Just for me

It seems I am rubbish at shopping, at least that's what Mr P says and I hate to admit he has a point. I don't really enjoy shopping, I did as a teen. I loved going out with my allowance or wages and treating myself to clothes and shoes but then I got out of the habit. When the children came along they became the priority and once I became a single Mum anything I bought for myself had to be a real need, usually reduced and often from one of the supermarkets clothing departments.
For my last job I had (ghastly) uniform and would come home from work most days, shower and get into something comfy (also known as pyjamas!) It's fair to say I have gained a little weight and more and more of the clothes I chose to wear were black. I'd slipped back into the old habit of living in jeans or leggings, which to be fair, does very little for my look or my self confidence. When talk turned to the shop, I decided that I wanted to wear dresses, not just any old dresses, but nice dresses that would fit in with the feel of the shop and create a good impression. So I started to look in lots of the high street shops. I spotted a few dresses, but not enough to create a nice working wardrobe.
When we were at a food festival at Walton Gardens in Warrington, we went in to the craft section inside Walton Hall hoping to find some potential suppliers for the shop. We'd like to have a small selection of handmade goods to sell and seemed like a great opportunity to meet people face to face and ask if they'd be interested in putting some of their work in our shop. There were some lovely crafts on offer, but not all of them were the sort of thing we were looking for. There was a very cute little stall selling handmade jewellery all in the shape of teeny weeny sweets and cakes, that seemed like an obvious choice and also a stall full of gorgeous accessories. There were facinators and hair clips, bows and headbands all in really great fabrics, as well as a beautiful deep purple dress on a mannequin. I got chatting to the stall holder, Lindsey James, who was wearing in a fabulous red 50's swing style dress. She was really friendly and explained that like me, she had lost her job before Christmas and was hoping to turn her hobby/sideline into her future career. She explained that she had studied fashion at university and worked in the industry for several years and the dress on the mannequin was one of her own creations. I told her about the shop and how we'd like to have handmade goods on offer and got the contact details for her business Violet Flamingo. As we walked away I was saying to Mr P how much I liked the dress on the mannequin, when he suggested I go back and ask about having a dress made but me being me, I did my usual "oh no, it's fine" and home we went. I would have left it there but Mr P got me to email Lindsey with an enquiry about having a dress made. We exchanged a few emails and the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of dresses (yes plural) made to measure and in a style I loved but couldn't seem to find on the High Street.

So on Friday I took a drive over the Lindsey's studio, a lovely old building in Littleborough to discuss all things dressy.

 We had a really long chat, over a cup of coffee, discussed styles, fabrics, likes and dislikes, food, cakes, the shop, the proposal........It was a very sociable morning! Then we got down to business. 
We went through fabric samples

Lindsey took all sorts of measurements and had me trying on some of her creations, she made suggestions and did a little sketches. It was all very enjoyable and very exciting.
I felt very happy leaving a lot of the details to Lindsey, as I felt she had a really clear idea of my tastes. I've sent her some images of some dresses I like and based on those and our discussions she's going to draw up some proper designs and send them back to me with her fabric suggestions.
The great thing about all this is I get to pick and choose different bits from different dresses and I'll end up with some one-off designs. When I put on a dress it really lifts my mood, so I can only imagine how it will feel to wear a dress that I know has been made just for me.

I can't wait to see what Lindsey comes up with, but like my ring I, and you, will have to be patient! Bespoke things don't happen over night, but I'm confident they will be worth the wait!
Why not take a look at the Violet Flamingo site to see some of the lovely accessories available. I was lucky to get a sneaky peak at some of the items that will be coming soon and if you're lucky enough to be local to me, once we're open you'll be able to see them displayed in the shop!

WISH Quilt, 2 Dresses and a Cushion!

Last Night I went to my first WI St Helens craft class, which is an introduction to quilt making. There are ten of us in the group and we're being led by a lovely lady called Val. I made my first simple quilt at Christmas using a fleece blanket as backing, but I'd love to know how to make a proper quilt with layers and binding. Hopefully through the class I will pick up some new skills. Val has provided each of us with enough fabric to make two blocks that will be put together to make one group quilt that we will all have helped to make. I think the idea is to raffle the quilt within the group at the end of our sessions so one lucky person will get to take it home, but we'll all get to learn new skills so that we can go on to make more quilts of our own.
The material chosen is red, white and blue, a favourite combination of mine, so I was very happy.
Val talked us through the instructions, gave us our fabric and sent us on our way to make our two blocks, at home before the next meeting in two weeks time. I decided to make my two blocks today while the instructions were still fresh in my mind. I think they turned out alright, I'm hoping they have! It's totally different when you're making things for other people.

