Happy New Year!

Wow, 2016!
I was somewhat sporadic with my blogging last year - I missed November and December completely :/
So here is a little catch up on some of my handmade Christmas gifts for people...

For my gorgeous Fairy Goddaughter's twins:

..♥..

My own take on selection boxes (okay - selection sacks )...

..♥..

and my hand decorated glass jars of homemade mince pies, oaty biscuits and Rocky Road...

. ...♥... .

Hares!

Easter has been and gone and some of the gifts I made for people didn't even get their likeness taken.

I made lots of these lovely little fellows but only got snaps of these two...

so I'll try to snap a shot or two of the others with their new owners...

. ...♥... .

Ha ha ha Happy New Year...

Ok, so it's been a while.  No excuses, no story to tell.  I've still been crafting but maybe not as much as I'd like.

I've seen a lot of sewing mats on Pinterest and other people's blogs so my mum, sister and I set to one day and made one each.

I went for a nice fat quilted base in plain cream with a lovely vintage-style rose printed edge.

The pockets along the front are made with a sewing theme printed cotton and have vintage sewing pattern panels on them.

I'm hoping this little mat will keep all my sewing necessities in one place and save me time in the long run (I'm always putting my scissors down and losing them, even when I'm just sat at my machine :/ ).

. ...♥... .

Every Woman, Every Man...

Join the Caravan...

Isabelle

Another name in cross stitch...

. ...♥... .

Caravan, oh my soul is on the run...

My new sewing machine cover...

It's my own little caravan of love ♥

Pin Cushions

Perfect little pin-keeps

A Little Bit of Dr Who Fun

I love the TARDIS!  I made one of these a few weeks ago and LOVED it.
When I made a couple more they were quick to sell at a craft fair and I've since had more orders :)
As my son kindly pointed out when I was encountering a bit of difficulty with the stuffing 'It's because they're so much bigger on the inside, that's why you're struggling.'  You can't argue with that logic!

A Cross Stitch Framed Name

. ...♥ ... .

Rustic Country Cards

I had some spare time to put together some lovely little fabric bits and made these cards...

A delightful tiny patchwork quilt, with a small amount of padding...

and a country red barn with a lot more padding!

I also did a couple of tiny Union Jack cards ~

These pieces have no padding but are mounted on the same rustic fabric surround.

. ... ♥... .

Textile Art Postcards

There's a pattern I keep trying to create for a book cover but every time I try my head refuses to make it work.  I'm convinced it will just fall into place perfectly one day, until then I'll just keep getting distracted by lovely little textile art pieces like these...

Scrappy Fabric Collages

It's that time of year where a lot of my sewing is on dance costumes for a very dear friend's child.  I've also been working on some boring, practical sewing too so I thought it was time to treat myself to something fun and just for me!

So I gathered bits of fabric, lace and ribbons and put together this pretty fabric collage...

...sewn with a curvy leaf vine up the middle and a tiny zig-zag around the frayed edges.

 I was so pleased with the result I set to and made another...

 and topped this one with a button and frill flower.

. ...♥... .

Oh, Soldier Soldier, Won't You Marry Me...

More fabric tags, this time with a big tall sentry box and a neat little row of soldiers...

made from blue denim with a red gingham ribbon.

. ...♥... .

Union Jack Brooches

I've been cross-stitching various Union Jack designs, trying several different patterns until I finally came up with one I'm happy with.  The idea was that I would use them on different projects but so far I've only made these brooches...

...and the sun was going in and out like a fiddler's elbow when I was trying to take photo's so they're not the shots I was looking for but will do for now.

. ...♥... .

Little House on the Prairie Tags.

A little bit more of fabric collage sewing.  Sometimes I pick up a piece of fabric and I know just what to do with it and what other fabrics to use, other times I can go through piles of different patterns and not find the exact piece I'm looking for (even when I don't know what it is I'm looking for).

Anyhow, these tags sort of evolved from bits of ribbon I have had for ages and wanted to finally use, so what  could be better than as a garden for a cute little house?

And I wanted to use a Union Jack ribbon too, so these houses got our great nation's flag as their garden.

. ...♥... .