Makes for a Christmas market

I thought I would give you a little sneaky look of some of the bits and pieces that I have been busy making for the Whitstable Christmas Market I am taking part in. My latest makes have been cushions.... you will have to come along to see them in full!!!

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 ticking chair cover

Yes I finally bloody did it!

After sitting looking at THE chair for weeks now wondering how the hell I made a new cover for it, I finally laid out the fabric and plonked the current cover on it and just drew round it!

I used the ticking for the front and a beige linen fabric for the back with ticking inserts to hold it in place (and yes it did take me a while to work out what way round they had to be sewn to flip over the back of the chair!).

I then sewed it all the way round, leaving a gap in which  I inserted the old padded cover and then sewed the gap up by hand.

It is really, VERY far from perfect, but it only took about an hour (I'm sure someone far cleverer than me could have tackled it in 15 minutes!!) and all in all I am pretty pleased with how it looks.

The poor old sewing machine has been working hard lately. I've been busy trying to make lots of new stock for my Folksy shop. I am also thinking of opening an Etsy shop so have quite a few makes on the go, and to give you a  little sneak peak they include...

needlecases

(using a mix of possibly all my favourite things! ticking, gingham, bakers twine AND free motion embroidery!!)

pin cushions

coasters

and bags.....

Phew, I just need to clear some more of the sale stock that is in there at the moment before this lot goes in there on the 1st October! So please spread the Sale word and I'd love to hear what anyone else has been making lately?

Roll up, roll up for a bargain

I hate to say it but Summer does appear to be very nearly over here in England doesn't it?

Don't be too sad though, the approaching Autumn promises lots of exciting events - Halloween, Firework night (friends weddings!) plus the chance to dig out those cosy hats, gloves and scarves.

But whilst we are clutching onto the very last days of summer (err...rain and wind here in Whitstable at the moment) I thought it was time I had a nice big sale in my Folksy shop.

Everything is reduced - yes EVERYTHING!

(Dare I mention the 'C' word and getting some shopping done early?)

So if you want to bag a bargain, including all of the following.....

Patchwork make-up bags - were £9 now £7

Mermaid dollys were £15 now £12

Baby patchwork quilts were £28 now £22

Cushion was £17 now £13

Lavender hearts were £3.75 now £2.75

Fishing boat cushion was £15 now £12

 Plus lots and lots more items that are all going at bargain prices (listed prices include P&P)  - ready to make way for lots of new season stock that I am working on at the moment (ticking, gingham, scandinavian stripes/florals and denim are all involved in the new stock so far!).

I would be really grateful if you would spread the word.

www.folksy.com/shops/simplyhdesigns

Thank you!!

Please feel free to link to any other Folksy/Etsy/NOTHS shops having sales in the comments section.

Summery days

My kids were back to school today.
I have to confess, much as I was looking forward to a little bit of peace...I really missed the noisy little monkeys!! I managed to keep myself busy by giving the house a HUGE clean up - I only managed to do upstairs as well, which of course meant a sneaky clear out and tidy of their bedrooms. I'm sure it will only be a matter of time before they realise something they haven't played with or read for the last year is suddenly missing!

Tomorrow I tackle downstairs and I am hoping some time this week to put some sewing ideas into practice as I hardly seemed to have anytime to sew over the summer holiday. We did have lots of family fun together, which is what it is all about.

The photos in this post were all taken at Ramsgate (best ever fish & chips from Peter's Fish Factory - yum!) and Joss Bay where we went for the day in the last week of the holidays.

We finished the day off back home in Whitstable with another gorgeous sunset.

I'll hopefully dust of the old sewing machine this week and have some new bits and pieces for show and tell!

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!

Seaside bunting

I've been a bit lazy with the poor old sewing machine lately, but I did make a few seaside buntings which I left on top of my sewing machine and forgot about!
I finally decided to photograph them and stick them into my folksy shop. They proved so hard to photograph though (which is why I think I had forgotten about them) as it appears we have no nice doorways, windows, wardrobes, sheds etc that would show up the bunting well enough when I tried to take a picture of them!

My 60s chairs came in nice and handy!

I'm still not sure with how they turned out  - they are listed on the chair and then hanging from our oyster picture so you can see them properly.

I normally just take pictures on a white background but I am thinking of opening an etsy shop and have been reading lots of helpful advice re setting up a shop. They suggest that seeing the product as it would be used (a dress on a person rather than model, a girl with a doll rather than on its own etc).

But white looks so clean and lovely!

Hmm still not sure....

By the way you have to look at this beautiful blog - its bloomin gorgeous!!

I want her shed, her jewellery all of the vintage clothes in her shop and hell I'd even go camping if I could do it in half as much style....

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. 

Something for the teachers

The other day I was struggling to come up with something new and exciting to give as presents to my kids teachers.  I have previously given some of my handmade make-up purses and lavender hearts, which have all been very well received but I fancied making something different this year.

Whilst browsing my regular blogs I saw the answer to my prayers on  the wonderful blog by Domesticali . I knew I had to make thse and  would like to add I did first ask Ali for her permission and she very generously and happily gave it to me to recreate her fantastic idea!

Book bags for grown ups, or more specifically book bags for teachers - they seem to have endless books and paper to carry around! I just loved Ali's clever idea and so set about measuring and sewing lots of lines on to some calico. Then I got the kids to write their teachers names on the lines in my favourite iron out pens!

I free motion embroidered over their writing, made them up into bags with webbing handles and hey presto - paper bags.

I love seeing the kids very best writing displayed on them and do hope they like them as much as I do. They also wrote their names and the year on the back, just so the teachers can remember them.

So thank you so much Ali - they aren't as good as her original one, but what a clever lady for coming up with such a good idea.

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?.....