Going to the Fair!

The sun shone, the band played, the ducks raced and the people were out and about for a fantastic afternoon at Portobello Village Show on Sunday. Thank you to everyone who came to see our stall, to buy, to make a donation and to find out more about crafting for charity. Your support will help us do so much more.

The calm before the storm ...

A photo finish for the duck race taking place  in the stream behind our pitch!

...and the band played on!

Remember to send your completed design competition entries to us by Monday 15th September.  You could be our winner!

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If you would like to join us, or if you are a charity who would like to find out more about the items we make, please contact us. We'd love to hear from you.

Keeping our enthusiasm in check!

In the approach to the Scottish referendum later this month a tartan and tweed theme seems somewhat appopriate. A couple of upcycling projects from the group this week showed how we can use our cast offs to keep people not just warm but stylishly warm too.

A red rectangle of tartan that can be used as a bright neck warmer, a hat or a ski headband.

Use up a bit of tweed to make a few teddies and what have you got?  Why, the Tweddies, of course!  The Tweddies are off on an adventure later this month to meet some children in a Syrian refugee camp and some orphaned and vulnerable children in South Africa. (See our page of charities we support for more details)

And for anyone who was around in the 60's or who likes to indulge a passion for vintage, this fringed go-over for an older child or teenage girl has definite overtones of  a Mary Quant creation.  This was someone's discarded pashmina before becoming a really warm go-over that can be worn over trousers and a sweater in the cold months ahead in a Syrian refugee camp.

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Join us in person any Wednesday afternoon 2.30 - 4.30. (Use the form or email craftteaforcharity@btinternet.com to find out where we'll be)

AND ...  on Sunday 7th September 2014 visit our fundraising stall at Portobello Village Show, 2-5pm in Rosefield Park, Portobello .  We'll have lots of hand crafted goodies for sale to raise money for charity and lots of  helpful info on how you too can get started in crafting for charity. Hope to see you there!

A square squared

Summer is great for crochet commuting. At the bus stop, on the bus/train/tram, in the car (as a passenger only!). Often someone will watch for a bit, then say he/she cannot knit/crochet ... well only a wee bit, like a beginner's square or something. That's brilliant and all the skill you need to help someone in need. Plain or fancy, knit or crochet, every warm and comforting square is so, so useful and needed.
 

Your warm square joins other people's warm squares ...

as you can see from this photo of last week's sorting day at Knit a Square in South Africa.  Knit a Square receives squares knitted by people all over the world ...



 ... and local volunteers sew each square into a warm blanket that can bring comfort to a child or adult living in desperate circumstances. See more blankets KAS has made from donated squares in 2014 on KAS Blanket Room
 
Every square helps.  Follow us on Facebook.   Contact us using the form at the top right of this page. If you are in or near Edinburgh and want to join us or pop in to see us, a warm welcome awaits you.  If you are a local charity and think we can help you, we'd love to hear from you too.

A Festival of Craft!

It's Festival Time here in Edinburgh again.  The streets are alive with tourists, buskers and a wealth of shows and exhibitions to see and hear.  Our weekly get together turned into an exciting event in itself, with a riot of colour, ideas and  craft tips to show and share.

Ever had some rainbow or self-pattern yarn left at the end of a project?  Knit a doll for a child to love.  This glamorous girl is going to Knit a Square in South Africa  to help with their work with millions of orphaned and vulnerable children.

Hand Puppets in progress ... and hand puppets all ready to play. These have been knitted in pairs so they can double as gloves in cold weather.  Hand puppets are great as props for a child's imagination as well as being a friend to cuddle when feeling sad, lonely or afraid. Pattern link for knit and crochet version here.

Of course up here in Edinburgh we know people need hats and hand warmers in a rainbow of colour and shapes to keep heads and hands warm when the weather turns cold.

And there can never be too many squares. It takes 35 squares at 20cm or 8 inches each to make even a child sized blanket. A blanket can mean warmth, comfort, survival and perhaps hopefully even send a vulnerable person the message that someone cares. Squares are a great project for beginner and expert alike.

If you would like to join us at our weekly Wednesday afternoon get togethers, or are passing through Edinburgh and want to drop in, please use the contact form on the right.  All crafts welcome. We'd love to meet you.

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If you are a local charity and think we can help you through our craft, please contact us.  We'd love to hear from you.

July Parcel Safely Delivered.

Super-speedy DHL uplifted our July parcel last thing on Tuesday afternoon - and had delivered it to Love in the Language of Yarn in Turkey before 10.00 am this morning (Thursday)! What's in our July parcel? A range of things for the hot weather now and the cold weather to come to help Syrian refugee families living in camps:

sun dresses, hats, scarves, slippers, hand warmers, sweater and our first ever rag rug to brighten a tent or container home. 

 

Service with their usual smile from our sponsors DHL!  It's great to know that things are getting to where they are needed so quickly.

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 Come and join us or drop in if you are in or near Edinburgh on Wednesday afternoons - whatever your craft, a warm welcome awaits you.
  Contact us using the form on the right.

Keep Cycling - Good for your Wallet, Great for Helping Others!

Upcycling again with another low or no cost project from one of our group who made eight of these pretty sun dresses out of unwanted pillow cases and duvet cover, bits of  ribbon and recycled buttons. You could make up to eleven or so of these dresses from a large double duvet cover. They will be in our next parcel to Love in the Language of Yarn in Turkey to distribute to Syrian girls who are refugees from the war. They can be worn alone now while it is still hot then over T shirts when the weather begins to cool down. The pattern is based on the 'pillow slip' dress on the Sew Scrumptious website listed on our 'charities seeking crafted items' page.  Happy sewing if you want to give it a go!  Just remember to check that your duvet cover fabric is not see through before you begin  - it sounds obvious, but duvet cover fabric can often be semi-transparent.  Warning:  making these dresses is seriously addictive and can result in you begging for unwanted duvet covers from your friends and family!

Follow us on Facebook Craft Tea for Charity  In or near Edinburgh and want to join us? We'd love to welcome you at one of our weekly get togethers. All crafts welcome, as long as you want to craft for charity and can do your craft safely in a cafe!  Do you have a suggestion for a project we are not doing yet? Are you a local charity who would like our help?
Contact us using the form on the right of this page. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Upcycling and proud of it!

It's been a great week for upcycling in our group with a range of no or low cost projects converting the unwanted into the delectable and desirable.  For starters, Leo's Beanery cafe gave us a coffee sack.  Old T shirts and pilled fleecy jumpers (all too worn out to recycle as anything wearable)  transformed the sack into this cosy and colourful rag rug.  We are sending it to Love in the Language of Yarn in Turkey in the hope that it will bring cosiness and cheer into the lives of a Syrian refugee family.

The sack makes an ideal base as it is double sided, has an inner waterproof lining to discourage any damp seeping through from the floor and comes already seamed to prevent fraying around the borders. The double layer means you can work through the top layer only, leaving the bottom layer as a protective base.

This was our first attempt at a rag rug and a useful learning curve. It uses the knotted method. Fleece is probably better than T shirt fabric because it is lighter, shrugs off moisture better and will be easier to wash and dry. Experimenting with design, drawing a pattern on the sack and then infilling it, rather than just having a random pattern will be the  creative challenge for our next one. Rag rugging is a great project to leave lying around.  Sort of like jigsaws used to be - family members tend to add a few strips in passing.

Contact us via the box on the right.  Follow us on Facebook Craft Tea for Charity - Edinburgh Join us on Wednesday afternoons if you are in or near Edinburgh.  We'd love to see you or hear from you!