Productive snow day and Saturday

School was closed yesterday due to snow, so I had an extra day off whoopee!! Spent the morning practising my vintage lingerie sewing skills (as I want to make a brassiere and French knickers from this book) then finished the back of a rowan 1940s style jumper I had put down for a while. Today I added a casing for a bamboo rod to display my latest quilt on the wall, made my friend a matching cushion cover for her birthday and made a tote bag using a crochet square I made a while ago. I have a set of them, so might make a batch of these to sell. Also made a yummy aubergine and chick pea stew. I love being busy and productive.
Shell tucks and shell hem, point turc, faggotting, appliqué onto net and lace appliqué onto net and sheer




1940s style rowan jumper- back finally completed... Now for the front, sleeves, collar....




Scrappy log cabin on the wall!




Matching cushion cover for George's birthday




Crochet tote






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Fabric and sewing storage

I am a little OCD, so when I saw this idea I had to do it! Now I can see all my fabrics together to choose for projects! And part of the glory of fabrics is actually looking at them! The cd stand is from lidl (bargain at £12) and the storage unit is from ikea.


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Echino typewriter bag

This is one of the fabrics I bought at Eternal Maker recently. I'm going to Ghana in February on a teacher exchange programme and needed a tote to carry school stuff around there. I quilted around the typewriters and lined the bag in a matching check.










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Scrappy log cabin quilt

Random fabrics chosen from the Eternal Maker and machined together in a log cabin pattern. I then quilted using free motion quilting.








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Mexican night!

Had a great night with friends last night, but made and ate far too much food and drank too many margaritas!! Inspired by a visit to one of her Wahaca restaurants in London, I purchased Thomasina Miers' book a while ago and love the recipes in it. I made soft baked feta- to die for, but you could eat the lot!! Chorizo and black bean empanadas- little puff pastry pasties, guacamole, salsa, refried beans, chilli with rice and Thomasina's passion fruit creme brûlée. I also made tostadas/ tortilla chips by cutting flour and corn tortillas into triangles, tossing them in olive oil and baking until crisp. She fries her, but I think this is a healthier method.











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Completed scrappy log cabin quilt top

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Ready to go!

It took a while to decide what pattern I wanted to use for the new fabrics I bought yesterday; it was between a half square triangles idea, disappearing nine patch or scrappy log cabin. I've gone with the latter and I'm using a great, easy tutorial found here.
Fabrics cut and prepped






HST ideas







Scrappy log cabin ideas












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Circle skirt

I've been wanting to make a circle skirt for a while. It's a really simple pattern to cut and I've added a simple waistband and zip fastening. I used a lovely chambray, with spools of thread pattern printed onto it, that I found in a thrift store in Pennsylvania a few years ago. I had a go at a narrow seam, as a curved hem can be fiddly to finish neatly. Pictures below show how to. Now all I need to make is a 50s petticoat for a proper vintage feel!



Turn up the hem about 1/2", press and machine about 1/8" from folded edge.


Trim excess right down to stitching.


Fold over on the line of stitching, press and pin.


Machine about 1/8" away from the folded edge again. Voila! Very neat, narrow hem.



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New fabric for a new year

Visited my favourite fabric shop today- The eternal maker in Chichester and purchased a range of eclectic fabrics to make into some kind of quilting project. Need a pattern, so I'll be trekking through the masses of images I've pinned for inspiration on Pinterest! Also couldn't resist the typewriter and camera prints... No idea what they'll become yet!






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Christmas nail art

Gold and metallic navy blue using file paper reinforcement stickers.


Gold and red with holly and gold/ glitter dots.


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Detachable collars

I'm making a range of detachable collars in hold, patterned fabrics. This one is made from chambray and South African shwe shwe- a printed cotton.




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New range of pouches

I've been working on a range of pouches- coin, iPhone, pencil cases- to sell at a Christmas craft fair in a few weeks time. This one is a quilted iPhone case in an African Dutch wax fabric.






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Trip to the V&A

I took a group of sixth form students to London this week to see the Hollywood costume and the British ball gowns exhibitions at the Victoria and Albert museum. It was amazing! Had such a wonderful day. Unfortunately, we couldn't take photos, but we all did lots of sketching.

Erdem ball gown


Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz


Harrods lit up for Christmas!



Toilet tiles at the V&A



Vivienne Westwood men's suit- love the draped waistcoat.



Jane Austen stylee!



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Indian sari dress

First outing to a friend's wedding.


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First upholstery attempt

Started off with a basic ikea sofa, donated by my friend, and used a Laura Ashley gingham I got half price in the sale.


Pinning fabric on and cutting to shape.


Covered seat and back.


Covered arm.


Completed sofa!


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More spotty nail art

Spotty nail art

Orange spots on royal blue, made with the end of a kirby grip/ bobby pin.


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