Make do and Mend...

Maybe it's my old age, but I am finding I am more eager to darn holes in socks and tights more than ever before, perhaps it's the need to practise what I preach at school, what with the emphasis on sustainability. Also tights are expensive so it makes sense to save a few pennies, and making and mending does seem to be the fashion of late...

So imagine my excitement when I opened up these on Christmas day, at first I thought they were plasters with like shoes and t-shirts on, then I thought maybe they were plasters shaped like particular items of clothing, having been the recipient of plasters of a similar ilk previously. But no, they are in fact, plasters for clothes, what an awesome idea?!

Even better, they are bird themed, very cool, now the real question is, to use them as plasters for my clothes, or to use them as decoration???

Cross Stitching for the first time in years...

So the really rubbish thing about having flu over Christmas, you are stuck to the sofa and miss out on catching up with family and friends, especially those who are only in town for a few days.

Good things however, getting those mock papers marked, watching lots of films you're never able to make time for and doing a little crafting...

Whilst at the Clothes Show this year I got the chance to re-aquaint myself with cross stitch at the Mollie Makes stand, where I made this cute little button badge, something I used to really enjoy but haven't had chance to do since I was about 11...

I bought the issue of Mollie Makes from the stand... well, it's Mollie Makes isn't it, has to be done, but also it had a cute little cross-stitch project that came with it for FREE!

My little Royal Guard, affectionately known as 'little man'

I was planning on photographing the progress thoughout, but in my flu induced state I forgot, so here he is all finished, and I FINALLY mastered the french knot at last - HURRAH!
(It has only taken me 11 years and actually now I am ashamed as its really quite easy, thank you you tube!)

 So once he was finished, all there was left to do was stick him in the cute felt frame that was supplied! I think he will live in my classroom as of Monday!

However as my next project I think I might get a large sheet of aida and cross stitch a few in really funky colours to go somewhere in the house, yet another project for what seems to be a never ending list!

Also, I'm sure you've guessed by now as a result of the photos, I'm on Instagram, so please, if you find me, follow me!

Terrence and Watermelon...

One of the first requests I received was for 2 of my dinosaurs, they have been named Terrence and Watermelon by their two lovely owners. (who I hope don't mind me stealing their photos to use on the blog)

Anyway, in the spirit of Christmas I thought I would pop a couple of their adventures on my blog, although, I must say I am enjoying following their continued adventures via facebook!

Everyone knows it is Christmas time when they see the Coca-Cola advert for the first time, including Terrence!

Watermelon seems to have confused herself with a Christmas Decoration here, that or it must be a really good vantage point for something!

Terrence having a little snack...

Watermelon is clearly more talented than I ever anticipated! 

I love these images, every time I see a new one I smile, I'm glad they have gone to such good homes, and I hope the adventures continue!

"Christmas Time....

....Mistletoe & Wine.... "

(No I am not a Cliff Richard fan, but whenever I think of Christmas I do end up with a classic Christmas tune in my head) The most popular choices this year have been 'Walking in a Winter Wonderland', and 'Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow', I wonder if this is what prompted my other half to choose this very sweet card for me this year...

Slightly more civilised than my choice I'm sure...

So it's not a sewing blog today, but a Christmas Decoration one instead, as I've been so busy completing orders, and there is a limit to how many personalised cushions a girls can show you, these two below are two of my favourites, I am possibly swayed however by the names slightly, Grace is a name I have shortlisted should I ever be fortunate enough to have a little girl.

I haven't got too excited with my decorations this year as we have decided to travel about and not use our house as the central hub for social events, we needed a year off! So we just have our tree, a few bits and our cards, it's making me feel festive enough, especially at one point I was certain this the entire celebration would pass me by... The Christmas Carol Concert at school soon put paid to that!

Every year I get super excited by our Christmas Tree, mainly because I forget what I have sale hunted the year before, but also because my Christmas tree is so fabulously kitsch! (One my friends who if she is reading this, I know will be cringing right now as she HATES that word, but there really is no other choice!) 

This is my absolute favourite decoration, it was from my parents first tree, and anyone who knows me will know that I have a little bird obsession, to the point where my friends call my house an aviary! Each year it gets pride of place near the top of tree...

I have a slight obsession with all things retro, hence the white tree, but also the reason for these what can only be described as fabulous glass decorations...

This is the latest decoration, it came back from New York for me this year with my brother, I have worn converse since I was about 15, so obviously this was deemed appropriate for me, I do think my brother and his girlfriend thought I wouldn't put it on the tree, but there it is, right slap bang in the middle, the glitter catches the fairy light twinkle beautifully :D

(I did tell her to look out for it in my blog as proof it would be there!)

Any crafter has got to be feeling some love for Cath Kidston, and my tree does pay homage to the woman, who lets face it, along with Kirsty Allsopp, played a huge part in making crafts cool again. How could I not?

The icing on any persons tree, has to be whatever they choose to adorn the top, I have a beautiful fairy, again taken from my parents first tree, I love her...

My latest obsession however has to be all things Scandi, if I win the lottery, Sweden would be my choice of residence for a while, I just loved it so much there! We visited Stockholm in October last year, and I just love the little trolls they sell there, we recently had this little lady hand delivered from Sweden, I have named her 'Tack', to go with my little boy trolls 'Ej' and 'Nej'.

I'm going to leave you with this Christmas card, it was made a few years ago by one of my super talented friends, her illustrations are just quite frankly AWESOME!
(You can see what else she does here http://lynseygray.blogspot.com/)

FINALLY I WOULD JUST LIKE TO TAKE THIS CHANCE TO SAY.... 


HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS Y'ALL!!!

Feeling 5 again...

Ok, so todays post is going to be super quick, and not at all sewing related, but I've had a busy weekend making my house into a winter wonderland, I'll post some pictures soon. But after spending Sunday entertaining my gorgeous niece and nephew by playing with 'bricks' and stumbling across this super cool lego related blog post, I had to share my wonderful creations.... I did get a little obsessed with them... a few hours of my life gone!

http://www.retronaut.co/2011/12/lego-catalogue-1973/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HowToBeARetronaut+%28How+to+be+a+Retronaut%29

I was quite limited on brick colour and sizes, thus thwarting my creativity somewhat, but I think I did a pretty good job with what I had, well, lets be honest here, if I didn't I wouldn't be sharing them with the whole online world!

The rabbit also had a cute little tail and one floppy ear....

Feeling festive!

Apologies for the poor photo quality, I was at my mums and all we had was a phone!

Kids sew stuff...

I am so snowed under at the moment, I am loving that! But I couldn't justify another blog post about a cushion so soon... well, not one that I had made anyway. I thought it would be nice to share the cushions that some of my students made for their 'pre-loved cushion' project. Now this is the students first time on a sewing machine, so it's a little wibbly wobbly at times, and the tension on some of my machines is skewy which doesn't help the overall appearance but I think they have done a great job overall.

Some of them however were just WOW!

This one used to be a baby blanket, and what a great job with the applique...  yes it was all her work!

I loved this one a girl made for her little sister using her favourite t-shirt that didn't fit anymore

So cute from an old pillowcase, was gutted about the tension on this one though!

But it's not always the girls! This boy did a great job, but was a bit scared of the machine so hand sewing a plenty!

I really enjoy teaching this project, its a good chance to teach the kids how to use the machine correctly, understand how patterns work, and develop their skills. It's also great for teaching sustainability which is becoming a massive part of the subject now. Most importantly though, the kids love it and have produced some pretty impressive results!

I forgot to include this little cutie... I just LOVE it!