Busy Day ...................

Been a while since my last post, however, today has been very busy.  Tomorrow is the summer fete at my son's school, my hubby is having his usual stall to sell some of his bit's and pieces,  he asked me if I would do him some Italian bunting....................here it is.

He was pleased with it.  I've made some samples of my bunting and hopefully will get some orders tomorrow, fingers crossed.

My niece Kelly gave my a bit bag of fabric that she'd bought but never used, so I decided to use one of them to make a dress for Sophie, hopefully Kelly will like it.

Until next time.............

Pastel Funky Floral.........

My sister asked me to make a dress for her friend at work who is having a baby girl, this is what I made.

Will look lovely with a white cardigan and little socks I think.
Until next time.......

Another Dress for Sophie ...........

Hope everyone had a lovely Easter, I've had a bit of a run on making bunting so this weekend decided to make another little dress for Sophie, I've had the fabric for a week or two and yesterday got round to cutting out the pieces, today has been spent sewing it all together.  I love the fabric and think Sophie will look really cute, hopefully Kelly will post photo's on it's first outing.

I hope they both like it.

Until next time......

Bunting Stage 2.......................

Hope you are all enjoying your Easter weekend, I had to work yesterday but was lucky enough to be able to log in from home, saved much time not having to travel to and from the office so I managed to get all my triangles cut out and sewn together, today I got them all pinned in place and sewn, here are the results.

I am really pleased with the results, I love the colours, they will look great in the awning.

Until next time....

Bunting..................

Apart from Sophie's new quilt which is still ongoing, I though I might make some bunting.  Every summer I am lucky enough to be able to spend some time at our caravan which we keep on a campsite in Italy.

The one nearest is mine  and the next one up belongs to my sister and her husband. Inside the awning I have a couple of units with proper worktop and have made some curtains to hide everything behind so it at least looks tidy, but as it is a home from home I have decided to make some bunting to put up.

I'm quite liking these fabrics from my favourite supplier of course, what do you think?

I'll let you know how it goes.

Another Dress.............

My husband also has a great niece who is 3, (we've obviously got to that age !) so I thought I'd make her a little dress, as she lives in Italy I decided to only line the bodice as she might get a bit hot, I still have a couple of bits to do, hook and eye at the neck and it has a lovely sash which I haven't yet made, I think the sash would look better in a plain contrast fabric so having a little ponder on that one !
I love this fabric purchased again from here, Brenda does have such lovely fabrics.

I also plan to make a little hat that I have a pattern for from the same fabric, think it will look
really cute.
Must get back to Sophie's new quilt, pictures to follow.

A New Dress for Sophie.......

It has taken me 3 afternoon / evenings of great concentration to finish my first little dress for Sophie, I am very pleased with the result overall, there are a few little things that I need to perfect but for a first attempt I don't think it's too bad.

I have sourced all my fabric from Favourite Fabrics, what a fantastic range Brenda has and very well priced too.

I hope Sophie and Kelly like it, what do you think ?

Front view.............

And a back view...............

Now to crack on with the other quilt that Kelly has asked me to do, looking forward to making my next dress though, have some more really lovely fabric for that one.

And just so you know who I am talking about, here is a picture of my niece Kelly and my great niece Sophie at her christening last October.

Until next time ..........

The Next Quilt................

My niece Kelly and her baby Sophie loved the quilt I made for them and have asked me to make a larger one.  I have just bought these pre-cut squares which Kelly likes so will be using them to make the quilt, Kelly loves Cath Kidston and this will fit very well in Sophies bedroom.

I have also decided to have a go at making a little dress for Sophie, I haven't attempted to make any items of clothing for about twenty years!  I've found this pattern which I though was really sweet (and doesn't look too difficult) I can read a pattern so should be able to manage it.............I hope.



I have chosen this fabric as I though it would suit Sophie quite well, the dress has a contrast yolk..

I will be using this fabric for the main body of the dress...

I hope it will turn out ok, I'm a bit apprehensive but will take it slowly and do my best, she won't be needing it until the summer so I have time.

I will post pictures along the way of both of these projects.

See you again soon.....

New Project................

I decided to embark on my next project and as my boys are in Italy visiting my in law's I have a bit of time to myself in the evenings. I'm still learning but thought I would make a small quilt either for Sophie's pushchair or for her to play with. It's not perfect and next time I will do things slightly differently, but all in all I am very pleased with the result.

It was made with a kit I bought from Ebay made up of various Cath Kidston fabrics. I hope that Kelly and Sophie like it. As a first attempt I don't think it's too bad.

A Weekend with Cath !!

It all started 30 something years ago when I got my first sewing machine a Novum 5000...

She was a lovely machine and I did use her quite a bit. I'm not that great at sewing and would certainly never attempt to make anything whatsoever for anyone to wear at the moment, but I'm ok at making curtains and that sort of thing. Well sometime ago after a couple of repairs the old girl gave up the ghost, (I do still have her in the garage as buying her was one of the last things I did with my Dad before he died and I will never throw her away). I decided to buy just a cheap sewing machine to replace her, but the old saying 'you get what you pay for' was most definitely the case here, and as a result I haven't made very much since.

Three or four years ago I bought the Cath Kidston SEW book with the little bag to make, yes you've guessed it, I never had the courage to attempt it so the fabric has been sitting in my cupboard all this time.

I was most fortunate in January to get a bit of a bonus from work so I decided to buy myself a new sewing machine, and after much research I purchased this little poppet .................

My husband and son thought a Toyota sewing machine was quite amusing ! I have to say I am really pleased with it, it's quiet, smooth, easy to control and a joy to use, and very much like using my old Novum.

As I didn't have any plans this weekend and my son's rugby was cancelled I thought it was about time I had a go at making something with the new machine and here are the results...........

I even decided to add lining to the bag too.......brave eh!

I am very proud of my efforts, and do actually feel that I will be able to use the bag without being embarrassed.

I decided not to do the buttonholes but to attach the strap to the bag and make it the length I wanted it.



Turned out it was much easier than I though it would be, although there are a couple of little things that I would do differently next time overall I'm very pleased, what do you think ?