the nearly finished item

the little boy of friends of mine has a comfort blanket that he loves dearly.

He loves it so well that it is slightly the worse for wear; it has holes in and bears no resemblance to the white colour that it started out as.

textures

His mum asked me if I could make a replacement and I have done that very thing.

letters appliqued onto fleece

It isn’t complicated. It is about the size of a large cushion cover, has bunched up corners that create little ears (perfect for stroking against skin!) and little satin and different textured tags. I have added his name and a star to his new one and hope that it passes the Drew test.

star!!

What is tricky though is the fleecy surface which lends itself to machine sewing but is almost impossible to hand applique with the kind of precision that I prefer and feel most comfortable with.

I’m going to make more as I like the idea and I will do Harringey Market again in June, ready for all those summer babies!!

burger bears mark I, II, III & IV

What do you call a gathering of bears?

A batch?

A bevvy?

A brood?

Apparently it is a sloth or a sleuth of bears!!

Who knew?

mark I, II & III

I have now made a total of 4 versions of the pattern I developed for Burger Bear Tom and I am not sure if there is one that I prefer over another.

Each one is a slightly different size and each has characteristics that I like. Perhaps I need to combine those features and bring all the best parts together into one bear.

But……

mark II

Before I embark on how I think they should be, Tom’s input is key. Let’s not forget that they are actually for him and his customers and I am making them on the back of his challenge…..

mark I

As always when being judged on my makes (I really can’t understand why people put themselves under the pressures of something like the great british sewing bee – I’d be in bits!!).

Anyway, I was slightly apprehensive and worried the Tom would hate them once he’d seen them face to face (so to speak).

mark II

My concerns were completely dispelled as Burger Bear loves them and likes bits from each one.  He is also quite happy that there is variation from one to another and he even suggested pink for his moma bear fans.

ickle mark III

Different cheeses get used on burgers so different yellows work, the brighter green is fun and the faces all have slightly different expressions so they can be as individual as we are.

Burger Bear version 3 is his 0ver all favourite size (it is slightly smaller than the others and very cute!).

I’m busy costing them up at the moment and thinking about the orders that Tom has had for a few already!!!  I may be a bit busy but it is great that people like them and want them.

Woop woop!!

At first, I thought it would be difficult to chose what to feature as the give away items.  Then as I was looking through stuff that I had and one particular colour kept popping out – Tourquoise!

So here they are:-

this travel sewing jar

pin cushion sewing jar

sewing jar with handy bag folded up

this needle case

linear needlecase

this cushion

cable knit cushion

all parcelled together in this bright reusable ‘handy’ bag

handy reusable bag

I will choose who wins by the fairest means possible and put the names into a hat. The draw will take place on the 27.04.13.

All you have to do is:-

1) post a comment on my blog (subscribe to follow and like if you want but not part of the competition!)

2) make sure you press the follow up comments button as I will announce the winner in comments section of this blog post.

Once you know you are the winner, you will need to contact me (email address tinyinc@orangehome.co.uk) with your full name and address and I will post them off to you

Unfortunately I can only post to UK addresses.

Good luck!!!

hand appliqued leaf detail

In between burger bears, loo roll bags and cushion commissions, I have been quietly wading through my unfinished work.

There was so much more than I realised but the pile is slowly diminishing.

the finished cushion

This week I managed to complete a cushion I was trying something out on.

It’s a nice leafy fabric that is quite current in design. Although completely lovely, I don’t add twiddly bits like piping or frills to my cushions generally so they are quite simple.

leaf details highlighted

My thinking with this fabric was that I could make it slightly three dimensional by appliqueing the leaves on top of the fabric again (if that makes sense). I picked random leaves but generally with a band leaves across the middle.

ikea small worktop ironing board with folding legs

It is a lot simpler than most things I make but I like it.

The best thing about it was being able to finish it off in my new work room; the first thing to come out of there but it isn’t my first complete creation to be made in there as I have yet to find the time to do that.

ironing the finished item

Can’t wait.

lots of lovely threads

I am sitting typing this post in my new workroom and I am sooooooo excited about it.

It is the perfect easter present to myself and tinyinc.

organised and accessible

I have ALWAYS had to set up my sewing on the dining table but now I finally have a dedicated space that doesn’t need tidying away of moving around and I am absolutely over the moon with it.

The dining table is now free and our living areas are living areas again.

Our spare bedroom, however, is now set up for me to sew and work in AND JC has a space to work in too that is all his own, opposite mine and all thanks to his DIY efforts this easter weekend.

long lost gheko pin cushion filled with sand for sharpening pins

It is a tranquil little room with a lovely silence and peace about it. The patio doors are south facing so it is flooded with sunlight when the weather is right and it also gives you access out into our garden.

I can’t wait for the first time I can work in here with the doors thrown open listening to the sound of birdsong.

