Stitching Sunday Week 1.........choosing your design.

I'm back today with something new, Chrissie from Chrissie Crafts has started a fun little Stitch-A-Long called Stitching Sunday. After reading last Sunday's post, introducing Stitching Sundays, I decided I was going to join in. If you've ever fancied giving embroidery a try, you should take a look, Chrissie has so many helpful tips and how-to's, I've found this week's and last week's posts very informative.

Even though I've always been able to knit from a child, cross stitch actually got me into crafts in my adult life. My friend showed me how to cross stitch, 15 years ago, and took me to the Hobbycraft Show at the N.E.C., where I bought my first cross stitch kit. It was mostly sewing at this time but as the years went on, more and more new crafts started appearing, and I think I've tried most of them!!!

I bought this Sarah Jane embroidery pattern a few months ago, it's been sitting in my craft room since, so joining in with this fun group has given me the kick up the bum to make a start on it. This week was all about choosing your design and materials, and Chrissie tells you different ways to transfer your design onto fabric.

I started this embroidered sampler by Alicia Paulson, last year and have come to a standstill so I'll be doing some more on this too. This was my first attempt at embroidery and found it a lot easier than I thought it would be.

So if you fancy giving embroidery, cross stitch or any other stitchy project a go or if you are experienced with a needle and thread, you can join in and link your projects, here or just take a look at what others have been stitching, this week.

Happy Stitching.
xxxxDebxxxx

Little Red Riding Hood Draw-String Bag.........

Hello, did you all have a good weekend? We had a couple of nights away, I always feel better after spending time at the coast. Anyway, I'm feeling rather pleased with myself. Do you remember me saying that I wanted to make a drawstring bag, well I have and I'm really pleased with how it's turned out!!!

I bought these fabrics sometime ago as I really loved the Little Red Riding Hood and toadstool pattern. I've been collecting different fabrics, for the last 12 months, hoping at some point to give sewing a go.

So, with the help of a free Craftsy class, called Bag-Making Basics, I chose these two patterns and took the plunge, cutting into my treasured fabric, gulp!!! 

The online class was excellent, the tutor was very clear and concise with excellent visual and written instructions. The class showed you how to make the bag with two different fabrics, joined together for the exterior but I for just one. Also instead of making the draw strings from fabric I used 10mm red grosgrain ribbon.

After finishing all the sewing, I used a safety pin to pull the ribbon through the channels.

This is the finished bag, I'm over the moon with how it turned out, it is so much easier than I thought it would be, I will definitely be making more.

I used two fat quarters to make the bag, one design for the exterior and one for the lining, the overall dimensions of the finished bag is 23.5cm X 27cm. 

It holds more than I thought it would, I have four balls of yarn in there and room for more, don't you just love the toadstool design inside the bag.

I would definitely recommend the Craftsy classes, they have hundreds to chose from, they range from cake decorating to knitting. Some you have to pay for but there are quite a few free classes.

Happy Crafting

xxxxDebxxx

Daisy Chain ABC Sampler...........

Good morning, as I said on a recent post, I love Instagram, it's full of inspiration, which is where I first saw this embroidery.

The pattern is Daisy Chain ABC Crewelwork Sampler by Alicia Paulson and it is so pretty, it's a fairly large project and fits a 11" x 14" frame. I see it as a small project though as I concentrate on each letter, one at time, I normally work on it when we have a weekend away as it's very portable.

This is my first time doing embroidery so wasn't sure whether I'd pick it up but I had no worries with that. Alicia's instructions were excellent, very concise and easy to follow with lots of diagrams.I don't work on it all the time, it's more of a long term project but I'm absolutely loving it.

Totally changing the subject, I just wanted to share my youngest daughter's exciting week!!!! Last Wednesday when she got back from work, her first car was waiting on the drive.

To say she was excited was an understatement!!!!! Mick had picked her up from work and I've never seen her jump out the car so quick.

Needless to say she wanted her Dad to take her out in it, straight away.........

 So with some essentials I bought her, we all jumped in the car and went for a drive.

She did really well, anyway on Friday it was her driving test, she arrived home from work and she was so nervous, she felt sick, her hands were clammy. I really thought she'd be too nervous to concentrate on the test. Off she went and I sat for two hours like a nervous wreck, willing for her to pass.

I needn't have worried, she passed first time!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so proud of her, she didn't have many lessons, though she'd booked one a week from her 17th birthday, her instructor use to cancel them quite regularly. I'm a very proud Mommy and I now have another taxi to run me around as I don't drive, lol.

Thanks for letting me share my proud Mommy moment, I'll be back tomorrow with another pair of finished socks.

xxxxDebxxxx

My First Sewing Project.......a little girl's skirt.

Good Morning, my lovely friends. I'm back today with my first "proper" sewing project, this year on my 'To-Do' list, was to give sewing a go. I've bodged made a couple of pin cushions before but I did wing it, this time I wanted to do it properly, so I measured seams, pressed and took my time, carefully, following instructions. .

