Bookmark

I bought some magnets with my liberty fabric from Very Berry Fabrics a while ago and thought that a bookmark would be a good way to test the interfacing and fusible fleece I bought. I followed this tutorial here from Very Berry Handmade, only thing I didn't have was a glue pen, so it's on the 'things I must buy list' as the magnet did move.  I ended up turning the wheel on my sewing machine after it went wonky, instead of using the pedal. Here's how it turned out:

Notebook cover

So I finished the practice notebook cover, and cut out all the fabric last night. Drove up to Hobbycraft to see what interfacing they had, or to get some more felt. Ended up with both!  Here's some pictures of the notebook cover I made for my husband to give as a present:

Tutorial by Bloom

Waiting

So my fabric has arrived, but I'm still waiting on my interfacing parcel to arrive. I had planned to make a few presents for Christmas, one of them needed to be ready tomorrow, which isn't going to happen! My husband asked me to make something for his boss, and she finishes tomorrow until the new year. I started a notebook cover yesterday, just using scraps, old curtain material and using felt instead of interfacing to see how it turned out. Almost done. I followed this tutorial by Bloom, which I found on Pinterest. So please Mr Postman, can I have my parcel today?

Needlebook

A few weeks ago I made a needlebook following this tutorial from Nana Company. I love the little cake on her example!

So here's my attempt at this, again I can see the mistakes, but with no ruler etc, I'm sure I'll be able to improve on my patchwork. I still love it though!

I've put in some orders for fabric and interfacing, so hopefully I can get started on a few projects shortly, including a wallet, travel organiser and a notebook or diary cover. I've taken advice from Very Berry Handmade - list of fabric suppliers here, info on linen blends here, and on interfacing here, thanks Ali! I'm also getting a rotary cutter, mat, ruler and water soluble pen as an early Christmas present, which should help. Can't wait to get going on these!

ATC - Autumn

It's here! So excited to open the envelope and wow it's beautiful! Look at all the little stitches and the lovely autumn colours. I love the material she has used too! It is made by a lady called Sue, and you can view her blog post here.

 

 

Made by Sue Trevor blog.suepops.co.uk

 

So, here are a few pictures of my progress with my ATC for the Very Berry Handmade Textile Swap 2; you can view my original post here.





 

 

 

 

This is my finished ATC;

I now wish I'd done the back differently, maybe next time! If you'd like to see the other ATC's in the swap, please visit the flickr group. Thanks to Ali from Very Berry Handmade for organising this, let's hope she's able to do another!

Eeek it's arrived

So it has arrived, my sewing machine, so excited!! It's sitting there in its box saying open me; but; I'm too tired to open it - I know right - madness! I told my husband and he couldn't believe it, he said whilst arguing over who was the most knackered "Oh you must be tired!" So I won that one ;) must go to bed before anyone wakes up, it's been a hard week! Ni-night!

Liberty fabric

Look at all this gorgeous fabric I received over the weekend! It was my first online order of fabric, I've been looking for so long, but finally ordered from Very Berry Fabrics! Should have done it sooner really so I could use some of this on my ATC, details of the swap here. I'm almost finished so will post some pictures soon! Now what to do with this fabric? May just have to sit and look at it, it's soo pretty! tehe ;)

Poppy

I made myself a Poppy this morning for Remembrance Sunday. I sent my husband to buy red felt on his way past hobbycraft; he agreed as otherwise I'd be in there for hours! Now off to walk to the supermarket and will pop a donation in the collection tin as I'm now not buying a poppy this year!

Sewing machine

I would really love to have my own sewing machine, I've borrowed my mother-in-laws old singer machine a few times for card making in the past, but it's now not working. I've got so many ideas of things I would love to be making right now! My mum mentioned she might get me one for my birthday, so the other day I read millions lots of reviews and decided on this Janome it is the exclusive model for John Lewis and is the same as the 525s. This is a Which? Best buy and was on the Great British Sewing Bee too. There is a guide to buying your first machine on The Thrifty Stitcher Blog and you can view videos from Sewing Machines UK about the 525s here and here.
 

Janome 7025 by John Lewis

Janome Sewist 525s

 

John Lewis are fantastic on Customer Service, and having dealt with them from a company point of view with other electrical items, know that they are a good place to buy from. Also mums know best, and that's where she wants to take me ;) tehe!

I need a pincushion

After starting to work on the ATC swap, and trying to sew with two babies running around, I thought I need a pincushion! I saw this tutorial on the Very Berry Handmade blog and thought I'd give it a go with some scraps of material.

It was prooving hard to concentrate with the two girls, but followed the instructions and began to hand sew the pincushion. One of the stips of fabric had ended up not being straight (more tools required I think -  have started an Amazon wishlist!)  but thought I'd carry on anyway as not enough fabric to start again! Just needs stuffing and to close the hole after. Not perfect but I know where it went wrong, pictures aren't great quality either oops sorry!

 

 

Very Berry Handmade Textile ATC Swap 2

I have signed up for The Very Berry Handmade ATC Swap this time, which is to make Artist trading card from fabric. I really like the idea of doing this, but never done anything like this before. I followed the swap last time and had looked in to a similar thing a few years ago when card making, but was worried about deadlines and they seemed a bit more complicated with how you'd be eligiable to take part! On the sign up details it asked for a blog, which I hadn't started but had been meaning to, so here it is!

Details from Very Berry Handmade blog;

In case the concept is new to you, Artist Trading Cards take inspiration from collectible trading cards that have been popular since tobacco manufacturers hit upon the idea of giving them away free in the 1880s.

The idea is to create a stitched/textile work of art to send to your partner. You can use any techniques that you like – it’s a fantastic opportunity to have a go at something new, on a very small scale. Before you decide to sign up, please read the rules and essentials very carefully… (Now Closed for Sign-ups)

ATC Essentials

·         Your ATC must be 6.4cm by 8.9cm (2.5″ by 3.5″), but you can use the card in either portrait or landscape orientation. Don’t make the card too thick though – no more than 3-4mm (1/8″) please.

·         The ATC must be predominantly textile, but you can use any techniques that you want to try, e.g. embroidery, patchwork, beading, cross-stitch, fusing fabrics, colouring fabrics, using fabric paints or ink stamps. There’s masses to choose from – here’s a link to the Flickr group for our ATC swaps – there is some brilliant work here.

·         The back of the ATC needs to include, at the very least, your name and the date. It is also preferable to include your email address, and, if you have given the ATC a title, you can include this too.

The Theme

Autumn has been chosen as the Theme

 

I started a practice one by hand, (as no sewing machine yet) to see how I got on making the card. I started with a leaf shape the size of the card and began to create different sections for the veins of the leaf and was going to do different stitches in each section. I then had some birthday cards to make so put this to one side. Shortly after I saw this post about how to construct a card, with a leaf on. I have a few other ideas to try, so wish me luck!
 

Gimme Some Sugar

I've been eyeing up the lovely hand stamped cutlery at The Faded Nest probably all year, and finally bought a tea spoon for myself!  Well it was my birthday, I almost bought three but refrained and just got the one 'for now'!  It was beautifully packaged and the spoon itself, well I love it! Can I bring myself to use it?  Now I need some pretty teacups!