All that's left for me to do is embroider a little motif on each one to identify them as mine.
Making the blocks left me in the mood for sewing and the blocks hadn't taken very long at all. So, inspired by the colour theme of the WISH quilt  I decided to make a Union Jack cushion, which is something I've been meaning to have a go at for ages. I went through my fabric stash and did have some reds and blues but I wasn't really happy with them. Then I remembered that there were a couple of school summer dresses lurking in the girls bedroom upstairs. They somehow dodged the last charity collection and now I'm glad they did!
That then reminded me that I'd been keeping a dress that someone had given me for my girls, but sadly it had a stain on it that I could not get out. It was red polka dot and I loved the material so kept it with the intention of putting it to use in a craft project one day. Today was that day.

Two dresses ready to be up-cycled

Both dresses had full skirts to there was plenty of fabric so I'm pleased to say I still have some left.
I had a cushion pad from Ikea (I always have one spare) I cut a square of the blue gingham from the school dress and strips and two pieces for the back of the cover from the red dress. I also cut two tinnner strips from some plain red fabric.
I was making all this up as I went a long as I had no pattern to follow, so it was trial and error.

I simply ironed the edges on both sets of strips before sewing on to the gingham and used red thread to coordinate.

Simple slip opening for  the back

The Front

I was quite pleased with how it turned out. It didn't take long to make and it didn't cost anything either! After I made the cushion I saw a post from CaraFreckles all about up-cycling. There are some wonderful ideas in it and I keep thinking of all the things I could make from the children's outgrown clothes.
Today was a good day on the making front. I made my Quilt pieces, up-cycled two dresses into a cushion and topped up my stash with the left over fabric and buttons. I also cut out some hearts but I think I might save those for another day.

Christmas round up.....

Finally today we took down the decorations and cards and returned the house to some level of normality. I love to have it all packed away ready to start the New Year in a clean and tidy house (not counting the children's bedrooms in that, clearly!)
I love making gifts for people. I think it's so much nicer to give something a little more personal than shopping off a wish list of some kind, although they are handy at times! So I thought I'd do an end of year blog and record the gifts that I made for loved ones this Christmas. There are already plans for things I'd like to make people, more food related gifts next year, so long as I'm organised enough.

This year the gifts were either sewn or assembled with love.

There was of course R's quilt, the first one I've ever made.

I'm pleased to say he loved it and declared it to be this years best present!
The girls got note book covers as they're always jotting things down and making lists.

Last year I made several stationary or make-up rolls. They went to the children and Mr P

Last years 'roll's' piled up and ready to go

This was an extra large one for Mr P to hold all the equipment for his studies.

My Niece, who's a midwife, said how handy she would find one for work and I had intended to make her one through the year, but that didn't happen so I made her one for Christmas, along with one for my nephews wife to keep her make-up brushes in.

I wanted to make something for my sister, but didn't think she'd use a make-up roll or a notebook cover so I decided on a stationary wallet as I know she still likes to write and receive letters. I adapted my note book pattern to accommodate envelopes and stamps ad I was quite pleased with the finished product.

Pockets for envelopes and stamps and a larger section containing writing paper and greetings cards

When closed it looks like a notebook

 I also made and embroidered a cushion for my brother and his wife, who this year returned to the UK to live. I can't find a picture of it but it's similar to the ones in my post mentioned above.

I made some super speedy, thrifty gifts for MB's new baby brother. Baby burping cloths made from Ikea guest towels. Simply take a guest towel and decorate with patchwork or felt shapes for an easy baby gift in no time and at very little cost (The towels were a mere 19p each!!!)

My favourite 3 little felt birdies

Bright patchwork

Baby blues stars

 The towels are the perfect size to pop on your shoulder while bringing up wind and prevent your shoulder from getting covered in sicky dribbles! (I've been there!)

Burping cloths ready to be wrapped

They were so quick to make and I'm hoping they were a welcome gift. I know I would have made good use of them especially with babies 2 & 3!

