Saturday 30 July 2011

Last minute...

We are off camping tomorrow and I suddenly decided that I didn't have quite the right bag to put all the bottles of shampoo, shower gel and sun cream in (as you do !!). So I found some French looking material in my stash, not sure what it is, but I think that it was donated to me by my friend over at Sewshoddy. So while I should have been packing and organising.... 

sponge bag

I then realised that despite making peg bags for lots of other people, I needed one to take with us as we have family, house sitting for us who will need the pretty pegs. So out came the material again, and I used a hook recycled from an old broken sponge bag, and voila - a camping peg bag!
camping pegs

It hangs ok from a rope so it should do the trick.
camping pegs

And finally.. I have a confession. I was given this shirt to recycle, which usually means that I chop it up to make something else. However, it didn't get that far as I have been wearing it all day. Does anyone else do that or is it just me?
a shirt for recycling

Thursday 28 July 2011

A bit of mending..

I never realised how difficult it is to take a photo of your own knee!
I went to see a friend today and was wearing these..

A patch

My favourite jeans that got a hole in the knee so I decided to patch it.
She then said that she had tried to sew up a similar pair with no luck..


so I offered to do a bit of mending..

Patches

While she was getting the jeans her children let it slip that Sidwell had a hole too, so he came for some mending aswell! I love that he has been used enough to get a hole.


Sidwell's back!

Wednesday 27 July 2011

Daisy daisy..

Daisy



I love daisies of all sorts and have lots of patches of them around the place. I have no idea what type they are but they spread like anything and I have to thin them out regularly and they compete well with the weeds! There are also quite a few patches of feverfew which started out amoungst the herbs but have also spread. I like the sort of natural spreading of plants and growing what works, rather than trying to constantly fight against nature. I haven't got time to be constantly weeding and mainicuring (is that a word!!) the lawn. Far too much sewing to be done...



Bottle bag

A bottle bag for a gift. I usually square off the bottom corners but somehow forgot this time. Bottle bags not only cut down on wrapping paper and are reuseable, but also stop the bottle rattling in the picnic bag!

Monday 25 July 2011

A pain in the neck!

I have used a wheat bag made from this tutorial over at Sew Mama Sew for a while now and have also made a few as presents for others. Appart from one person who managed to burn an impressive hole in one end of one, they seem to work well and I certainly use mine loads! I have been looking at a shaped pattern for a neck 'heat therapy pillow' in my Sewing Green book (by Betz White) and thought I would give it a go...

Neck cushion from pattern in Sewing Green (by Betz White)

The pattern is very simple and easy to follow. I didn't have any velcro as suggested for the removeable outer cover, so just sewed up the gap by hand and will unpick it if it needs washing (I'm not very patient!). I also added a ribbon tab to grab it with. It works really well and is good for neck pain as it stays in place better than the rectangular one. I didn't want to do any modeling so decided to use a tree branch instead of a neck but you get the gist!

Neck cushion from pattern in Sewing Green (by Betz White)

 Another sucessful pattern from one of my favourite sewing books.
Talking of trees, I was listening to the radio today about the early apple harvest in the uk and our trees are certainly laden this year and we have our first crop of pears (concorde) from two trees planted 2 years ago..

Apples


Pears-concorde

Tuesday 19 July 2011

A little fabric basket that I have had my eye on..

Fabric basket

I have had my eye on this tutorial over at Pink Penguin for a while. The tutorial was easy to follow. I changed the patchwork sides slightly to fit some bits I had but otherwise I followed it to the letter.
Fabric basket

The fabrics are a mixture from my stash including a piece of recycled shirt.
Fabric basket-ribbon detail

And I found some gorgeous French ribbon last week that matches in nicely.
I am now wondering if I will be able to find a habberdashery in France on holiday this year, I don't even know what the french for habberdashery is!
I think I will fill the basket with some more bath treats for a teacher's end of year gift.

Sunday 17 July 2011

A pencil case for a teacher..

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I wanted to make a birthday pencil case for a friend who teaches..

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This is one of my favourite Kaffe Fassett fabrics for Rowan and it goes quite well with a few flowers out at the moment, buddleia, lavender and the snap dragon freebies which are still going strong.
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I didn't want to fill it with pens and pencils as I reckon she will have a few of these, so I got some bath time treats for her to relax with at the end of term. They looked quite cute all snuggled up in the stripey lining. I added a sprig of lavender for good measure!

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Tuesday 12 July 2011

Scraps and buttons..

scraps and buttons

I read and article in this months Sew Hip and was inspired to cover some buttons from some scraps. I found that it is not as easy as it looks but if you can get the right bit of fabric they look good. I used one to make a little flower for the bag (and yes, the 'palaver bag' has now had it's flap reversed...don't ask, just more palaver!).
button flower

On a flowery note, the calendula are looking really bright and cheerful amongst the veg' at the moment. I love them because they are sooo easy to grow, they self seed, they can be picked and plonked in a jam jar (the total of my flower arranging skills!!), and I like to scatter some petals on a salad. And to top it all they take a good photo.
Calendula

Saturday 9 July 2011

A tricky messenger bag and my first sweet peas..

Messenger bag

I have made my third messenger bag from this brilliant tutorial over at mmmcrafts.
The first two I followed to the letter and they worked beautifully, but I decided that I would make this one just slightly smaller and that was my first mistake!


bag back
The pocket on the back is a bit low but it will do.
I then decided to reinforce the strap with iron on interfacing and when I had sewn it up into a tube I couldn't for the life of me get it the right way out and ended up unpicking (my least favourite thing) it and sewing it with right sides out- what a palaver!
bag lining
I was pleased with the lining made from a recycled shirt and the outside corduroy was also recycled from a pair of trousers.
Must dash, I am now off to be a taxi!!

Wednesday 6 July 2011

Poppies and cornflowers

Some pretty colours from cornflowers and poppies from the garden which were being blown about by the wind so I just had to bring them indoors.
Dahlia
The Arabian Nights are still going strong.

A little bit of bunting for someone else

A little bit more bunting made as a present last week. I am planning a bag with the material of the little 'tabby end bit' but a sore neck is slowing me down! Darn it!

Friday 1 July 2011

Cars or flowers?

Cars or flowers?

That was the choice I gave to a small boy this morning. Initially it was cars, hands down, but it didn't take long for the flowers to seem quite fun. Then I looked at the cars by the flowers and the 'colour thing' struck me again. Maybe the flowers are my 'cars', as I move them around, mix them up, and park them in jam jars.

Cars and flowers!


With a bit of help we have 14 jars ready for some tables at a school function tonight. I think they should have a car on each table too!!

 
Flowers