Happy little Santas

Made some more Christmas decorations! The ideas this year are just endless, I have more believe me it just is a question of time! These santas have embroidered linen faces and a gorgeous felt hat and beard. More images on flickr

Mathilda's Markets Today

Here is a picture from our Mathilda's Market stall that we had today. It was nice to chat to may of you! The market went well and we were pleased to be able to FINALLY bring out our Christmas stuff. There was a lot of positive feedback and I think a lot of people liked our stuff. Almost everything on our stall today was new. We have been working really hard over the past couple of months to get brand new stock made so that our stall is always fresh and exciting. We will be selling this type of stock at other markets in November and December so keep an eye on our blog for details. The best thing is that Rach is coming to Australia at the end of November and she is bringing a lot of goodies with her so she can join us at the markets. It will be the first time that all three of us (mum and the two sisters) will be selling together in the one place. There are more photos of our stall on Flickr.

Christmas houses

Yes I know more decorations for the tree. I made these pretty little houses with felt, applique and embroidery. I'm very lucky to have such wonderful felt to work with! More images on flickr.

Christmas owls are here!

I've been wanting to make owl for such a long time now and finally found inspiration. What better time to start than for Christmas. These owls are so cute for the tree. They are made with gorgeous wool felt and are hand embroidered. More images on flickr

More from Vicenza!

Towards the end of my very long day when I was doing another lap just in case I missed something I found this wonderful stand.


It belonged to a shop called Agomago in Florence. Their website is www.agomago.it . They specialise particularly in Japanese fabrics, quilt books etc. Besides having wonderful fabrics available they had some gorgeous Japanese quilts and products on display and some in progress. The ladies were lovely and very willing to show how certain effects were created. Next year they have Yoko Saito holding a course in Florence. I think I'll sign up for the Saturday course. I have included more photos of their stand but unfortunately they don't do the products justice. They were 100 times more beautiful and amazing.

Totes galore

I made these totes for a special order. I really like the way the colours turned out. There's a combination of fabric in them cotton and antique linen. The appliqued crochet flowers are hand dyed and vintage.

I also made 3 bags with matryoska on them I really love these. I'll definitely be working on more designs like this , it was fun. They are made on antique linen and then embellished with felt and fabric applique and embroidery.


I am heading to Australia towards the end of November. Very exciting I know! I'll being bringing many of these totes and other goodies to help my sister and mum at the markets! More images on flickr

Reindeer Christmas Stocking

There is nothing better to do on a rainy Sunday than to sit by the window looking out at the rain and sewing. This cute stocking is this morning's creation. I like this one the best! Each time I make another one, I like it more than the last but they are all really cute and look great together. I took a couple of idea's from Rach's last one which I loved. This sack is mostly made from 1930's repo. fabrics which are a fave and a vintage cream calico.

Fiera di Vicenza - Niky's creations

Today I spent the day at the Fiera di Vicenza in Italy. It's the biggest one in Italy and was great. I saw so many wonderful things and feel totally inspired. Firstly I have revived my interest in cross stitch. I love work by Stacy Nash http://stacynashprimitivedesigns.blogspot.com/ and Blackbird Designs http://blackbird-designs.blogspot.com/ . They weren't there but I have found a wonderful Italian artist, Niky's Creations, who designs equally as beautiful patterns. Nicoletta very kindly allowed me to photograph her at her stand. You should definitely visit her blog , it's also written in English http://niky-nikyscreations.blogspot.com/


I bought this pattern at the fair and can't wait to make it! Might be a present for someone special. Or maybe even for me!!! I think it's just gorgeous

Nicoletta at her stand. I have included a photo from her blog of her stand at another fair. I forgot to photograph all her goodies in Vicenza! I was a bit hot and flustered at this stage it was all too much to absorb!

Christmas Dog and Bone Stocking

Another one from me for Mathlida's Markets. This is a Christmas coloured stocking with a cute appliqued dog holding a bone present. I have more coming!

Cute Christmas stockings

Some new design for Christmas stockings. These are made with gorgeous Christmas fabrics including some by Lecien and Alexander Henry. The central panel is antique linen embellished with felt and fabric applique, and embroidery. They are really sweet. I have quite few ideas for more stockings so I'd better get moving! More images on flickr, going on Etsy.

Christmas cone 3 angels in a row

Cute Christmas cone with hand embroidered angels on antique handwoven Italian linen. This cone can be used on the Christmas tree and a decoration or hung on the door knob. It can be used to hold gifts, candy canes, nuts, nougat you name it. So much fun for Christmas!

Felt Christmas ornaments

Some more pretty ornaments to decorate the tree! These are made with gorgeous wool felt. They are hand embroidered. The heart has been embellished with antique linen and trim, cross stitch and embroidery. Going on Etsy

The girl's are back!

Yes here they are again, my friendly Christmas angels. It's so much fun making these as the each take on their own personality! They look great on the Christmas tree too! More angels on flickr.

