WOYWW 295

HOLLY THE HEDGEHOG SLEPT IN THE BACK SHED
THE BROOMS AND THE BRUSHES, THEY DIDN'T COMPLAIN,
WRAPPED IN A POUND NOTE, LIKE A PAPER OVERCOAT,
OUT OF THE WAY OF THE WIND AND THE RAIN.
(Ralph McTell)

There has been a great response to the fundraising items I showed last week, so I'm in the process of cutting out another vintage bag with another one to follow!
I ran out of the spotted fabric so am having to make do and mend!  The spotty is a linen finish and came from Fabricland in Salisbury - brilliant value at £3.99 a metre. I bought it last year though so it's probably all gone now. Wish I'd bought double......
I'm just lining up the completed zip section with the top of the lining. It always looks wrong at this point but you just have to trust yourself, lol!




This one is slightly shorter, height wise - it's going to be a knitting bag for my brother's partner, Ros. I'm making a bigger one for Annie C as we speak. And thank you to Anne for buying the original from last week. All profits are going to Crafty Gashead Zoe's fundraiser. 

The doggy bag (!!) is still free if anyone would like it :-)

I have been a good girl and busting my stash but my lovely hubby had given me a Christmas voucher for an online company, Fabric Rehab, and this is what I got with it. So, it's not like spending proper money, is it? You know what I mean!  All the fabric was from the sale section, so I really got my money's worth. The ricrac will come in handy for all sorts of projects......

All the Hooters I made went off to Zoe's this week. this was how I found them one morning (Rhys had been creative!)
I made one more, for a birthday prezzy but can't show you it for a while.  But I decided to have a change and make the other pattern I got......
Meet Herbie the Hedgehog! Isn't he sweet?  He needs a home too, so if you're interested, drop me an email (again, for Zoe)  I really enjoyed making him, the pattern runs up really easily and there were less bits to sew on than for the Hooters!  I think this gold colour tinsel yarn is really effective for his Hedgie Spikes :-)

And lastly, you know how it is. Something arrives out of the blue and just makes you happy...
A gorgeous little handmade notebook and a pretty, sparkly card from WOYWWer Lisa M (Lisa's Craft Garden). I love them, they just cheered me up on a down day. Thank you Lisa, it was a really lovely surprise!!

If only we could bottle the sharing and caring that runs through Julia's blog...we'd make a fortune!  Have a great week :-)

WOYWW 294

THEY'RE COMING TO TAKE ME AWAY, HA HA,
THEY'RE COMING TO TAKE ME AWAY, HO HO, HE HE, HA HA..........

Well, maybe not me but my menfolk.....you'll see why later!

The desk is back in full swing....






I wasn't fishing for compliments last week when I mentioned my inability to marry scraps of fabric together, honestly.  I can do it but the imprecise-osity irritates my inner OCD!!   

But, as someone said, the only way to improve is to practise, so here I am, attempting to further bust my stash with a vintage selection.

The soft tones work well together, I think and look, Janet Fairythoughts, I'm using those buttons you made me!  The script on them matches that on the fabric - me likee!!




And here's the finished tote bag together with the doggy one from last week!  I'm selling these to help our lovely WOYWWer Crafty Gashead Zo raise funds for her charity. She suffers from Hypermobility EDS/BJHMS and never complains, even though she is in pain. Her fundraising page is here if you are interested. The totes are slightly smaller than my usual size (44 cms wide, 30cms tall) so I'm asking £15 (plus P+P)  I asked Julia if I could do this and she was happy as it's for charity. Email me if you're interested...all proceeds will go to Zoe's fundraising.

And how do you like my lovely hooters?!
These are what all those owly constituent parts turned into! Aren't they fun?  I'm selling these for the charity too....Mummy Hooter (8") is £7 and Baby (6") is £5. You know you want a cheeky Hooter to be your crafting companion, lol!  Right, that's it, advertising stops now, Thank you for your patience :-)

I had a commission from a mate to make one as a prezzy...so off I toddled to get some more tinsel yarn and I made the bodies. Fine, all well and dandy. Then my menfolk decided that they could be multi tasked......

Honestly, it's like living in The Goon Show in our house sometimes....sigh.....   ;-) 

I think I need to run a caption competition here. My favourite one will win a sewn prize of some description (yet to be made!)     Have a great week!

