Swift gifts

My Tuesday kids sewing group and I came up with this simple gift for Christmas. It takes only about 30 minutes to make and is ideal for little ones looking to make gifts for Christmas.

First, cut two strips of felt measuring 22.5 cms long and 11cms high and two circles with a radius of 7.5cms. We used a blue and purple piece of fabric.

Second, make a cylindrical shape out of the two strips and pin together, don't allow the fabric to overlap as you don't want it to be be bumpy. This shape will form the basis of the holder. We did a simple over stitch to secure it, which worked well. Trim any excess felt to ensure the two pieces are the same size.

Third, seal one end with blanket stitch. Pin the two pieces of felt together then attach the circles of felt to the other end also using a basic over stitch.

The project is suitable for children as young as six, as the stitches are very basic they will need help with pinning and trimming the felt.

You can add things to your holder like embriodery or buttons or felt applique, enjoy!

Human hair sampler

My husband celebrated his 40th birthday recently and I was keen to sew something for him but was at pains to find something that would really appeal. So many of the things I do are not always suitable for men. It also had to be unique and ideally not cost too much money. Many years ago we had seen a cross stitch at a museum in Witney, Oxfordshire done by a little girl at the Foundling Hospital in London using her own hair. She had sewn a 'sampler' into her underskirt the result was astounding. We were struck by the poignance of this beautiful piece of work. So I decided to undertake my own cross stitch using my hair for him.

After choosing a poem I started to chart out the script onto grid paper. I used a piece of linen with quite a small cube to work in the tiny stitches were very hard to execute and I almost went blind in the process, however it does look very effective. I used four strands of my hair, anything else appeared too washed out. I have to be honest with you this was a labour of love which I have worked on for the past eight months. Hair is quite tricky to work with as it can slip around a bit and the more tired you are (I only work at night) the harder it becomes!

The effect is amazing though, and needless to say he was suitably impressed. I hope you enjoy it too and anyone out there interested in trying it themselves please feel free to contact me for any words of wisdom and encouragement.

Fancy lamp

I made this fancy cover for an rather boring shade I have had for quite sometime. The base came from an auction and has made a great addition to my desk.

I used an off cut of cotton with metal thread through it which gives it the petticoat effect. The ribbon was one from my collection. I hemmed the fabric with the aid of my hot glue gun, then I pinned the fabric in place making a tuck every 5cms or so and then secured it with the ribbon. Once it was secured I removed the pins. And voila!

Early spring joy

Spring is just beginning in sunny Sydney and I thought you might enjoy this spring blossoms.

Thrift alive and well in the 30's

I saw this at a museum in Gulgong and loved the simplicity of this idea in a 1930's Australian country kitchen.

Lantern love

Having endured many cold winters in London, not always with the best of grace, I now long for the feeling of being truly cold and needing to 'rug up' accordingly. Tonight is cold and crisp in Sydney and the littlest one's pre-school held a lantern festival where stories were told and songs were sung and we went for a walk in the dark with home-made lanterns to light our way. It was magical! When we got home we had a picnic dinner in front of the fire with candles and our lanterns and sang songs (mostly show tunes!) and told stories (although ghost stories were strictly banned by the middle one). Children really are so wonderful at making you appreciate the little things, even my rather dismal story telling had them begging for more.

Life's a game

My girls love playing the Memory game, I think it might be becasue it is so easy to beat mummy! We found a version of Memory on the gorgeous inchmark website and we adapted it. I decided not to use fabric as I though it might get grotty and laminating it seemed a shame. Instead we dived into my Japanese papers collection and made these treasures. Needless to say so far I haven't managed to win a game.