Eight-point snowflake

I have a lot of catching up to do, starting with a Ringo Pie block for Anna.  She wanted snowflake blocks with linen background and lots of white.  I used Eight Point Snowflake from 163 Patterns, I also found a free pattern here  which is constructed in the same way.

 The centre star is pieced first and then the border pieces are added with Y seams.  It is a precision piecing exercise.

 I had another block due for a friend and I fancied seeing the same block in other colours and this is what I came up with.

 More of a Spring snowflake and as we have been forecast chilly weather here until the end of April it feels most apt!

Ms Bunny

As soon as I saw Miss Maggie Bunny on Alica Paulson's blog, When Posie gets Cozy, I knew I would succumb.  I am a big fan of her blog.  The aesthetic is beautiful, always a treat with every blog post and Alicia's openness and candid writing is commendable.  Alicia produced 1000 kits and  they sold out very quickly.  But there is a PDF and I found the main material, National Nonwovens wool blend felt, available in the UK.  The rabbit is made from 'Sandstone' and the boots from 'Havana Gold'.

I spoke to the folks at Crafts4allseasons when they were just getting more stocks in.  They asked me why I wanted these specific colours and I explained- I think they were more than a little puzzled at teh sudden demand.  They are restocking at present so it is worth checking in with them.  A 1/4 yard will make 2 bunnies and this is a pattern you may want to make two of!

I traced the felt pattern pieces onto freezer paper and ironed them onto the felt, far easier than drawing round card and more accurate too.  I used a standard polyfill stuffing, densely packed and serger tweezers to get into the nooks and crannies. 

The dress is made from a thrifted find of a couple of Liberty lawn night dresses, the fabric is faded and soft and works perfectly for the bunny as there is one colour way for the ears and another for the dress. I added a little pocket- it is an actual working picket, just in case...

The dress frill was at the hem of the dresses I used for fabric.  It is a lovely pattern, clear and well thought out at every stage.  The stitching is all on the outside so no turning through of narrow pieces and the main stitch is blanket stitch with a bit of whip stitch here and there.

I used a little mineral blusher for the cheeks, 

 The cape was from an offcut of a cashmere jumper with a crocheted edge and ties.  My crochet experience is extremely limited although I have just ordered a little project to try and learn a little.  The pattern includes instructions for knitting a cape.

The boots are the fiddliest part to sew but still easily manageable and incredibly cute.

She has settled down happily here and another and maybe even another are already planned.

Quick Housekeeping

Quick housekeeping post.  The end of Google reader has meant a shift in blog reading for us all- I have been trying Feedly and Blog lovin'.  You can play around with the layout of Feedly, the default setting is a magazine format but the setting in the left menu can be altered to a linear whole post Google reader style format.  You add blogs and feeds to feedly.  Blog lovin' doesn't have a whole post option  for reading but is easy to operate and they provide a widget which you can see in my side bar and a fancy one for this post! My priority is a good reader for my desktop imac so I can easily leave comments- Ipads and phones are not so good for this.  I am using both!

I had to redraw the second giveaway prize as I hadn't heard from the winner in 2 weeks, 

The winner was Catja, she has been in touch and the fabric and pattern is in the post!

Busy Bunny

I've been busy, lots of starts, not many finishes so I made an effort to finish some gifts for friends - pinnies front...

Pinnies back...

Mini dumplings using this pattern scaled down very slightly...personalised with zipper tags

Burp cloths for a new baby...

And a bunny for me and daughter- more about this to come...

Quick Clothing Patterns Destash

I have a few unused patterns to destash, if you are interested please email me.  All these patterns are new and unused.

Colette Violet £7 taken, Anna Maria Horner Study Hall skirt £7, Lisette Passport Dress (sz 6-14) £5.  You will need to pay postage  to wherever you are in the world and have a paypal account.

Spring at Eternal Maker

A little while back, Anna at Eternal Maker travelled to Japan on a fabric finding mission and the deliveries are just starting to arrive.  They really do stock an incredible array of Japanese fabric at Eternal Maker, especially for the UK and they are happy to ship worldwide.  Here is a glimpse at some of the latest additions.

