RIC RAC ONE HOUR BAG

Today i had a rare day off with the house to myself. I was all set to have a day of sewing but half way through making a bag my needle bent on my machine and i didn't have a spare so i had to take an hour our and visit my local sewing shop!!!.  its actually only 5 minutes drive away but of course i couldn't just pop in and buy the needles and leave..... So i treated myself to a wooden yard stick and some bits and bobs.  i did resist the fabrics though!!.

Its the first time i have pit a magnetic clasp in so i was quite relived that it worked out ok!!.  The outer fabric is a teatowel and the lining is from a bed throw.  The tutorial i follwed is so easy and you can find it here if you fancy making one

Tilda bag with matching skirt for my little princess

I recently bought the tilda springtime craft book and have been itching to make something from it so thought i would make the small bag and use the same fabric as i used to make the lazy days skirt for my little girl at weekend.  She loves handbags - she might be only 4 but she's still a girl!!!. 

The book says to use heavy weight interfacing on the outer and the lining but next time i am just going to use it on the outer as i don't think it needs it on the lining and it was very hard to try and turn the bag the rght way out once i had stitched it with all the interfacing.

El Scorchio

Well what a gorgeous weekend it has been.  i haven't really got much sewing or crafting done as i have took the opportunity to start sorting the garden out whilst it has been nice any excuse to hit the sunshine!!.  I did manage to make another lazy days skirt though which my little girl loves.

Show & Tell and Gifts from the kitchen

Well we are one day into the fabric swap and already have 12 people listed which is great.  Don't forget if you want to join in you need to leave a comment on the fabric swap post here .

Today is Lili’s show and tell day – For some reason it wasn’t in my diary when I checked last night but luckily I randomly decided to check her school file and there it was so 6.30am this morning I was thinking about what she could take!!!. When she woke up she asked if she could take in the babies sleeping bag and pillow I had made for her last week (click here to view it). She said that she would need to tell everyone her mummy had made it as they would think she bought it from a shop!. Not when they take a closer look at my wonky stitching they won’t but bless her for bigging up my sewing :-). She also took in her baby bjorn swimming baby that she got for Christmas. Note to anyone who’s daughter wants one – don’t bother they are a waste of time!! I think the doll swam once and is now just an over expensive normal dolly.

I bought this bargain book from The Works for £2.99 and I am hoping to try out some of the recipes this weekend. I think I’ll start with….

and then maybe try my first relish...

If they are any good i'll post the recipes for everyone to try.

MSE Fabric Swap Come and join the fun

I am a member of the Money saving Expert (MSE) forum on http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/ and over the past few days we have been discussing doing a fabric swap (inspired by Crafty Helens recent swap thanks Helen!).  We had put all the wheels in motion and then found out it is actually against the forum rules uh oh........ Anyway i agreed that i would set one up on my blog instead so here it is.........  If you have a love for fabric or haberdasery then you are welcome to join in with the swap.  All you need to do is leave a comment on this post.  If you don't have a compatible account such as blogger,flickr etc you will need to provide me with your e-mail address.  Ok heres the Rules:-

• enter a comment on this post if you want to join in
• agree to swapping at least 5 items(as a guide maybe one item could be a fat quarter of fabric or 1m of ribbon, a pin cushion etc
• Because the discussion started on the MSE forum it would be nice to give it a MSE theme so if possible items that have maybe been recyled i.e. fabric that you bough as a duvet to cut up and use in another project, buttons off an item that you don't wear, fabric given to you from someone else, a charity shop buy etc etc.  If you have items that aren't MSE themed you can still join in so don't worry.
• The deadline for entering is 11th June 2010 and i will pair up swappers after this date.
• Feel free to put a link on your blog page and spread the word - the more the merrier

P.S. sorry about the naff link button i'll make it bigger when i get chance

Little girls Lazy day skirt by Oliver + S

I thought i would have a go at a skirt for my little girl using the free pattern on the Oliver + S website. It was really easy and quick to make and seems to have turned out quite well(so i made two!!)  If you fancy making one this is the link to the tutorial  here

I added a yo yo and ribbon to the linen one to make it look a bit more fancy.

Recycling a boring white vest top

Yesterday i was going through my daughters wardrobe to see what summer clothes she has for when we go on holiday (less than 2 months and counting!!).  I came across a white vest top but when i looked closely it had a small stain on it that looked suspiciously like tomato/chocolate based so i knew that its not likely to come out.  Instead of throwing it away i decided to add a denim heart and a yo yo and button to cover it up.

Birthday card and ticket holder

Yesterday was my sister's birthday and i made her this card.  One of the presents i had bought her was tickets to a spa.  The envelope they came in was plain so i made a little holder to present them in:-

I haven't done much paper crafting recently - unless you count the 155 wedding invitations i have just done for my brother lol!

Too good to miss

I went to Dunelm today and whilst browsing i found some real bargains.  I got a double duvet with 2 pillowcases, another double duvet, a pink table runner, a cushion cover and 4 silver photo frames for the bargain price of £6.46!!!. I couldn't leave them there for that. The cream and black duvet set is gorgeous and i'm going to cut it up to make a table runner for my kitchen table. The pink table runner should make a nice handbag for my little girl and the white duvet i think i'll use in one of the spare bedrooms.  If you have a Dunelm near you i'd check out the sale corner which has atleast 75% off at the moment.

Busy weekend ahead

Well today is my sisters 40th Birthday so we are all going for a big family meal later which should be good.  one of the presents i have got her is 2 tickets for a spa day with treatments included.  I now have to think of a jazzy way of presenting the tickets.  We also have Lili's school fair today where we will no doubt end up coming home having bought back half the junk we donated to school last week!!

