Thursday, 6 October 2011

Two on the way!

It's so lovely when good friends announce they're expecting not just one little bundle but twins! The parents don't want to know the sex of these happy additions so for now we all know them as Topsy and Turvey. We're driving for 3 hours to see the couple before the arrival of these piglets and I simply had to take something in anticipation.
Firstly, the husband is a member of the Labour party like mine, and the two boys like nothing more than discussing the state of the world over a couple of beers. As a tribute to his leanings I had these printed by a lovely seller I found on Ebay.
Hammer and Sickle baby onesies! Awesome not so? And the quality of the onesies is simply great- nice, thick cotton. For the second set I shamelessly stole an idea from a Pinterest post and appliqued "copy" and "paste" on two more onesies.
I shan't show you my appalling aplique skills, it looks pretty decent from this distance but these are unfortunatley not such nice quality (oh, ebay, you hit-and-miss mistress!) so the stitches look a bit pulled because of the low thread count. sigh. It's the idea behind the gift right?

On a completely different note, I made my first apron for a friends birthday.

Just a simple pattern but without any fussy gathering. I already had the grey binding left over from my quilt, Score!
The sweet fabric is called Cartooon Dogs from the Boys Will Be Boys range designed by David Walker for Free Spirit.
I added a little button flower detail.
I have a tiny bit of this fabric left over but now I heart it so much that I can't bring myself to use it! I think I'm destined to have a hoard of material that I love too much to use! Am I the only one with this shameful secret?

Monday, 15 August 2011

Zippy Bags and a Swallow

 I made these little coin purses using this tutorial. I heart them! I can't help myself unzipping them all the time.
Here's a little show: (cue music)





Ta da! Cute, no?
And just because I can, and want you to see the awesome ribbon you can get on online (look at those tiny matroska dolls and the little blue whale!)
Also, because I have craft tourettes, I made a little swallow embroidery. This was heavily inspired by the amazing art show put on by the No Blood Spilt Art Collective. The show was all for charity and was mostly tattoo and alternative arts inspired.

It's not the neatest, and I definitely need to brush up on my fill stitches but at least its obvious what he is!
I have a craft fair booked for three weeks and am so nervous. What if nobody buys anything? What if someone is really mean about my creations in front of me?
Do you have any tips for this kind of thing? Also- what sells? I imagine a stall is different from my online shop. Please help me to choose the best things to sell in the commets below! Much appreciated!

Monday, 8 August 2011

Circus Tents Commission

I received a commission based on my previous felt balloon mobiles. The lady loves all things circus so she requested two types of tents, a round blue one and one square yellow one.
First, the blue:



 I embroidered little stars behind the curtains of the doors!
And the yellow:


I think they turned out pretty cute. The concept would never have occurred to me and that's why I love commissions. Combining two peoples visions can sometimes lead to far greater results than individual efforts. Now if I can only remember this when my DH tries to help with my projects.
As always I hope these give you a bit of inspiration to let your creativity out!

Thursday, 7 July 2011

Little Crochet Delights

I taught myself how to crochet using Youtube videos about a year ago and I have found that I am happiest crocheting amigurumi (little animals). The word is Japanese and means small creature or anthropomorphic object.
The first is this robot that I made for my cousins son (his name is Tim). I got to try crochet spirals! I love em!
The next is a little bunny pattern I found online
These are my favourite! For some reason I always have white wool. But its also the nasty acrylic stuff. To make this fluffy look I took a stiff hairbrush that had lost the ends of its bristles and attacked the monkey. I think it is much better this way!

Their faces are felt and they are super soft!

I sent them as a set to my parents in law. I think they should always stay together, they'd be sad apart!
Hope these are a source of inspiration for your projects :)

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