Cosmo Panda double gauze (comes in a range of colours too.

Kiyohara Voile from the World Petit Collection- a colour range in this too

Another voile, this time a trellis print from the same collection- gorgeous! 

A cotton twill which is on my list to buy also by Kiyohara- this would make a great skirt!

A beautiful panel print that would make lovely curtains or even a simple  wall hanging to show off the design.  Cotton and linen blend.

Another double gauze, this time a Tomotake print for Kokka

And a larger scale print, Doughnuts, from the same designer, again in double gauze

There is some great Japanese binding too- I find making my own binding comparable to the boredom I get when applying interfacing so the chance to buy it ready made is very appealing! This Captain 88 knit tape binding is great for edging t shirts or a rounded corner baby blanket.

This pretty Captain 88 lace print bias linen blend binding would give a lovely finish to a purse, pouch or clothing 

And to finish, lets get the roller boots out, Ruby Star Sparkle Roller Skates from Melody Miller

Enjoy your weekend, snowy, wet, cold but with dreams of Spring x

Sew with Nancy at Saints and Pinners

I had a chance to catch up with Jo from Saints and Pinners at the Sewing Directory Meet up.  She brought along one of the shop embroidery kits  that she has been working on and it was lovely to see it in person.

 It is around A4 paper size and the stitchy areas are printed on a linen cotton base.  The colours are a beautiful combination and all the floss is provided with the kit.

 You can see there are a range of stitches involved and it comes with a very cute innovative idea- a little  cloth sampler which demonstrates the stitches you need.

You can sew and practice your French knots, lazy daisies and couching and then cut this to make a little reference book for future embroidery!

There is a bird kit - Easter idea maybe?  As well as the cat with a bird on its head!

 And for non stitchy gifts, I love this Little Town kit. The pack contains ten card buildings and trees to fold and glue together and the scale of it looks like it would work perfectly with little cars and trains.  This could make a lovely gift, it  makes me think of my nephew who is an arty boy and loves colour and design and there is the bonus of adult appeal,  adults would be itching to put this together!  You can find all the Nancy Nicholson kits here and close ups of the bird kit and cat kit here.

Easter is a-coming, these would make wonderful gifts for the crafters of the future me thinks...!

Sewing Directory Meet Up

 I thought I had that Retreat feeling stored in my somewhere but I had forgotten how good it was until Saturday and the first of Fi's Sewing Directory Meet Ups at Exeter.  It was glorious!   Here are the highlights with pics mainly borrowed from Fi.  Meeting people I've know on line for a while in person is always a treat- Rachel from House of Pinheiro travelled from Kent and she was a honey!

It was a chatty relaxed meet up.  I taught some EPP skills plus some Sizzix Big Shot action for hexagons and more with fabrics kindly supplied by Annie at Village Haberdashery.

 Kath from Sew La la, brought  fabrics  buttons and lovely sewing themed trinkets- bargains everyone of them.

Helen, Tami and friend (I want to say Sue?) busying away at their hexagons.

Hello lovely ladies!

I forgot how incredibly uplifting it is to be surrounded by people who all love the same thing.  I didn't sew many stitches as I was teaching, but really the sewing is incidental, it is the meeting up and sharing that makes these days special.  Bags to marvel over, skirts to admire, blocks and accessories to coo over.  Sponsors provided raffle prizes for some lucky winners as well as some goodies for us all to take away.  I was very lucky winning vintage 1976 Laura Ashley fabric won in the raffle (I may have punched the air) and I was also given some aptly named tea wrapped up in Liberty lawn (peacock feathers in the background)  the lovely Helen, thank you Helen and it was great to meet you at last!

I know Fi was nervous as this was the first one but it was so warmly received that she has already started planning the next Exeter  meeting.  I wasn't nervous because I know Fi is a great organiser, she intuitively brings like minded people together.  It will be a little longer this time and is pencilled in for early Autumn, I have a few ideas on what to teach too.  Thankyou to Fi x

Meanwhile, more meetings are coming up in London and Liverpool and Fat Quarterly Retreat is getting closer- 3 days of that feeling, bring it on!