Tree Fall

Isabella is Amelia

For a while there I was in the habit of only posting once a week, something you may have all actually been grateful for! But now look at me! Twice in one day. Goodness.
I do have a good reason though. I just couldn't wait to introduce you to my 'two' new girls. First of all, here's Isabella.

She's wearing a dress sewn from a green and cream print fabric that I think is called Buttons, that I absolutely love. I was able to get a couple of metres of it recently from a shop here in the UK, but it's not available anymore, so I'm only using it for very special people - like Isabella.
At the bottom of her dress I've used my latest favourite fabric. It's a cherry print that's going to be seen around here a lot more!

I've matched her hem to her rather jaunty little kneckerchief. Which I think she wears with great aplomb. ( I think it's been obvious from the photo's of me recently that I'm rather partial to wearing a scarf myself).

As you can see, she delights in her flower garden, particularly her prize winning (not really!) hydrangeas.

And now let me introduce you to her best friend in the world, Amelia.

As you can see, Amelia is a little more country than Isabella. Her dress is a beautiful red patchwork of vintage and modern fabrics. With a border at the bottom of a blue Liberty print called Kinnear.

Amelia sports a little mandarin style collar in matching Liberty fabric and also wears a vintage red and white star button on her hip. Because even when you're a little bit country you can still be a little bit rock and roll!

As you can see, Amelia also loves her hydrangeas. It's one of the many things that binds her and Isabella to eachother.

Whilst Isabella prefers a sporty bob (ish) with fringe swept across her face, Amelia prefers a much more natural and wild style. Although she does like to keep her fringe out of her eyes!

The girls may look very different but they have a lot in common, including amongst other things, walking in the woods, listening to music (loving Paolo Nuttini  at the moment) and of course travelling the world.  Although they never travel alone. Being joined at the hip means you're certainly never lonely.
(scary photo warning)

I have had so much fun making this doll (dolls) . I adore putting the fabric together for the dresses and get a very strange kick out of sewing on their hair and then styling it (a vocation missed there perhaps?).

Isabella/Amelia is available to a good home here .

WIP Friday

It's Bella's Friday away at my parents (and can I just interject right off the bat and say THANK YOU Mom and Dad for having Bella every other Friday!!), so I've been ignoring the glorious sunshine and slaving away in my studio.
I recently mentioned the fact that I've never really liked yellow  and that this has meant that I've never really worked with it. 
I have also  never really liked lilac and have to admit that I struggle buying lilac fabric and using it in quilts etc. But in the last couple of weeks I have recieved three seperate commisions, and all three customers have requested that I use lilac, so I've suddenly had to face my aversion head on.
Which is just dreadful, because it's meant that I've had to buy. more. fabric!  Pure hell. Obviously.

I've bought the pieces in dribs and drabs because I honestly have found it a little difficult to find prints that I really do like - athough of course, Kaffe Fassett has some lovely deep lilac/purple prints.
And actually that's what I've done, I've mixed the slightly more insipid lilacs with some beautiful, deep lilacs and blues.

Which is a good tip if you're struggling with a colour that you just find uninspiring. Pull in colours from either end of the scale to give it some oompfh. For example, I've not only gone all the way to using blues but also all the way the other way and pulled in some pinks. It really does make a difference.
And it explains why I struggle with yellow so much. Other than orange, which I'm also not keen on, I can't seem to pull in any other colours.
But anyway, these are my WIP piles for today. The fabrics above are for a quilt, a cushion and a rabbit, and below are the patchwork squares and limbs cut for two pink, one lilac and one blue rabbit.

And this is a little pile that I'm also working on , but it's a secret ,so shush.

Blondes and Brunettes

I had a commision recently for a blonde Princess and the Pea set and really enjoyed making it. I love the idea of the Princesses having different hair colour and dresses and of course it makes it a lot more fun for me too!

She's wearing a Laura Ashley red Toile print dress and has beautiful blonde yarn hair. Just look how much she's enjoying the sunshine in her flower garden.

As you can see, she's a very peaceful Princess.

I've used a couple of new fabrics for the mattresses (as well as the standard ones). And I'm glad to say that I've got these down pat now. For a while I was finding it very time consuming quilting ten tiny mattresses, but I have developed a technique that lets me whiz through them (relatively speaking).

