My short shorts – Simplicity Pattern 1887

Simplicity 1887

I originally intended to make a play suit to take to California with me – and I did – but due to serious errors of calculation on the pattern front it is more than a little difficult to get on and off/breathe in/move in! It put me in such bad mood for so long after realising that I’d just wasted one of my favourite new fabrics on an outfit I can’t wear But then I sucked it up and found a pattern in John Lewis for culotte style shorts that need just the right amount of fabric so I could make them out of the leftover fabric.

A lot of pattern cutting, head scratching and sewing later (well, only actually about 4-5 hours so not so bad) and I have a lovely pair of shorts to take with me – nice and thin and perfect for the hot weather! As they were pretty easy to make, and the sizing was pretty spot on, I reckon I might even make them again…though I have my eyes on the trouser pattern this time. They even have pockets – anything with pockets gets my vote!

I would have modelled them myself but a lot more fake tan needs to go on these legs before they are ready for public consumption! But I will ensure that Mr B gets a few shots of me in them on holiday!

Make your own sunglasses case in a half hour

I found a most excellent tutorial online to make a sunglasses case in a 1/2 hour on the blog of Sew Well Maide which I have made extensive use of – making myself two cases and a case to match the beach bag I just made for a friend.

It’s super easy to make and could be customised quite easily I think – I’ve got plans for an embroidered version and have already altered the pattern slightly by using a proper press stud rather than one’s you sew on – because I know (like all my buttons) it would fall off! Though I’m still not awesome at the press studs though…

Anyway, if you it give it a try then let me know how it goes – here’s one of my attempts…

1/2 hour sunglasses case

A VIP kinda beach bag for a VIP kinda lady

Following the success of my first beach bag (which I am keeping, no questions, I hands down LOVE it), a very lovely lady innocently asked if I could make her one before her impending holiday which essentially gave me two weeks – plenty of time in normal hours but with a full-time job and about a gazillion intentions to make stuff for my shop not so long – and I said no.

I just didn’t think I’d have time – then I saw this fabric in my cupboard which I completely forgot I bought from IKEA and a gorgeous matching yellow and white polka dot that I thrifted and I just knew I had to make it – I even had enough of the plastic to make the base hard – it was fated to be.

So the VIP lady got her wish and I made her a bag…which I now like a little bit more than mine (shhhh, my bag shall never know). It’s bigger, brighter and has even prettier pockets. But its future lies with VIP lady and I do hope they are very happy together!

If you would like one for yourself or as a present for another then please get in touch!

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SOLD! Handmade quilted pot holder

 

My first sale has now happened! The beautiful lilac hand-made quilted pot holder is winging its way to its new owner in London – may it have many happy days of pot holding and hanging from a drawer

For those who desperately want their own pot holder, there’s still one left – a lovely sunshine yellow and red FMQ’d pot holder for just £6.00 – get it before it goes!

There are loads of other hand-made items for sale in the shop but if you have your heart set on something that you don’t see, maybe you have a specific colour you’d like then just get in touch – I take commissions!

Lilac potholder – SOLD!

 

Beach bag – Perfect for towels and suncream!

 

I’m pretty proud of myself if I do say so! Using some fabric leftover from cushions in our lounge and making my cousin’s birthday quilt, I put together this hard bottomed, multi pocketed beach bag last weekend in about 4 hours.

Whilst there are a few things I would tweak – running out of white thread halfway through and making the outer about 5mm larger than the inner being the most noteable – I am mostly happy with the bag and looking forward to using it on the beach in California! Just need to by our microfibre super bright towels now at Decathlon…

The outside of the bag – pretty bright!

Interior of the bag with four pockets

A shot of the interior pockets

My label on the pocket

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I won something! Passport wallet pattern

I was lucky enough the other week to win a competition run by the very talented Lynne of Lily’s Quilts – something I’ve not done in a very long time – and I became the proud owner of a passport holder pattern from the most generous Amber at One Shabby Chick.

The pattern was really great and perfect for our upcoming California trip (could I mention that more times?!?) – I chose to make the smaller, 4 pocket version as there are only the two of us travelling. However, for some unknown reason I chose to make this in an oilcloth I got cheap off of eBay – do not make it in oilcloth unless you are intending to swear an enormous amount at your sewing machine, break 2 needles and unpick a million gazillion missed stitches. If you have a super duper powerful sewing machine you’d be fine I’m sure but my good old Janome was just not up to the task – even with a heavy weight needle. I ended up having to ‘cut’ the corners and sew a straight line across them to avoid the bulk of the corner.

This was my first time using a press stud too so excuse the small dent on the top, for some reason I decided to hit it with a hammer whilst the wrong way round in the holder. But there is beauty in imperfecti0n…hmmm. Better results next time for sure!