We have achieved the best of both worlds with the changes to this room: we have a dedicated workroom space that keeps our flat clear of the mess of laptops and sewing but we have the facility to wheel in the sofa bed and turn it back into a bedroom when necessary.

my sewing space

We did it on quite a tight a budget although we have overspent slightly (thank goodness for the nightmare that is Ikea, however and £60 desks!!).  That said, the results are perfect for us and I am ecstatic. Wish we’d had the funds to do it a long, long time ago!!!

I now have all my sewing and making ‘things’ in one place. No more trailing from one end of the flat to the other for a piece of fabric or a certain colour of thread.  Everything has a place and everything is in it’s place.

I have unearthed some things that I forgot I had because I’ve never had the chance to use them so it was a bit like an easter egg hunt opening the boxes and organising where everything went.

my work space

My threads are all in the top drawer of the desk now and laid out so they are easy to see instead of being in a handful of different boxes, my fabrics are all neatly stashed in one cup’d (except for a few storage boxes under my desk that I need to sort through!) and I have shelves on which to display my little collection of vintage sewing stuff.

There are still a few finishing touches to make but I couldn’t be happier.

my wonderful work room

max in a peach floral number

I have blogged about these doggy neckerchiefs before. I’ve made them for friends who have asked for them and I have given some as gifts, but people don’t seem to buy them.  During my days at Harringay Market, it occurred to me that the reason could be that it isn’t easy to work out what these little doggerchiefs actually are!

Hamlet modelling Agnes’s Doggerchief

Although Max goes down a treat with doggy shoppers at the market; he behaves like everyone loves him and he is always pleased to see anyone who makes eye contact with him, it’s not very fair to expect him or Hamlet to sit around modelling in the freezing conditions that we have had there JUST so that people understand what these doggerchiefs are.

doggy outline

So the solution is to have a stand in; A cardboard cut out of sorts (made of MDF to be precise).

It couldn’t have been easier:- a quick outline of a JRT (Max wriggled a bit but we managed to get him flattened out………only joking!!!! ) enlarged to about the right size, an off cut of MDF from the shed and a jig saw.

cardboard cut out

JC did the cutting for me and it is now done.

Although, I haven’t been making much lately and my pile of unfinished projects is really not getting any smaller making the cut out for the purpose of modelling the neckerchief, made me pick these out of the basket & I got them finished.

I must do some in more masculine fabrics as these all seem to be a bit more appropriate for girls but when you are working with vintage, it is hard to be sure what you will come across.

lady labrador’s neck warmer

Anyway, Agnes now has the cute daisy green, Bosley will get his blue and gingham one next time we see him and there is a labrador along with her chihuahua buddy who also have them in hertfordshire

I love this fabric!!

I love them and would put Max in a new one every day if JC didn’t think he looked ridiculous!!

the tiniest doggerchief in the world!!

burger bear

Tom, of ever increasing Burger Bear fame, has been trying to get a crocheted burger bear for his fabulous street food stand at Harringay Market and elsewhere.

He tried to buy a pattern from the Internet but wasn’t successful.

cheesy poncho

One week (long before Christmas I am embarrassed to admit), he asked me if I could crochet one for him. It wasn’t quite as random a request as it sounds as he had seen me crochetting away while is was at my stall at harringay market.

attention

I tried to get the pattern that Tom knew was available out there somewhere but it was no longer available. Not to be deterred and liking the idea of the making challenge, I promised Tom that I would work up my own pattern if necessary and see how I got on making something similar to it for him.

I did that very thing this weekend.

what?

I wasn’t particularly well prepared so had to make do with wool that I had to hand that were the right thickness but only roughly the right colours. I searched the internet for more reference images but the one Tom uses on his twitter account was the best guide. Armed with nothing more than wool, a size 3 crochet hook, a lot of determination and a bit of crochetting knowledge ecrued over the years, I got to it.

a tomato and lettuce neck warmer

All my knitting, tatting and crochetting friends out there, know that developing a pattern can be tricky.  There is lots of back tracking, undoing and redoing, scribbling and correcting. Not remotely put off, I crochetted on, adjusting, stuffing and correcting as I went until, by the end of saturday, I had what I thought was shaping up to be a half decent first attempt.

a bald bear

I sent Tom a photo on twitter yesterday and he seems to like the look of it so far  which is a great start.  I won’t be at the market for a few weeks yet, but I’m not 100% happy with it yet so it gives me the chance to have another crack at it with a few pattern tweak, stuffing it differently and trying some colour changes to see if I can get it exactly how I want it.

I am onto prototype 2 and it is going well (and a lot neater without all the undoing and redoing!) so watch this space.

Then it has to pass the burger bear test!!!!

patchwork panel on bag

One of the delights of blogging, folksying, fairs and doing the harringey market are the lovely people that you come across.

The lovelies heavily outweigh any of the sillies that you encounter I am very pleased to say.

