I couldn’t resist whipping up a special Valentine version of my little felt gingerbread house. It only took a couple of hours and I think it looks good enough to eat!
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Just before Christmas I was lucky enough to take part in a workshop with Julie Arkell. If you haven’t heard of her, where have you been! She’s a London-based contemporary artist who is well known for her papier mache dolls and I was really excited to find she was running a workshop at Sally Bourne Interiors. I spent all day with Julie and a group of like-minded women and it was fantastic. I don’t think I’ve ever spent a whole day sewing but it was amazing, lovely to sit around a table, sew and chat. Julie’s recent work reflects vintage…
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As part of my Day Zero challenge I’m aiming to take part in at least one swap a month. So in the run up to Christmas I signed up for a couple of Christmas swaps. First up was the Blogger’s Secret Santa organised by Leanne where I received a copy of Cath Kidston’s Sew! from Helen. It’s full of beautiful projects to make (some of which will probably end up as birthday and Christmas presents). I sent a Moleskine recipe journal to Domestic Goddesque. Then I joined up for the Secret Christmas Ornament Swap organised by Denise and I received…
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Hooray, finally we can open our Advent Calendars and light our Advent candle. As we’re spending Christmas with my mum she mentioned we should sit down and start planning meals over Christmas! I don’t think we need to do this just yet but my mum is so organised she has already ordered the turkey and beef from the butcher. Fortunately she has gone away for a few days to celebrate her birthday which has left me with some time to finish off Edward’s advent calendar. It’s a pre-printed fabric panel with pockets for each day of December. Sadly he’s too…
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It’s been 6 weeks since I started my Day Zero list and I’ve made good progress. I’ve found having a list of things I want to achieve helps me focus. Sewing/craft projects So far I have made Edward a beanbag, finished covering our nursing chair, made my sister a draught excluder, made Edward a Clothkits cushion and finished a felt gingerbread house. I’ve taken part in at least one swap a month (via the Secret Post Swap and Swapbot) and made vintage tags for swaps and parcels. Cooking/baking I’ve made a couple of soups from scratch, made meringues, baked a…
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I love this little felt gingerbread house I recently made. It’s just a couple of inches high so looks great on our mantle. It’s made from a pattern in the softies kit. It’s a really simple little project that only took me an evening but will look great as a Christmas ornament on our mantlepiece or hanging on our Christmas tree. I’m getting stuck into my Christmas craft list which is just as well, only 9 weeks left!
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Today I went to the Knitting and Stitching Show at Ally Pally. It is literally on my doorstep and I have been going for the last couple of years because it’s a great place to get inspired and stock up on sewing essentials. Every year I seem to visit the same stands and buy things that I never use. So this year I am going to show you them in the vain hope I will complete the projects before next years’ Knitting and Stitching Show! I’ve also added them to my Day Zero list so I have a deadline of…
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A while ago I bought Edward a beanbag chair but he never looked very comfortable sitting on it. So over the weekend I refashioned the beanbag into a large cushion using some lovely alphabet fabric from my Cath Kidston stash! Much happier (honest!).
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A couple of weeks ago Kitschy Coo put a call out to test her new reversible hoodie pattern. I leapt at the chance. I’m a complete novice crafter but love handmade so I had to give it a go. I chose a fleecy orange for the lining and green camouflage for the shell. The pattern was well laid out with easy to follow steps. First I cut the pattern in both fabrics. I put the shell and lining together, with ribbing for the cuffs and waistband. The hoodie took me an evening to cut out and an afternoon to piece…