I'm probably going to start making the totes in different fabrics as well. Although I love this green vintage fabric and it is perfect for them. It's a really good weight and is nice and strong, so it will survive being dragged around!

On another note, I was leaving some of my bits lying around today on my kitchen table (so to speak!), so that a particular visitor I had, could see them, without it looking like I was shoving them in her face and it all looked so pretty that I just had to take a photo.

And yup, there she is, one side of the latest topsy turvy doll. I love her. And I'm loving her other half too. In fact I'm enjoying it so much that I've decided to make some 'normal' dolls too - (so the answer to your question Molly is 'yes' I am making some normal dolls - sorry for being the slowest responder in the world!).

The Princess and the Pea set is now in the shop now.

Dolly Mixture

First of all a big, big thank you to everyone for the advice for Jim - please do keep it coming! He's very excited about it all and just a little nervous about the fact that now that it's out in the open he's actually going to have to do it!
Also a big thank you for the comments about the comments! I would still like to reply to as many comments as I can and just want to reiterate that if you left me a comment (particularly for the first time) and you didn't get a response, it is absolutely not because I didn't appreciate it. It's because my darn daughter just insists on taking all my attention! (where possible, always blame the kid!). Seriously though, if you saw how pathetic I am when I don't get comments, you'd first of all laugh and then you'd leave a comment out of pure pity!
I would also like to quickly say hello to two very important people (to me) that are now reading my blog.  Hi guys!
And now on to the  main  feature...

I don't think I generally blow my own trumpet, but I just have to today, so please bear with me for a moment.
I love this topsy turvy doll that I'm working on so damn much! She's really turning out to be a cutie, inside and out (hah!). I can't wait to show you her finished. But in the meantime here's another little peak.

When I was at the car boot sale the other day I found this gravy boat (?).

And I immediately thought of Kristy . Is this the same as the ones you collect Kristy? If so, who makes them?
Love the shape and colour and want to find more.

I'm still working my way through the Apples For Jam book and today I made my version of their chicken and noodle soup for Bella.

I used to make a lot of homemade soups but I've never made chicken soup before. I think the idea of boiling a whole chicken always scared me slightly! But this recipe was really easy so I thought what the hell, lets boil a bird. And it turned out very nice indeed.
I also baked the Pear Butter Cake from the book, but unfortunately it's now too dark to take a photo and Jim reliably informs me that there won't be any left by tomorrow morning, so you'll just have to take my word for the fact that it looks and tastes bloody lovely.

Jim had a day off yesterday and we all packed up the car and went on a road trip a la LLA  (try saying that after a glass or two of vino!).  We went back to Filey and this time Bella actually went in the  sea! 

That's us on the right. And that's as close as you get to seeing me in a bikini (and as close as you'd want to).

Can you believe that this is the North of England?? (which is usually bleak, bleak, bleak). Wonderful.

What?

Advice and Apologies

I was lucky enough to be given an IPod last week, for which I am incredibly grateful and already completely reliant on! But after a week of tucking it into my bra in order to carry it around with me (seriously, how classy am I?), I made a little pod carrier last night.

I used a Liberty fabric that I was lucky enough to find very cheaply in a new (to me) quilt shop in Sheffield. I'm thinking, dress for Bella amongst other things.

I also used vintage bias binding and some Japanese ribbon.

Much better than carrying it  in my bra.

I also finished this commisioned quilt over the weekend.

This is actually a minor miracle as my deadline was next week! Yep, I finished something early. Early I tell you.

I made these biscuits from  Apples For Jam this afternoon and am happy to report that they are lovely.

They're supposed to be plain oatmeal but I added some cranberries to give them a little extra something.
They're the fourth recipe that I've cooked from the book and I've loved every one of them. I've said it before and I'll say it again - it's a fantastic book and everyone should own it.

I've been meaning to ask a favour for a while now. Strangley enough Jim has decided that he really wants to learn how to knit. He loves the idea of knitting clothes and toys for Bella and is pretty excited about learning something new. I think this is great but unfortunately I am severly knitting challenged and can't help him, so I was wondering if there are any knitters that read my blog who could suggest a really good, really straight forward book that Jim could learn from. And also what is the best type of project  for him to start with? We have pretty much no knowledge at all, so it really needs to be something simple but not too dull.
I have to say that I think it's really cool that he wants to do this. He's always very supportive of everything that I do and is becoming pretty knowledgeable about quilting etc, but hasn't had a real interest of his own for the longest time. Although he has a degree in Film he now works for a soul destroying finance company and has kind of forgotten what it feels like to express himself and do something because he loves it - so I think it would be so good for him to have something new to focus on. So I would really, really appreciate any help or suggestions for getting him started.

