Cushions in the making

I have been busy making cushions. One is for a lovely little girl who will be starting school in August. It is such an exciting time, a big milestone and I remember how thrilling it was to have my own school bag with my notebooks and pens and pencils…it felt quite special.

The other two cushions have felt letters stitched to the front using blanket stitch. I will probably make some to sell but since my husband liked the idea so much I will keep these two – one on the sofa and one on the bed.

I really like the fabric that I used for the cushions – 100% cotton in dark beige with cream stripes. I will have to go back to Battersea and a lovely fabric shop called Fabrics Galore - I recommend it to any sewing fan visiting London.

Love,
Irina

Good to be back - fabric boxes

Hello, I am finally back into the world of sewing and creativity, having spent many hours out of the house in the park or at the local paddling pool.
I really wanted to make something nice for the house or for my sewing area, and after flipping through sewing books I found my inspiration. It came in the form of the small wall pouches from Tonne Finnanger's book "Sew pretty homestyle". I really love her clever and easy tutorials and I made a little polka dot and roses pouch. There is a lot to be desired with my scallop bordering but never the less I am quite pleased.

It turned out a bit like a fabric basket and I decided to experiment and make a bigger one. I thought that round bottom would suit it better and also decided to add a self made cotton band for decoration. It turned out lovely (if I may say so myself) and it fits perfectly on my sewing table holding all the very important sewing tools.

The only reason why I haven't made a tutorial yet is that I seem to be so bad at taking good photographs. I have to do something about this as I’d love to share my creations.

Love, Irina

A little make up bag

I have barely been able to find time for crafting as we are moving house soon and it is really busy. But I found the time to make a little make up bag for my friend Dora’s birthday. The first bag I made turned out to be a bit of a coin purse, so I made a new bigger version. I really would like to provide a tutorial, and hope to make another bag soon.
The bag is made from 100% cotton Moda fabrics – great quality and lovely patterns.
The bag took a few hours to make and because of the three layers proved a bit of a nightmare. The thread broke about a million times and it was rather frustrating. Now that I think of it I probably didn’t use the right size needle (oops) and also there was no point in using cotton thread – polyester would have been much better.
Despite all that, my friend loved the bag and I would definitely be making more.

Name cushion

I made a little name cushion for a very special little girl called Zoe who turned two last week. The cushion is made from 100% cotton gingham and has her name appliquéd on the front. There is also a little house and of course one of my all times favourite features - colourful bunting. I love bunting!!! It has magical charm to it and it always reminds me of long summer days, dolly tea parties, scones and strawberries and the smell of fresh garden flowers!

The cushion took five hours to make and I couldn’t believe how easy it was to make the Oxford border…really easy…now I am going to make lots more cushions with Oxford borders as they look so pretty. Oh, and another thing I love ( in case you haven't guessed it yet) - I love gingham...pink gingham, blue gingham, purple, brown, yellow, any colour really. It is so charming and totally adorable.

I am loving....the Sew Hip Magazine

I first came across the Sew Hip magazine at the Country Living fair last weekend. I purchased a couple of old issues and was very pleasantly surprised by the load of information, tutorials, patterns and fabric adds. I have been looking for a local fabric shop for ages and it turned out there was one just a few bus stops away. The issues I got were from last year and so I bought the April issue and today I got the May one. And I am in heaven...the issue is full of colourful photos, more than ten patterns and lots of things to make for your little one. It is the only sewing magazine I have seen so far which features so many patterns for kids stuff - from booties, to quilts and tunics...I am simply loving it!!!

Baby letter cube

I made this Letter cube last week. I just wanted to practise sewing different squares together and it actually worked pretty well ( and it wasn't as hard as I thought). It is stuffed with toy stuffing and has a little bell inside so it makes gentle sounds.

My new blog

Wow, I can't really believe it...I finally found the time to create a blog !!! How exciting! !! How very, very exciting !!! Well, I will have to continue tomorrow as it is too late now and I need to go to bed, but I promise to be back tomorrow with something interesting to share. Nite!