The children's teachers got sticky ginger cupcakes with tiny little candy canes that I made from icing

And then there were the hampers. We have some special people who are a little tricky to buy for, but for whom we wanted a special gift, so I hand selected little luxuries and filled wooden crates made by my lovely Mr P. 

There was a coffee and sweet treats hamper for Mr P's lovely Mum. Special coffee, black cherries in Kirsch, coffee syrup, nice biscuits and luxury cereal were some of her items.

 Mr P's Dad also had a hamper with nice wines, cheeses, crackers, chutneys and a book about the mapping of steam railways, complete with an engine driver cap! (photo? No, lost in cyber space!)

 The hamper above was for the children's Godparents, who happen to be wonderful friends. The idea behind their hamper was a little box (or crate!) of inspiration for those 'what shall we have for dinner?' moments. sachets, jars and spices and of course those little treat items that don't often make it into the weekly shopping trolley

 And last but not least the Chilli lovers hamper, well that's how it started out. This one was for Mr P's sister Lynsey. I started off finding all manner of chilli items (chocolate, crackers, crisps, jam etc) then I spotted Marmite products and Olives and alcohol and all kinds of things that I thought she'd love. I could barely squeeze them all in but with a bit of jiggling and a lot of patience I somehow managed it!

Stack of Hampers

So there it is, my Christmas round up. I've left you with one last shot of Felix, our cat, gazing longingly at the baked Brie. You'll be pleased to know Mr P and I got a new camera for Christmas, so hopefully better pictures on our blogs from now on!
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and send you all best wishes for the coming year x

A quilt's not just for Christmas.....

We have three girls and a boy, which when giving gifts can be tricky. It's easy to give the girls similar things but sometimes hard to find something that suits all four children. I like to make them all a gift at Christmas and last year I made them all rolls ups, make up and stationary ones for the older girls and pencil ones for R and MB.

R's pencil roll in marble fabric

Special button fastner

One for pens and pencils..........

 and one for the handbag

All four children already have cushions so that wasn't an option for this years gift. Our girls all love writing lists and keeping journals so it was easy to choose a notebook cover for them, but not really suitable for R. Maybe when he's older, but not now.
For ages now I've wanted to make a quilt, so I decided that the girls would get their notebook covers and R would get a small simple quilt. Being the 'odd one out' might have benefits after all!
I had a brief chat with my friend N about how I planned to go about making the quilt and she gave me a couple of tips for finishing, which I was grateful for.
I had in my head the design for the quilt, simple squares in rows and offset so that I didn't have to worry too much about lining everything up perfectly. I used a fleece blanket for the backing, meaning I didn't need to worry about wadding, like I say, nice and simple.
I bought some pre-cut novelty 5x5 inch squares and hand cut the rest from fabrics I already had. The backing fleece was red, R's favourite colour so I decided to edge the patchwork section in red cotton that I had left over from making his cushion. Once I had all my pieces together all I needed was a quiet day at home.
When that day came I sorted the squares into rough colour groups and set about laying them out into a pattern I was happy with.

Almost the final design......

I laid all the squares out on a fleece blanket until I was happy with the pattern. The middle section was ten squares by six squares. I sewed each strip of ten squares so that I now had six strips. Each time I sewed a strip together I put it back in it's place and moved onto the next set of ten squares. Once I'd done them all I offset the strips so I had a brick like pattern. I pinned the second strip to the first to sew them together, then when I came to do the third strip I made sure that the squares from the first and third were lined up.

I lined up alternate rows

Once they had all been sewn together I joined a border in plain red cotton. I don't mind admitting that I did give a little squeal of delight once the front was finished, it actually looked how I had hoped it would!
I pinned the front to the new red fleece blanket, face down and sewed round the edge leaving a gap for turning. Once turned (I was very pleased at this point) I stitched round the edge to close the seam and then round the edge of the patchwork section and decided to leave it at that.

The quilt had taken me four and a half hours from start to finish, not including cutting the fabric and without any breaks, As I went along and could see it growing, I simply couldn't stop. For so long I had wanted to try making a quilt, but I really wasn't sure I could do it.

The fabrics included are some I've used before, like the marble and football prints, some that I saved from my Mums house, various novelty ones with bugs and creatures on and two Christmas themed squares, just in case he ever forgets when it was he got this quilt.

