Posts Tagged ‘sewing’

Tomorrow, I’ll be setting up a table at the Mullingar indoor market in co.westmeath. I’m a little nervous as a free table came up sooner than expected. So it meant that I had to make some stock and order carrier bags and other supplies fast. Last week, just when I really needed to get on with serious sewing, I was waiting for my new sewing machine ( early anniversary gift from my dear husband). I’m still getting used to all the computer options and 200 or so stitches. It doesn’t look much but my first criteria was that it had to be sturdy and take yards and yards of ruffling and fabric. So hopefully I’ll get a good few years of sewing on that machine

Anyway, I managed to get a thing or two done, like a couple of toddler skirts and a few vests…

ruffled bum bum, cute!

Jewellery and accessories will also be on the table.

I’m a bit nervous about tomorrow, hope everything goes ok…will let you know,

smile,

Virginie

Dear friends, although I do not have a girl (I have a 2year old boy that is keeping me far too busy right now) I must confess I’ve fallen in love with Pettiskirts.

Have you heard of them? They are fantastically voluminous skirts pretty much based on a vintage petticoat pattern using a modern non fraying fabric.

Dream Spun Kids

little pink dragonfly

Mix and Match, Colours and Patterns…the limit is your imagination: I guess that’s why I fell in love with it, that and the amazing volume that the bottom ruffles create. There is yards upon yards of fabric here ladies; believe me, I’ve already made three and it’s been a ruffling marathon!

Since I discovered them a couple of months ago, I’ve been googling and searching on the internet for tutorials and materials…

To buy, these lovelies go anywhere from 45euros to 100e ‘pricy’ you’ll probably think. But when you realize the amount of work involved, the price seems to make more sense.

I do have two favorite Pettiskirts designers…one is Belle Ame:

But my favorite pettiskirt boutique has to be Kaiya Eve Couture : fantastic concept, products, fabrics and photography! And it’s supposed to be the original Pettiskirt. Unfortunately I can’t show you pics but you can hop on to the link. Kandi Lightner, the designer has appeared on Martha Stewart 

I hope to share with you a few tutorial links next time if you fancy having a go ^_^and pictures of my first attempts!

Belle Ame

Belle Ame

So there it is, my version of my barbara-ann bears Kerfuffle kit (read about how I got the kit here). First teddy bear ever! I hope I haven’t made too much a mess of it. The long hair was often in the way but at the same time it forgives a lot of mistakes. So all in all, not too bad. The hardest part was the scupting of the nose and the embroidery bit…stuffing and joints wasn’t easy either. But then, 1st times are always a bit triky. I’m planning on making a new one soon…

I’m now looking a name for this furry fellow….any idea??

*update*

Barbara sent me an encouraging message with her name idea :

“Hello Virginie, Wow, wow, wow !!! What a great bear! What a happy bear. My idea for a name is Bonzo Bounce he just seems full of life and bounces. We love the way you’ve got his hair to stand on end and his smile, he seems to be smiling all over. We’d be very proud if we’d made him ourselves he’s got such a great personality.”

So there you have it: Bonzo Bounce it is ^_^

Surfing the net, I found this web site which I thought was cute and quirky. It’s called Sense & Sensibility Patterns as it sells dress patterns from by gone days… If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to wear one of these dresses out a Jane Austen’s novel, here’s your chance! How cool is that!

Weeks ago, I went to the Birmingham NEC Craft fair. A very good friend of mine is a Pastry Chef and works in Sugar craft. The cake show was on at the same time as the craft fair and she invited me to come along. (I should have written a post about it but the pictures I got are on my phone and I can’t seem to find the cables to get them on the computer-sorry I’m not great with technology in general lol)

I had the best time, meeting lampworkers, crafters, jewellery makers and…teddy bear makers!

These teddy bears are the cutest edgiest thing ever! Barbara and Andy from Barbara-Ann bears handcraft traditional and modern bears. They even do dragons!  I fell in love with the ’new wild bears’ and so Betty and I bought a kit to make Kerfuffle and a pattern to make Pugwangler.

(This a photo of the front page of my pattern to make Kerfuffle)

Their kit contains hand died Mohair (Barbara does it herself and you can find her mohair pieces here) glass eyes, threads…

As you can see, my teddy is going to be green/turquoise, very hairy and very soft…So many colors and types of mohair to choose from!

