HAPPY NEW YEAR :)

I just wanted to say I am still around and will be keeping my blogging up to date in 2012.

I start a new job on the 5th of Jan, I will be still cleaning but this time in a school 2pm-4pm so after 5 years I will have my evenings (and school hols) to sew  all the lovely fabric I have been buying into something nice :)

I hope 2012 will be a good year for all my lovely and patient followers :)

Im back (again)

I am back

and my bogger is playing up :( :( thie xmas tree pic is now above :( and it's taken forever to post this post :(

I am still trying to work where October went. This year has gone so fast.

I have only had a few mins here and there so instead of sitting on my PC I have been trying to do bits of sewing.

I don't have pic's of everything I have done but here are some that I do have lol.

More padded christmas trees, I still have not finished decorating them yet :(

This is a little mini tote bag

I found my waterproof birdie fabric :)

This Hello Kitty bag was made for my daughter's boyfriends sister so she can take her stuff to collage in ;)

This is my bag, well it was about time I had a new one :)

I am going to have a bit more time to myself soon and after christmas will be able to visit more of my lovely followers (and other bloggers)

I am planning a give away for my faithful freinds as a big thank you for sticking with my erattic bloggin

I will be back very soon with the giveaway very, very soon (or as soon as I can work out how to put a giveaway badge on lol).

Sue xxx

Ruffle bag

When I saw this bag on here http://www.vanessachristenson.com/2011/09/v-and-co-sewing-with-ruffle-fabric.html

I just had to find a UK seller and make one for myself. I brought the fabric from here http://www.fabrique-boutique.co.uk/epages/es141499.sf/sece326d1b952/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es141499/Categories I
I have never made a bag this way before so it was fun to do :)
I already had lots of red fabric and it was very quick to sew up, took me about 1hour, it turned out so good and I have enough fabric to make another one as I just know my daughter will want one :) I tried to get a closer look at the fabric ruffles but it's not realy worked lol.

sewing wkend, more bags :)

Well after not sewing for ages I managed to get a lot done this weekend :)
I have had this fabric for ages, an impulse buy on ebay, so after making Noodlehead's 241 bag for my sis I thought it would be good to use the fabric for another. I only had enough for the front and side pockets so I used some red for the back and a creamy pillow case was the right colour for the lining :) Some of the off cuts weree big enough for 2 inside pockets so not very much was left over, which I like :)

I was thrilled to bits with this Oriental fabric I got, alsso an ebay buy lol. It looks amazing with the red but again I only had enough fabric for the front and side pockets but it's ok as the bag can be reversed so pattern one side, plain the other.

The linning fabric is some I had left from another bag project and again I used the scraps to make inside slip pockets.

Side pockets :)I gave in and brought some Hello Kitty fabric, I wasn't going to as I thought it would have been old hat by now but no, my daughter said the kids would have my arms off for bags made from it lol.

I made this one for a friends little grandaughter. I also made a bag with the Mable Atwell fabric Ive had for ages. These bags are 10'' x 11'' so are a lovely size for toddlers and fasten with velcro they won't loose anything put in it :) While I was on a roll I thought it was about time I used the pre-cut squares I brought when I first started to sew and put them together.

I made a cushion cover but ran out of stuffing so if anyone can help, where can I buy more from that won't cost the earth. I usually buy cheap cushions from Wilko's but Ive also been asked to make a load of xmas tree's and they usually take a pillow and a half to stuff so don't fancy lugging 20 odd home from Wilco's lol. The other squares will prob end up and center panels for quilts when I get some plain fabric :)

A close pic of the cushion and the back.

I couldn't leave one square on it's own so I cut it into 4 and put it on the back :)

Well thats it for now but I have to get sewing as I have 2 craft stalls coming up soon and as both are closer to xmas I think I will have to make more tree's and some wrapping paper bags :)

Bags and christmas

I am realy getting behind with blogging, I just seem to work and sleep but I have managed to do a little sewing :)

This bag I made for my lovely sister Kath as she is very special to me and has a lot on her plate at the moment so I wanted to cheer her up with her fav colour and I knew this pattern I brought from here http://www.noodle-head.com/2011/03/241-tote-pattern.html was ideal.The front fabric is a very deep purple with black and is so rich it almosts looks like velvet in real life
The pockets were a challenge but not too difficult so I was pleased when they went on correctly lol

This fabric was brought from my local fabric shop and it just had to go inside her bag.

It reminds me of sweets lol.

I made these little mini shopping bags for my darling grandaughters to hang on the peg hooks I made a while back.

They have after 7 months going to have a new bedroom :)

My son and darling daughter-in-law are at last getting a house after spending 7 months in one room with shared bathroom. They rented a flat but when the landlady wanted to sell it they had to go in to temp accommodation but as of last week they have now moved into a brand new 2 bed house and I am going to see it tomorrow.

This christmas tree is for them I made it from a Mccall's christmas pattern I brought last year but had not used. I had to cut 6 tree shapes then sew it down the middle, that was the easy part , it seemed to take forever stuffing it lol.

