Spider Web Patchwork Poncho!

Another favorite make from school days here....

Our task was to produce an item for a client to their brief. My client was the head of wardrobe from our local Amateur Dramatics Society who wanted me to produce a costume for a witch in 'The Scottish Pay'.

Inspiration for the design came from many sources revolving around a spider's web. I discovered spider web patchwork in a lovely book called The Quilters Block Bible by Celia Eddy.

Spider Web patchwork block made from paper.

The idea of the poncho came from the shape of the spider's web design and evolved from there.

Final Design page in my project folder.

I really enjoyed making this project and am extremely proud of the quality of finish. Taking inspiration from this make I am now working on making a skirt based on the spider web patchwork design.

Some making pictures... I look so young!!! :-)

'Sheep' Cushion

My friend Julie's birthday present ideas:

• Something for the new house
• Something bright coloured and fun
• Something with sheep on it!

I had some sheep fabric in my stash already so that was my starting point and I popped along to The Village Haberdashery for some more ideas. After falling in love with their spotty sheep fabric selection I decided 'Patchwork' and purchased fat-quarters in four amazing colours.

After doing a lot of doodles of different pattern blocks I came up with this pattern for a cushion...

The rest of the design and making came together really quickly...

Julie loves the new addition to her new house :-)

Watch this space for more versions in this pattern...

'Punk' Hat!!!

School days seem like they were ages ago however I remember making this hat like it was yesterday...

The brief was to make a hat from a selection of patterns based on a chosen theme. It took me ages to decide on a theme but I finally settled on 'Punk' - it was actually Dad's idea :-).

Scrap book page of ideas

It was great fun finding the material and bits and bobs on Carlisle Market and in Fun 2 Do... especially the florescent pink faux fur for the hair. I remember struggling to find a material the correct colour and heavy duty enough to hold the weight of the safety pins, zips and chain. I went for the white cotton canvas and dyed it black using washing machine dye.... very nerve-racking using Mam's washer for this! I was really happy with the slightly uneven colour effect it produced.

I still haven't had an occasion to wear the hat and it has been carefully stored in a hat box since it was completed. Think it's time for that to change...

Making of 'Bunny in Bathtub Wash Bag' in pictures

Bunny in the Bath Wash Bag

When I saw the little Bathing Bunny cross stitch kit by Mouseloft in Hobbycraft I couldn't resist purchasing it... super cute. I didn't have anything in particular in mind for it but thought it would be great to go on a present for my Mam for her birthday.
At first I was thinking about using it as a little embellishment on a face cloth or towel (I wanted to try out my new dissolvable canvas) but then I found this wash bag pattern by Laura Ashley during a random online pattern search and thought, yes perfect!
I found the dissolvable canvas extremely easy to use and it dissolved a lot quicker than I had anticipated. The assembly of the bag was very simple thanks to the clear tutorial and I especially love the patterned zip I bought from The Village Haberdashery.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAM!!!

I will definitely be making variations on this in the future... watch this space!

Dada London's Hat

Dada London: Actually my cousin's Grandfather and originally from London, hence the name, was a wonderful Gentleman.
When I was little I visited my own Grandparents every Sunday and Nana and Dada London lived close by.
Like lots of little girls I always wanted to make things and do lots of crafts. I had my own arts and crafts box at Nana's house and would 'attempt' to make something new every week. One weekend I decided a hat was the next challenge, with the help of my older cousins. The hat was completed using scraps of red fabric and held together with lots of glue... my first ever 'sewing' project (aged 7).
My cousins suggested that we give our masterpiece to Dada London as a gift. He was absolutely thrilled with it and wore it very proudly for the rest of the day which made us extremely happy, as you can imagine at that age.
Everytime I went to see Dada London after that he would always say, "I still have that hat you made me... do you remember it?"

Am in the process of finding a picture of Dada London with the hat and the hat itself may still be tucked away in Nana London's house somewhere..... on the hunt and will post pics soon :-)