The Knitting and Stitching Show is the highlight of my year. If you haven’t heard of it before it’s the textile event of the year, featuring hundreds of exhibitors, galleries from leading artists and groups, plus hundreds of workshops. I’ve gone every year since I heard about it but last year was really strict with myself and only bought items I actually needed or would make. This worked pretty well and I made everything I bought except one (due to an elusive Moda quilt pack). This year I was lucky enough to go with a friend and we took our…
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I’ve been dying to try my hand at felt biscuits ever since I saw them on the cover of Mollie Makes, which were designed by Ouissi Gresty. The patterns were quite simple so I bought a copy of her book ‘Felt biscuits’ but I found it a bit disappointing. It’s a small book and only covers patterns for five biscuits (pink wafer, bourbon, shortcake, custard creams and a jam sandwich) but does include a pattern for a biscuit tray and tin. Personally I would have liked more biscuit patterns (garibaldi, rich tea, chocolate digestive, etc) or the patterns which featured…
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It definitely feels like Autumn don’t you think? Not just the wind and the rain but the nights drawing in. You can’t walk through the park for kicking the fallen leaves. I’ve been dying to take my son for a walk in the park and when we did we made sure we collected tons of pretty leaves, twigs and conkers to show daddy. It made me wonder if it was possible to make something a bit longer lasting to brighten up the house and so we made autumnal felt leaves. I just googled for some templates of suitable leaves, cut…
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I’m a bit of a craft addict and if I didn’t have my hobbies sometimes I think I would go crazy. I love having several projects on the go and at the moment I am planning some appliqued tshirts for Edward, a cot cover/crawling blanket for the Second Baby as well as some fun autumn and Christmas crafts. Unfortunately we don’t have much space for my craft supplies so they are dotted around the gingerbread house until we move somewhere bigger next year. As well as my lovely Cath Kidston sewing basket and shelves of sewing books I have jars…
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A couple of weeks ago Edward got his first pillow (which he is slowly getting used to!) and as the weather has been so cool we also thought it was time to introduce a duvet too. His nursery has a Cath Kidston vibe so I thought I would make a patchwork duvet cover using some of my favourite blue fabrics, mainly Cath Kidston, Amy Butler, Michael Miller and Orla Kiely. I wanted to make it something that Edward will be able to use for a long time so picked fabrics that he will like, including plenty of cowboy and Indian…
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At the weekend we headed to the South Bank for Vintage @Southbank. We were lucky enough to go last year when it was at Goodwood and knew to head straight for the Vintage High Street and Vintage Marketplace. There were lots of goodies to look at, from clothes to accessories to furniture. I visited the Cath Kidston pop up shop and bought a new fabric patch to add to Edward’s badge blanket. The displays were lovely as usual. I always enjoy looking round a Cath Kidston shop and I spotted some children’s bags made from beautiful vintage style animal fabric…
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Edward’s bedtime routine is pj’s, bottle and climbing the stairs to his bedroom. In his bedroom he has a cuddle with both of us and we give him his dummy and a little noo noo (made from an old muslin) to take to bed. I’m not sure how it started but we’ve done this for months and it’s very cute to see. For a long time Edward has put the muslin under his chin and cuddled up with it in his cot and lately I’ve been thinking he’s ready for a pillow to lie on. I picked up a lovely…
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I have some business cards and wanted to make a fabric business card holder to keep them in order in my handbag. This project took less than 30 minutes and you can make them for yourself or as presents as they can be used to hold business cards, credit cards or photographs of grandchildren! How to make a business card holder 1. Choose two pieces of fabric and cut 5″ x 10″. You’ll also need a piece of interfacing (to give it some stiffness) cut to the same size. 2. Place the pieces of fabric right sides together with the…
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I love the end of a month, it feels really satisfying to think of all the things I’ve done or made, the events I’ve attended, people I’ve met and the new skills that Edward has picked up. June has been busy for me, it’s the month where I’ve had lunch with the Olympian Steve Parry, had my hair styled by Michael Douglas and my photograph taken with Sarah Brown. I’ve been crippled with tooth ache and had an emergency trip to the dental hospital and also had sunstroke. Pregnancy is making me feel tired but today I found out I…