I have learnt my lesson…well I thought I had till I saw how gorgeous the wallet looked in oilcloth, and oh how practical…but no, these thoughts must be squashed!

But what do you think? I’m pretty pleased with myself if I do say so and love the grey and yellow together. I’ll definitely be making some more to put in my shop too…but for now, here is my little wallet, all packed up with our passports ready for our trip…in a month’s time – somewhat early!

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Another wedding quilt – Congratulations Claire and Simon!

 

Back in wedding season once again and an old friend from uni just got married (congratulations!), for their wedding gift I’ve spent the last few months creating a quilt which I hope they like and get a lot of use from.

I found some wonderful fabric from Moda called Good Fortune that just yelled to me wedding quilt. I created blocks of 2.5cm cubes and then sewed these all together to form a large cot sized quilt/foot warmer quilt for across the bottom of the bed. I then backed it in a vintage bed sheet – flowery blues and greens and bound in a upcycled white and green cotton pillowcase. This was then all quilted together using a grid pattern. Hopefully it gets lots of use and love or years to come!

Detail of the quilt top

Embroidered detail

Close up of the backing with the quilt label

Front and back of the quilt

Detail on the quilt

Quilt folded up and ready for wrapping

 

If you are looking to give a unique gift to someone for their wedding/birthday/anniversary etc then perhaps you would be interested in a quilt? I take commissions and would be very happy to discuss ideas if you have a particular fabric or style in mind, get in touch!

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Q day today! My second quilt unveiled…

So today is finally Q day for me, W day for a couple of mine and Mr B’s lovely friends but Q day for me! I finally get to give them the quilt that I made AGES ago and I can post some pictures of it!

I used a jelly roll of Moda Hullabaloo by Urban Chiks supplemented with some of my own vintage fabric -  the curtain I had on my bed when I was little (a lovely stripey lilac Laura Ashley print), a stripey grey and red cotton from my Granma and some yellow striped seersucker cotton that I tried (and failed) to make a nightdress out of when I was about 15…but that’s what happens when you don’t use patterns and have no idea what you are doing! …wait, that’s what I still do!

Anyways, hopefully they will love it and get a lot of use and enjoyment out of it, maybe put it on their first baby’s crib! A long way in the future obviously!

So without further ado, a few pictures of the quilt, my attempts at embroidery and my little denim label

 

 

How to make a Knitting Needle Roll

Well I’m more than a little proud of myself! Last night, driving home thinking about the exercise I was going to do and all the stuff I hadn’t achieved at work that day I thought that actually finishing a sewing/crafting project would maybe make me feel a little better…do you know what? It did!

I’ve been knitting a bit lately (though I am still very much a novice), I’ve just finished a scarf and I have two lovely new wools to make two new scarfs from so I thought something to use for knitting would be great. Ages ago I bought a load of gorgeous wooden knitting needles which have lived in a jiffy bag ever since. Whilst the top of one has been gnawed off by an errant rabbit – mentioning no names of course – they’re in good condition and I thought that they deserved a home worthier than an envelope!

So I googled knitting needle roll tutorials and found some pretty good ones such as – Lupinbunny, a load of suggestions from Tipnut, Multicrafty and Craftster – before settling on this one from madebyloulabelle (love the site!). 

I pretty much followed the tutorial, although I am terrible at cutting straight edges which might be why I had a little trouble getting everything to line up and might even have to do some post sew repairs but I am SUPER pleased with what I ended up with – wonky lines and all!

A few things I would change, if I ever make another one, would be – choose a fleece or thinner batting instead of the quilting batting I used, get thicker bias tape (I used my Granma’s pre-war stuff), make the upper needle guard a little deeper, cut straighter lines in the first place and embroider the numbers BEFORE I sew it all together! Other than that it was pretty successful, the fruits of my labours…

Knitting needle roll – rolled

Unrolled

My attempt at post sew embroidery…

At home with the wools

So I’m now going to steam ahead with the scarfs and I’m even thinking about making a blanket, but I need circular needles I think…and a whole lot more knitting knowledge than I currently possess – you’ve got to try I suppose!

My latest knitting project

A label for my quilt…getting somewhere!

I finally put together a little label for my quilt, not the best embroidery I’ve ever seen but the first I’ve ever done so of course I am proud! The smudge is on the picture not the quilt – should have picked a better one but I’m bleary eyed and haven’t got any others…

I’m still working on the ‘grandmother’ quilt and have just finished knitting a scarf so not doing too badly really. Bought a car on Saturday too so all in all a good weekend. A few recipes to share with you over the coming days including celeriac remoulade and salsify fritter – both delicious!