As an aside, can I also just say that at the moment I have almost two hundred comments in my inbox waiting for replies and that I am desperately trying to catch up with them all. So if you've been kind enough to leave me a comment and I've been crap enough not to reply, please forgive me and please know that I appreciate every single one of them. And that they all mean something to me. I know that in the past I've left comments on other blogs and when they've not even been acknowledged it's made me not want to comment again - and if I've made anyone feel that way I'm very sorry and it's not because I don't care - it's because every single second of my 'free' time these days is spread so thinly that I just haven't got the time to do everything I want to. So again, sorry and hopefully I'll get caught up soon!

Rabbits and Cats

Finally. A SHOP update. I've been trying to finish everything off so that I could do one big update, but at the rate I'm working at that wouldn't happen until sometime next year!

Coney Rabbits.

And Frenchie Cats.

There's still topsy turvey dolls, a quilt and some other bits and pieces to come.

(sorry it's such a short post - I've spent all evening on Etsy!)

Beach Baby

We took Bella to the beach for the first time ever today.

Where she paddled in the paddling pool.

Went for a stroll along the promenade.

Looked for seashells.

Ate sand.

Loved the sand (a little too much!).

Ate black cherry icecream (and refused to share!).

Looked at the boats.

Played with mummy.

Flew through the air.

And eventually walked back to the car.

And passed out.

It was a really lovely day. We haven't been to Filey before and I have to say that it was a really nice surprise. And oh my Lord, Bella loved it SO. MUCH.
And if you don't mind I'm going to take a moment to boast here, because we have the best little girl ever! She is so much fun and so, so naturally happy. She didn't get a nap today and we didn't take any real food with us, so she ate junk and we kept her out way, way past her bedtime and yet she just smiled and laughed and played right up until we threw her into her cot at 10pm!!! Honestly, she is the funniest, loveliest little girl, and we are so very grateful to have her. She was so worth waiting for! Love her to bits! And so very proud (and not in the least bit biased!).
Thank you for a wonderful day Bella!

The Day Today

Just to keep things confusing today , I'm going to be editing this post every hour - so for new entries don't forget to scroll down. Is this the best way of doing this? No idea. Possibly not :)

I'm already feeling torn! Should I sit out in the garden with my hot water and lemon, (in my gorgeous new mug) and read the magazine that's just arrived? Or should I head straight on up to my studio and get on with work?
And is it feasible to take and post pictures every hour?
(Oh and Kristy? D'ya see that blue plastic thing in the background? That's Bella's new sandpit - you see, brightly coloured plastic toys are just everywhere!).

10.00am

Sewing topsy turvey torso's, whilst downloading Craft Sanity's interview with the amazing Heidi Kenney and watching Big Brother.

11.00am

Torso sewn together and first dress made.

Choosing fabrics for other dresses. Instead of having a theme for my topsy turvy dolls, such as Red Riding Hood and the Wolf etc, I like to just think of them as best friends. So they have to look like they have different personalities and different tastes, but they don't have to be the opposite of eachother.

The dress pattern - drawn freehand on some coloured paper (very high tech!!).

And finishing off the biscuits I made yesterday (sorry Jim!!). If I have time I may make more later.

12.00pm

Two dresses ready to be fitted.

Started sewing the blocks for my latest commisioned quilt together.

And the view out of my studio window. This may not look like much but for 11 years I lived in a completely treeless, pretty ugly, built up part of Edinburgh, with a view of tenement flats opposite and nothing but the sound of buses and cars and shouting. Since moving to a village just outside Leeds, my view has become this, and I can't begin to tell you how much of a difference it has made to my life.

And finally, we have a slight problem here. The lead to my camera has broken so downloading photo's has suddenly become a bit of a nightmare. So do I continue trying to post in serial form? Other than Mary and Melanie (hi and thank you to you both!) is there anyone out there reading this as we go along or should I just give in and post it all in one go later? If anyone has an opinin please do let me know.

