Peg bags and handbags

What a difference a week makes hey!

This time last week, here in Whitstable, we were enjoying an amazing Indian summer, blues skys and temperatures of 25 degrees and now we are back in the depths of Autumn - from sleeveless tops to winter coats in 5 days!
Blimey, no wonder us Brits enjoy talking about the weather!!

At least it's not raining at the moment and hanging onto this, I have been trying to catch up on the washing whilst the weather was dry and decided that I was in dire need of a new peg bag.  I am sure I could have sat down, found a pattern and made my own but with pennies to burn in Paypal I decided to have a look on Folksy and support another seller!
I found this little beauty and fell in love! It had to be mine.

Isn't it gorgeous - look at the amazing work that went into the embroidery!

Thank you Nana Marje - I love it and please go and have a look at her little shop.

From peg bags to handbags - I have been meaning to make some bags for ages. I wanted a bag with a zip as I find things always fall out of bags without zips! I'd worked out a while ago, a design and finally got round to making them.

I've kept one for myself  (although forgot to take pictures - will add some soon) and really enjoyed playing with the fabrics for these two that are in my Folksy shop.

My fabulous fifties fabric creeping in again!

My ticking obsession doesn't seem to be improving does it!!

I also had the idea for some personalised fabric envelopes - perfect for weddings, christenings, 21st birthdays, Christmas or any occasion when you might be giving cash or gift vouchers, to help personalise and make the gift a bit more stylish! A couple of these are in my Folksy shop too, so fingers crossed the idea takes off!

Right, I'm off to use my new peg bag before it starts to rain! Have a lovely weekend x



A sweet pea dolly quilt

The lovely Vicki asked me to make a dolls patchwork quilt for her little sweet pea's 2nd birthday today. They had brought a dolls cot for her birthday and thought she would like a mattress, quilt and cushion to go with it.

It was so nice to work small scale for a change! I hadn't made anything for a while and enjoyed getting a bit creative.

The fabrics were just lovely as Vicki had the idea of using some of her daughters old clothes - a gorgeous pair of lined trousers  that she had grown out  - so I added one of D's dresses into the mix too.

A certain little lady in our house thought it looked lovely with her baby doll....she has already picked out the fabric for her one!

I was really pleased with how it turned out, mainly because of the gorgeous fabrics Vicki gave me and my favourite bit....

The little pocket that used to be on the back of one of the pairs of trousers, is now an extra special pocket on the quilt!

I am going to make a few more of these 'Sweet Pea' dolly quilts - in fact my little lady is calling me to start cutting already! snip snip!

Help! A little advice please....

Blogland I need your help.....please!

I am totally stumped on something that I really should know how to do, but I don't!!

The IKEA chair in the above picture is about 8 years old and the beige cover has seen far better days. It really needs a new one and has been on my 'to do' list for months.

It looks fine without it's padded cover - but it's not half as comfy.

So, I'll make one I said confidently, taking the cover off.
So I studied it, and looked at it, scratched my head and thought about it and realised......I have no idea where to start!
I want it pretty much the same style, so that it just slips on and off and I even brought this bargain, really thick upholstery/curtain ticking fabric from an ebay shop (£15 inc p&p for 3 metres!) to make the cover out of.

And now I am stuck.  I don't want to chop into the ticking and then do it all wrong.  

So... do I take the old cover apart and try and make a pattern from it?

Do I make a cover that goes over the old cover or do I start from scratch (eek!). It's the idea of all the layers of wadding, front and back fabrics that confuses me and the order to sew it all in (and I make quilts so this should be simple right?!).

I will be eternally grateful for ANY help offered!! Thank you. 

M is for Make

Only a few more days until the Summer Market I am taking part in. I am very excited to be taking part, especially as my Mum is coming along to help out as well as well as the kids - although I think they might only last an hour or so!

 I've been making and making and making and think I am nearly there with my stock.

 I've managed to make four baby pram/cot quilts.....











A few more patchy purses in different colours.

Some seasidey bird cushions...

'Oh I do like to be beside the seaside' bunting... the perfect size to hang in a window, over a mirror or in a beach hut doorway...

A few mermaids - just waiting for bikini tops, bags and certificates!

Now I need to get on with printing out all the labels and getting everything priced!

If I get time I am hoping to make 'something' (not sure what yet!) with these gorgeous fabrics that I brought this week from M is for Make .

I just couldn't resist! It is such a gorgeous website with lots of patterns and fabrics - I only got these fat quarters but was highly tempted to buy more. I think the pink and green trees are my favourites!

Now, what to make?.....

A little bit more drawing on fabric..

It was a very good friends 40th birthday last week and I really wanted to get her a lovely, personal and special present - but I didn't have a clue what to get her. I searched high and low in every shop in Whitstable trying to find the perfect gift but I just couldn't find it.

I finally decided that the perfect gift would be a photo album so that she could capture all the best moments from her 40th year and to personalise it I decided to make a fabric cover (with a bit of help and inspiration from Poppy Treffrys' book). Whoo hoo, more drawing on fabric and more drawing with my ever favourite Flixion pens!

It took quite a few failed attempts I finally came up with the design that I thought would be ok and I scribbled it down.  The bird cage image I chose specifically as she used to have several of them hanging from her ceiling above her stairs (which looked gorgeous) - one of them which I remember bringing back as hand luggage from Thailand  for her many years ago! I then copied the design onto some white linen and went mad on the sewing machine with the free motion embroidery foot!

