Finally: my new old dressing table, after

Remember this? Darren sanded it all down for me, and finished it with danish oil. I used the 3 remaining original handles and added a few odd pulls we had lying around… and I got my bird skull pull from Moon Raven Designs. I’ve had it all finished and in place for a few months now. IT MAKES ME HAPPY. :)

For my puddin’

It’s my fiasco’s birthday today…

I got him this book and lots of Munchkin goodies, all wrapped in hand printed skull paper :)

His christmas present is wrapped similarly…

… only it’s printed in gold :)

P.S. See how my halloween costume turned out here!

Accidental christmas cards

So, I had leftover ink from printing this dress. There was a length of calico nearby. And I had beads leftover from my costume.

Hey presto! Christmas cards. :)

Fern leaves & dryads

Cat claws and fine, cheap cotton jersey do not mix. My nana’s cat managed to put a hole bang in the centre chest of this dress, and although I stitched it up, it was still obvious that damage had been done. Really. Annoying.

So it’s been hanging in the workroom for a couple of weeks while I thought about how to make it better. In the end I decided block printing over the area was the way to go (quick but effective), but none of my existing blocks were really right for the job. So it was out to the garden, where I came across these beautiful fern leaves:

Sometimes nature does it best! (The hole was somewhere in the lower fronds of the largest leaf print.)

 

Oh, and here’s a preview of my Dryad halloween costume. I still have quite a lot to do:

I think this is the first garment I’ve made from scratch since I made my prom dress at 16. How crazy is that?

adjustments

I’ve been neglecting my business a bit lately. I’m working full time now as a repair hand, so I’m trying to adjust from lots of freedom but little money, to little freedom but enough money. And I have finally been able to buy myself a new compact camera and a dress form. But I haven’t abandoned my creative enterprise :) Spare moments in my evenings and weekends are taken up with a new project. Without the pressure of having to make big batches of bread-and-butter pieces, I’m going to focus on getting back to the materials and techniques that I really love.

In the mean time, here’s some pretties from the woods last weekend…

Small harvest

A final thinning of my first sowing of carrots & parsnips = delicious baby veg :)

My purple carrots are looking much more purple than the last thinning!

What’s growing

I’m really into this gardening thing this year. In my plot I have spinach, leeks, borlotti beans, peas, carrots and parsnips. But I’ve also taken over much of the patio, growing more carrots and parsnips in planters (the ones in the plot will be replaced by kale and baby leaf salad in the coming months), tomatoes and more peas in the old sink, and lots of pots of tomatoes. I also have a few small planters will MORE peas and beans.

I have a thing for peas. I never actually cook with my garden peas,they rarely make it as far as the kitchen. NOM.

Now, I wouldn’t call myself a fan of tomatoes, just because supermarket tomatoes suck . And though my crop of garden pearls was rather pathetic last year, they were tasty. So this year I’m not taking any chances; I think I have about 23 tomato plants growing, so I (er, we) can enjoy the fresh, juicy, tasty little suckers all summer.

I’m also taking a slightly different approach to carrot-growing this year (because I COULD). They were sown outside in March, and after a few weeks I thinned the seedlings to about 5cm and left the rest. Now, they’re perfectly formed “baby” purple carrots and they are deeeelicious. These guys DO make it to the kitchen, but only because they need washing. The hard part is leaving SOME to grow to maturity.

I have so much spinach that I don’t know what to do with it all… but there’s been lots of soups and salads.

AND… on the bedroom/workroom window sills (they’re south-facing), I’ve been growing spring onions – which I can’t live without – and mixed baby leaf salad which can’t be sown outside yet. It’s been growing successfully on the sill since April.

Have you got anything tasty growing? Leave a comment!

FREE Beginner’s sewing pattern: Flower needle keep

I made a few of these as part of the gift boxes I gave to some young ladies last christmas, along with some beads, buttons, ribbons and copies of this awesome book. It put me in mind of my first sewing projects as a child (my first needle book was tiger-shaped, me and my best friend made matching ones).

So whether it’s for yourself or a mini seamstress-in-training, simply follow the instructions below to make your own!

Felt Flower Needle Keep

You will need:

• 3 small squares of felt fabric in pink, yellow and green
• A temporary fabric marker (water soluble fabric pen or tailor’s chalk)
• Yellow embroidery thread
• OPTIONAL fabric glue
• A couple of pins and a needle with an eye big enough for your embroidery thread

A couple of helpful stitches:

• Running stitch
• French knots

How to make your needle book:

1. Download the pattern image above (click on the image to view it full size, then right-click, save as) and print it out full size. It should fit nicely on a piece of A4 paper. Cut out the three pieces and draw around them onto the corresponding colour felt using your fabric marker. You can cut one or two green pieces depending on how many pages you want in your book.
2. Place your flower centre (the yellow embellishment) in the centre of the right-hand half of your pink outer piece (see the greyed-out circle on the pattern). This will become the front cover. You can use fabric glue to stick it in place before your stitch it, or simply stitch it in place. I used three french knots. *TIP: Cut a length of thread the length from your fingers to your elbow to stitch with whenever you’re hand sewing. This is a good length to help prevent knotting without being so short you have to re-thread constantly!
3. Flip the outer piece over and place your green inner piece(s) over the top. Make sure the vertical centres (the dashed line on the pattern) line up and pin the layers together. Stitch the centre line, making sure your knots are on top so they’re visible only from the inside. Fold in half on this line and you’re done!

magic

My treasure from here seemed to be spewing sparkle yesterday morning, and how lovely is that? There seems to be some magic in these beans too, the rate they are growing…

morning one

afternoon one

morning two

I’m just hoping there’s no giants.

P.S. I finished my party bag today :)

feathers, appliqué and wedding daydreams

I’m neglecting my online world a bit lately. Not just because I now have a part time job, we’re fostering a dog and there have been so many lovely bank holidays lately… but also because I’ve been planning my engagement party. It’s next Saturday at our close friends’ pub and I’m so excited now. I’m waiting impatiently for the correct fabric to arrive to make my feather-themed bag with (they sent the wrong one!).Very impatiently, as there are 43 separate pieces to be appliquéd onto the flap.

I’m hoping to have lots of lovely photos to share. My ring is handmade, I have a gorgeous headband from Janine Basil to wear, and an old college friend is making my (MY) cake. :3 It’s going to be gorgeous. Of course I can’t help but think ahead, I’m already mentally designing my wedding dress and a myriad of other tiny details ….

But for now, I wait.