Folded ready to be wrapped

I was very pleased with it (can you tell?) It's the perfect size for R. Big enough to go on the end of his bed, for him to snuggle under while he watches a movie or if ever he's poorly and when I finally got to give it to him on Christmas day, despite all his other gifts, he says this is his favourite. Now I'm just wondering how long it will be before the girls ask if they can have one!
It's made me realise I need to 'have a go' more. Maybe the girls will finally get their comfy pants they've been asking me to make for months, after all I've had the fabric and the pattern for ages and now I have the time.

Baby Blues

I wanted to make several things for people for Christmas this year and just as I was thinking about dusting off the sewing machine a friend of mine asked me if I'd make a cushion for a friend of hers who had just had a baby. The baby was a little girl, born on a special date, 11.11.11 So I quite happily agreed to make a bright girly cushion embroidered with her name & DOB. It was the first time I'd been asked to make something for someone. Usually I just make them for gifts. Unfortunately I only took one picture of the cushion and then deleted it in error so I don't have a picture to show of it.

MB's Mum also had a baby at the beginning of December, a baby boy named George. I decided to make a cushion as a gift to mark his arrival too. For him I used various shades of blue.

For George

I was quite pleased with how this cushion turned out. It was a little different from my usual random cushions, more like traditional patchwork.
Making the two cushions was a bit like a warm up for all the other gifts I had planned one of which was my first ever quilt! I'll Blog about that next.

The Snowball effect

When we made our move up North my lovely friend N sent us a gift that has caused a snowball effect not only with my gift giving but also with my crafting. This one gift re-opened a whole area of my life that I had pretty much forgotten. That might sounds a tad dramatic, but really it's not. I really had forgotten how much I enjoyed sewing and making gifts for people, how it feels to see someone's face light up upon receiving something that you have sat and lovingly made, just for them.
This gift was a cushion to mark the start of a new chapter in our life, and I don't mind telling you that when I opened it I cried buckets! I was so genuinely touched that N had sat and made it just for us.

Our 'Family' Cushion

It soon became a treasured item and one that would often be fought over, not what N had in mind I'm sure!

One day it occurred to me that I could actually make a cushion like that. True, it had been a very long time since I'd used my sewing machine, but I did have one. I'd even left it at my sisters when we moved as I didn't think I'd ever use it again. So I collected the machine from my sister on my next visit and started planning cushions I could make for my family. One each, so there would be no arguing. I decided that I would make them and not give them out until I had made them all so that no one got theirs 'first'. I ordered fabrics to suit the individual personalities of the family members and took inspiration form N's Blog post about Cushions she'd made. Being the good friend she is she also gave me advice on embroidery and things I might find useful to have/know.
I was all set. I'd even managed to track down a little Sewing Machine Shop in Warrington who ordered a replacement cotton reel spool holder thingy that had snapped off the top of my machine.

Here are the results..........

This is M's cushion. Butterflies, shoes, bags and gardening themed fabrics

This is L's Cushion. Butterflies, bright flamingo's, flowers and garden themes

MB's Cushion Very Bright and a patch with a little red head in the bath!

R's London cushion was a little larger and made up of pre-cut patches. It was the only way to get all the fabrics I wanted to use without breaking the bank!

Mr P's cushion had to have this Campervan Fabric. I chose the other fabrics on a 'Natural ' theme as at the time he was studying a Natural Sciences course

This is the back of Mr P's cushion. I usually keep them plain but I just loved this fabric and cutting it into patches would just have been wrong somehow.

A family of cushions

No more arguing over cushions. All these new cushions meant that the original cushion made my N became mine by default! (Sneaky, I know!)

A fair few people have since received cushions as gifts from me. Friends, family and last week I was actually asked to make one for a friend of a friend to mark a special event. More on that another day.
I do make other things apart from cushions like the Notebook Covers here and Roll ups, which I'll also save for another day.
I'll leave you with a few more cushions that have been given as gifts. I doubt any of them have had the same effect that N's cushion had on me. So much more than a cuddly cushion, it was a bundle of inspiration, a truly priceless gift x

For My Sister

A friends significant birthday

New baby in the family 3 become 4

A new arrival to another friends family 5 become 6

Purple cushion for my BFF

For a nephew

and another nephew

for my friends daughter

For my niece

and another nephew!

I made two cushions last week and have a few more planned too, along with some other projects. All this snowballed from that one gift. Amazing!