I ironed on a few bits of fabric with Bondaweb on the back and then more free motion embroidery over those. The coloured panel at the bottom was pinned on to within an inch of its life as being a lazy sort of sewer and being in full embroidery mode, I really couldn't be bothered to swap the sewing machine feet over to sew it on and then have to stick the embroidery foot back on again to finish off - so I decided to pin it on and and keep everything crossed that it worked!

Thankfully it did work and this is where I get to show you the finished article that I was quite pleased with but.........hmm, unfortunatley I can't as I don't have any pictures of it! My hubby had to take the camera to work the next day and I had to wrap it up and take it with me to London on the train for Sarah's party so this one will have to do...

 She still hasn't had the present yet but I am keeping everything crossed that she likes it and that I manage to get a proper finished photo of it eventually!

Right, I'm off to find another bit of fabric to start drawing on ................

Wet and windy Whitstable = a bit of sewing!

It has been a little while since I last blogged.

I'd kind of lost my sewing and my blogging mojo but I am feeling a bit more creative of late.
I think it has lots to do with the wet and windy weather we have been experiencing in our little corner of Kent. When it's awful outside, there is nothing like whirring away at the sewing machine and creating!
I've also been to IKEA for the first time in ages and ages. I could have spent hours just at the fabric section but my budget was tiny so I just decided to buy one metre (at only £1.99 a metre!) of this lovely fabric.

I am not sure what I am going to make yet. Mabye some more cushions (hell, I have so many cushion pads - they were the main aim for going to IKEA in the first place! They look as if they are breeding in our bedroom!) and I think it would look fab as a little skirt for D this Autumn, with black tights and boots? Hmmmm...

Back to cushions, I have made quite a few! These first 3 are in Taking the Plunge at the moment.

 

A Union Jack one...

A big cosy house one...

And a cosy knitted one, recycled from a cardigan!

I've also added this pear cushion and two Liberty print ones to my Folksy shop.



I think maybe I will make something other than cushion covers next! I think I'd better start measuring my little lady for that skirt tomorrow....

Cakes, makes and bits and bobs

It's been a while since I last posted, so this post is going to be a little catch up!

First we had a the christening of our lovely neighbours little sweet pea. Her mum Vicki is a very clever lady and made her christening cake herself - she came to our house to ice it and ended up with a little helper, our little D who LOVED helping Vicki cut out butterflies and covering them with edible glitter.

Thank you Vicki for letting her help and for also giving her a mention at the christening! Here is the finished cake and the maker and her helper!

Talking of Vicki, please take a look at her blog where you will find details of a coffee morning she is organising in Whitstable this coming Saturday 12th June. She has organised it to raise money for Cancer Research and The Pilgrims Hospice, so if you are local or nearly local and fancy coming into Whitstable for the day, do pop into St Alphege Church on the High Street to support her. If you fancy leaving a link on your blog too, I am sure she would be grateful!

Now for one of my favourite subjects - fabric. I took delivery this week of a parcel from one of our relatives who lives in Germany. They have just brought a new house there and it seems the old resident loved sewing as in the loft they found all sorts of needles and fabric. I think lots of it had got damp, but I was sent lots of the best bits, which are quite small, remnants and samples, but perfect for making my baby patchwork quilts.

I loved this one! I have already cut lots of squares out ready to be made into something else.  I do like to use vintage and second hand fabrics for my little quilts. They add a little history and life to them I think!

I have managed to fit in a bit of making over the last few weeks  - a few cushions, but I need to make more as I have sold all of the ones I took to Taking the Plunge, hurrah! I also had an order for this beach hut bag from a friend (I know you read my blog sometimes S, so hello!!), modelled by that same little helper again!

Although the weather was a bit up and down this week during half-term, we managed to pick a good day to go to Druidstone with Nanny. It's a nice very little animal park just up the road, good for a wander round for a couple of hours. We also had a little picnic at the  Tower Hill Tea Gardens, which was lovely.

If you are ever in Whitstable and fancy it is worth a visit. There are fantastic view over the Estuary, beautiful gardens and a little cafe (ok, more like hut!) where you can get a cuppa or an ice-cream.  Just walk along the beach towards Tankerton, go past the Hotel Continental and the public loos and up the steps at the side and there at the top you will find them!

Phew! this ended up being a long and bitty post. I am sure I have bored anyone reading to tears by now, so I think it is time to go and make sure I have everything ready for the hectic school run in the morning!

More blue and white stripes..

Stripy finds at the boot fair last sunday! Some offcuts of old 50's nurses uniforms, which I thought I could use for appliques on vests and cushions, some very old ticking -which I am hoping will clean up as it is a bit grubby! and more stripy staffordshire finds to add to my collection! And it all cost me about £3 in total...oh I love a bargain!

Fantastic Fifties fabric find!

I came across this amazing bolt of 1950's fabric a couple of weeks ago at a Church sale in Whitstable.

It is so amazing and has this fantastic brown tape that runs through it saying how many yards are left (there are 35 yards!) what a brilliant idea! I have been trying to find out a bit about it but apart from the info on the tape, that says printed by Bell Punch Company Ltd, London England there is nothing on the selvedge. I am thinking of selling some, but feel I really must find out more before I do. I am told it is quite rare to find this much vintage fabric together on one bolt.

Fingers crossed I find out some more info!

A messy confession

I am always in awe of the beautiful workspaces that lots of crafty bloggers seem to have out there. Sigh, some people even have a room just for crafting!

Me, I just sew at the kitchen table and have a cupboard with my fabric in and a big basket of my sewing stuff and another with current fabrics I am using for things.

Not exactly inspiring, hence why my fabric cupboard looks like this:

And my sewing basket looks like this......

Goodness, I really am a slob! Am I the only one.....?

Probably!