This weekend, I was asked through my blog to supply a lady with 3 of my cable knit cushions in red and I also had to make a loo roll bag for someone who had approached me at the Harringay Market with the request some weeks ago.

bag of bag

I agreed a price for the cable cushions (discounted and with postage and packing included) and parcelled them all up ready to go off to Wales. Just whenI was expecting payment, I got an email to say ‘no thanks, I’ve got 3 from Tesco for £14 each.

I haven’t got a reply to the ‘no thanks’ because it has rendered me somewhat speechless.

bag front

I was disappointed on so many levels but just as the disappointment was in danger of ruining my weekend and drying up my crafty juices, the very lovely Sophie got in touch to ask how I was getting on with the bag she wanted for hanging spare loo rolls on the back of the loo door.

As it happened, this weekend was the very weekend, I would be making it for her.

patchwork panel on bag front

I suffer terribly from confidence  (or severe lack of it) when I am making and especially when I am making something for someone that they have not seen (it is very different to having made something you like and did sort of to suit yourself, someone seeing it and just buying it outright). I had taken a brief from Sophie and then we communicated by text to get the details sorted out so I thought I was on the right track.

hanging on the back of the bathroom door

I finished it on Sunday morning and sent her photos of the completed bag hoping that I had interpreted her requirements correctly.

I am always pleased and very relieved when the response is positive. She liked it and it was just what she wanted but better.

Phew!!!

patchwork

Crisis of confidence over so I arranged to meet Sophie at Harringay Market when we would both be going to get our yummy street food lunch and shop for the coming week’s meat and veg.

patch

We had a quick chat when we met and then I got a lovely text complimenting me on the quality of the work and saying how pleased she was with it.

patches

It is so easy to forget the sillies when you have dealings with lovely appreciative people like Sophie.  I have said many times before, that the customers and the ‘craich’ are the best bits about crafting in the public arena and I am pleased to say that the cushions are now unpackaged and back in my little stock cupboard ready for someone who really does want hand knitted cushions instead of some cheap and nasty ‘thing’ from Tesco.

ripple crochet scarf

I was very lucky to be the winner of Laura of the very lovely ‘cute as a button‘ give away in January.

The parcel arrived with a pretty spotty tape decoration to the wrapping, it was almost a shame to unwrap it. When I did, though, I found lots of lovely things nestled in shredded brown paper.  There seemed to be so many more jewels in the box than I recalled from the give away. I enjoyed a few iced gems with a cup of coffee before I pored over everything in the box.

a box of goodies

Decorative pegs now, a fabric coursage, beads, buttons, a badge, egg cosy, little bells and a tasty jar of iced gems!

pretty decorated egg cosy

All so delightful and it felt soooo very much like christmas all over again.

pretty corsage

It seemed that as I lifted each item out of the box, another equally lovely thing was revealed,

buttons and badges

The ripple crochet scarf goes perfectly with my green jacket and I wore it that very day.

ripple scarf

The pictures speak for themselves and everything is beautifully made and joyful to receive.

I was so delighted with it and loved enjoying someone else’s makes so much that I am inspired to do the same thing myself and I will do a give away too.

So before too many more blogs and as soon as I have had time to decide what would be appropriate as a give away, I will be posting a give away blog.

a little heart message

I’m not sure how most people view valentine’s day…….

I quite like it.

It is a nice way to remind someone how you feel when perhaps that busy life stops you doing it usually.

messages and treats

Although I quite like the idea of Valentine’s Day, I don’t think I’m very good at it.  I need to qualify that statement; compared to my husband I’m not very good at it.

He is great at picking great cards with lovely verses in them, presents that are closely connected to what I am interested in or he has listened to something I have said!

a jar full of love

Not bad, eh?

That means, however, that I really need to up my game!

So this year, and fueled by the lovely idea of ‘inspiration‘ blog post that delighted me so much in the new year, I decided it was a good guide for a jar of ‘reasons why I love you’.

jut in case an explanation was needed…..

I got red paper, a jar and started to find lots of little things to put in there with them.

I did a bit of research and read some lists that other people had made for their girlfriends, husbands, lovers etc and although they were very sweet, they were clearly very personal to the people involved and no substitute for sitting with a pen and paper and making your own list.

a chocolate hug

It was easy and it was so much fun!! You really can’t beat a gift that involves thought and effort.

I personally love hand made gifts!!!

I decided on 101 reasons why and every single one of them made me smile. In the true spirit of the gift, hubby is revealing my reasons every few days and rewards himself with one of the chocolates or love heart sugar treats accompanying each of my thoughts (he hasn’t thrown any of them away yet either!!!).

Don’t be lulled into thinking we have some chocolate coated pink candy tinted life; we don’t and at times, I could merrily strangle hubby (as I’m sure he could do the same to me!!!) but I quite like him generally and he isn’t bad considering (LOL).

card and jar

All in all, it was a rather lovely valentine’s day and I think he might finally be impressed with my efforts!!