With xmas speeding towards us I have been busy making purses over the last couple of weeks.
I've really enjoyed making some more grown up purses alongside my childrens range, and have been putting the small offcuts of vintage fabrics to good use.

Pearfection!

I have been included in so many treasuries lately, in one week over the summer I was in 10!! amazing. This one is the most recent so many thanks to LifeLikeThis for including my cushion, I love this selection.

If at first you don't succeed......

try, try again! Eureka!! I have been trying without success to add new posts this summer and finally my photos seem to be uploading again, who knows what went wrong but it is good to be back.

We have had a busy summer, both girls in final years and heading for new challenges in September, exam results......fantastic!, how proud am I that my girlie got A* for textiles!? words cannot describe.

Hospital visits with a positive outcome and relief all round, but tinged with anger that prescribed medication and restricted diet have been the cause and not the solution, we await final tests to be sure there is no lasting damage done, but am so thankful to have my beautiful girl back to health.
Holidays to St Ives, this photo is from our bedroom window we had a great week and pretty good weather considering how foul the rest of the summer has been. Holiday #2 to Hampshire to catch up with family and prepare wedding outfits.

But what about sewing? yes I have been sewing, lots of sewing making up stock ready for Christmas. My shops have been super busy over the holidays too and I'm so pleased that my Etsy shop has burst into life. I gave it a bit of a sort out a while back and it has really paid off, new banner, new stock, keeping the stock unified to give an overall 'look'

and to come, my sisters wedding, back to school and then autumn awaits.......and as I have pretty much given up on summer now, I am looking forward to autumn its colours and smells, we have large areas of ancient beech woods in the Chilterns and they look spectacular come autumn.

Up and running

Thankyou to everyone who sent good wishes, Sarah is back in school and doing ok. House is slowly coming to completion, I promise photos soon!

At present I am still working at the dining table but that should all change in the next fortnight as we do room swaps and I can claim a space all to myself! so excited about that... I cannot tell you how good it will be to have a space to leave my machine out ready to go!

fabric buys

Some new fabrics arrived today from fabric rehab, definitely brightening my day after a slow trek through the snow this morning to post off orders.

Hope you are keeping warm and safe if you too are suffering the snow

Anyone not from the UK might like to take look at this to see just how we have been hit! we are under there somewhere....

Just in case you were wondering where on earth I have got to, it has been snowing here........

no not the white fluffy kind, but orders for cushions. I have been working flat out lately and had to employ Laura to overlock 30 covers for me. Sales from my ebay shop have been non stop although they finally seem to be easing now, which is double what I was doing last year. On top of that I've done two fantastic fairs with the girls at More than a Mama. Thankyou to everyone who came to both fairs they have been so well attended and the evening one was absolutely jammed at one point, we had so many ladies trying to shop at once.

Yesterday we put up our tree and Laura made gingerbread, and today we are going for a bit of Xmas shopping, mixed in with dress shopping for Sarah.

Life here has been pretty frantic and stressful but now the strees is going and we are just left with frantic!! I am so busy with my ebay shop, sales of my cushion covers have been wonderful, and am also trying to keep stock back for a couple of Xmas fairs that I am doing. Blogging has very much taken a back seat.....sorry :(

sarah and I had fun making some leaf images in the back garden (not sure how the colours will show up for you at present as I am on a new laptop and have to sort the colour settings yet)

I made this LOVE cushion the other day and used four of the Pop Flowers colourways from Cath Kidston. I just don't get why this was discontinued it is the most popular Kidston fabric I use.

and for a bit of a Tadaaa! look at this vintage Magic Roundabout fabric I got, a perfect match for the blue spot, so I made up a pait of small cushions which are now in my ebay shop.

Must get around to sorting my Etsy shop which is looking very sad, and restocking Folksy too!

So much to do and so little time!

xxxxx

Something simple

Life has been really busy latelyand I have been making up plenty of stock for xmas as I am not sure if I will be able to do much sewing in October and November as we are having work done on the house (fingers crossed). Today I needed something simple and effective to do and so I used some bolder prints to make up some simple cushions and backed them with some bright colours on the back.

I then set up a little photography corner in an effort to improve my photos and I am pretty pleased with the results.

I tried so many colours on the back of this green one but went for the white in the end as its crispness just lets the green sing!

All of the above are listed in my ebay shop which is busy as usual despite the postal strikes.

I have also come by some lovely Orla Kiely cotton which I am going to be using for more cushions tomorrow, however if you would like some I have listed a piece on ebay too.

New ideas

Working on combining my applique with some patchwork today. Some of the free machining is a little too free for my liking but overall I'm liking it and the top stitching really works. I tried hard to keep the applique in the squares, only to find that I actually quite like it when it gets lost in the seams

My mojo ain't workin'

Maybe it's the return to normal routine after the holidays but I am having a real job to get back into it and get my creativity going. Also the fact that the house will be turned into a building site in a few weeks time means I really have to get my act together and fast. I have shops to stock and craft fairs to do!!! move Louise, MOVE!!! So I threaded up the machine and just sewed something, no plan just went with it and did this....it really lacks colour and looking at it now I shall put it back on the machine and work at it some more, but I shall do more of this for my cushions and purses and will keep you updated.
In the meantime just a few thrifty finds to share, see my little owl monebox? I am reliably informed it is from the 60s, I love the colour combination and found a few things to put with it.

A close up shows the leaf pattern on the top edge, now this is inspiring me!

And finally I had to show you this wonderful find which cost all of 99p, this glassware jug has been in use all summer and has a red plastic pop in lid that holds back the ice. I really thought this might not get family approval due to the very grannyish look but everyone loves it!

