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I've been putting my ancient O-level dressmaking skills to good use and I've been making dresses and bunny sized pantaloons - with lace trimming obviously! Some are trimmed with ric-rac, to match their outfits. These bunnies just need to have their faces embroidered then they'll be ready for a photoshoot on Easter Sunday. 
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As cute as a button? Ohhhh the treasures I've found in my collection of buttons, haberdashery and vintage bits and bobs. This button was an absolute must for adorning a cute yellow spotted frock - goodness only knows how old it is, but it so lovely to finally have a project for it. Making these frocks was so much simpler than making the bunnies - those limbs are very narrow and stuffing them hasn't been without a few difficulties - and my swear jar is now full of I.O.U's!! I have a few more bunnies to make (I couldn't resist making more pretty frocks) so once I've stocked up with toy stuffing, watch this space for a bucketful of bunnies!  I've been playing around with some fabric scraps, vintage lace trimming and teeny tiny buttons, as I'm making a new frock for this naked Easter bunny! She might even aquire some more companions too as I have an idea for a bucketful of bunnies for a display on my sideboard. The pattern for this small bunny and a dress is available as a free download on the Tilda website.  I'm determined to use up my "special" fabrics that have been languishing in my sewing studio for a very long time. These Tilda fabrics were perfect for the project I had in mind, for a very special person who has been incredibly kind and supportive to me over the past few months. I pulled out a piece of vintage pink lace, a zipper, a reel of variegated pink King Tut quilting thread and I was ready to start sewing...  ...I have lots of tips for stitching in zippers - the biggest tip is to remember to breathe while you're sewing so you don't get any wobbles! This was machine quilted very simply, the zipper was inserted (I prefer to use a walking foot rather than a zipper foot for this method of zipper insertion) and the lace trimming was also machined into place.  ...and here is the finished project - a gorgeous cosmetic bag - this pattern is Anna's Sminkepung by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa. I popped a few of my Tilda fabrics and posted it off to my friend - she certainly had a huge surprise when this arrived!  A few weeks ago I made a Friendship journal cover for a friend. I'd used this collection of fabrics by Lynette Anderson Designs, One Stitch at a Time and luckily I had enough pieces left to make a sewing pouch too. The journal cover was trimmed with vintage lace and I've used another piece of the same lace for trimming the pouch below the zipper. This pouch has been machine quilted very simply with a variegated YLI quilting thread...  ...and here's the finished pouch. I've used Vielene H130 wadding (a thin felted polyester wadding) which is great for small bags as it gives the bag a bit of structure, even when it's been laundered. This pattern is Anna's Sminkepung, by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa, and is a great shape for using as a pouch for all sorts of bits and bobs. I put some stitching essentials inside (a neutral coloured 50wt Aurifil thread and a couple of packets of Schmetz Microtex needles) then posted it off to Gina. I'm sure she had a nice surprise when she unwrapped it!  About 4 years ago I'd downloaded this PDF pattern, Eggerøre by Marthe Molstre, and although I'd pieced the fabrics together I hadn't quilted them. I'd used a selection of brown fabrics for these placemats, mostly batiks, and had been stumped for a quilting design. So once they'd been pieced together, they'd been packed away in a box and forgotten about...  ...anyway, I was sorting out some boxes in my sewing studio at the weekend and found them again - and decided they'd be perfect for practising some free motion quilting. I've used a thin fusible wadding, Pellon H130 which is great for tablerunners, placemats, wallhangings and bags. I've quilted these with a variegated brown King Tut quilting thread and a plain brown Mettler thread in the bobbin...  ...prairie points in coordinating fabrics are added along the top edge for decoration. These were stitched in place using a longer stitch about an eighth of an inch from the raw edge, then a narrow single fold binding with mitred corners finishes them off...  ...and now I have a nice new set of placemats to adorn my dining table!  It was Worldwide Quilting Day on Saturday, and I managed to finish another small quilted pouch. The pattern, as usual, is Anna's Sminkepung by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa. I've used a piece of recycled denim for the back and scraps of cotton fabric for the front - this piece of turquoise fabric from the Flower Sugar range by Lecien was very precious, so this one is definitely for me! The small piece of vintage lace was "rescued" from my bin as it was the perfect size for adding to this pouch - I usually add a lace trimming to the binding below the zipper, but I'm determinined to use up all my smaller bits and pieces this year.  It's Worldwide Quilting Day! Are you joining in? I've got a few "secret" projects that need to be finished so I'll spend a couple of hours in my sewing studio this afternoon. Hopefully they'll be posted off first thing on Monday morning, so all can be revealed then!  I really can't believe it's been 4 years since this beauty arrived at Foreman Towers! I've lost count of the bags and runners and quilts and joiurnal covers that I've made with it - and it's never ever let me down! As a special birthday treat, I'll give it an extra special clean and oil it and might even make a new dust cover for it!  I've been playing around with vintage lace, trimmings and ribbons this week, and needed to sort through my collection as the box they were in was getting so untidy! They've now been sorted into colours, and stored neatly in layered compartments that pack into a 9L Really Useful Box - although I really need a bigger box as I have a few trimmings that won't fit in here!  |
 About me...Hi - welcome to my quilting blog! My passions are my family, my dog, my friends and sewing, not necessarily in that order! 
 
 
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