I haven't had chance to blog for a few days but have been busy trying to catch up on making things.  Here is a cushion i have made for my friends little boy Freddie.

 Its working progress really as i think i might add some felt cars on it and use wheels for buttons.  Its the first cushion i have made using a zip and although i really went round the houses with doing it i got there in the end!

Website find of the day!!

Today i came across a wonderful website called widdlytinks which lets you add lots of great things to your blog.  You can also create some fantastic free layout pages.  This is what i did:-


Photo Tinks by WiddlyTinks.com

The link for anyone who wants to take a look at the site or have a dabble is here http://www.widdlytinks.com/

Easy Peasy Dolls carry sleeping bag and pillow

Lat night i returned to Weightwatchers for the first time in about 12 months.  i am a gold member but have felt myself going off the rails recently so thought i had better reign myself in!!.  I weighed in at 11.5 lb over my target weight - needless to say i wasn't happy.  I dragged myself back home and decided to do some sewing to cheer myself up (and to stop me raiding the biscuit barrel lol!).  I got out some fabric from my stash kindly donated to me from a lady on freecycle and this is what i made:-

Its a padded sleeping bag for my daughters dolly.  It has a pillow that comes out and handles to carry it out around.

It was soooo easy to make and as with most things in my life i just made it up as i went along!

What a lovely swap

I woke up this morning to the postman bright and breezy ringing my doorbell.  He was delivering a parcel from Alexis who is the person i was joined with to swap in Crafty Helen's fabric swap.   She has been far too kind and has made my week with such a lovely bundle of items.  I have to say the handcream is the most amazing one i have ever tried and feels so silky when you apply it.  How cute is the guttermann tin with threads in?.

The buttons are a mix of modern and vintage and i just love the pin cushion (which i really need!). 

The chocolate has been devoured already and its only just after breakfast lol!. I really love the fabrics and am going to have to make something very funky with the cat print fabric.  Thank you so much Alexis it really is a beautiful bundle and you are so kind.

I love my mini (and the bag i just made!)

My mini was in for its first MOT yesterday and passed with flying colours.  I'm not usually a car person but i really do love my mini.  Anyone who owns one will know what i mean. They are such fun cars and drive really well.  Anyway enough boy talk and back to some girly chit chat!.  I made a bag for my mum yesterday from some fabric in my stash. I just made it up and didn't follow any pattern(just winged it!!). I made my first Yo yo to go on it and i love it. 

 I think i am now going to go yo yo mad so don't be surprised if everything you see for a while has yo yo's on :-).  Anyhoo tell me what you think of my first attempt......

Zippidy do dah

Well i have took the plunge and made my first zip item.  Drum roll please!!!.  It took me longer top decide what to make than it did to sew the zip to the fabric lol!.  I decided to make it into a pouch to hang in my wardrobe to put my socks in.

A simple skirt for my little girl

I have never made a skirt before so i thought i'd have a go at making a simple one for my little girl.  It was easy enough to make and i just cut strips of cotton out and then did a simple large running stich along the top of each and then gathered it. I didn't follow any particular pattern and didn't even measure out my strips i just guessed at the lengths. There are a few minor faults but nothing at all noticable and Lili si chuffed as mint balls.  The fabric was free from a kind lady on freecycle so hasn't even cost me anything to make(bonus :-)).

I have also bought a zipper foot yesterday so might even get round to trying out zips soon - Ha no stopping me now!.  Watch this space.........

Getting organised with a home file

A while back i read a book called "cut the clutter" and it inspired me to start getting organised.  I have decided that if i can organise my home then i will have more time for crafting Mmmmm we will see. Anyway i started making a home file.  I decorated some file dividers and then labelled them and lamintated them to make them sturdy. The first section is cleaning and maintenance and has info about suppliers, a weekly cleaning schedule, brochures and receipes for homemade stain removers. 

This section is about health and beauty and has contact details for doctor, dentist, optician, beauty salon price lists, receipes for homemade beauty products, list of websites for products and leaflet. It has my contact lense prescription and opening times for the doctors etc in.

This next one is the food section and has menu planners, freezer inventories, shopping lists, recipes, contact details for restaurants and taleaways and takeaway menu's.

This next one is for the garden and has suppliers leaflets, articles on gardening, seeds and veg growing info

This one is for home decore and has useful website addresses, blank shopping list and wish lists and supplier details

This one is for events and includes birthday calendar list, present ideas list, suppliers brochures for parties etc, christmas gift lists, any promotional things for parties, birthdays etc

I also have a section for travel and days out with details of places to go, hotels we have stayed at and a section for our passports, blank travel itineraries.

I have a seperate craft file which i am just starting to organise so i'll post some piccies when i start on that one!!

Quickest bag in the world!

I just had to post a picture of the bag i made last night as it is the easiest and quickest bag you will ever make.  it took less than an hour from cutting material to using.

I used Ric Rac's tutorial and the link is here if you want to make one yourself.

www.vintagericrac.blogspot.com/2008/01/1-hour-bag-tutorial.html

I really recommend having a go especially if you are new to sewing as it is so easy.

Bank holiday weekend and the childrens party of the year.

I can't believe the bank holiday weekend is over so quickly!!.  I have had a lovely time visiting my friend in kent and we called in on the inlaws in Oxford yesterday on our way back.  I even managed to fit some crafting in on the way there.  i finished my first sock horse and i'll upload piccies later.  This afternoon we took Lili to a disney theme party that one of her friends from school was having. OMG it was the childrens party of the year.  I can't begin to describe it but it was really amazing with everyone dressed up and a big hall with everthing themed and party organisers , face painting, treasure hunts, pick and mix, bouncy castle.... the list just goes on and on and don't even get me started on the goody bags and the full indian buffet for the adults!!!.