Friends Swap

i've been taking part in the friends swap organised by sew prim khris

This is what i sent (i know its been recieved so its ok to show you)

F- funipendulous - hanging by a rope or cord  (ok its on a ribbon but i thought it was in the spirit of the word)

R - racemation - cluster or bundle of grapes or any other thing  (a bundle of ribbon)

I - inunction - anointing, smearing or rubbing with ointment (yummy lush stuff)

 E eellogofusciouhipoppokunurious - good (eco fabrics, 2 FQ's and a bag)

N -nervure - vein of a leaf  (a little pin badge)

D - durative - continuing; not completed; undergoing transformation (chair backs and the like)

S - sacchariferous - bearing sugar (local delicacy!)

 As you can see i went for some interesting words, each explained on its own little gift tag

I quite enjoyed coming up with things for the word friends!

Don't forget the stocking swap i'm organising, click on the side bar button to find out more.

The Gallery - Home

This is my home. It isn't big, it isn't fancy, its very untidy, not that clean but full of love (due to the small people poseing by the door!

felt

i've been playing with felt these last few evenings. If anyone looks at my facebook page they will have seen these already but this is what i've been doing with it.

yep, i started on some christmas decorations. penguins and robins, reindeer, gingerbread men and puddings.

Also planning some trees, stockings and santas! if i ever get time!

going to back them (not the reindeers i backed them in felt) in christmas fabric. what do you think?

Stocking Swap

 *** NOW CLOSED ***

DO COME NEXT YEAR.

Hi again (2 posts in one day, what has come over me!)

Anyway, its less than 100 sleeps away so i though it time to organise a swap with a christmassy theme.

As a small children we all recieved stockings from santa, filled with sweeties, things santa thought we'd fine useful (socks, hairbobbles and notelets for thank you letters), the odd toy and of course a tangerine! I still get a stocking because my mum does them for everyone and although she might moan a little about it she loves doing it and we love getting them.

So i thought i'd oragnise a swap so we can all have them

So to the swap 'rules'

It must include a stocking (bort or made)

and in this stocking you must put - 

A christmas decoration (again bort or homemade)

Nibbles (nuts, chocolate?)

Something useful (socks, fabric, ribbons, hairbobbles?)

Smellies (we always got bubble bath, i'm sure santa thinks i stink!)

Something to play with (fabric again, a small cuddly toy?)

and last but not least

the tangerine - or something that represents it

Hope you want to join in, leave a comment if you do, I'll pair evryone up on or around the 24th of october, swaps to be sent by 5th december to avoid the christmas rush (unless you decide differently with your swap partner).

Do grab the picture and pop me on your side bar and that. x

Book Review - the Liberty book of home sewing

What Ho! on this (currently) lovely morning (don't want to jinks it!).
 Last week i was sent a book to review by the very nice people at quadrille.

Its oh so pretty and has that fantastic fabric covering that makes me want to just hold a book. Upon opening you are confronted with some of libertys fantastic patterns (i spent a while just looking at them!)

The book has a loverly introduction tell you all about the history of libertys, their fabrics and how the patterns are/were designed and printed, and explains the names the fabrics have (like tana lawn!)
The rest of theboom is split into sections and has projects like curtains and cushions to aprons and the most fantastic peacock pin cushion.

A small thing is that all the patterns are done graph paper style so you have to draw them out yourself or photocopy them up, a bit of a pain but then you only have to do each project once if you plan to use it.
At the back of the book there is a bit of a how too section, giving information on haberdashary to sewing terms and some hints and tips. Not a conprehensive guide by any means but i don't think it pretends to be that.
So, this book is full of beautiful pictures making it coffee table material but also full of lovely projects to inspire even reluctant  needle operatives. A lovely addition to any sewing book collection.

lucky me

I was wondering what to blog about today and whether i'd leave it till monday and show you my dress, which i hope to finish tommorrow at Ellie B's

But then, a parcel arrived (what excitiment).

It was a giveaway win (yipee) from the fab sew christine

a fab bag - 

I opened it up to find....

Lots of exciting things - a sew hip magazine, some bits of fabric (love-in the castley one) and loads and loads of bag making things (handles, purse clasps, magnets etc)

I'll have to get my thinking cap on! thank you christine :)

The gallery - guilty pleasures

ok, i'll put my hand up and admit it. one of my gulity pleasures is dressing my kids up in silly things to make them look cute and so i have photos to embaress them with when they are older - like this

Great health care professional.

The year is 1978, I was a tiny little girl, far too tiny with stick legs and a swollen belly like a famine child. I could fill a baby grow with poop so smelly my dad could tell mum was changing a nappy before he entered the house! and when i mean fill, i mean fill, it was coming out of the neck and cuffs! Mum had just told 'she didn't like smelly nappies!' but she knew my poo wasn't right.
She took me to see a different doctor, a newly qualified locum doctor because i had nappy rash all up my back. He listen to my mum as she told him all my symptoms, thought for a moment and said, i think shes coeliac. I've never seen one but she has all the classic symptoms i've read about in books. I was refered and yes i was, am and will always be coeliac (gluten free).
He saved my life, i was too weak and malnurished to have survived any childhood illness.

mummy from the heart  with the reasons behind this post and the save the children petition

Monday Monday

morning monday, back to work although i'd rather be at home sewing. i keep starting things and not quite finishing them off so i have a pile of things i've almost made! i must do some finishing and get on as i have 2 craft fairs in november and need to make things for them!
Anyway,Here is how my friday dress is coming.

 I finished the front darting and top stitched in red. Then i practiced the zip

 See its all neat, and i managed to reproduce the neatness on the real zip!