It turned out bigger than I thought but it does look good with the bells and ribbons on it :)

I am now planning more sewing as I have 2 craft fairs to get ready for, one in Nov and one in Dec so I will have to think about some stocking filler/pocket money size items
I am also doing extra shifts at work so never sure when I can have 5 mins to myself :(

Thank you to all you lovely followers that stick with me, I love it to know you are there :)

Lovely Claire's giveaway

I had to post a blog about Lovely Claire, sorry Claire not stalking you lol.
She has been sewing some wonderful pincushions and has a giveaway here http://pootleflumpsblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/stop-press-im-having-giveaway.html?showComment=1314709519740#c9120557204071825283

Me being totaly useless at this blog thing had to post the link as I can not get my head sorted (lack of time again) to put it on my side bar on my blog.

We started off on MSE in the sewing room over a year ago and have kept each other going both of us learning along the way :)

I don't always get to post a comment on her blog but I always keep up :)

I made a few friends through my sewing and one day will give up work to do more but until then I love seeing Claire's lovely things and want to wish you lots of luck with you house Claire :)

Another bag and a great day out

I have let time run away from me again :(
I have done a lot of sewing for the craft stall I am doing in Norfolk this weekend but no pic's of it all :( but I do have this one lol I brought this faux suede last year but never knew what to make with it until I saw the silky purple fabric I was given and I knew it had to go with it so I made a bag like the tatto one I did earlier.

It was a bit of a pain to sew with but not as bad as I 1st thought and it turned out well :)

Last Sunday my No2 son, Lovely DIL and 2 little princesses came to visit so with No3 son we went to Gullivers Kingdom In Matlock as a 6th (hell were did the time go) birthday treat for my big Princess :)
We had a great day, the weather was warm and the veiw when we got to the top of the park was breath taking, or was that because we pushed a buggy up lots of hills lol.

Even little princess loved it :) One of the things the kids could do was dig for treasure in the caves, they were given a little bag with pan, cup, rake and spade and as you can see even my son enjoyed helping his niece

They has a great time racing on the moonbuggies lol while we had a nice rest on the bench :) I always thought my son was too big for the park so had never taken him but there is so much for 4-13 yr olds to do he loved it as much as my little sweetie so we will be going again :)

3 bags

This weekend I managed to make 2 Amelie bags :)
I have had the fabric lurking about for so long I thought it was about time I used it.
The stripe one the kids have called the butchers apron lol. It is lined with a duvet cover I brought in a charity shop as I loved how like denim it looked :)The navy bag started as a curtain my lovely aunt gave to me and it was lined with some lovely shiney fabric Ive had since I started sewing over a year ago.I even had a zip in my draw that matched perfectly with the lining :)

My next bag I did today.

I have been searching for so long for this black tattoo fabric, I have the white version, I had given up then by chance found some on ebay :)
So I pulled out some lovely black shadow print fabric for the lining and made this simple bag.

My camara flash has made it look a lot greyer than it actually is. You can just see the edge of the pocket, it has the outer fabric on the front and the lining fabric on the back :)

I can't wait to use the rest of the curtains I have been storing to make more bags now :)

More bags and sewing

Yet again time has run away from me :(


I am hopeing (fingers crossed) that the job interveiw I have for the 18th will go my way as I can have my evenings back :)


It is only when I post pic's here that I realise how much sewing I actually fit into my very busy days lol. This is a new project I want to get started on, I brought these Clover flower makers a few wks ago and Ive still yet to find time to do them.

I made some little loot bags for my money tissues to sell on the craft stall I am doing at the end of August.

I found the fabric amongst my stash that I brought last year and forgot about. I thought there was enough of the pink fabric for a bag but there was not so I decided to make it a reversable bag with the blue and pink with pockets on opposite sides :)

Pink side

Blue side

I made some little make-up bags with the last piece of this fabric, it is so pretty, I got it from http://www.seamstar.co.uk/

This one is the last of my waterproof bird fabric :( Im not sure if I can get any more

I at long last made some fabric tubs from the SewHip mag :) the felt fabric was from the charity shop for £1.50, there was nearly 2 meters, the denim look fabric was a duvet cover I found in the same shop. The tubs were very quick and easy to make so I will be doing more of these in different sizes :)

Well that's it for now . Thank you for putting up with my ramblings :)

Sewing updates

I thought it was about time I updated my blog.

I seem to running around like crazy these days and never know where time is going :(
1st I had to show this wonderful pouch I found in a charity shop for £1.95, well my mum brought it as I didn't have any money on me and she was viiting for a few days, I love my mum :) It is padded and folded to make little triangle pockets

I love the fabric and would love to make one but I need to find out how it was done 1st lol

It is ideal for my all my embroidery scissors and bits :)

I made some more little padded xmas trees but ran out of bells so I had to order some more, they came today :)

Some un-finished purses and glasses case I need to put snap fastenings on then I can add these to my craft stall stuff.

The back of the top purse is spotty :)

I love these little art bags, the fabric was from my fav quilting shop in Cromford and when I saw the buttons on ebay I had to get them.

This bag is another one I made useing the Simplicity pattern, I took the other 2 to Quiltessentials in Cromford to show Anne and Darren, they both liked the padded one so I padded this one and have to admit it is better. The fabric is Moda and it was so lovely to sew :)

Well that's it for now, I am supprised how much I have done in my very hectic life lol