SAL 50: ballet shoes

I have had more time to sew in the last few weeks, as it is the school holidays, Yay! That said, I have been carrying on with other projects as well as my SAL project. But here is where I was at our last session… the project is a ballerina mouse embroidery, designed by Jenny McWhinney.

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And here is where I have got up to…..

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As you can see I have managed to finish off the ballet shoes – which were worked in stem stitch outline and filled in with long and short. Using wools means that they come together very quickly. I hope to have the flower completed next time and maybe a bit of the mouse.

Many thanks for popping in and look forward to catching up in three weeks time.

Happy stitching.

We are a small group of crafters using a variety of different techniques. Please check out the fabulous stitching by all the other members of the SAL. If you are interested in joining us you can contact Avis for details.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan, Renee, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, AJ, Laura, Cathie, Linda, Helen

Swap happy

I love to take part in swaps and usually do a couple each year. My favourites are at Christmas and are hosted by Tracy from https://www.instagram.com/madaboutbags/ But this year I am taking part in a birthday swap hosted by Jenny from https://www.instagram.com/lilmaisiedaisy/ . There are 11 of us in total and we have been split into two groups. We each make a gift for everyone in our group and send cards to those in the second group. As fortune would have it, I was the first in the swap to receive gifts for my birthday and was just blown away by everyone’s generosity. Here are some pictures of the wonderful makes I received.

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My birthday was made very special by a small community of IG sewers and every time I use my gifts, I will be reminded of their kindness. If you are thinking of taking part in a swap, I can highly recommend them.

Thank you for popping in, happy sewing.

Posing pouch….

I just love sewing swaps as the people you send to really appreciate the time and work put in to each gift. Here is a WIP pouch that I made for a swap recently. I found a heart block for the inside of the pouch, then quilted very simply around the shape. A sparkly vinyl was then sewn in place over the top.

Front of pouch shewing heart block.

Back of pouch

I added a simple appliqued heart and ribbon tab to the back of the pouch. These are so easy to make and are great scrap busters too!

Thanks for popping by. Happy stitching everyone.

SAL 49: Making a start…

Hi everyone, another 3 weeks has flown by and the summer holidays are here! So, I have finally made a start on my little ballerina mouse embroidery, designed by Jenny McWhinney. The design has been pre-printed on a linen fabric and the embroidery stitches used so far are stem stitch and long and short – so fairly simple.

Here is my progress so far….

Many thanks for popping in and look forward to catching up in three weeks time.

Happy stitching.

We are a small group of crafters using a variety of different techniques. Please check out the fabulous stitching by all the other members of the SAL. If you are interested in joining us you can contact Avis for details.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan, Renee, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, AJ, Laura, Cathie, Linda, Helen

SAL 48: No progress here….

Hello everyone, the last three weeks have shot past haven’t they? I am afraid that I have not even started my next SAL project – as school life has been very hectic, what with report writing and making costumes for our summer production – it hasn’t allowed any down time to sew. Hope to catch up in another 3 weeks. Think I am going to go with the little mouse.

Many thanks for popping in and look forward to catching up in three weeks time.

Happy stitching.

We are a small group of crafters using a variety of different techniques. Please check out the fabulous stitching by all the other members of the SAL. If you are interested in joining us you can contact Avis for details.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan, Renee, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, AJ, Laura, Cathie, Linda, Helen

SAL 47: Conundrum

Hello everyone, Since finishing my last project I have been looking for something new to start. I have narrowed it down to the following two pieces – but which one would you like to see? Any help in choosing would be appreciated.

The first project is another sewing etui – but this time of a peacock…. There are a lot of new techniques involved – but it will be a long project to follow.

The second choice is much simpler – a long and short stitched mouse ( there are actually 4 different mice to embroider). The design is super sweet.

Any help please – and then I can get started.

Many thanks for popping in and look forward to catching up in three weeks time.

Happy stitching.

We are a small group of crafters using a variety of different techniques. Please check out the fabulous stitching by all the other members of the SAL. If you are interested in joining us you can contact Avis for details.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan, Renee, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, AJ, Laura, Cathie, Linda, Helen

Happy Dance!

Yay! I finally managed to finish my little blue wren etui, designed by Jenny Adin-Christie, It has been a long time in the making, challenging with lots of new techniques to learn – but great fun too! The kit was beautifully designed and all the components of a very high standard, the instructions were easy to follow and provided lots of pictures, which is useful for people like me who tend to dive in and read instructions later!

And here he is in all his glory…

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So now all that is left to do is choose my next project…….

Many thanks for popping in and look forward to catching up in three weeks time.

Happy stitching.

We are a small group of crafters using a variety of different techniques. Please check out the fabulous stitching by all the other members of the SAL. If you are interested in joining us you can contact Avis for details.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan, Renee, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, AJ, Laura, Cathie, Linda, Helen

Moth Queen

Starting a new project is always great fun and I recently treated myself to a gorgeous kit called ‘Moth Queen’ designed by https://www.annalisamiddleton.com/shop. It is a goldwork kit described as ‘ not overly complicated and suitable for a patient beginner.’ I found the instructions comprehensive and very easy to follow and Annalisa has now made a series of videos to run alongside. All materials were of a very good quality, so easy to work with. The project took me four weekends to complete and I am very pleased with the results.

I have some experience with goldwork, but this still introduced me to a couple of new techniques such as sewing over a silk background and using leathers over small areas.

As always with goldwork, the initial stages (and often most time consuming) are concerned with building up the padded base layer. The silk backgrounds were then applied over the padded wings and outlined with Japanese threads.

Two different coloured silks were used to cover the first and second set of wings. Then the body padding was added. A pattern was drawn over the silk and this was covered with Japanese threads and the areas filled in with gold chipping.

Once the patterns on the top wings had been filled I moved on to the body, applying leather to the head and thorax.

The bottom patterning on the wings was created by stretching leather over more padding. Then the ‘crown’, antennae and legs were added.

And here is the finished Moth Queen. I was really pleased with the results and all I have to do now is decide whether to frame her or make her into a very eye-catching patch!

Thanks for popping in…

Happy Stitching!

Japanese Rice Bag

I have been taking part in a few sewing swaps recently – and one of my makes was a Japanese rice bag which I thought you might like to see. It was my first attempt and of course I did not read the instructions until it was too late.

By the time I had read the instructions I realised that my blocks were too large for the pattern base – but hey ho – I carried on and improvised a new base.

The bag was for someone interested in quilting and quilting blocks, so I had a go at making a few of these too! I found a lovely rainbow and tulip pattern that were very popular on instagram and, after much unpicking, managed to get them to look quite reasonable.

So here is the finished bag in all it’s glory!

Front rainbow block

Back tulip block

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Appliqued side panel

Appliqued side panel

I just hope that my partner likes my make. Next time I will read the pattern first (well, maybe that is a little too optimistic!)

SAL 46: Sew close…..

Another three weeks has shot past and I have managed to get all the elements of my little mossy bank, for my blue wren to sit on, finished – but not mounted.

This is where I was up to last time…

I have now managed to make up the little pincushion, finish off the French knots, incorporate the needle lace fungi and add a few more beads and spangles. It is still very green, but now it looks like this…..

Mossy Hillock

I have cut out the green circle and now need to mount it onto a block. Maybe next time it will be completely finished!

Many thanks for popping in and look forward to catching up in three weeks time.

Happy stitching.

We are a small group of crafters using a variety of different techniques. Please check out the fabulous stitching by all the other members of the SAL. If you are interested in joining us you can contact Avis for details.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan, MaryMargaret, Renee, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, AJ, Jenny, Laura, Cathie, Linda, Helen