 
A while ago i indulged in a scrap swap (very berry handmades) . I can't remember who i sent scraps to but it would have been something like this:

This morning i arrived at work to a parcel - a little late but who cares when things like this come out of it!
A beautiful zippered pouch

which opened to reveil

pretty flowers and loads of lush fabric scraps

Thanks you soooo much wise cricket.

catch up

ok ya'll, its time for a catch up. After some false starts and a bout of shingles i finally sent off and recieved my swaps for the unbirthday swap i organised.

This is what i sent off to helen at moon struck creations - yes lots of chocolate and some interesting packaging (the old wool!)
Helen sent her package off to bibbity bob who sent one to me

got quite excited by the party popper!

anyway, Back in the summer i did laa laa magic ball swap and my mum has created me some lovely wrist warmers and a scarf from the wool i got from rae. Mum used the pattern from the lastest debbie bliss book i reviewed.

After making the bags for the swaps i made 4 more.

The blue one went off to be a tombola prize at the westmidlands crafters 1st craft fair which i couldn't attend due to mels wedding. The others - i must pop them on my folksy shop ~£15 anyone interested?

Book review - Keep calm and cast on

Hi all,

Once again i was lucky enough to recieve a book to review, this time it was a little book called Keep calm and cast on by Erika Knight (Quadrille Publishing).

This little book it loverly. It has a fabric cover in a dark lavender colour (sorry i'm abit blokey when it comes to naming colours!), giving me an immediate urge to pick it up and open it. The cover made it very textureable, giving it a wonderful feel, like old books have and very inkeeping with the title. 

This is obviously a book for knitters, and would make a fantastic little gift for knitters new and old (and by old i mean they've been knitting for a while not that they are elderly!). As usual i've lent it to my mum who says it has some fantastic tips in it as well as those little quotes that are fun and true and often very full of meaning.

So if your after a little gift or stocking filler (its not that far away now you know!) for knitters you can't go far wrong with this book.

image taken from strikk handknits

The Gallery: A Happy Memory

This week its happy memories, these 2 pictures cover one of those.

This is the 'boat-on-a-rope' ride at wicksteed park. i believe its really called the waterchute but to me it will always be the boat on a rope. Wicksteed park (near kettering) is now 90 years old and the boat on a rope  ride is almost as old (it opened in 1926).
Wicksteed is a place we used to go when i was a child. Dad would buy us tickets and me and my brother would have a fantastic time, carefully using up our share of the tickets. I loved this ride and still do. Even better is that now i can share it with my kids -

Here is tiny on the ride with auntie marrianne (her god mother).

I know that now 3 generations of our family have ridden the boat on a rope, my mum used to get to go on it when she was little and there is a good chance my grandpa rode it with her making it 4 generations.

Dress making

I know i have made clothes for me before but its something i'm still reluctant to do, i'm never sure just how to get it to fit properly and how do you follow all those instructions on those papery patterns and darts!!!!!!! 

Well due to an offer by KGB deals i signed up to 3 frock making lessons with the ever so loverly Ellie B

Well, i had the choice of frock or skirt so went for frock, a basic shift dress. I chose a light weight demin to make it in and headed off to my class. Ellie is the most loverly and fantastic lady, although i've only had 1 lesson i would recomend her to anyone wanting to learn abit of well, anything crafty with fabric!

We started with an explaination of the pattern, then it was pinned onto the fabric with a bit extra added for my 'chunky' waist (i use the term waist loosely as i don't really have one, just how are you ment to go in at the middle, there are too many bones in the way!). This adding a bit extra was something i'd been wanting to learn. 
I did test runs of the darts on some left over fabric and them put them into my dress. The back ones were fine and i top stitched them in red to give my frock a little detail. The ones for the front need a little tailering and i'll be getting on with that next friday. I'll keep you updated and of course will how you the finished thing, just need to find myself a thick red belt to wear with it, as i think it will finish 'the look'.

Wedding

Morning all,
Well, my chum mel got married on saturday and it was beautiful. She put some much time into making it a very special day. You could see the whole thing had Mel's special touch all over it, so much attention to detail.
I though i'd show you some pictures of the day, the little things i helped out with and the amazing thank you i recieved.
Back in june (or was it july, i can't quite remember that far back) i spent a saturday helping mel with her dress. She felt it was a little too long and dragged on the floor. So i went round and togeather we took it up a little and attached loops and hooks so it could be 'hitched' up for dancing. We had to go before the dancing started cos of very sleepy children (and husband) but here is the frock (isn't she beautiful)

Mel made the Green bow (she had a tarten one for the dancing!)
its important that brides are given c**p at weddings, aka good luck things. Mel had placed a ban on plastic horse shoes so i made a ribbony one. Tiny enjoyed giving it to her.

After the main pictures, we all through confetti. The place they had the do didn't allow normal confetti only petals. I collected a bag full in the morning from my rose bush but we had to get it checked by the confetti monitor.
(i made the badges!)

Then onto the meal (and very very yummy it was too)
All the place settings had personal lables on made in clay by mel

(yes we labled the lad!) the flowers on the tables were in little pots made by her

(we got to take one home) and the table centres were amazing partical articals
on our table was a test tube pest - he was my amazing thank you! (just how cool is he!)

Here is the cake, and yes its covered in flowers, butterflys and has a catapiller sneaking about at the bottem. There was also lots of gluten free cupcakes (which i got to road test as 33years of gluten free diet does mean i'm an expert!)

Although they had requested no gifts i had to make her a little something. I have a thing about giving people toast racks as a wedding gift (drunken pub story!)
I did buy a toast rack but made this to go with it

Its sort of quilted, with the words toast and toast rack! It aslo has a poem written under the arches of the rack, I'll blog it if ayones interested and if tiny hasn't made snow flakes out of it!
Thank you mel for inviting me to be part of your big day. x