Crochet alteration.

Summer dress a little to short for ageing knees?

Crochet a simple edging around the bottom to give you that extra couple of inches length. Ta-daa!

PS I've also done this with T-shirts that were too short and sleeves on a shop bought knitted jacket. Works a treat!

Lara's Special Memory Journal.

Hello my lovelies, I've been waiting to share this felty make with with you until it's new owner had taken delivery of it. It's a bit like awaiting the delivery of a baby, I need to make sure it's safely delivered to it's new mummy in it's new home before I can send the photos out free into the world, lol, mad eh!

This piece was commissioned by the lovely Lara and her family in celebration of her 21st birthday. 

Lara requested a felted book cover for a special journal that would be used to record all those precious moments of her life so far. What a lovely idea!

This is the part where I stand and bite my nails...cutting the felt. I measure and measure and then measure again. A cut in the wrong place and I'd have to start from scratch and make a new piece of felt, wait for it to dry naturally and then spend another day machine embroidering it, so I really need to take care. There really is no room for error!

Phew! Perfect! What a relief.

Before I set about it with the sewing machine again shall we take a closer look. This side will be the front.

And this side is the back.

My signature hidden in the greenery.

One pretty but naked journal awaiting it's new coat.

After even more stitching the whole thing has to be turned inside out. It's no mean feat squishing all that thick fluffy felt through a small gap.

 Will it fit the journal?

 Have I measured correctly?

 Will it be too baggy? 

Have I left enough room for the book to close properly? 

Much more nail biting.

Ta-Daa!

A neat finish.

 Here is the front. 

And the back.

A perfect fit!

YAY!

And I'm very happy to say I've had the most lovely email from Lara.

Yes she's 'incredibly happy with it!'

Till next time

love Fi x

Embroidered Needle Case.

The last week of April was my Mums birthday. That was April the fourth month of the year.

Way back in January I remember sitting with my friends at our weekly sewing group, watching two very talented ladies working hard on some traditional hand embroidery. Both create exquisite, precise neat and sometimes quite complicated embroidery stitches. Absolutely beautiful work.

It was while I was watching their nimble fingers I remembered something my Mum had said about one day she must get around to making herself a needle case, one with labelled pages for different types of needles.  

So way back in January a little idea pinged into my teeny tiny brain! I'd make my Mum a needle case for her birthday. Yes! I had lots of time, four whole months, no rush then.

Fast forward to April, a very busy month for me stitching like mad in preparation for two craft fairs. Suddenly I only had two days left before Mum's special day! Aaaargh! Where had all that time gone, who had stolen almost 4 months away from me!

Well much frenzied stitching ensued. Even on the day of my arrival at Mum and Dads house I was very relieved to find that my parents had a hospital appointment and would have to leave me home alone for a couple hours before lunch. Perfect! That just gave me time to finish stitching the last two labels onto the pages inside and add the date to the back, phew! You can still see a slight purple fuzz around the date where the air erasable pen hasn't had time to vanish. 

I just had time to take a few quick photos before carefully wrapping it in tissue paper and hiding it away.

And yes, she loved it. All the rush and frenzy was well worth it in the end.

Till next time

love Fi x