1.00pm

Finished piecing the quilt top blocks. I can't decide on a fabric for the border and I definately think it needs one, so I'm going to wait and hope that the couple of fabric orders I'm expecting arrive really soon.

This is my favourite block. I think I'm going to make a matching pillow using a similar block.

Another topsy turvy dress cut and machine sewn. It just needs the arms, body and skirt sewn together by hand now. I usually leave work like that to do in front of the tv in the evenings.

Thank you for the comments and hi to Mijk, Kristy, Melanie (again) and Rebecca! It feels really strange sitting here posting knowing that there are people out there reading it almost immediately. Usually I write a post in the evening and when I get up in the morning there are (hopefully) some comments there. So other than Kristy (who often seems to be up as late as I am!), I rarely get any immediate feed back. It's cool to feel like I'm not doing this on my own though!

As you can see though, I am now posting an hour behind! It's taking forever to upload photo's, but I'm going to keep going with it. It's actually kind of a stressful way to spend the day because I'm constantly looking at the clock, but it's kind of good fun too, so I shall just keep on going.

2.00pm

Cut and machine sewed another dress. There's going to be lots of hand sewing to do this weekend.

This jar of fabric scraps may not look like much.

But it's full of scraps from Caroline Zoob's actual studio.

I met her last month and was lucky enough to take home these beautiful, beautiful scraps of vintage fabrics. Since then I've been waiting for just the right project for them. And here it is.

A little pin cushion. Not quite finished but you get the idea.

It just needs a little bit of embellishment, but I'm pretty pleased with it overall. And it came together quite quickly once I knew what I wanted to do.

 

I'm off out into the garden now to sit in the last bit of sun and listen to a podcast whilst I sew some more topsy turvy torso's together.

Ok can everyone say BLAH!!!!! It's now just gone 5pm and the food poisoning that has had me floored all week has reared it's ugly (and I mean ugly) head again, leaving me feeling distinctly green and most definately unable to continue. ACK!!! I feel like I've failed, which is kind of dumb when I've managed to do a whole days work, I just haven't been able to keep up with posting photo's of it.
I am now going to go and lie down in a very dark room and wait for the world to stop spinning.

Curtain Call

As soon as I started writing my last post I realised that I wanted to blog about my vintage curtain collection. Of course the realisation was followed almost immediately by the question 'why?' And I have to admit that I don't really have an answer for that, except to say that if anyone else out there has a curtain collection I'd love to see it. And I know of at least one other blogger who is interested. And I'm pretty easily encouraged - one 'Come on show me yours' is enough for me! So apologies to anyone that popped over here thinking that they might actually get to see some crafting!

When I first saw this pair I almost kept on walking because they were absolutely filthy. And I mean filthy. I'm reasonably sure that Jim thought I had finally crossed the line when I pulled them out of my bag. And the man I bought them from quite obviously thought he'd pulled a fast one when I actually payed him money (50p!) for them. The print is called 'Davenport', but the selvidge doesn't say who the designer is.

I spotted this pair being used to wrap furniture at a car boot sale. It was just as the car boot sale was ending and this old guy was packing his van full of dodgy old furniture and was using these curtains to protect the furniture. I can't tell you how strange the look he gave me was when I asked him if he'd sell them to me!

I love the texture of barkcloth so much. It lends itself to floral prints so perfectly. And after years of use it becomes so soft and just begs to be fondled. 
I was lucky enough to find two full length pairs of these curtains stuffed into a bin bag at a car boot sale. They were slightly more expensive than the others (£5 for two pair - so perhaps expensive isn't the right word to use!), but are in perfect condition and just beautiful and soft. The print is 'Bowden' for Bevis Fabrics.

These are the curtains that I've just hung in my front room and write about in my last post. Love them.

I was really in two minds about this pair when I first saw them. Although they actually aren't as drab as they appear in these photo's they are still fairly dull and I wasn't sure whether to buy them. But they were very cheap (50p) and I think they're growing on me. (I've also photographed them sideways!! Blah)

This is a Francis Price screen print called 'Paphos'. They are 1960's and the first pair of barkcloth curtain that I bought. Aren't they wild?

