Something fresh

You know that Belle & Sebastian song, Don't leave the light on baby? I feel like i have sung that first line to myself several times over the last year or so.

Not that anything is majorly wrong, but you know when you feel like things just haven't been going right? I find it can really kill your creativity.

I had a load of lovely crafty projects on the go, but i feel as though most of them have come to a grinding halt. And this has probably contributed to the 'not going right' malaise. It has also contributed to the lack of activity on here.

So today, i decided to start something new.
Something fresh.
Something simple, that doesn't require me to umm and ahh too much. I'm using a pattern* (so i don't have to think about it too much) and scrap fabrics (so i don't have mini periods of complete paralysis whilst trying to cut into a fresh batch of fabric).

And here are its beginnings.

Bright and pretty. Pieced from scraps.

I hope its a good omen for things to come. I shook hands with a chimney sweep today too, so that should help.

* the pattern i'm using is from Anna Maria Horner's (BEAUTIFUL) blog. Saw it, loved it, going to make the baby version so I'm not working on another massive quilt for the next 20 years. It is called the feather bed quilt. Here is what i hope it turns out like...only smaller.

Stitch-up and Colourful cushions

Well, it is December already. I know I feel this more and more every passing year, but where 2011 went, I really don’t know. 

Although saying that, one thing I have been waiting for very impatiently, that seemed to make the last few months drag, finally happened – the little sewing and haberdashery shop opened up around the corner yesterday and I was in there buying lots of lovely little bits and pieces. The shop name is Stitch-Up and yes, they are going to host sewing groups and classes so I am really excited! I had a pang of jealousy walking around the shop and hearing all the positive things the other eager patrons had to say, but ‘Shoulda, coulda, woulda’ as they say. 

The shop is called Stitch-up and they have a website at www.stitch-upinfo.co.uk that doesn’t actually appear to be up and running yet, but baby steps. Once it is, I think they will post information about the classes and groups they are running. So if you frequent the Wimbledon area in London, be sure to check it out. I made a suggestion for a little lesson on sewing in zippers because this is something I have attempted and pretty much failed at a few times now. 

In honour of this very sewey occasion, I thought I would share some cushion covers I made recently for a friend. 

I love the pom-pom trim - makes them much more fun!

Hopefully they bring some brightness to this otherwise very dull London Sunday.

Look what I made...

I had so much fun making these. Find out more over at Phoebe and the Letterpress.

These cards are now available on my Etsy shop @ phoebeandthe.etsy.com

Haberdashery jealousy

When I heard a haberdashery shop was opening up on our small high street around the corner, I was really excited...but I was also a bit sad. I had been nursing a dream for the last two years or so to do the exact same thing. Then, when I heard this morning, they would also be offering classes as well, I slumped into a bit of a jealous heap frankly. This was my dream business!

To cheer myself up, I had a look at my favourite blog, Yarnstorm by Jane Brocket (I have raved about her here and here before, she is awesome, and her blog always makes my day) and spotted her latest children's book offering, Ruby, Violet, Lime. On the cover, was a photo of some cupcakes with lime green icing. I needed some of those lime green cupcakes in my life, I couldn't be sad with those in my kitchen so I set to baking, and this is what I got. 

Hummingbird Bakery vanilla cupcakes with a bit of food colouring in the mix 

I think some of the plants on our terrace were influencing my colour choices subconsciously.

See what i mean?

My husband's pride and joy - Abutilon. Very pretty.

I still feel a bit sad, but it has mostly been overtaken by feeling a bit sick from a cupcake induced sugar overdose. But seriously I don't think I can let myself feel jealous anymore just because I didn't get around to starting such a business myself. And I didn't start my dream business for several reasons. It doesn't mean there is any need for me to let go of this dream, just because someone has realised theirs around the corner from me. I think I will try and pick up some tips and tricks from them and their experiences, and you can pretty much take for granted that I will be down there enrolled in all their classes. Fingers crossed they start a sewing group. I dream of afternoons spent like this. If they don't, does anyone want to start a sewing circle with me?

I was probably a bit too 'green' to start my own haberdashery business just yet anyway.

Patchwork upholstery

Cath Kidston vintage find in the Brighton shop

Cath Kidston has been giving me ideas...again! I think i want to cover my little arm chair in a patchwork like this. I think it looks amazing.

I had better get sewing.

Apologies and novel retro

I have been a very bad blogger of late; no updates or any warning! But I am back again now, after a month (or two) off due to family visits and other general change in our household. But despite all that, and being a bad blogger, i have in fact been busily working away on a few projects.

