Heavenly Half Term

What a busy week! I've been extremely spoilt with time for the last 7 days as I've had the entire week off work and literally done nothing other than sewing. Total bliss!
I've made a great start to my nephews 1st birthday gift, it's still a secret so I can't reveal what it is yet, but here are a couple of pictures of the progress made so far.

More to follow.

This week also saw my first attempts as dress making.

I bought a couple of Japanese dress making books from Etsy and finally had a stab at making something from them. The first project was from the  Stylish Dress Book vol 2 - dress 'D' which is on the cover. I made it using a thin wool fabric which is super warm. I did have to alter the shape around the waist and I took the sleeves off. Overall I'm really happy with how it turned out. If you're attempting to follow a Japanese pattern and need a little help, Pink Nelie has a really useful list of Japanese-English sewing translations.  

The second project was from the Stylish Dress Book - blouse 'B'. The only alteration I made to the pattern was taking it in at the front a little more, just to reduce the bagginess. I love how it turned out.

I've been eyeing up a few more dress making books, but I'm spoilt for choice - any recommendations?

Scenes from the Weekend

A glorious morning surprise...snow...again!

My neighbours dog Alfie...enjoying the snow.

I Love Printing!

You may remember I bought a Gocco printing set way back in November from fellow blogger Carina, and I have finally had some time to unpack it and try it out. I can't believe I waited sooo long!!! I'm hooked.

As you can see I may have used a tad too much ink on my first design, so now I have about 60 paper birds - any suggestions on what I could do with them?

Sorry for the poor quality photographs.

More printing photos to follow.

Woolie Wonders

Well the snow has returned to greet us..much to my delight...although it's just a light sprinkling, so I expect it will be a short visit. In keeping with the wintery feel of the weather, I've borrowed this lovely book from a friend at work. She's made a beautiful cardigan/coat in pumpkin which looks amazing, and so I have been inspired to attempt my first knitted piece of clothing!!
To try and help me decide which item to make, I thought it best to have a quick flick on a few woolie online shops to price up...however things went a little awry when I got distracted by the bold, red lettering Yarn Sale!


So I didn't look at the wool for a cardigan...instead I bought this, High Fibre - Supreme Felt. I bought two cream and one royal blue - stunning! Now all I need to do is find a suitable pattern...any suggestions?

Scenes from the Weekend

This weekend was spent at my sister's house. I finally got around to borrowing her camera to snap my latest crafty achievements...and as you can see my Nephew decided to help!

And when it all got a bit too much...nap time!!

Anyway, back to the crafty bits.

Here's the hot water bottle cover I was telling you about. The inside is made from a plain cream fleece, but the outside is made from some beautiful Folksy Flannel fabric, which makes it super snugly to hug! The top part is a little on the snug side, so next time I must remember to leave a little more room.

   

Finally, the laptop sleeve I made using fabric from the same flannel collection. The main fabric is forest hills moonlight which was my favourite from the bundle I bought, so I was really apprehensive about cutting it - just in case I went wrong! Luckily, it turned out pretty well. The other outer fabric I used was diamond mine dusk, and a white fleece for the inside.

      

  

Hope you had a lovely weekend!

Yeehaw!!

Gosh it's been ages since my last post...since then I've made a cozy laptop sleeve, a hot water bottle cover and finished knitting my very first hat! All of which are sat waiting patiently to be photographed and displayed to the world. Sadly, they are going to have to wait a little longer...my lovely other half has once again reclaimed his camera (how dare he!!) and besides, the days are still pretty dark here - not the best for snapping beautiful photographs!!

And so, to fill the space with something fun, here's a picture of some wonderful boyish fabric which Karl has picked out for his new laptop cover. More pictures to follow - I may even attempt my first tutorial!