I was lucky enough to find these a couple of weeks ago! Aren't they just wonderful? Unfortunately there isn't a selvidge on the curtains so I don't have any info on them, but I'm assuming 1950's. They are in perfect condition and beautiful!

And last but oh so certainly not least, just look at these!

Unfortunately there was only one curtain when I found this. And no selvidge, so again no info, but oh my god how I love it!

I have a few more pairs of curtains but these are my favourites. I bought them all very cheaply and have found that most people simply don't see any value in barkcloth. Because it's quite a heavy cotton it doesn't lend itself to much other than upholstery - although I think that you could make some wonderful skirts out of some of the lighter curtains - and people just see it as old fashioned and useless. So if you look carefully for it you can really pick up a bargain.
A lot of modern designers are influenced by the original 50's and 60's prints and of course you have people like Cath Kidston using it alot in her designs, so it's definately gaining in popularity again. But I just love it because the texture gives it a real depth and movement. It isn't a flat fabric and it begs to be touched.
My biggest problem is whether to actually cut it up and use it or to keep the curtains whole and preserve them.

I have had horrible, horrible food poisoning this week and I have to admit that sitting at the laptop is making me feel pretty sick again , so I'm off back to my bed now, but tomorrow I have a whole day of crafting so I intend to do another photo journal of my day, similar to last week.  Only this time I'm hoping to actually post each photo as soon as I take it.  The only problem is, because of the time difference most of you will only be around to read it much later, so you won't even know it was posted in stages, but I like the idea of making a post every hour, so if you are around, keep an eye out for it. (possibly setting myself up for failure here, but hey ho!).

Sorry to any Blogliners out there - I had to edit this post because I missed out a photo, misspelt a name and generally buggered it all up!

Rose Tinted Curtains

For a while now I've been collecting vintage barkcloth curtains*, and last weekend I found a pair of 1950's floral curtains at a carboot sale that caused me to nonchalantly ask,  how much - whilst inside my heart was beating just a little too fast. I know you know what I'm talking about!
They are the perfect colour and texture and in wonderful condition. They are also the first pair that I've actually had the courage to cut up and use.
My front room has been slowly changing over the last 7 months and is now a rather eclectic mix of vintage and modern, combining florals and patterns and patchwork. I don't know if it works for anyone else, but I'm really happy with it.

These curtains make me think of summertime with lemonade and cucumber sandwiches. They make me think of Enid Blyton and Mudeford (one of the places I lived as a child), of sunshine and sand and of a childhood that didn't exist in the main for me, but that I would love to create for Bella. The type of childhood described in 'Apples For Jam'.

Since becoming a mother I've had such a strong desire to 'return' to the good 'ole days. You know, the one's that only exist in our imagination. I want to bake cakes and sew dresses for Bella. I want to spend days lying in tall grass, eating picnics and sketching. I want to birdwatch and press flowers, stay up late to stargaze and paddle in the sea.

And as strange as it seems, when I look at these curtains blowing in the breeze, they make me feel that all of that may yet be possible.

And even more so, when I look at this tiny perfect chair next to Bella's books, under the curtains.
Is it silly to wish for the halcyon days? Maybe, but who cares. I've got the curtains and that's a start!

I haven't been able to do very much crafting this week and as a result I have a 'To Do' list as long as my arm. This is particularly annoying as Bella was at her childminders an extra day and Jim was off work Monday and Tuesday. But the week started badly with me coming down with some kind of bug and by midweek we'd had a small fire when the electric kettel exploded! Which really gave me a fright as Bella and I were alone in the house - fortunately Bella didn't know why we were suddenly standing in the garden instead of making me a cup of coffee to go with our midmorning snack.
That same day Bella fell down our garden steps and landed on chin and then she fell off my bed and caught her eye on my bedside table!
So as you can see, it's a good job that I at least have the curtains!

I did get this Princess and the Pea set finished though - along with another 3 sets (so if you're patiently waiting for your order, then a big, big thank you and they are now on their way).


And I've got some new Princess's on the cutting table, with new dresses and bags.

I did also manage to start the button brooches that I hinted at last week. More to come about those though - they're not quite finished.

*As soon as I wrote that I had my curtain collection I realised that I want to blog about that, but it's too dark to take photo's now - so I shall try and remember to do it another day.