What Kimberley Makes

  Tropical Leopard Curtain   Add character to you home with your own home-made curtain. It is the focal point for any room and is a great way to coordinate your décor. This curtain can be adapted to fit your window perfectly. Why not try adding a trim to really personalise your curtain?   This tutorial will show you need to how to make your own and a matching curtain tie. To work out how much fabric you will need for your curtain, start by measuring your window. Mine is a small window so I’m making one curtain using eyelets. My window measures 20” across and 50” deep including the frame. You will ideally need DOUBLE the width of your window in fabric, this will ensure that when your curtain is pulled back, it will form pretty pleats. If you are making 2 curtains, both curtains will need to measure the width of the window. The drop of the curtain will depend on how long you would like it to be! I think a curtain looks best when it drops lower than the window, so I’...

Vienna Dress This wrap dress is a flattering, versatile style that can be worn casual or more dressy. I've made mine in jersey for a more summery day time dress. The fabric I've used is gifted from The Craft Cotton Company and is an organic jersey spandex that was designed by Tilly Walnes from Tilly and the Buttons. This jersey collection features lots of pastel rainbow colours and bold geometric prints which will just brighten up your wardrobe!  The Vienna dress pattern is by Fibre Mood and suggests using fabric with a good drape and not too stiff.  I opted for the PDF version because I am impatient! The instructions are all on the website and can be accessed once you set up an account.  I've used an overlocker  (Janome AirThread 2000D)  to finish edges and roll the hems of my dress but this can all be achieved on a sewing machine too. Some tips for working with jersey - if you find that the fabric is curling too much, spray it with some spr...

I've made this cute mermaid tail blanket for my daughter using Visage Textiles/The Craft Cotton Company poly spandex scale fabric.  Here's the link to my YouTube  video showing you step by step how I made it!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8oGLQsnVb8 As I said, I used a poly spandex but you could use any fabric you'd like. It is lined with a black fleece for extra comfort! I made a template of the tail and used that to cut out the pieces. I've also stuffed the tail to give it more shape. I've used a metre of the scale fabric and the fleece fabric. I would say this size is good for a baby or small toddler in this size, if you want to make it for a child that is 2/3+ I would recommend using more fabric. But you can judge this against the child when you draw the pattern! The finished size of my blanket is 42cm wide (at the widest point) and 60cm long (not including the tail) The waistband is elasticated but I decided this after filming... -Once the blank...

Here's a drawstring bag with a cute little extra, perfect for Easter time! I've used a beautiful floral fabric by The Craft Cotton Company to give this bag an elegant look, all you need is 2 fat quarters of fabric!  What you'll need: 1 fat quarter of outer fabric (or two pieces measuring 10.5" x 13") 1 fat quarter of lining fabric (or two pieces measuring 10.5" x 13") wadding of choice, I've used fusible fleece - two pieces measuring  10.5" x 13" fusible fleece for the ears - two pieces measuring 5" x 7" If you are using fat quarters, you can use the left over pieces of fabric to make the ears. If not, you'll need 4 pieces measuring 52 x 7" ribbon - 2 x 25"  wire - 2 pieces measuring approx. 18" How to make the bag: 1. Draw a template of the bunny ears as you'd like them. Mine measured about 4.5" wide at the widest point and 6.5" tall. The base of the ears measu...

This is a really simple way to make a quick skirt for kids. It honestly took me less than 10 minutes! I followed a tutorial on YouTube by The Crafty Gemini called How to Make a Simple Girls Skirt so have a look at that for her tutorial. It's really well explained and easy to follow. All you need is a piece of fabric measuring double the width of the child's waist measurement and the length you'd like the skirt to be. Add double + 1/2 the length of the elastic you want to use to length and that's the size of fabric you need. (this is slightly different to the video instructions as to make it even quicker.) My elastic is 1" so I will add 2.5" to the length. The elastic should measure the same as your child's waist measurement. So for me, my daughters waist is approx. 22" so I measured a piece of fabric 44" wide and 10" long. Add 2.5" for the waist band so my final fabric piece was 44" x 12.5" and the elastic is 22"...