Sunday Stash 5th October 2014

Polka Dots

My new additions this week are very...dotty

Pink and soft green polka dot quilting cotton

And some candy coloured threads to co-ordinate. I also bought these Janome embroidery scissors which allow me to get very close the the base of the thread and snip it cleanly.

I need some new pins-these have become bendy and are fast losing their sharpness.

A new experiment today- I made a couple of contoured burp cloths.

 I made the tag into a handy hanging loop. These are lightweight with little polyester padding for easy washing and fast drying.

There are so many versions out there and I just made up the pattern measuring myself and drawing a curve freehand, then copying it for the other side. I used some newspaper as a template to get the shape right (scrunch it up first so it does not slip as much). If you want a tutorial, have a look at the Contoured Burp Cloths Tutorial by cloud9fabrics.

Happy Sunday!

Fox Caddy, Raccoon Case, Squirrel and Dotty Clutch

Fox Caddy, Raccoon Case, Squirrel and Dotty Clutch

This week I have been fortunate to have time to sew every day and wanted to share the joy with you. Here is what I made.

Fox Caddy

 This is a new fox design, with more detail.

I am pleased with how he came out, I made his legs out of wool felt: they are soft and 3D.

I had some leftover fabrics from the Acacia Blue line I bought back in July and made a small case for an e-reader or tablet.

Raccoon Tablet Case

 The eyes of that raccoon are magical, I swear he can see me!

A Squirrel Basket 

This basket was made with blue edging on the top of the pockets, using my Fabric Basket Tutorial for the lovely London fabric shop The Village Haberdashery. It is written for absolute beginners, if you can sew a line (preferably straight) you can do it!

I am so proud how I patiently stitched that blue edge in the ditch and did not go over.It is my challenge this year to become more accurate and precise, getting it right first time, instead of my tendency to rush and end up ripping seams later.

Polka Dot Clutch and Strap

 This fits a pack of baby wipes and a few diapers, for a chic solution to changing baby on the go...

...and it matches the Dotty Taupe Basket

I have two more new foxes designed and the patterns cut, ready to be sewn so something to show you soon.

Enjoying the last of the autumn sunshine, warm wishes to you all.

Eva

Jolly Farm, Fox and Apple

This week under severe restrain I only bought one fabric to add to my stash.

The Trees from Jolly Farm- Henley Studio, Makeower UK

I love everything about this- the colours, the detail, the birds.

The blue is lovely too, maybe next week...

I added a little red apple to the front

I love the bright red dots. The stalk gets lost a bit in the other green but I did not have any solid green to match.

I also have been designing some new foxes.

 Something to go with this Boy Fox

Here is a girl fox

The bow is removable and she loves roses and has a button nose.

This basket has longer handles for one hand operation.

And a jumping Fox

 I have missed working with felt- this shade is called acorn and is so soft to touch.

I used plain stitching instead of the usual zig-zag satin stitch, and chose a bright orange. 

Last year I loved making the Fox Autumn Leaves Purse but it took 2-3 hours to make.

I still love the idea of fabric photos though and creating a pretty scene.

This is work in progress

The fox is talking to her friend the bird. I wanted a blue bird, like the singing Disney birds and a big dotty mushroom! The fox leg was very tricky, I drew it about 6 different ways before settling on this version that I could actually sew.

So it has been very busy here! How was your weekend?

Eva

Spots, Kittens and Flowers

Hello friends,

A busy week with the occasion of my birthday, where does the time go?

My gift to myself was a whole day of sewing!

I have some new additions to my stash, but in my haste to make things with them I did not take any photos of the fabric before.

Here are the after pictures

Retro Red Spots

 This is my favourite fabric basket design, in a scrumptious linen look cotton red.

 This red is so warm, it has a bit of cherry in it and really brightens up my day.

I interfaced the fabric and it has a great luxury feel to it.

Kitten Basket in Neutral

Back to the soft pastels, linen look cotton in beige check on vanilla. I am still troubled by cutting check and keeping it straight, but at least I managed with the top edge of the basket.

My favourite is of course the kitty, made with fleece and a little bit of soft vintage rose to accent the ears.

My boyfriend said the ears were floppy and I left the room and did not talk to him for an hour, but I can now see he was right. (Have not told him yet).

I wanted them to be "playable", but I may try to applique them on the basket next time.

I also added a divider here and a few pockets at the back to make it more practical.

Cobalt Blue Party!

This lovely blue floral is from the Sew Caroline Collection called Gleeful. It was sent to me by Thevillagehaberdashery.co.uk to make a tutorial for another project- which I hope to be able to show you soon.

This is what I made with some the left-over bits.

It is a lovely collection with 12 designs in bright red, pink and yellow, transporting me to warmer and sunnier climates. I love the clamshells!

Happy Sunday and hope you have a great week.

Thank you for visiting.

Eva

Sunday Stash 24th August 2014

Fabric Fabric Fabric!

I have added all these to my Stash!

Soft romantic vintage floral in pink and roses bouquet in blue. 

 An antique pink polka dot

And mint cupcakes!

Strawberries! I thought this may work well with the Burlap I have

Bright Pink- can never go wrong with this one

 and mint

 and coral

Here is the coral with grey.

Too busy to write more, have been sewing all day and hopefully will have some new things to show tomorrow.

xo xo

Eva

Fabric Baskets for Babies and Kids- Taupe Dotty Teddy Pocket Friend

Dotty by Clarke and Clarke arrived in Taupe in Saturday morning's post.

I had to add to the collection and make another fabric basket

Don't they look great together?

I also made a fabric basket for a baby boy with elephants. 

and  one with Red Riding Hood style fabric

I picked out some details with red stitching and realised backstitching was a bad idea

Some check ribbon sewn to the top for contrast 

 and the pockets on the inside because the outer fabric was too cute to hide

I am now experimenting with my first ever boxed zipper pouch.

See you soon!