Bags and beads

I promised you last week that if the sun shone again I would rush outside and take some pictures of the other bags that I have been making... well, here they are.....

As you can see, I have been inspired by the lovely heathery colours that are filling the moors at the moment...

The main body of these bags is made from a vintage blanket that I have dyed and felted...

I do so love this squirly, circley design.. It's so much fun to do.. if you've never had a go at freehand embroidery on your sewing machine, I would urge you to give it a go... it's not nearly as scary as you think it will be and you will be amazed at what you can do!!

This one is very retro don't you think? I'm especially pleased with this bow detail too... It's definitely all these little details that set you apart from other designer/makers and also add that little extra something

This was definitely my most favourite make of the day.... a new cushion for the sofa!

I just love the colours together and the big shiny buttons!!

I do get moaned at for having so many cushions on my sofa, but I think you can never really have too many can you?

As an aside..... see all those gorgeous cosmos flowers? Well, these are the ones that I grew from seed back in the spring, and they are STILL flowering profusely. I will be planting these again next year too as they are so easy to grow and give so much pleasure.

I took a trip here last week ( I know it's loathed by many!!!) and came home with a few extra things that snuck their way into my shopping basket... such as some new sewing threads... oh, and underneath them is my new table cloth... I LOVE the colours, and, although it's waterproof... I vowed I'd never have another one of those now that the children are all grown up - I really wanted to have grown up, vintage, fabric cloths (I do have those too), this doesn't look at all plasticky, just bright and colourful... yay!

Oh... how did they get in there??? More fabric I hear you say... well..... yeeessss!! Just a couple of metres for a few more bags and other goodies that I want to make. The sewing bug has really caught on again... I think I was shamed into it by a very dear friend... you know who you are J... who was shocked at my lack of sewing over the last few years and said as much... thanks for the shove!! So, watch this space for some more fabricky goodies in the near future...

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Well, here we are at The Bead lagoon..... This is the lovely shop in Sidmouth where I take jewellery making classes on a regular basis....

... and here we are inside... all prepared and ready to go....

I love the wall paper and curtain fabric.. it gives the shop a warm welcoming feel...

My students trying to choose their beads for earrings and necklaces...

This is the hardest part of the morning I think... choosing colours and styles!!!

Well, wouldn't you find it hard with all of this amazing selection to choose from?

... and this.....

Scrumptious!!!! If you are ever in the area this is a place NOT to be missed, you will be amazed by the selection and quality of the beads...

Here are just a couple of other shots of the shop... as you can see there are many, many trays of beads and findings and plenty of inspiration in the form of jewellery that has been made by Kate, at The Bead lagoon, and also some of my pieces too!!!

There are several more workshop dates in the diary now....

Saturday October 24th... Beginners workshop 10am - 1.30pm

Thursday November 5th... Beginners workshop 10am - 1.30pm

Saturday November 14th... Wire work jewellery workshop 10am - 1.30pm

Thursday November 26th... Beginners workshop 10am - 1.30pm

Saturday December 5th... Jewellery making for Christmas presents 10am - 11.30 am and 12pm - 1.30pm

I would love to see you if you are in the area.... and if not, why not treat yourself to break and stay at Pebbles, which is not far away, and come along to one of the workshops... you will not be disappointed with either!!!

I am now off to try and finish my promotional literature for some workshops that I will be holding at The Flavel in Dartmouth on the first three Tuesday evenings in December... could be difficult though as when I came to find the photo paper on which to print my posters, I discovered that there is only piece left... hmph! ... the others having been snaffled by a certain daughter who is taking photography as an 'A' level... grrrrr! Looks like I will be off to the shops then!!!

Bye for now xx

p.s if you would like to know how to do freehand machine embroidery on your sewing machine, please let me know and if there's enough interest, I may put a tutorial on the blog.. woo hoo.. my first one!

I'm happy to give you tutorials on jewellery making too if you would like them... just let me know

TTFN xx

It's curtains for me

At the beginning of last week I trundled off to Budleigh Salterton, by the sea, to spend some time with my Mum making curtains for their new Bed and Breakfast business. This has been a dream of theirs for so many years and they have waited so patiently for the time to be right... well, now it is and they have the most amazing house right on the beach!!! 

The sun was shining with all it's might as I rounded the corner at the far end of the beach on Monday morning, and this is what I saw:

... the beach stretched away before me, the colours, sounds and smells assaulted my senses and I drank it all in... WOW!! ...  also stopping to take a few pictures. Isn't it beautiful? Pebbles - the name of the B&B -  is about the 2nd or 3rd house along from where you can see the houses begin:: those boats and beach huts are directly in front of it... who wouldn't want to stay there?

Here is Pebbles....

This is the view over the garden wall, looking onto the beach and away to Exmouth  at the far end of the bay

Looking over towards Sidmouth.. over the brow of the hill .. (notice the pesky seagull?? more about him later!!)

I have to let you into a secret now.. both Mum and I have been sewers for most of our lives, my mum teaching me how to sew clothes for my doll on her Singer hand sewing machine when I was about 7 (I still have the doll and the dresses!!)... BUT we both hate making curtains!! No matter how many times you work out your fabric lengths and how many you need, or how precisely you match the seams, the fabric just seems to take over and one length is longer than the other, the straight line you thought you'd carefully measured and cut ends up being all over the place... it's a nightmare! Grr... Fortunately though, we had each other to moan at and we spent a lot of time laughing at our incompetence and how cross we were getting!!

Here is mum working out the measurements for yet another pair of curtains!.. do you think the calculator is big enough???

... and she's off...

This is where it gets tricky - 3 widths of curtain fabric and 3 widths of bonded interlining each 2m long and mum starts to disappear!

But.. what a view from our 'workroom'... across the lawn and out to sea. This room will be the breakfast room.. I wouldn't mind getting up to that every day. However, make sure you carry an umbrella with you in Budleigh.. I was standing at the door of the conservatory, having a well earned cuppa, when all of a sudden there was a squawk and I felt something land with a 'splat' on my arm... followed by an exremely fishy smell.. see where I am going with this?? Yes, you are right, a seagull decided to 'dump' on me, and shower the floor of the conservatory too. And as if that wasn't enough, as I was loading the car that evening.. yes you guessed it.. it happened again.. all down my back.. yuk!! I should have turned around and come home then... 

You have been warned!!

The view through the Front door... across the walls and out to sea...

In 3 days we did manage to make 3 pairs of curtains and 2 throws for the sofa from some fabric that we picked up at the local recycling centre.. that was a real find.. its John Lewis fabric from the 70's, about 12 m and we paid £2!! What a treasure!!!

These are the throws.. not a brilliant picture, the sofas aren't in situ, they are waiting to be moved once the decorating is finished

After all that curtain making.. pictures of the finished ones coming soon.. I needed to get down to some beady business. I must have decided to use these beads as I had been inspired by the colours of the sea at Budleigh..

Daisy simplicity...

I love the heart on this. It was a bit of an experiment with my silver plated wire, but I think It's turned out really well.. I think I will make more - what do you think?

Closer still...

Well, that's all for now folks.. the not so little people are returning from a 3 week holiday in Australia with their dad today so I must go and bake a cake in celebration.

Have a great day ... x