WOYWW 293

I MAKE IT UP AS I GO,
I MAKE IT UP AS I GO.
DOES IT LOOK LIKE I'VE GOT EVERYTHING UNDER CONTROL?
(Sam Tsui)

I've got a stash busting desk to share today!
I got these fabrics out a while back and they've been sitting on my desk for the past two weeks....my sewing machine had a layer of dust on it too (well, why should it be different from all the other furniture in my house?!)  But I kicked my butt into gear and got going....

I'm exploring the dark side of the stitch selection wheel  :-)  Just to add a little subtle detail....

But I've come to the conclusion that I'm rubbish at doing this - it bain't be nat'ral, I tell 'ee! Some folk (Twiglet, Wipso, Kyla) just have the knack of throwing odds and ends together and making something special. It just seems that I try too hard....it's the same with crocheting or knitting with tag ends of wool. I really do not find it satisfying - it's not that I plan my projects either....ideas usually hit me round the back of my head.  Inspiration/Mojo is an odd thing, isn't it? Thank goodness we're all different :-)

Take this, for example - a prezzy from a friend:
the prettiest little lavender bag...I know that I will never make anything like this. I have no patience, simple as that!!  The very thought of paper piecing makes my eye twitch ;-)

I have had more success with the crazy, sparkly, tinsel yarn this week...no beards were harmed in the making of the following:
Owl bodies, eyes, beak and claws...all ready to stuff n' sew. But would you believe that out of all the black buttons I possess, there are no pairs?  So I have to go and buy some...drat!  But OCD LLJ just couldn't put mismatched eyes on, it just wouldn't be right!  Does that mean I have to go to the wool shop? Awwww. what a shame......... ;-)

Have a great week everyone!

WOYWW 292

When I was one, I just begun,
The day I went to sea.
I jumped aboard a pirate ship
And the Captain said to me:
‘We’re going this way, that way,
Forwards backwards,
Over the deep blue sea.
A bottle of rum to fill my tum
And that’s the life for me’.
(The Music Bus)


Well, me hearties, 'tis mighty fine to see you....welcome aboard the good ship 'Sewing Shenanigans'... An old girl, a bit rough around the edges but still got some fighting spirit.......the ship's not bad either. Haa haaarrrrr ;-)

Sorry...normal (ha!) service will now resume. You'll understand the pirate stuff later on, lol!!
The desk....
...is covered with some Christmas presents and some fabric awaiting attention. The cat fabric was from Julia - it's so nice to have a stylish, not twee, cat print. I was just looking in my new bag book to see if I could find a pattern I liked. The map was a prezzy from my mate Sue...It's an OS Map with our home village right in the centre; there's a pic of me and Gordon on the front and the title is The Appleton's Amazing Ambles...one of my fav prezzies this year :-)








This is the downstairs desk in action - my bass has been cleaned out and polished and my old handbag is being recycled for D rings/straps etc. It has served me well that bag, I'm sad to see it go :-(

The other downstairs crafting will involve this little lot...I was in Salisbury and saw the patterns first (and made up samples too) of owls and hedgehogs knitted up in this King Cole Tinsel yarn. Isn't it fun?  I thought, ooh I can make a few of those for folk to sell for charity.  The yarn is weird to knit with but actually makes a soft velour-ish result. The only snag is the stitches are quite loose and I'd knitted a third of the body when I lifted the wrong needle out of the bag and me knitting slid orf!!  And I can't see the stitches to pick them up again....drat, curses and splice me mainbrace.

So, what do you do with a useless piece of knitting?  Become Blackbeard of course, lol!!!
I think there's a role for you in the next Pirates of the Caribbean film, Rhys, lol!!  It's amazing how much sniggering can be initiated by a black, sparkly piece of knitting :-)

While walking towards the yarn shop in Salisbury, I happened to look up and saw this.....
This handsome guy was sat quite nonchalantly, not trying to escape at all - he was people watching! Something would catch his attention and he would watch until it passed by. It was the funniest thing so I thought you would like to see him too :-)

Have a wonderful week xxxx



WOYWW 769

 WE'LL MEET AGAIN.... I'm going to take a break from blogging for a while - please don't worry, all is ok! - think I just need a...