I saw this cute little girls skirt in an online copy of Northridge Publishing Sewing magazine and fell in love with it, it was perfect for my niece. I read the instructions and it looked simple enough for my first attempt  it's basically a tube. Is anybody else enjoying the new programme on BBC2 called the 'The Great British Sewing Bee'? I think that's what spurred me on to give sewing a go.

The next thing was to find some pretty fabric, we went to Shrewsbury as there is a fabulous Haberdashery shop in the town called Watson & Thornton. It is in a beautiful, old building, it's huge and sells just about everything you could ask for. Paige and I both loved this Tilda fabric, I then found some matching grosgrain ribbon for the trim. Whilst I was looking for ribbon, I found some pretty Bias Binding too, you can just about see in the top right hand corner, I've only every seen plain before.

I started it on the Sunday afternoon and had it finished by teatime, it took me three hours start to finish. Olivia wants some red shoes to go with it so we're off shopping on Tuesday to find her some.

I was really pleased how it turned out so decided to make another one for my friend's granddaughter.

This time I could only get to the local haberdashery, there wasn't as much choice but I did find this pretty fabric, I was just hoping the print wasn't too big for the skirt.

I needn't have worried, the print was fine, I found some white lace trim in my stash, which looked perfect against the floral pattern. Can you imagine how pretty she's going to look in this with some little sandals, I can't wait to see her in it.

There's something else I'll be knocking off my 'To-Do' list this year. I've always wanted to stay in a Yurt but to be honest, I wasn't sure it would happen, as it's not really my husband's thing. They aren't cheap and he said for the price he would rather stop in a nice hotel, but on Sunday, I had an email from Living Social with 68% off a two night stay in a Luxury Somerset Yurt Retreat

When I showed him he said, yes, so I'll be off to stay in this gorgeous Yurt in July, I can't tell you how excited I am. It has mains electricity, a log burner, an outside decking area with fire pit and all have their own BBQ. We have a private toilet and our own private shower in The Lodge that also has a big country kitchen, for if we want to cook. Full on Glamping !!!!!

Have a great week.
xxxxDebxxxx

A Crocheted Teddy Bear for a Sweet Little Baby Girl.......

Hi, I hope you are all enjoying the weekend, it's August Bank Holiday weekend in the U.K. which means we've got an extra day. We've got nothing planned and the weather isn't going to be that good so we'll be having a quiet time at home. I'm not complaining though, it means more crafty time for me.

Next weekend my daughter's best friends are getting married and are having their baby girl christened at the same time so I wanted to make little Daisy something special for her day. Jodie is gutted as she's on holiday and won't be able to attend, they are the first set of friends from school who are tying the knot.

I decided to crochet another teddy from the Cute & Easy Crochet book by Nicki Trench, I did the last one in pink (you can see it here), this time I thought I would make her a posh frock to wear.

The dress is very basic, which I made up as I went along, I used  Cath Kidston fabric and some IBS Scallop Crochet Trim which you can buy in 5 yard rolls.The bear is crocheted using Rooster Almerino DK, colour 202. I love working with this yarn it's a blend of 50% baby alpaca and 50% merino wool so it's very soft and cuddly, perfect for baby toys.

Here's the back view, I'm really not very good at sewing, I don't seem to be able to even cut fabric straight, is there a knack to doing that ? I've made it so the dress can't be taken off because if they did, they would see all my messy stitching inside the dress.

I would really like to go on a course to learn how to sew properly, I really admire people who can sew and love looking through blogs featuring sewing especially Rose and Dahlia's and Nana Company. 

Thanks for looking, enjoy the rest of your weekend, today is suppose to be the nicest day over Bank Holiday so I'm off to sit in the garden whilst it's not raining and make some more squares for my Springtime Throw which is  also from the Cute & Easy Crochet book. I've really had my money's worth with this book and would highly recommend it. 

Back Soon

xxxxDebxxxx

Inspired to Sew................Pin Cushions.

Happy Sunday,just popping in as I've been doing a bit of sewing the last few days and not on cards,I'm not a natural sewer and I think my needlework teacher from school would have agreed,needless to say I droppped the subject as soon I could.I also dreaded making costumes for dance shows and school productions when my kids were little but since subscribing to Mollie Makes  and seeing all the wonderful sewing projects and beautiful fabrics,I've been itching to try my hand at it again. Over the last few month's, if I see a piece of fabric I like I've been buying a 1/4 metre and now have quite a little collection.
I wanted to do something simple without the need of a pattern or template and so decided on a pin cushion,the first one took me ages to do but I perservered and eventually ended up with one I was happy with.

My starting point was which fabric to use and then it evolved from there,I then found lace,ribbon and buttons from my stash that would go with the fabric.I made the flower by tearing off a metre long piece of fabric so I got a frayed edge,folded it in half and did a running stitch along the bottom edge and pulled the thread to gather it together, nice and easy. The width was about 2" but it depends how big you want your flower.

My favourite is the pink one,I like the shabby chic look ,which one do you prefer ?

I'm in Cornwall this week,there isn't any WiFi where we are (this is a scheduled post) so I will catch up with everybody's blog when I get back,have a good week.

xxxxDebxxxx