Glass Fusing

Back in October I did a taster course in glass fusing at Silversides Glass Art in Bath. I found the course on Living Social, and at £18 it was a bargain!

We went through the basics of how glass is structured and how to cut and shape it. We had a practise with some cutting and realised how difficult it was to be exact! hen we had free rein to create whatever we wanted during the remainder of our time. I made a window hanger with a seaside theme which will probably end up living in my sewing room. I then made two glass pendants for Christmas presents.

It was a really fun way to spend an afternoon, and glass fusing is definitely addictive - I'd love to do a full course now! If you're looking for a new craft to get into, or just fancy doing something relaxing and a bit different have a look at the courses they run on the link below. They also have a lovely shop on the premises, with gorgeous jewellery, buttons and scarves for sale along with the glass pieces.

www.silversidesglass.com

Fox & Raccoon

These cute critters were Christmas presents for two special children, William & Josie. The pattern was Simplicity 1549, which I got free with Sew magazine, but is available for sale separately. 

They were so much fun to make, I highly recommend the pattern. It's simple to follow and I think the results are really great - the toys are big enough to be like cuddly pillows (especially the Raccoon) and the kids really loved them. Good result!

Rag Doll

This weekend I tried out a new rag doll sewing pattern that I purchased nearly a year ago but never got around to making.


She's about 50cm tall when standing, so a lot bigger than the other toys I've made.


She has removable bloomers, petticoat and dress as well as black felt shoes. Very cute!

Quilted Advent Calender

It might seem way too early to be even thinking about Christmas yet, but as sewing projects can take a while I wanted to start this one early! My Mum has a lovely quilted advent calendar that I have long coveted. I borrowed it from her over the summer so that I could copy the design and work out how to make one myself.

I copied the basic tree design pretty much exactly. On Mum's calendar she has cross stitched ornaments for the 25 days. I'm not much of a cross stitcher myself, so I decided to make felt sewn hearts to hang instead.

I'm very happy with the finished result, and have already made one for a friend as a gift. I'm taking orders for these now, for sale through Vintage Bee.

Embroidered Pictures

I've been making new stock ready to sell at Christmas markets - yes, I know, it's too early to think about Christmas!

I got some lovely chunky white frames from Ikea and have been free motion embroidering pictures for them. The fabrics used are mainly vintage.

These are for sale from Vintage Bee.

The Handmade Fair

 

The location for the Fair was the grounds of beautiful Hampton Court Palace

At the weekend Mum and I traveled to London for Kirsty Allsop's Handmade Fair at Hampton Court Palace. We drove up on the Friday evening and stayed overnight to make a weekend of it.

As you'd expect from anything Kirsty puts her name to, the Handmade Fair was wonderfully well organised. It was laid out in the grounds of Hampton Court Palace, and from the moment we entered and saw the strings of pom poms wrapped around the trees, it was clear that this day was definitely going to be all about the handmade!

There were two huge shopping tents, housing stalls from all sorts of traders, fabric sellers, crafts people and retailers. There were also plenty of food stalls, a pop up vintage cake stall and a Mollie Makes cafe.

As part of the ticket price we got to sign up for one lecture theater talk, one workshop and one 'grand make'. Brilliant value for money, and as we booked a time too we could plan our day well without queuing for everything. For our theater talk we went to a Mollie Makes 'mash up'. Two crafts experts were given identical white t shirts and given 45 minutes to transform them live on stage. Inspiring stuff!

For our workshop we did cake decorating. Although I may have eaten more icing than I used to make dainty pink roses!

Our 'grand make' was a pom pom lesson. We quickly became hooked, and both Mum and I ended up buying the gadgets we'd used in the class. We quickly put these to use at home, making Bronwyn a pom pom collar!

If the Handmade Fair runs again next year, I urge you all to go along if you can!

Small Town Quilt

I just finished sewing a new quilt. The main block is a pinwheel, with strips and squares around it. The quilt pattern came from Sew magazine.

I've called the finished quilt 'Little Town' due to the cute little houses, hills, bicycles and flowers on the fabrics.

Soap Making

Basic soap making recipe:

615g coconut oil
670ml sunflower oil
670ml olive oil
295g caustic soda
930ml water
25ml soap fragrance of your choice

Dissolve the caustic soda in the water. do this in a large bucket or tub and don't breathe in the fumes! The mixture will get very hot - leave it to cool to room temperature.

Melt the solid coconut oil on a gentle heat. Allow it cool and then add in the sunflower oil and olive oil. Stir well. Add in your chosen fragrance oil. 

Once the water mixture has cooled add the oil mixture to it. Stir well for at least 20 mins until well combined. If you want to add in dried flowers or petals do it at this stage.

Pour the mixture into an airtight container and leave for at least 6 months. 

Baby Travel Quilt

Another baby travel quilt - this one in oranges, greens and blues. This was made to order - the request was for something bright & colourful, gender neutral, and with animal print fabric.

The Backing I used was a flannel baby crib sheet, and it felt so soft! The colours help make this quilt light and bright, and suitable for boys or girls. I quilted it freehand in a spiral.

Summer Fete

Last Saturday I had my first Vintage Bee stall, at the Widcombe school fete in Bath. It was a good chance to see what would sell, and to get immediate feedback from customers about my things.

Despite it looking like it was going to rain all day, the weather held up and I had a great day. Sold lots of little things like bibs and brooches, and even sold a bunny and a fox! The little girl who took the bunny home brought it with her birthday money, and Ash tells me 'bubby' came with her to watch the school play this week, so clearly she is very loved! I couldn't be more thrilled, every bunny needs to be well loved!

Quilted Cushion

My Mum asked me to recover an old cushion for her. she is decorating the spare room in blues & cream/white tones and wanted the new cover to match this scheme. After looking through my old copies of Love Patchwork magazine she selected the most complicated patchwork cushion design in there for her new cover!

The fabrics were all ones I already had. The patchwork design itselt was complicated, and I'll admit that I couldn't see how it was all going to come together when I was laying it out, but I followed the step by step instructions and slowly the design emerged!

I'm really thrilled with the end result, and more importantly so is Mum!

A Very Special Bunny!

The bunny dolls from Posie Gets Cosie have been my favourite things to make this year. When a friend requested a custom made bunny, complete with pyjamas and a jumper, the challenge was too cute to resist!

The result is my favourite bunny so far - looking dapper in vintage fabric pyjamas with a patterned jumper over the top and slippers in case he gets cold!

Rosie Cushion

For Ash's Mum's birthday I made her a cushion with her beloved dog Rosie on it. This has been a surprise hit with everyone who's seen it and they all now want cushions with their pets on them!

The background fabric and inner cushion came from Ikea. Rosie's face is felt with free machine embroidery over the top.