So I’m sort of slowly making it: pattern traced and cut out… I’ m taking my time and really don’t know how it’s going to come together. But eh! If Teddy looks presentable, I’ll show it to you. Hopefully…^_^

A childhood friend of mine had a baby girl called Margaux 2 weeks ago. So in a last minute rush ( yep, misslastminute.com it’s me) I quilted a cute little quilt. She can use it to  put down the baby or as a play mat or just a cuddly blankie. Also Dale, our quilt mentor who started

  Quilt Quorner here in Athlone and taught us girls to quilt, had given me for Dylan a little cuddly square, full of colours and textures. So I thought I’d make one for Marguaux too. Thanks Dale!!

 Here’s what I came up with:

(Here’s Dylan’s cheeky hand there on the left lol)

(Flannel I got at the Rds show a few weeks back.Cute little birdies! Top stitched with gold thread)

This week I made Tea wallets and tissue holders! And they’re matching Perfect gift, each under 10 dollars!

I use my tissue cozies all the time, I’ve got 2 or 3 on the go in each bag lol. They’re so handy plus they look good. Plus isn’t what we’re constantly told: to reuse?! There you go, reuse in style ladies ^_^

A cup of tea tissue cozy, let them eat cake tissue cozy, cup cake tea bag wallet and teapots tea bag wallet for more pictures…

I have been wanting to show you what I’ve been up to for ages, but making 1st proofs and then the real thing took time… I’ve only got nap time to sew! and sometimes, it’s very short

In any case, here they are, a first shot anyway. Hope you like them. You know I’m not into complicated stuff, I belive in simple sophistication or simply but classy. So these are useful, handy pouches (with different fabrics inner pockets) which you can used in your bag, in the car, in the house, wherever for whoever!

‘Sew me pink’ and ‘sew me turquoise’ coin purses, all listed on my shop

‘Provence’ clutch and coin purse

Hopefully more accessories to come soon…Hope you like ^_^

We had a fabulous time on saturday with the girls at the RDS in Dublin. It was the stitch and knit show, but there was much more than just yarn and fabrics…There was paper crafts and cross stitch and designers showing their textile work and quilts and workshops and sewing machine demonstrations….If that’s what you are into, it was great! I loved being able to actually see what I was buying as opposed to always buy supplies on the internet and then you have to wait for the items to be shipped and then anxious wait for the postman’s ring of the bell. Plus for once, didn’t have to use the credit card: It’s got to be a good thing right?!

So here’s a few pics of my finds…mostly fabrics…;)

The shop Pippablue from Galway had a great range of Amy Butler fabrics, and I especially was attracted to the laminated cottons. I was a bit cheeky there because there was 3and different rolls and the minimum to buy was 1/2 yard. But because there was another woman interested in them, we managed to get them to give the 2of us a fat quarter of each roll. That bundle of polka dot fabrics by Amy Butler is a fave too!

They had a few japanese fabric imports, but most of them were gone. I still picked one though and hope to use it in a pouch or a purse.

Scissors! I loved the print and got the lady to swap a scissor fabric for another one in that cute square little bundle. (I know, cheeky me…)

Great Alice in Wonderland fabric, here’s a few bits of it. And there again, I didn’t want a whole meter so I kinda got a little less….;)

And a few bits and bobs, mainly jewellery findings and stuff. Also got to make a cute hairbow for free that I wore straight away. so cute!

Thanks to Hayley from Two boos (who’s also part of the Etsy Ireland team), I have made my very first pencil case folks! lol I mean, really, I had never sewn a zipper before in my life. It is a real step forward in my new sewing endeavor: the ultimate goal being making my very own clothes *yeah like that’s going to happen anytime soon*

Before that though, there’s a couple of items I wanna make and that you will probably, if successful, see in the future posts:

- a frame purse

- a handbag

- a cushion for Dylan’s chair

- a full apron (start with a half one)

- a skirt

 And if everything goes according to plan, it would mean that I would have acquired enough skills to make my very own..TA TA dress!

Enough of day dreaming and going down to business with this brillant pencil case tutorial from Hayley’s blog, here’s what I made:

Going through my fabric stash, I knew what I was looking for: a remnant of Ikea fabric I had bought in the belfast store for like 1 pound. Ideal for this project!

All sewn up and ready to reveal itself to the world…

My case flat…

And how it should be! Well, far from being perfect but ya know…good enough for me!

Thanks Hayley