Summer Tops

I bought this beautiful vintage seersucker fabric some time back from a charity shop. There was at least two metres of each colour, the light colour is actually white not pink as it looks in the top photo.

I knew at some point I would find a purpose for it. 

So when I came across this lovely pattern on www.purlbee.com I knew the fabric would be perfect. Of course I would have to run that past a couple of little girls first :)

The pattern is for a dress or top depending on the age of the child, so I made tops for the twins. I haven't seen them wearing them yet but hope to get a photo soon.

I used French seams all around, made the bias binding with one of those little gadgets and hand smocked the top.

The pattern was so simple and clear to understand and the fabric was great to work with. 

                                     

                                     

                                     

                         

table runners

I bought these beautiful pieces of vintage French linen some time ago, the patterned pieces are rectangular in shape and the plane piece was square. I thought how lovely they would look made up as table runners with the plain piece on the back but I knew that the coloured piece wouldn't go with the decor in our home. Back then we didn't have any idea that we would be able to buy our cottage in Wales and that they would look perfect in that setting and on the lovely Ercol table and chairs that we have bought to use there. 

The table and chairs were finished I a dark varnish, my husband has sanded the table top and painted it in grey like the one in the bottom photo, two chairs are also painted and we have two more chairs like these and two with arms to paint before the set is finished. 

I have made up the runners, the plain piece was exactly the right size to back them both and I think they will look great against the beautiful beech table top.

                                   

                                  

                                  

                                  

Cushions

I've been getting on with some sewing the last couple of weeks. We had taken the cushions from our Ercol sofa, over to our cottage as they are made from vintage woollen blankets and I though they were more suited to a cottage. I bought some lovely big cushion Inners and looked through my fabric stash to see what I had that would suit our ercol furniture. The fabric I chose was  a curtain sample made of green Sanderson fabric. This was already made up into a rectangular, lined curtain just the right size to fold over and make a simple cover with no fastening just an envelope style fold over at the back.

                                     

For the second cushion I used a couple of pieces of Daisy Chain by Jonelle Duracolour which I made into the same style cover as the other. The quality of both these fabrics is lovely and great to sew with and all the better as I had picked up both pieces in charity shops :)

                                     

                            

Liberty Quilt

I love Liberty fabric and have been collecting for my stash for a number of years. I have bought in sales, charity shops and been given pre cut squares. Due to these squares being of differing sizes it's not been easy to piece them together and make sure the joins and corners match. I decided to make some triangle pairs too which added to the challenge.....

However, amazingly when I came to attach the triangles they just fitted exactly around the edge. 

I have lots of fabric left and so need to think of which way to go next. I have a lovely vintage sheet from my Mothers house which I plan to use to back the quilt. And then I need to decide whether to hand or machine quilt it. I'm looking forward to this quilt being finished after waiting so long to starting it!

                  

baby quilt

I have just finished the quilt for baby Lihle, the little boy that my daughter is caring for in South Africa. She continues to take him to visit his birth mother but at the moment she is not in a position to make decisions for her own life or his.

I made this quilt from fabric I have left over from other baby quilts I have made. I used part of a vintage quilt I had been given, for the backing. It is soft and snugly and I can't wait to see him all wrapped up in it. 

                                

                                

                                 

basket

While we were in Devon I bought myself a nice French basket, its a bit smaller than my last one. I like to line baskets and add an inside pocket for small items. sometime back I bought a few metres of lovely vintage seersucker fabric and made knitting bags for my two daughters and also one that I have for sale on etsy. I loved the fabric and was glad there was enough left to line my new basket :)

oven gloves

My daughter who lives in South Africa asked me to make her some oven gloves...she loves to bake. I only had a little of the vintage fabric left over from her kitchen aid cover and apron so I made the oven gloves from ticking fabric that I used in the cover and added appliquéd hearts in the vintage fabric.

Hubby and I are off on a weeks sabbatical tomorrow and so I will be away from my laptop. Catch up with you all soon!

vintage fabric table runner

I have a great selection of vintage fabric, some has been given to me for gifts from my daughter, others passed on from people who have inherited them and some I have bought in charity shops. I thought I would make myself a table runner with a spring colour theme. 

I made a triangle template and cut our the fabric

I joined the triangles in 2 strips then joined the strips together. Then appliquéd this panel onto a piece of linen, added thin cotton wadding to the back and then a piece of fabric cut from a vintage table cloth...I collect these to back quilts etc.

 someone thought he would keep guard

 I machine quilted the triangles

I then hand stitched the binding on, the binding is also from my vintage stash and probably too narrow for the job in hand, really fiddly around the corners and not looking too neat :(

I will post a photo of the finished table runner when the binding is all on.

haberdashery

I love vintage haberdashery and when people discover I like to sew I often get given bits and pieces. I have just been having a sort through and decided to put a few on my etsy shop.....hopefully I may sell some :)

vintage pieces of needlecraft

I've been doing a bit of sorting out and thought I would share photo's of some embroidery and appliqué work that has been passed down to me from my Mother. Some of the work was carried out by  her and some by my Grandmother. The  embroidered picture was done by my Father when he was young and in hospital with TB. The photo's don't do it justice as the glass is old. But I have childhood memories of looking into and losing myself in this beautiful garden. Some of the other pieces of work have little stains on them...some day I will try and remove the stains and may even use the pieces to make a quilt.

bags more

I made two more bags this afternoon, the blue one is much the same as the last one I made but with different handles. The top one is from the 1970's Daisy Chain fabric I bought earlier in the week. Both have cotton wadding between the layers to make them more sturdy. 

I just found out that my son will have some photo's in an exhibition of punk fashion in The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York...will show you when they are exhibited :)