Category Archives: Sewing

Easy DIY Stag Cushion

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stag cushion diy (1)I know, I’m having somewhat of a sewing renaissance here at the moment. Apparently the trick is to actually get your sewing machine out, who knew!

Anyway, after having totally flunked at making this the other week and making my Children’s Tea Towel Apron instead, I then found where I had hidden the fabric. It was, of course, on top of the coffee machine. This, dear reader, is pretty much the story of my life. Anyway, having found the material and with The Husband having taken The Toddler out I jumped on the opportunity to get some more sewing done.

You can view this tutorial in one of two ways, if you follow just the instructions form making an envelope cushion and ignore all the stag bits then I promise, even as a beginner you can get this done in under an hour. The instructions come from what I learnt at The Make It Room the other week and my first attempt was done in no time at all. If you want to do the stag too it will probably take you about an hour and a half. I did mean to time it but…umm…I met up with the family and had lunch in the middle so kinda forgot. Sorry about that. The instructions are as follows. Continue reading →

DIY Childrens Tea Towel Apron

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Upcycled tea towel DIYSo, after an epic amount of procrastination, last night was to be the night that I did some sewing. Child in bed. Husband out. Embellished cushion covers to be made so cushions measured, template created, even the iron was at the ready. And then of course once The Toddler was in bed I realised I’d left the fabric in his room. Or somewhere like that anyway. Hmm.

Not to be deterred (it having taken weeks to get the sewing machine out after all) I then had a quick panic about what I could make, especially due to the mild no fabric issue. Then I remembered two things; one, while baking that afternoon The Toddler had got his top totally covered in cake mixture, two, while trying to be a domestic goddess earlier last week by cooking a mid week roast dinner, I had set fire to the brand new Emma Bridgewater tea towel that Mumma Craftsonsea had sent me. Normal levels of domesticity resumed there then. So rather than throw away my lovely new towel I thought I would try and up cycle it into an apron for The Toddler. The whole thing was done in less than an hour and that includes me making up a pattern, so with a bit of foresight I think this could be done in 30 minutes easily. Here’s how I did it.  Continue reading →

Sewing at The Make It Room

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makeitroom So, having declared last week that, inspired by the Great British Sewing Bee, I was going to dust off my sewing machine and bravely try and start sewing again, I was very lucky in that last weekend I got to book on a class at The Make it Room in Howe Green to learn to make cushions.

I’ve sewn an envelope cushion before, in fact it was the last thing I actually cracked the sewing machine out for. I even made up the pattern myself. But the fact that I haven’t blogged it tells you roughly how well it went. It’s ok, I mean, it’s in my front room so it’s not a total disaster-o-rama or anything, but the back rather gapes and it’s just…. well, the machine has gathered dust since then. That’s not a good sign is it?  Continue reading →

Sew Inspirational

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Sorry, I do love bad puns…

Anyway, my ambition to get my sewing back on track thanks to the bit of lovliness that is Great British Sewing Bee is now on. Have I dusted of my sewing machine yet? Crikey no, still not ready to take the plunge there! But the plunge is indeed on its way and while my enthusiasm is gathering momentum I thought I’d share a few of the things that are inspiring me to get my sewing back on.

Fabrics I love.

Top images, Lizzy House, lower left, Sarah Watson, lower right, Lotta Jannsdotter

Top images, Lizzy House, lower left, Sarah Watson, lower right, Lotta Jannsdotter

I have a board on Pinterest dedicated purely to fabrics that I’m lusting over (do come take a look at it and follow!) and it seems silly to have a fabric addiction and no sewing to justify it. My latest find is Lizzy House who does the amazing constellation fabric. Having a son I find it really difficult to find something that’s nice but not too girly or covered in pirates. Actually, if I’m honest I’d rather like this fabric for me too. I’m also mildly obsessed with Lotta Jansdotter and I discovered Sarah Watson about…ohhhh… fifteen minutes ago?  Continue reading →

Southend Gets Sewing #imapiece Stitch In

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#imapiece southendSo, suffice to say I was ‘mildly nervous’ about Monday’s stitch in for #imapiece. Arguably, if you are thinking of planning an event and you are going to try and get total strangers to turn up it probably makes sense to give yourself more than 10 days to plan the aforementioned event.

Thankfully I am not a sensible person, otherwise I would never get anything done and life would probably be quite boring

So Monday came and after a quick, panicked visit to my local sewing shop and a few choice words aimed at the snow which had decided to pay Essex another visit it was time to go. Continue reading →

Frank Sinatra, cold weather and keeping everyone happy

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As Frank Sinatra sang, and now, the end is near, and so we face the final curtain. Or in my case,  my mum needs to make some curtains, which means she is VERY VERY UNFAIRLY taking her own sewing machine back to her own house. How unreasonable is that? I’ve only had it for about five months, and umm, she’s said I can have it again afterwards. Oh. Well anyway, the soon to be tragic loss of the sewing machine meant that I had to finally crack on with the sewing tasks I’d popped onto my autumn bucket list and as it’s gone absolutely stupidly cold these last few days there was no better reason to get the draft excluder made.

The material is two parts Lotta Jansdotter who I am slightly obsessed with. In a different life, I would have a house full of girly pink Cath Kidston and Amy Butler fabrics, however I do live with the husband and I’m not a fan of encouraging men to live in houses full of flowery stuff. Call me old fashioned but did anyone ever get laid in a house full of Amy Butler stuff?!? I await the comments on that one!! These prints seemed husband friendly, although why I have put white cotton next to the door in a house with a toddler is obviously another question for another day.  Continue reading →

Recycle, Reuse, Redundant

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Yeah. Sucks a bit, huh?

So you may remember that last weeks woodturning was a huge success. My personal highlight was texting Rach to tell her that one commenter had likened us to Kirstie Alsopp. Apparently she let out a whoop and had a ‘got to tell the husband moment’. This is obviously one of the nicer aspects of forcing people to help out with your craft blog. So the plan was that today off we would go to the sewing one, all the girls in the office all excited and me feeling like I am super-dooper Kate. I am sewing in my lunch break! I can get a blog post out of it! I am doing my bit for team building!

And then the day before my boss told me that we’re entering a consultation period. Jobs would be lost. Mine possibly one. There’s a new job, which I can apply for, but its full time so I’d have to do a  job-share. And, you know, apply for it.  Continue reading →

Autumn Bucket List – or a big kick up the backside

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I don’t do New Years Resolutions. As far as I see it, I’m not doing that much that I need to give up, heck, I’m a preachers wife so it’s not like I’m flogging crack outside the local primary school. Likewise I don’t want to wait until New Year to pull my finger out and get some things done. So here’s a bucket list to get me through the autumn as the nights are drawing in. A mini mission statement to keep me going.

1) Sell enough things to justify how much I’m doing in Cooksons at the moment. This week I’ve taken a commission for one of my annealed bracelets (WHOOP!!!!) however I also did £46 and don’t have much to show for it. I have therefore promised myself that I daren’t go near internet shopping until I’ve made that £46 quid back.  Continue reading →