Felt Santas

Gee.... I am blogging a bit today. It's probably about time as I don't do it very often. Rach has to keep the blog going for both of us most of the time. Now I need to get off the computer and keep sewing! But before I do..... these little guys were made from felt for my two nephew's and my son. The boys picked their own colour combination's, bells for their hats and put pipe-cleaner candy canes in Santa's sack. They are so cute all together! I think I will make myself a set for christmas.

Christmas Decorations for Mathilda's Markets

Here is a sneak peek at some of the Christmas Decorations that we will have at Mathilda's Markets for sale. There will be several different types made out of felt, linen, cotton fabrics, buttons, bells and embroidery. They are all handmade and designed to be appealing for kids. There are more images on Flickr and there will be even more on sale at the markets. Hope that you like them!

Christmas Stocking for Mathilda's Markets

I made this stocking for Mathilda's Markets using Rach's pattern. I have varied it slightly but essentially it is the same. You can really tell our different tastes- Rach likes colour but is a little more subtle, I am a bit more brighter! Even though it is the same pattern it does look quite different. I used a combination of fabrics including textured white linen, vintage fabrics, Japanese linen and cottons.

I also have started one for a boy in blues, red and linen and also plan to make another one in the more traditional Christmas colours of red and green. By market time in two weeks, I hope to have 3-4 made. We will see how I go as I still have a long list of things that I want to get done!!

Christmas decorations hearts

Some more Christmas decorations are completed. I love these hearts with their lovely colours. They were fun to make and I got to do some pretty little cross stitches!

Christmas decorations - floral hearts

Yes I'm in full Christmas swing now. I have a whole lot of projects on the go which I'm slowly finishing off. I love trying out new ideas, especially for Christmas. These hearts are so pretty, the flowers are made with linen, some old and some new.More images on flickr

Christmas stockings

Christmas is near so I've started my Christmas stash of goodies! Here are some stocking s I finished recently. They are made with a mix of cottons and linen, machine applique and hand embroidery. Of course I used antique linen as the background for my applique patches. Going on Etsy

Snowy snowmen Christmas cushion

Here's the twin to my reindeer cushion. These guys are so cute!

Christmas reindeers

I just love this cushions. I'm getting into the Christmas spirit very slowly, but momentum is picking up so stay tuned. I embroidered these cute reindeers on the most gorgeous antique linen. I decided to leave one end open and use pretty tortoise shell buttons to close it. It would be great to include some Christmas potpourri in the cushion too so it smells lovely.

Babushka messenger bag

Yey I did it! My daughter's best friend is heading off to Russia for 2 months. Her mum's Russian and they're off to visit her parents. Aurora and Lulu are only 5 and just adore each other they're so sweet. Since Aurora has never flown before and is a little nervous I decided to make her a goodies bag to be opened when in the air! This is what I do for Lulu when we go to Australia she just loves it.

Of course I couldn't put the goodies in a normal bag I had to make one! It's not like I don't have a million things to do! I saw this applique embroidery in a Japanese craft book and thought it would be perfect on the flap of a messenger bag. I've never made one of these bags before and don't have a pattern so I made it myself. I must say I was so pleased it worked out. The embroidery is on my gorgeous antique linen which just adds more character. Now I have to make one for Lulu and maybe for gifts as well.... and maybe even for my shop! Very ambitious I know.

Flower in a vase

Here's another little girlie tote I finished the other day. What little girl doesn't love bags. Lucy has so many and I notice she uses them all! This bag is embroidered on antique linen and combined with pretty cottons and trims. Going on Etsy.

Oh and stay tuned for up and coming Christmas goodies!!!

Billycart Markets

We did another Billycart Market a couple of weeks ago and it went quite well. Here is a new cushion that I made which sold. We had quite a few new products and the responses from the people at the markets were very positive. We are now in full Christmas production mode which is really exciting. We are still planning on having non-Christmas items at our markets but there will be a lot of Christmas items as well. I have noticed that there are very few specific Christmas items at the markets so hopefully people will like what we make! There are more images of some of our new creations on Flickr.

Mathilda's Market in October

Just letting you know that we will be at Mathilda's Market on Saturday 30th October at Paddington Town Hall. We have been creating a lot lately and will be bring out new items including Christmas Decorations. I hope you like what we have been doing and come along and say hi!!!!

Hand embroidered rose cushion

Here's another cushion made with an embroidery I finished last year. It's embroidered on a lovely Bellora linen. I don't know why I left it so long to make it into something, I guess I just move along from one thing to the next!

hand embroidered rose cushion

The other day I decided to go through my unfinished project box and I found this pretty rose embroidery I did last year. I'd completely forgotten about it. I had done the embroidery without any real project in mind which is probably why it stayed in the box for such a long time. I cut it up and made it into this love cushion embellished with trim. I have another little piece of embroidery which I'm go to use for a co-ordinating cushion.