ICE CREAM SKIRT

I want to be seven again!

I'm really pleased with this skirt I made for my daughter. I managed to squeeze it out of just one metre of this gorgeous ice-cream fabric. My daughter loved it and put it on as soon as it was finished and wore it to a party.

Do you think a grown-up version would be too much??

It has been rather warm here in Wales for what seems like ages. This means that my children have to take sunhats into school and they usually lose a few along the way.

I decided to upsize (I'm sure there is probably a technical term for that) a baby hat from a magazine to fit them. It was plain sailing until I got confused as to how the lining went in (it involved pulling the whole hat through a tiny gap in the lining) but I managed to figure it out.

Here is a blue one for my son and I'm going to make one for my daughter in yellow gingham - just as soon as I get the time!

I was asked if I could make some bunting for a blue and cream bedroom. Luckily I have a bit of an obsession with light blue so it was easy to co-ordinate fabric from my existing stash.

I love light blue!

Although I live in a town I am lucky enough to live on the outskirts where, if you are lucky, you can just hear birdsong for part of the day. I love having the back door open when the weather is hot but I've been trying to find a way to keep the flies and bees out. I have found a solution using:-

1. An old curtain pole no longer in use at home.
2. A bag of bargain ribbons bought as a job lot.
3. Empty cotton reels I have been collecting.

The photo above shows my husband helping with the assembly and then voila:


A slightly quirky fly screen!

Today was the day to unearth the potatoes I had planted in the baby bath I blogged about in March. It's a job my children love as it is just like digging for treasure. If only my son would eat the treasure after I've cooked it!

Still, not a bad haul for 5 potatoes put in a bath.

BLUE LINEN TOP

I have been practicing my dressmaking skills with a 'sewing course' top from my Burda magazine. They explain in detail how to sew one of their garments each month with lots of diagrams and more information than usual but I still managed to make a mistake with the seam allowances. I think teaching yourself dressmaking has a steep learning curve!

I am not a very fast learner!

I have wanted to try lacemaking for a while and, as I have an amazing husband, I got a lacemaking pillow as a surprise for my birthday. I'm not one of those people who picks things up easily but I do believe everything can be learnt from a book - unfortunately I have to read an instruction out loud about three times before I can figure out what it is I'm supposed to do.

So I have taken a photo of my work in progress because I think it will take me quite a while to finish it! It's a torchon lace fan and I'm sure any proper lacemaker could do the pattern with their eyes shut. I, however, have to have my eyes wide open, safety pins on the worker bobbins so I don't forget which is which and the telly off so that I can concentrate. No telly? Then this will take a while!

My son is at the age where he isn't that interested in eating - playing is much more fun. He is however very interested in cooking and likes nothing better than standing on a chair beside me whilst I cook.

We made these little bread rolls together the other day. They are small enough for him to eat relatively quickly but large enough to hide a slice of cucumber inside!

FIRST ATTEMPT AT PRINTING

I spend a silly amount of time just looking at fabric. Ida love the stuff. So much so that I decided that now was the time to design a bit of textile of my very own.

I decided to use a stencil technique and, whilst not boring you with the full details, I did take lots of photos (there is a lovely end result - promise!)

Firstly I drew a simple floral design using a well trusted quilting template and cut out my stencils.


Then I applied two coats of my first acrylic colour on the design.

I had also made some foam stamps by cutting out a simple hand drawn flower, any leftover paint was used to stamp this design onto small pieces of notepaper. Waste not want not!

I then applied one coat of a darker green just on the centre of the stencils.


And the end result - a totally unique to me cushion!




I've got a horrible feeling this could get totally addictive!

BLUE BIRD COASTERS

I made these for my soon to be Sister In Law. These are big coasters at six inches square and are hand-embroidered. I embroidered through the wadding to try to create a slightly more puffy effect which I'm not sure totally worked but I love them! Hand sewing the binding to the back took the longest time but these were relatively quick to make. I love them so I have taken loads of photos!

PICAU AR Y MAEN

There is something quite virtuous about making Welsh cakes, and you can't say that often about sugary, buttery things. There is a feeling that you are carrying on a tradition and although my Welsh cakes are never perfectly round, and they are always a little bit soft in the middle, I still like to think I am keeping a little bit of Welsh home life alive.

The daffodils in the background are on a St David's Day apron I made for my daughter. The material was from a tablecloth found in a charity shop. I only used one corner of the tablecloth so I theoretically could make another three aprons - but maybe that is apron overload!

SUFFOLK PUFF CUSHION

I am really pleased with the way this cushion turned out. I love Suffolk puffs but hate the way the stitches are really obvious when you try to sew them together (or maybe that's just my sewing!) This way they are appliqued onto the background fabric individually and keep their lovely round shape.

Another last minute make. I was interested to have a go at machine embroidery. My machine doesn't have many fancy stitches, but as it did everything else on my wish list when I bought it I didn't want to spend an extra hundred pounds on a flashier model that had an extra 50 stitches I may only use once.

So the flower is made using a very simple, but pretty, blanket stitch. I've used this stitch before for machine applique but have never attempted to use it to embroider an image so I am very pleased with how it has turned out. Unfortunately however I now have delusions of grandeur. I want to do a 'skyscraper at night' scene purely using the stitches on my machine, plus maybe a little applique here and there. Might take me a while!