Perfect stitching, but not mine

I am slightly astounded by the perfection of this stitching.  Not least because it's my 'I don't like hand sewing' daughter's perfect stitching.

when Annis asked me if she could make a purse for her auntie's 40th and I suggested she find a pattern to embroider onto it she said she'd changed her mind because dad was taking some metal poles apart with an allen key and she'd rather do that

Not to be defeated I brought out the exciting iron on transfers (it feels like magic!) and she came back (after playing with metal poles for quite a while) and chose a pattern that's definitely too big for a purse and proceeded to stitch far more perfectly than I ever do!

I know this bird will look beautiful when she finishes it but I don't know what we will make it into for her auntie.  Oh to be able to move from metal work to perfect stitching!  Oh to be ten years old again!!

circus skills

I've been a little fascinated by the idea of circus skills lately.  Not so much clowning but definitely balancing acts

little girls practicing their skills so they can run away and join the circus

balancing and tightrope walking

and sprinkling fairy dust

I'll be listing these little coin purses over the next few days on folksy

needle books

needle books 001, originally uploaded by glassmountain.

I really love little purses and cases for all those little crafting bits and bobs. Needle books and pincushions are particular favourites, so today I've been making needle books.

these have a little button closure at the back (my favourite kind of closure for some unknown reason) and do you see my new printed label there.  I'm not sure how I feel about the font but it does look so much more professional (well maybe!)

these pages are linen and cotton ( I ran out of felt and had to rethink, but I like these pages.)

and the embroidery is a little rabbit picking flowers, I got to use my gorgeous red linen thread from fog linen

for the flowers and around the edge.  I have made another with a little girl embroidery and felt pages.  Both are listed on folksy.

working on a new design

does she look a little parisienne?   i hadn't intended her to be parisienne but her stance and facial expression and slightly beret looking hat made it impossible to see her any other way

i'm not too sure about her foxy little dog!  although i do like the idea of a little dog, or maybe a cat...

i stitched her in a light grey, as a change to my usual black thread

this photo is a little faded, her dress is actually a stronger green and blue, i'm quite pleased with her black bob and i was happy with her stringy legs but then j said he thought her legs were too thin which put a seed of doubt into my mind and now i'm just not sure...what do you think?  perhaps i'll have to sew her with fatter legs as well and compare.

clogs,lost comments and lavender bags

the clogs have arrived!  Strictly speaking i am not supposed to see them until my birthday but i had to try them on, just to make sure.  And they are truly wonderful.  They fit like a glove but no pics of that because i have to wait until next week!

i'm afraid blogger is playing games with my comments, i tried to publish your lovely comments poppyart and Sam and it just took them away, it might bring them back but just so you know i didn't delete them!

i have been making lavender bags recently and when i went to sort through our bedlinen i noticed how damp it gets (we live in a very damp house) and that we have no lavender bags at all.  So i sat down to make some

using odds and ends of fabric.  but before i knew it i had little sewing helpers

speedy annis on the sewing machine

and thoughtful teague on the hand sewing

not to mention oldest boy accompanying us on the piano.

Now before you are overwhelmed by the perfection of our household i should say that all i could think was 'is this really our house?  No arguing, no shouting, no computers, no dvd's!  i must preserve this evening on my blog, just to remind myself it really did happen.  Even if the photos are a little dingy!

an embroidery pen disaster

I know it says test the embroidery pen first, and being no fool when it comes to markers I did, then I wiped it with a damp cloth and the mark disappeared, so off I went on my commissioned pieces...

what I did not notice was that as the fabric of my test piece dried out the blue returned, as if by magic (that would be black magic rather than white magic!)

so I wiped my embroidery and the blue disappeared only to keep reappearing and (for some strange reason) I decided to help the drying along by ironing it!  Yes, I know an iron is very likely to set it but I was getting a little panicked by now.  So I put the purses in the washing machine and wished and wished with all my might...

as they hung on the line I would rush out and check that the blue stains were not returning and finally...

the stains did not return!  That was how I spent my weekend, I hope yours was much less stressful.

little house brooch

little house brooch, originally uploaded by glassmountain.

I have decided to turn some little houses into brooches, I've put a brooch pin on the back (actually very fiddly, I'm sure there's an easier way!) and I think it looks quite sweet

embroidered purse

embroidered purse, originally uploaded by glassmountain.

this is the pouch in it's entirety. I cannot get the oatmeal colour of the fabric no matter where I photograph it or however much I mess with it on picnik. Any advice would be appreciated.

new things

I have finally opened my etsy shop.  It is a very tentative opening, just a couple of things that I will add to gradually (I still have to build up stock for another craft fair!)

so this pretty purse (I do love houses)

and a little boat keyring.

 I can't seem to get the button thingy onto my blog so I will have to link my shop LiliPopo

I have also uploaded a little cat bag charm or keyring onto folksy, these are such fun to make, each one is different

and finally, a little something I have been working on but is not quite ready yet

Sadly, the camping is cancelled because the weather is due to break just as we were due to go.  But I'm sure there will be many more campable days over the summer.

Quilting for the first time and styling

I am trying to be brave and making the lap quilt from Amy Karol's Bend the Rules. It's not really all that brave as I'm using some very cheap fabric we got from a car boot sale but I still get nervous when I start cutting! This is our layout (help from two children) and I will need to start sewing the strips together but I have to wait ten days for the wadding. This is sooooo exciting for me because I have always wanted to make a quilt but have always felt nervous, this quilt seems fairly simple so I will write more when I have done more of it.

I had to add these pictures because while I was faffing around with pieces of fabric two of my children got a little bored (rainy day blues) and started styling and photographing their knitted babes...

...there are actually about twenty photos of said babes (quite a conservative number for a digital camera) but I've only shown two, perhaps all the rest ought to be on flickr...