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....

Followers

My followers list seem to have disappeared from my blog?
Any idea where they might have gone or how I get them back!!
Thank you

60s chairs

I went to a boot fair on Saturday morning and apart from a dvd of 'The Time Travellers Wife' for £2 it wasn't looking too exciting  - no fabric treasures waiting to be discovered.
Then on the very last aisle as me and my daughter were wandering along, a lady happened to get up from a chair  by her stall and as we were on the look out for some wooden fold up chairs and I noticed she had 2, I rushed back to check if they were for sale.
They were looking a little grubby, with a bluey coloured seat but when she said £1.50 each I snapped them up.

I'd gone to the boot fair with my Mother-in-Law as well and when me and D met up with her she informed me they were a genuine pair of 60s chairs, certainly worth more than £1.50! (she had also bagged a gorgeous original oil painting of Thames barges for £7!).

As soon as I got home I got out the Cif and gave them a good clean and was amazed at the gorgeous duck egg blue seat that was hiding underneath the grime!

I am pleased as punch with them and we have all been sitting on them over the weekend in our little sunny spot at the end of the garden!

Nothing feels quite so good as a boot fair bargain does it!
What bargains did you find at the boot fair or charity shop lately?

Whitstable Oyster Festival

I haven't blogged for ages, mainly with all the madness of plays, sports days and fairs that come with the end of the summer term at school. Plus we have had lots of family staying here in Whitstable -  Aunties, Grandparents and cousins who all came along for a little holiday during the Oyster Festival. So it has been an exciting start to the holidays.

The Whitstable Oyster Festival is a week long celebration where we have all sorts of weird and wonderful events, performances, workshops and traditions.

It all kicks off with the landing of the Oysters - which are brought ashore in an old boat and blessed by the local vicar.

The harbour had a fabulous food market - but it was too jam packed to even attempt to take a picture! We did manage to stroke these lovely Newfoundland dogs - although they were a tad smelly!

There was a parade through the town with crazy and very tall aliens (who took a shine to my son!) the local Samba band who are impossible not to dance to!

There has been pavement art...

Beach picnics with cousins....

and seaside walks in the sunshine.

It has been lovely.

I have been making a little a couple of orders for some cushions and bags - but of course, I forgot to photograph them! I still haven't attempted to start the chair from the last post, but thank you for the advice I was given. I think it is going to involve using the cover I have anyway!

I hope the sun is shining wherever you may be!

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.