A very quick post from me today as I've not had a lot of mojo this week so haven't accomplished much. I quite literally have made a few more lavender hearts

and I have "made" a cushion as a gift for someone

I say "made" as it's actually a shop bought, plain (but beautiful colour pink) cushion that I have decorated. It was so sunny outside (hurrah!) it's a little difficult to see the patterns on the material so I took an indoors picture

It was a little tricky to get the ribbon sewn on straight, despite marking a straight line in tailors chalk using a ruler, but any wiggles just add to the homemade effect! I hope the young lady it's intended for likes it - I have to say, it's might just be my favourite "make" so far, probably because it's pink and there's not a lot of that around here!

I shall be catching up with everyone over at Handmade Monday http://handmadeharbour.blogspot.co.uk/, which never fails to refill the mojo tanks.

Love Natalie

Now you see me.....

Now you don't!

I've been meaning to make a cover for my sewing machine for ages, particularly since I started spreading my crafting wears out and about onto various surfaces in the living room (my stash is spilling out of the linen box I've been using to house everything). Poor number 2 son had lots of homework to do this afternoon so whilst I was sitting helping him along the way (NB why do 9 year olds have to have so much homework?) I decided to get going with the cover. I heard or read a great sewing motto the other day - something along the lines of "Measure Twice, Sew Once" so I measured my machine, again and again. I was roughly working to the guide that I had read at http://chezlarsson.typepad.com/myblog/2008/10/sewing-machine-cover-how-to.html so was confident that I had covered all areas. I added on seam allowances, thought I might do a flashy seam at the bottom so added a bit more on and then cut the first piece of fabric. I've told you before that my straight lines leave something to be desired but they were OK today. But the piece of fabric I had cut was clearly far too small. I had mis-measured everything! Don't ask me how - I think I hadn't taken into account that the cover needed to be a little loose. So I re-measured, adjusted for seam allowances etc, added a cm on each measurement to allow some movement and then - in a moment of inspiration - cut the pieces from some old curtain lining fabric that I had decided to use as a lining (I had initially thought I might make a quilted cover but decided against it). Sense at last! I pinned the piece together and tried the cover for fit and it was perfect. So I used those pieces as a pattern to cut the main fabric from and then pieced everything together and - voila! Dare I say it is a bit too loose now? Not that I mind - at least there is plenty of room for me to pick the machine up using the handle whilst it's still covered. And I love this fabric and can now look at it everyday which is a bonus. A job ticked off the To Do List!

I've also been making a few more hanging hearts for my craft fair stock. I made a few lavender hearts

and I also made a couple of the felt ones

It was a bit windy when I was taking these photos, hence the peculiar way the hearts are hanging. If anyone recognises the pink cupcake material in the centre of the photo of lavender hearts, could you let me know where I could buy more? I bought a yard of it at a craft fair last year and have used it for quite a few projects but I've now run out of it and I'd love some more.

As always, I'll be linking up with Handmade Monday at http://handmadeharbour.blogspot.co.uk/ so do pop over there and catch up with everyone.

Hope you have a great week,
Love Natalie

 

 



 

 

 



Ta da!!

One pair of socks!

Fabulous photos taken by number one son.

I'm thrilled with them - I really am! They will be so lovely and warm inside my wellies when the time comes. Even my husband is impressed - he tried one on but whipped it off again before I could take a photo of him wearing something pink. I think I might make an ankle pair just for wandering around the house in - I think you can buy some sort of sticky stuff to give grip on the bottom. And I have a pattern for a lovely patterned pair that I feel more confident about now - I can knit with different colour yarns but I needed practise with the heel and instep. I am quite proud of myself! And I'm certainly glad I've finished them just in time for the flip flop weather....

Enjoy the rest of your week.
Love Natalie

What a lovely weekend! And best of all, we've still got a day off to go! Tomorrow I'm going to Nutfield Priory, to The Craft Barn, a craft shop that has recently relocated there (my Mum used to go to it's old shop and says it was brilliant). I did have plans to clean the oven as well but I'm rapidly going off that idea.....

I would just like to say a big thank you to everyone for the lovely comments last week about my quilted boxes, I'm glad everyone liked them. They really were simple to make and yet so pretty and effective, I recommend you all have a go.

There seems to have been an awful lot of sport going on around here of late so I've not done a huge amount of crafting. I managed to finish some carrier bag holders that I had started a little while ago. I had cut everything out to make one for myself and four others for my craft fair stock. One now hangs in my kitchen, dispensing carrier bags when needed. Two have made it into the stock bag:

The other two were snapped up by friends to give as presents!

