Christmas Bunting

As commissioned by my Brother as a surprise present for my Sister in Law :) Festive fabric flags, each appliqued with a letter to spell out 'Merry Christmas' stitched around in gold thread and strung together with bright red bias binding.

 

 

 

I love this, so much so that I'm in the process of making one for myself too.

 

 I'm now taking orders for these. £25 for custom made 'Merry Christmas' bunting. Message me for more details or with any queries :)

Christmas gift bags

As promised, the first couple are up on Etsy today in my shop here

 

 

I'm aiming to get some more put up for the end of the week. I'm taking orders for custom sized gift bags too. Message/email me if you're interested :)



Festive spirit

With less than a week to go until the beginning of December I feel I'm fully justified in getting into the Christmas spirit a little (You may disagree but that's up to you really :P )

 

 

 

 

Here are some fabric gift bags I've been stitching today which are a great alternative to throw away wrapping paper (so very much of the stuff gets used and thrown away every year it's absurd!) I've started out making little ones but some bigger ones are on the way. These will be up on Etsy by the end of tomorrow and I'll be open to commissions for custom sized gift bags too :)

Quiet day

Life is (thankfully) super busy and exciting at the minute but sometimes it's nice to just take a day off and relax a bit. Potter about, do some baking and some sewing and just enjoy a quiet day :)

Made Mincemeat from this recipe, which was actually really easy and made the house smell of Christmas :) not the prettiest thing to photograph though! Also did some baking, Raspberry muffins from this cookbook which are delicious :) I sprinkled some muesli on top of them to give a bit of crunch. All in all, a good day!




Autumn seaside walk :)

It's been a while since I went out and did any photography which is a shame. But this weekend was so beautiful with perfect blue skies that I had to capture our coastal walk on Portland.

 

 

 

 I didn't have my camera on me but I think these turned out pretty good for iphone snaps. Sometimes the camera on that thing surprises me with some really lovely photos. And I promise you I haven't photo shopped the colour of that water at all. It's more summer in the Mediterranean than Autumn in England but it really truly was that blue!!

 

 



Pretty weekend things :)

* Beautiful sunset * Kicking Autumn leaves * Gorgeous roses on a trip to the garden centre * Delicious porridge, Norwegian style with cinnamon, brown sugar and butter *

 

 

I hope everyone has been having a lovely (and pretty filled) weekend! :)

I apologise...

...Two Christmas related posts in one day and it's not even December yet... I know I'm a bad person! :)

 

 

 

I spent the afternoon battling with layers of patchwork and wadding and fleece, desperately trying to get all the layers flat and lined up and all that. This is easily, easily the worst part about quilting. I don't know if there's a secret easy way to do it that I've just not been told?! :P but never mind. I got there in the end and now I just have hours of hand stitching around the edge to finish it up. Which I really don't mind doing, only it has to be finished by the beginning of December for the official beginning of Christmas celebrations along with a huge list of other things. Best get started really... :)

Busy as a bee!

Things have been a bit quiet on the blog front recently but I haven't been sat around doing nothing - honest! :)

 

 

 

It's getting to that time of year when all my creativity starts to shift towards christmas and so although I have been busy as a bee working away, pretty much everything I'm working on is a surprise for one person or another so it has to be kept hidden for now! :)

 

 

I have however, added another of my cushions to Etsy HERE. It would make a beautiful Christmas present for someone who likes pretty things. Go have a look! :)

Weekend escape

 

Life has been fairly manic lately (although in a good way) but it was nice to get away for a couple of days to Exeter.

 

 

 

Christmas shopping, relaxing, delicious hot chocolate, wonderful meals in a lovely restaurant, pretty autumn leaves, crocheting on a train journey, and the decadence of a hotel. Bliss! :)

The emporium! (Or my work, in a shop!! :D )

 

 

Super excited that my work is officially now for sale at The Emporium in Yeovil! We spent the afternoon putting up shelving ( huge thankyou to my lovely mister and his DIY skills!) and arranging my stock. I took a few photos but the lighting wasn't great and I only had my Iphone. Better pictures on the way soon! :)

 

 



Gilded teaplates and super exciting news!

Firstly, here are some photos of the first of my new range of cushion designs. I'm super excited about these. The collection will be called 'Gilded teaplates' and is inspired by beautiful vintage and antique ceramics.

 

 

 

They are appliqued and machine embroidered onto vintage table linen, each one is unique incorporating a different detail of the vintage linens including lace, embroidery and cutwork. They are backed with stripes of printed fabrics, vintage linen and lace and further embellished with machine embroidery.

 

 

 

This brings me to my news. I am so excited to announce that my range of cushions, alongside a collection of my other products will be being sold at The Emporium in Yeovil as of next week! It's all happened incredibly fast and I feel like I'm in a bit of a whirlwind but this is an amazing opportunity for me!

 

The Emporium is an 'Antiques and Lifestyle centre' selling all kinds of antiques, vintage clothing and an array of handmade items as well as housing a beauty centre and cafe. It's been a favourite place of mine for a while so I'm so happy to have this opportunity! Photos of my space will follow shortly this week! :)

I actually managed to knit something wearable!

Which for me is actually a huge achievement. I've dabbled in knitting before but never successfully. Like the scarf I once knitted that took about 4 years and which once finished I decided I didn't even like! However, since working in a haberdashery where the majority of sales are of wool and knitting patterns I was inspired to attempt knitting once more :) I've learnt more about knitting in the past few weeks than I have ever known and now know the difference between 3ply and double knit and chunky and I think my new found understanding has helped quite a lot!

 

 

 

The key for me is definitely super chunky wool and large needles. One of my biggest pet knitting hates is that it took me so long to get anywhere but this cowl I whipped up in just a few hours last night and this morning. Result! I love this wool, its so thick and warm yet really soft and the most gorgeous shade of midnight purple. I followed the knitting pattern which came with the wool and although it was slightly more complicated than anything I've ever tried before I had no problems whatsoever. I didn't even drop one stitch! :)

 

 

In fact I enjoyed it so much I had to buy another ball of wool today to make another one which is already in progress, in beautiful soft ruby wool! :)