Family and Sewing makes for a lovely day............

Today I spent the day with my lovely Niece, Kelly and her family.  Kelly is expecting her little boy in 3 weeks and asked me to make a roman blind for his bedroom.  As I've never made one before I did a certain amount of research and found this great blog with fantastic instructions 33shadesofgreen, there are some brilliant tutorials here.

Sewing machine in hand I arrived at Kelly's, first things first a lovely Latte made by James, Kelly's husband, then on with the sewing.  Was actually very easy and over the course of the day the blind took shape, here it is finished and hanging in the baby's room ready for his arrival.

The fabric used is John Lewis 'Men at Work', the blind is fully lined with white blackout fabric.

Kelly and James were very pleased and have asked me to make another for the window in Sophie's bathroom, again lined with blackout fabric, very much looking forward to making that one too.

Now just some 'cot tidy' bags to make to finish off.

This Weeks Makes...................

Just a couple of thing made over the last week or so. Kelly my niece asked me to make a new cover for the bouncing cradle for when her new baby arrives, I used the old cover as a template and ended up with this.

My sister Janice asked me to make her a beach bag, so I added a pocket inside on this model.

Did any of you see the Great British Sewing Bee ? Last week they had to make a little girls dress with
shirring elastic, this is something I've wanted to do but thought was really difficult, how wrong I was, with my new found knowledge I decided to give it a go, I used the machine to load the bobbin, that seemed to work well.

 

 

 

Reading sewing blogs, watching the GBSB and watching tutorials has inspired me to try a host of different things, and I'm enjoying my sewing more and more.

Not sure what's in store for the next couple of weeks, definitely more little dresses with shirring though.

Sun, Sea and Laura Ashley...................

I've had this Laura Ashley fabric for quite a while, a long strip about 18 inches wide, every now and then I got it out had a look at it and put it away again thinking one day there will be something I can make with it, well that happened this evening.

I have a couple of bags I use for the beach, one is too big the other the handles are too long, so after a bit of thought I decided I would use the fabric to make myself a beach bag, fully lined, what do you think ?

 

Can't wait to use it, big enough for my Kindle, purse, camera, water and sun cream, just the perfect size for me.

 

What projects are you working on ?

 

 

 

 

Quilts and more quilts.......

It's been a while since my last post, but that doesn't mean that I have been idle.  I have made 3 quilts, completed a granny square blanket and made a new cover for my niece for the bouncing chair ready for her new baby when he arrives.

Here are some pictures .....

This is for a friend of mine.

This one and the granny square blanket are for my niece for her new baby boy due in August.

I can't post a picture yet of the chair cover as I need it to be on the frame so you can see it
properly, hopefully my niece will send me a photo so I can show you at a later date.

My sister also asked me to make a quilt for her for when the lovely Sophie is there, just in case she needs a nap, I love this one as it really reminds me of an eiderdown I had as a child and looks very vintage, I can go as far as to say for me this is my absolute favourite so far.

I'm thinking I might make myself a bag for the beach this summer, something that will carry my Kindle, Ipod and other bits that I need, I have a couple of patterns and plenty of fabric, will post pics when it's done.

Happy sewing, until next time ........

A little catch up.........

It's been a while since my last post but I've done a couple of projects.  I made this pram/crib quilt for a work colleague who is having a little boy, I thought the cowboy fabric was lovely.

 

I also made this quilt for my lovely Sophie, she wanted a bigger one that she could actually use, she likes to take it in the car with her.

 

 

 

I have done a couple of other bits and pieces but will save those for another post.

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.