And here is one...

I made this cushion a while ago now for a friend's birthday. We found the fabric in a cool fabric shop on Columbia Road called Beyond Fabrics. To me, the orange, lime and yellow combine to create a very retro looking cushion given a modern spin with clean cotton lines. I have photographed it with another design classic reworked - my Anglepoise Type1228.

You can pick up good quality cushion inserts at John Lewis. I learnt this quick and easy cushion cover pattern at the Make Lounge a few years ago now (i have raved about the Make Lounge on here several times before). Londoners (and just outside Londoners) can learn too here.

Novel retro indeed.

Quilting and instant gratification napkins

I have started a quilt - and i have probably bitten off a bit more than i can chew, but when has that ever stopped me?

I was shopping in Cath Kidston several months ago, when i spied the most beautiful quilt i have ever seen in my life! I don't know exactly what it was that made me love it SO much, but i think it might have been the use of white with the immense variety of pretty patterned colourful segments that pleased my eye. I am a pattern junky, and this quilt was overloaded with different types - all very retro, although i cant know its age, a lot of the fabrics remind me of my granny's linen cupboard, anything from 30's to 70's.

I think it is kind of a 'charm' quilt in that there were no obvious repeats in the fabric (there were a few though, it took me a good while to spot them), however i don't know that the white 'background' really fits with this. I wish i had some kind of quilt mentor who could answer my questions - in fact a quilt course at university would be brilliant, there is so much to know and learn! The other thing i especially loved was the 'floral' type arrangement of these patterned segments. I stood for ages trying to work out the pattern exactly and how it broke down into squares.

You might ask why i didn't just buy the quilt? Well at close to £500 it was a bit out of my budget, but i was determined to have something similar.

And so, after taking a few trips to fabric shops around London and to the Eternal Maker in Chichester, i have finally worked up the courage to try and make my own.

First of all, i needed to work out the pattern. I did this by using my finger and hand to measure the original pieces and then went from there - not an exact science, but i think i have got it right to the inch. I then got out my old school geometry set and employing both compass and protractor, started sketching away a plan. I had to remember all of the triangle rules and what angles i needed for each corner -  whoever said you never use maths again after school must have never tried to make up a quilt pattern before! Once i had this all sorted, i washed and ironed and folded about 12 different fabrics and began cutting.

I have managed to sew together the beginnings of my first square; I have at least 41 more to go! So, I am definitely in this for the long haul. I am pretty thrilled with it - and i hope one day i will have something that doesn't look too far off the original. As a complete novice i have struggled a little with sewing the curved edges together, but i am finding that hand sewing, is not only very relaxing, but also very forgiving. I hope that i will be able to employ my sewing machine at some point to try and speed the process up, but I'm not sure if i will be able to control how well all of the points meet. In any case, i am not in any hurry, aside from wanting to see it all finished and laid out on my new bed.

To sate my hunger for instant gratification, i whipped up these two napkins for the dinner table out of some left over Cath Kidston fabric i had left over from a table cloth.

Very satisfying.

Some more baby aprons

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you would have seen that i made a baby apron for a lovely little girl i know last summer. It was a hit and i have seen her wearing it on more than one occasion (in fact her mother told me she cried one day when it was in the wash because she wanted to wear it so much- bless). 

Another friend of mine, having read the blog post, and asked if i could make one for her niece for Christmas. Obviously i obliged and sewed up another for her little person. 

I made another that i then gave to yet another friend's little girl (Gosh, don't i sound popular?!).

I think they are so cute. The fabrics for all of them so far have been by Amy Butler with a corresponding or contrasting trim. I came up with the pattern myself as i couldn't find one that i liked on the internet (although it is nothing ground breaking). I think they are cute, but cool at the same time. Perfect for little misses and misters.

My peg bag

Continuing on with the 'look what i made' thread, i thought i would show my ..... PEG BAG! Not exceptionally exciting, but i think its just as cute as the ones i have seen in Cath Kidston, even if the fabric is a tad more mod!

A Children's Apron for Isla

I whipped up a quick little apron for my friends daughter the other week. I didn't make a pattern or anything, just drew the basic shape on half the fabric and cut it on the fold. I think the fabric was by Amy Butler from memory with some matching lime binding tape sewn around the edges to create the tie.

I left the ties around the neck and waist open so they can be adjusted as Isla grows.

Super cute!