
I love the range of the projects - many of which use recycled materials - there is a great variety of techniques being showcased too and I think that while the projects are aimed at 7-12 age group - I know there are many projects that teens and adults would make for themselves too!

Embroidered Keyring (Project by Kirsty Macafee)

Patchy Scarf (Project by Heather Elizabeth Abernathy Graham)

What are your children's favourite projects in the books?
My daughter who is snap bang in the middle of this age group loves quite a few of the projects (too many to list), but her top three in the sewing book are: Jelly fish pendant, Not just a bag, Limby the button eyed dudes (she helped me design the ones that appear on the cover), iPod creature cosy and the Monster reading pillow. In the Papercraft book her top projects are the Spinning pin wheels, articulated puppets (she helped make these with her dad), and the Confidential pocket book. She will be making a few of these projects over the coming weeks too.

Thank you Kathreen!

The blog tour continues everyday for the next two weeks, where Kathreen will be doing interviews and fun things with everyone involved.  Here's the schedule.  The books are available internationally through Booktopia and Amazon.


Follow the blog tour:

July 23 - pickle bums | July 24 - little eco footprints
July 25 - bespoke quilts | July 26 - mayamade
July 27 - check out girl crafts | July 28 - the red thread blog
July 29 - we wilsons | July 30 - maggie makes
July 31 - mmm crafts | Aug 01 - domesticali
Aug 02 - floating ink | Aug 03 - elizabeth abernathy
Aug 04 - mommycoddle | Aug 05 - the long thread
Aug 06 - Hannah Fletcher | Aug 07 pm between the lines
Aug 08 - go make me

Origami Cube Lights (Project by Rob Shugg)

New Action Pack (Issue 4)

Issue 4 of Action Pack (the mini mag for kids that want to do stuff) is out and this time it's a ‘Mega-Mag’ with 60 pages jam packed full of projects for kids (7+) to do over the summer holidays.

Issue 4 features Camp cooking, fishing, knot tying, boredom buster driving games, plus craft activities including a must-make utility bag - perfect for collecting seashells on the beach or stashing some snacks for a hike (every kid needs one of these)!

Creator, Australian-based Kathreen Ricketson (of Whip Up) has also launched a new Action Pack website where you can find more about the magazine, peruse past issues, grab some freebies and magazine excerpts from the magazine. (And aren't her kids adorable)? And if you aren't familiar with these magazines yet, they are downloadable pdf files, great to print off and take with you to the cottage! Click here to see more. website to go with the eMag,

DIY: Natural Dye Table Runner by Kathreen Ricketson

Guest post by Kathreen Ricketson of Whip Up!

I have been really getting into natural dyes lately, you can see and participate in some vegetable dye experiments of your own in the latest Action Pack which has an Easter Supplement and some Egg-speriments in natural dyeing. Lots and lots of fun. The kids and I were so excited doing this project for the current issue of the Action Pack (only $5 fo 30 pages of activities and great family fun) and even yummier we got to eat the results because it was all natural!


After reading The Handbook of Natural Dyes I got all excited to try some of the same dye experiments on wool and I made a table runner with the results - its is so pretty and easy too.

Dye some wool:

I used a cream coloured woolen skirt which I picked up at a second hand clothing shop, I washed and felted it in the washing machine and then deconstructed it, discarding seams and the waistband and keeping everything else. I then cut it up into largish squarish pieces ready for my dye experiments.

• Soak your wool in warm soapy water and rinse.
• Chop up your vegetables: 1 beetroot chopped into cubes, 1/2 a red cabbage roughly sliced, the outer peel from 8 red onions.
• Divide the red cabbage into 2 lots - add 2 tablespoons of vinegar to one half and 2 tablespoons of salt to the other half - put into separate saucepans and cover with water. Add your onion skins to a pot and cover with water and do the same for the beetroot. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer.
• Add your sample wool squares to the pots, and let simmer for 30 minutes. After you turn off the heat, let the wool sit in the water for longer for a more intense colour.
• Rinse out your wool in lightly soapy cold water until the water runs clear - then rinse and hang out to dry.
• I love the results - the Cabbage with salt makes a blue colour while with vinegar it turns pink/mauve. And the onion was amazing - what a rich colour, the beetroot was surprising - giving a golden colour - maybe I should have added vinegar? But I loved the results.
• Use a notebook to jot down all the results and keep samples of your results so you repeat them if you liked them next time.

Make your table runner:

I used all my beautiful samples and sewed them in a row to create a table runner. You could make a skirt -what a beautiful skirt - or even a blanket if you had enough samples. Or else save them for smaller projects - toys maybe? I sewed the samples together using a french seam which I then sewed down to create a double sided and very sturdy fabric. I kept the edges raw, and used some hand dyed embroidery thread and a simple running stitch in places. Adding some hand stitched elements makes this design even more special.

• Sew your edges together with a straight stitch.
• Trim the seam allowance.
• Press and fold to enclose the raw seam, sew another line of straight stitches.
• Press toward one side, then use a zigzag to stitch the seam down.
• Do this as you attach all the pieces.
• Press the entire piece.
• Add hand stitched elements as desired.

Whip Up was founded in 2006 by Kathreen Ricketson. Kathreen is the author of Whip Up Mini Quilts (Chronicle 2010). You can see her author profile and a bit about the book here and here. She also will have another book coming out late 2011. Whipup.net is a community of artists, crafters and makers who share ideas in a central space bringing the best original and exciting crafts to the attention of many.

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