OK enough stalling I am moving, I am sewing, and this evening I think I need to do some time management planning otherwise nothing will get done.

Beans!

I have not been feeling too well this week but have been down to the allotment and picked the rest of the broad beans to freeze.So I took them out to the garden this afternoon and got the first batch podded and bagged while sitting in the sunshine. I always blanch them and slip them out of their skins, a very satisfying job and much tastier too!

I also made strawberry conserve from our strawberries this year as we had so many, I must take a photo before it all goes. It is much tastier than jam made with pectin or that 'sugar jam' which gives a very artificial flavour I think. I shall perhaps take a photo and share the recipe with you, very simple, fruit and sugar.

I have managed to keep up with sewing orders and much excitement is filling the house as plans are afoot to create another bedroom which will free up space for me to have a sewing room, small it will be but it's mine!!

Cool colours

The heat this week in the UK is set to soar and we have already seen a few dramatic storms. I am afraid I do not cope well with extreme heat and so my activities are kept to early morning and evening when the temperature cools. perhaps in an effort to cool down I found myself choosing cooler colours from my fabric stash to make another elephant cushion today.

This one is in my ebay shop which although it doesn't have the style of Folksy and Etsy really makes up for it in terms of footfall, I just don't get the same volume of sales elsewhere and my experience of ebay has generally been good. Despite a few folks who think it's fine to buy something copy the design and then try and claim copyright! um......yeah right!! Still business is good at present and between trying to use up our phenomenal glut of strawberries from the allotment and keeping on top of Mum duties, I am enjoying making these new cushions and hope to make up a new design in the next couple of days.

In the meantime, keep cool

Louise x

Applique cushions

This has been a seriously busy week, but I have managed to get on with the cushion designs that I have had lurking in my head and I am so pleased with them. The Bumps Babes and Beyond Fair that I am doing on Friday has been the perfect incentive to get them done and hopefully thay will be popular.

I have also been building up plenty of stock of purses and doorstops, to make a really full and colourful display. I am really itching to make some more cushions as I have designs for birds to do as well.

Have to go to the sewing shop tomorrow as I got through 4 bobbins of cotton on the sewing machine today!! I will try not to but fabric but I ... might.....just...take...a...little....look? :o)

Cath Kidston Rosali

I listed these last night in my ebay shop and it occurred to me this morning that I really should let you lovely readers know. There is a double duvet cover and a total of four pillowcases ( listed separately) in the lovely Rosali Paisley design that Cath Kidston did for IKEA. They are no longer available to buy and the fabric is gorgeous.
So if you think you may be able to make useof them as they are or for thefabric do take a look they have a very low start price of 99p! and they finish on Saturday.

Good luck!

Cowgirl cushion

I regularly make personalised cushions and was recently asked to make these western themed ones. I am especially pleased with Laurens very cowgirl.

I spent quite some time fiddling the letters on Jacobs to place them amongst the Cath Kidston cowboy fabric.

I always use a satin stitch to edge this applique as it makes it a bit more substantial for children.

And I just love the mother of pearl buttons on the back. I have a long held love of mother of pearl it reminds me of crafting when I was little and of course of the coast.

Lots going on here at the moment, teenager doing internal exams (mocks to us oldies), rehearsals for a big summer show, house sale going through, plans for this house being prepared, allotment in full swing, and sewing for a very exciting and lovely event (of which I shall tell you more another day).

Fabric shopping

I have been off today buying more fabric as stocks are getting low, the above fabrics are from Cath Kidston and the one on the far right is a real find as it is now discontinued, I managed to stop myself hugging it inthe shop, I did get very excited!

And I have been playing with these Laura Ashley ginghams this afternoon for a customer who wants some western cowboy themed cushions! YeeeeHaaaaa!

Chair makeover

Now I know that to get the full effect I should have a before picture. but when I undertake a project like this I get all carried away and just get stuck in. So you will have to imagine this chair in its previous incarnation, dark wood and a dark red stretch cover over the original lumpy but sprung cushions, it was grim but it was only a fiver! and it was in the Cancer Research Shop which is my No.1 charity. I sanded and painted the wood and then had to open up the original covers to reposition the inners.

Laura and I then covered it in a new layer of wadding on Sunday morning, we had to hand stitch it all on and I was so pleased to have her helping and she did a perfect job! I then made up the green linen covers, bargain fabric from my stash, and voila perfect for our bedroom and it is so comfy.

Total cost = under £20 eat your heart out Kirsty!!

Conjuring up the sun....

This morning was so grey and foggy....after yesterdays sunshine it was rather hard to bear so I decided to brighten my day with some colours! My box of zippers make me smile everytime I open it, is that a little odd?..... probably. However they do make such a great finish to the purses and today I decided to go for some zingy colours.

And I had to show you these! Geeky easter chicks complete with glasses.

Well my plan worked and the sun is shining now so I'm off outside before it disappears again!

New bags

I have listed these new bags in my etsy shop today.

I have had to make an extra red one as my daughter decided that she really needed one!
The retro Apple is my favourite and there is only one of these as I have no more fabric :(

This spotty one in stone is a classic and I have sold a lot of these in the past.

Time to put the kettle on and settle down with the new Cath Kidston catalogue which dropped through my letterbox this morning, and then maybe a quick bit of crochet before dinner!

What I made today

Well as I hoped yesterday, I made a couple of reversible bags today. I haven't made any of these for a while so it was nice to get back to them. The weather and light has been erratic today to say the least so they won't be listed until I can get some decent shots, but I wanted to share them with you. The denim lining isn't bright as it looks in these pictures, not sure what's going on there!

Oh and here is my new teapot, an early birthday present to myself, this is a Portmerion design and I love it's scandinavian style design.