Don't ask me why the one on the left looks so much bigger than the other one. I think I've said before that I'm rubbish at cutting straight lines but it looks like I measured it totally wrong. Not that it matters, but I was surprised at how there could be such a big difference.

Yesterday, I made number 2 and 3 sons a cushion each as I had been promising to make them for a couple of weeks. I'm all for re-using fabrics (the carrier bag holders are made using old curtain linings) so one cushion is made from some material from an old duvet cover and one is made from an outgrown dressing gown!

The back of the dressing gown wasn't big enough for the whole cover so I cut out the panels for the "back" of the cushion from the front of the dressing gown. It worked out that the pockets were placed perfectly on the cushion and the "back" is now the "front". It means the envelope fold is at the front but Henry doesn't mind. When I went in to make his bed this morning, he had put two of his smaller teddies in the pockets! He is really pleased with it and I think it has worked brilliantly.

I am about to crack open a bag of sweets that Mum brought over for me this afternoon, and catch up with everyone at Handmade Monday http://handmadeharbour.blogspot.co.uk/ whilst I eat them.

Enjoy Bank Holiday Monday everyone!
Love Natalie

Everything was going so well until just a few moments ago! Lets get the bad news out of the way - I have just sat down to continue with the second sock in the pair that I'm making and I've realised that the tricky bit, that I managed to get right on the first one, I've done wrong! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! I will now have to unpick a chunk and work out what I've done wrong, I honestly can't believe it. It was going so well. I was so close, I thought I'd have them finished this week.

Anyway, I have had a couple of successes this week. Firstly, I have finished making some small quilted boxes which I think are gorgeous. I found the instructions for making them at http://seaside-stitches.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/fabric-box-tutorial.html and I'd urge everyone to have a go: they are so simple and yet so effective. This is the first one I made

To give you some idea of size, I took another photo with a mug

I'm actually using this one as a little thread catcher and scissor/thread holder whilst I'm crafting in the evenings. A lesson I learned making this one was that the wadding pulls throughand can be seen a bit if you use a dark fabric. I picked some other fabrics and made these

When I picked the fabrics, I couldn't decide which way round would look best ie plain folded over pattern or vice versa so made one of each! I love them and will certainly make some more. They will be great to fill with sweets as end of term presents for the boys teachers.

My other big success of the week was the card sale I hels on Wednesday. Whilst Mum and Dad were away for a couple of days, I fetched Mums entire stock of cards over to my house and invited my friends, neighbours and work colleagues around for a browse. I sold 150 cards! I was thrilled (though not altogether surprised as the cards are gorgeous). It was also a great chance to catch up with some people who I've not seen for a while, or who I see daily but very briefly on the school run. Thanks to everyone who came!

I think I'd better quit while I'm ahead - having re-read what I've written I can't correct my spelling mistakes for some reason so my apologies for all the errors. I'm going to spend some time catching up with everyone at Handmade Monday http://handmadeharbour.blogspot.co.uk/ before tackling the knitting.

Love Natalie

I may not have got a lot done today but I have enjoyed myself none the less. I did manage to finish off the Tooth Fairy Cushions I had prepared

but only really tinkered with a few of my other On-the Go projects. But the fun part was side by side sewing with Auntie Sarah, who made this

After careful consideration, she was able to get the pattern placement perfect and is quite rightly very proud of herself! We probably looked a bit of a sight sat either side of my table, sewing machines ready and all manner of sewing paraphernalia strewn about, but catching up over a bit of sewing is the way to go I reckon.

I'm linking up with Handmade Monday as ever (http://handmadeharbour.blogspot.co.uk/), can't wait to see what everyone else has been up to (although my list of things that I want to make gets longer by the week).

Love Natalie

Look what I've been working on!

Socks - Round II!

My sister gave me a pattern for really simple socks knitted on straight needles so I am having another go and so far, so good. They are totally plain, no pattern (although it wasn't the pattern that I had a problem with before, it was the turning), and I'm using a different yarn because the one I used before was not the right grade. I finished up last night having divided for the heel but I will now pause for the weekend - I like to have a glass or two of "something" on a Friday and Saturday night and find that crafting is not always a good idea in such conditions! Actually, I often resort to knitting dishcloths at the weekend as you can't really go wrong with 50 rows of stocking stitch. I'll return to the socks next week, and you never know - I may have finished one by next weekend!

For any fans of 80's music, can I recommend that you tune in on your computer or phone device to Miskin Radio tonight between 8-10. I am reliably informed that my request for Colonel Abrams "I'm Trapped" will be played between 8.45 and 9.

Have a good weekend - we should have sunny weather tomorrow!

Love Natalie