This Week in the Nest

Finally the littlest Magpie has recovered from all his mishaps and we had a great time yesterday celebrating his birthday. As you can see, cake decorating is not one of my talents, although I can confirm that it tasted delicious and was speedily devoured by the clan.

Another little one in the family is having her birthday next week. so today I have been stitching up a teddy bear sleeping bag (designed by Florence), like the one I made one for her sister in February. This time I used another Annela Hoey fabric, from her new range 'A Walk in the Woods'. I love this fabric, and treated myself to a very restrained three half-metres from Alice at Backstitch.

Since writing the last post about my blanket, I have added another half-dozen or so rows, including my rainbow section. Work on this has got to slow down now though so you won't be seeing it again for a while.

This new granny square has taken the place of the blanket. the idea is to turn it into a cushion, along with the two other fronts already made, as these can be sold at Larmer Tree. This way I get my crocheting fix without the guilt that I am not making stuff to sell. Perfect!

I know I mentioned that I went to Ikea a few weeks ago, but I didn't show you any pictures of the fabric I bought. Ikea fabric really is great value for money, especially from the children's department. These fabrics work out at £2 per metre and they are really popular with my customers.

  The idea is to turn these into more drawstring wash bags like the ones below.

I have also been busily cutting out felt shapes to turn into brooches. At last year's craft fairs I sold pretty much every one I made, the bird design in particular was a big hit so I am planning on sewing lots of these to take with me to the festival. I'm not sure that the photo does the colours justice, but please can I have your thoughts on the colour combinations?

Well, I had better be off to feed the family. I'm hoping to go to Stitch and Bitch tonight as it seems like it's been ages since I went to a knitting group and I'm really missing it. Pop back next week for some finished brooches and that look around the craft room I've been promising!

Thanks for stopping by,
Beth x

Craft Fair Prep

It's been another busy week in the mapie's nest. Lots of sewing going on. The machine and I are now friends again. I turned some of my new oilcloth into these.

The flowery print on the right is by Clarke and Clarke, I really love their fabrics and so far everything I've made using it has sold pretty quickly. This is another of theirs that I've used before and had to buy again.

I also have this in ordinary fabric and it's just as lovely. This is a little purse I made a while ago.

I also made some more bags using the Ikea prints that have been popular. The fabric bags take a little longer to make because I interface them to make them sturdier and it adds to the cutting and ironing time!

Last week I was very kindly given a big bag of remnants by my neighbour whose friend works making curtains. I love this kind of gift, it reminds me of when I was little and we'd receive a black bag full of clothes from a friend or neighbour and would all go diving in for the spoils.

New stash!

I haven't got plans for it all yet but I did quickly whip up these for the weekend.

This is just a quick visit, still got to price up this lot and make some tweaks to the stall. Will let you know next week how the fair goes.

Thanks for stopping by,
Beth x

Snap unhappy

Well, apparently I'm not talking to myself, so I'll continue.....

I hadn't really thought the whole blogging process through because it is only when I come to write that I realise I need photographs to accompany my witterings. Therefore the past few days have seen me snapping away at anything vaguely connected with crafting and having an enormous file full of dodgy shots to sift through. I will share a couple of the less dodgy with you, but please accept my apologies. My photography skills have improved since the advent of digital cameras (I was always the one with pictures of headless bodies and blurred images) but I am thinking I may need to enlist the services of one of my more snap-happy friends if I want to keep any readers.

I'll start with this picture of a couple of the bags I made this week

Those who know me will recognise my most crafted item of this year, the wash/cosmetics bag. After quite a few botched efforts, I came up with what I think is a great pattern and  have probably made about seventy of these now, lots of which adorn the bathrooms and dressing tables of family and friends, and some that I have sold at craft fairs this autumn, which has been a new adventure for me. (More about that another time.)

The fabric is from Ikea and I really love it. It has been very interesting to see which of the fabrics I use is most popular, but so far Ikea seems to be winning out over Cath Kidston, surprisingly.

Something else I made recently was the pincushion caddy by Anna Maria Horner, from her book 'Seams to Me'. I bought the book because it was recommended by a few different people whose blogs I read, especially Florence's. Florence is my blog and sewing heroine. She makes beautiful clothes (amongst many other things) and her blog is full of tutorials, patterns (her own), advice and other nuggets of stitching wisdom.

Anyway, after spending two days trying to make the pincushion, I did some research and discovered that I wasn't the only one who found it difficult and even learned some good tips to make it successfully, should I be moved to try it again. (I won't.)

My version isn't a resounding success (the middle should be solid, not squidgy) but it does the job and was a good way of using up several Cath scraps for posterity. Should you ever consider making this, my advice would be don't, but if you are determined, get in touch and I can point you in the direction of help. Failing that I can recommend a great Pinot to help you through.

Thanks for stopping by,
Beth x