Designer Fabric Doggie

I had so much fun making this project! It started off with me buying a book from a local second-hand bookshop. The book was published in 1978 but has some great projects in it. I wanted to make this fabric dog in lilac for a colleague's baby due soon but I decided to first make one for myself. In pink of course!

The original pattern shows the dog made with corduroy and I tried that with the bright pink corduroy shown in the photo as the dog's "cushion". What a mission! The fabric is too thick and turning the body right side out was murder! Not to mention all the fluff this fabric shed all over my room! It was also too large. I had the pattern enlarged as per directions but boy it was big! So I downscaled the size and changed to cotton. The Heather Bailey pink peonies was perfect for it!

A close-up picture of the doggie's collar. I made it from a piece of pink felt and handstitched it and added a little bell I bought at a local fabric store. How cute is this?

A close-up of the doggies face. It is meant as a decorative item for your bed so the doggie is sleeping. Isn't it the cutest little thing? The eyes and nose are made with scrap pieces of felt and handstitched. The nose template is a heart shape. It now naps away in my craft room every day...

Book review: Seams to Me by Anna Maria Horner

Wow! I cannot get enough of this book! My friend Lova at http://madebylova.wordpress.com/ recently posted a review on this book and that prompted me to buy it. I am not sorry at all! Thank you, Lova!

I received the book on Tuesday and that night I was already cutting out the pattern for the Taxi Tote, above. What a lovely bag. And not like anything else I have seen on the internet.

This apron is another favorite. Simple but so different than any other patterns available. I love the BIG fabric-covered buttons! I went to my local fabric store earlier today to buy some buttons for this pattern.

This caddy is another project I plan to make. Really cute and useful. I highly recommend this book to any fabric-crazy person like me! Anna Maria has done a great job with this book. All the projects are old favorites but with a fresh, new twist to it. Lovely pictures and step-by-step instructions on each project. The best of all?

At the back of the book - in a beautiful envelope - are FULL SIZE patterns! I have had so much trouble recently enlarging patterns that this was the utmost GENIUS for me! Overall a fantastic book and I highly recommend it!

New pink designer bag

I recently posted pictures of my pink designer eyeglasses pouch. This is the matching bag made from one of my favorite Heather Bailey bijoux fabric. The lining is my favorite pink polka dot fabric I ordered from JandOfabrics in the US. I designed the bag myself to suit my needs for a daily bag. This includes the size of the pockets inside to fit all my goodies I cannot live without.

This shows a view of the inside and my pink polka dot fabric lining. Love the bag!

New Book Review: Oilcloth Inspirations

I am crazy about craft books. Recently I went a bit wild buying some new books on a variety of subjects. This is a review on one of my favorites by Sophie Bester. I am in an "oilcloth phase(craze?)" at the moment and this book is great!


My favorite must be this chair cushion cover. My chair in my sewing room has been bare for a while since I cannot find any inspiration to make a cushion. I have found it. The frill is cotton and the seat is oilcloth. Beautiful!


A cute tablecloth also with the frill in cotton fabric. The flowers on the frill are made from oilcloth. Wow. I could not believe the flowers and embesllishments in this book made from oilcloth!


A portable cushion for picnics or outside. Too cute!


Several bags in this book. From shoppers to totes to this elegant bag with the most devine oilcloth flowers on it!


An adorable oilcloth apron with FRILLS on the shoulders! These are just a few of the amazing projects inside this book. If you like oilcloth, like me, this book is worth getting!

Designer reading glasses pouch

In the spirit of continuing to use my designer fabric, I made myself a simple pouch for my reading glasses from the lovely Heather Bailey fabric range. I only recently got my first pair of glasses which I was told is a result of hours in front of the computer. Like that will change anytime soon!

So here is my badly wrinkled pink pouch, the new home for my pink framed reading glasses. I used felt inside and made a velcro fastening for easy use. I have been using it for a few days now and love it! Now my son wants a similar pouch for his i-pod. Another weekend project coming up!

Craft Book Review

As promised, I will be doing a review on some of my craft books on a regular basis. So this is this week's review: Easy Felted Accessories.

What a lovely book. It has many quick and easy projects made from felted wool or purchased wool felt. Projects range from slippers, bags, hats and many more. It has a lovely Russian furry hat project that I have to try sometime!

Here is an example of just one of the many bags you can make from this book. The instructions are easy to follow, step-by-step with pictures. The patterns can be found at the back of the book.

Another handbag project with lots of embroidery on it.

The cutest little baby jacket I have ever seen!

And cute mittens!

This book is well worth buying if this is your kind of projects. I love working with felt but I have not had the time to make any of the wonderful projects in this book. Part of the reason is the availability of wool felt in South Africa. I have only found one supplier in Cape Town and need to order some soon. I can see many pretty Christmas projects I can do!

Pincushions

Let me just clarify that I sew and I also scrapbook, but knitting and crocheting is not a strong point. I can do both but not well. Mostly I am happy doing small items that are quick to do. Patience is also not a strong point and you need plenty of that for this kind of craft!

So when I got this mad idea in my head that I want some crocheted and knitted cupcake pincushions I knew trouble was around the corner. I sent the knitted patterns to the professional - my sister Linda. But I can crochet a little cupcake, right?

I crochet very lose. When my Mom-in-Law and I crochet exactly the same item my finished product is DOUBLE the size of hers! Anyway, I was determined to make a cupcake! By the third row I had lost the plot completely. I had no idea why I had more stitches than the pattern or why mine did not even look the same. What happened?



By the 6th row I knew this is not working. So I improvised. I made my own pattern up. So, here is my wonky crocheted cupcake. My apologies to the lovely person who designed this beauty, but I am hopeless at crochet! It is kind of cute though...

I made a few other pincushions to compliment my wonky cupcake. I was not making another crocheted one! I think I will wait for Linda to make me some lovely knitted ones now and stick to sewing!