Jeans bag for Lulu

A few weeks ago I made this sweet bag for Lucy. I had an old pair of jeans which had worn out and my friend suggested I make a bag with them. When Lucy discovered I was making the bag for her she was there with the whip until I finished. I wasn't even allowed to go to the loo!!!! It was fun to make because you can really do anything you want applique buttons and fabric, embroider. I even added a kitty cat in the style Lucy draws them. I would say the bag has been a hit with her and she won't let me use it!!

Gorgeous linen covered A6 lined notebook. These are a great size to carry around in one's bag to keep note of important things. The cover is made with linen fabric with a lovely appliqued vintage doily, appliqued hand dyed wool felted heart and hand embroidered.

Springtime Bunting

Springtime is near so I wanted to create something pretty and fun to hang on the wall. I've been wanting to make some bunting for sometime now and finally took the plunge after the beautiful bunting Sas and mum made at Christmas. Wish I had been in Sydney with them to make it too! We love our combined projects!!!

I used a lot of linen with different fabrics to create this. I embroidered appliqued and embellished to my hearts content!!

I hope to find time to develop more bunting ideas! More images on flickr.

Heart lavender sachets

I've been working on these lovely lavender heart sachets the last few days. I used many different pieces of antique hemp linens I have. I appliqued, embroidered and beaded to my hearts content. I also used vintage and antique trims I have, some French and some Italian. On a couple I also used a little hand dyed felted wool. They are filled with beautiful French lavender I bought at a fair.

Inspiration for these sachets has come from Jude Hill . I bought her hearts tutorial which was a lot of fun. Her work is amazing so interesting. I love this method of combining and layering different fabrics and material to obtain wonderful texture.

Hand embroidered cushions

First of Merry Christmas to everyone, I hope all had a great day!

Even though it was Christmas I have contonued to sew. I made these cushions for my mother in law as she needed new ones for her couch. They are very special as I used her antique cotton sheets which were hand woven by her grandmother! I appliqued some fabric from the gorgeous new Moda 'Etchings' range. I placed a vintage doilie over the top and then embroidered two simple designs. I think she was very happy with them!

Notebooks

I've had fun the last few days making these notebook covers. I've combined all kinds of fabrics and materials, appliqued and embroidered. These are great journals, ideas books or even for recipes. I know I have a lot of pieces of paper flying around with recipes which need to be written in a book! Maybe I should make one for myself!

All about hearts pouch

Yesterday I finished off this project. I've been ill all week and totally frustrated i couldn't do anything! As I mentioned in a previous post I've been following some lessons I purchased from Jude Hill. Very inspirational! To practice I decided to make a nine patch of hearts similar to one she has done. I love the different techniques she uses. I wove different antique linens together then I used her 'invisible basting' method to hold them in place. As Jude says once you've done this you can have several layers of fabric together which then behave as one. The I chose my diferent fabrics for the hearts and in some squares I added a different fabric for the background. So much fun. Then all that was left to do was embellish with stitches!! I've decided to send this little pouch to mum I think she will really love it. She loves to have things to keep pieces of her sewing projects in, so this can be added to her collection. I may have to make one for myself to and I can't wait to find the time to develop my own things with her techniques.

Antique linen bird applique photo album

This lovely photoalbum is almost exclusively made with antique linens and trims. It would make for a gorgeous bridal or baby shower gift. A great little album to carry around to show off one's favourite photos. The cover is removeable so it can be washed! Going on Etsy

Messenger bags

Some more messenger bags, some for orders and one for my shop! Don't know which yet!! They are all made with antique linen, applique and hand embroidered. Perfect for any little girl to carry her books or goodies around in.

Vintage fabric bag

This lovely bag is made with antique linens and vintage fabrics. I stitched fabric on fabric, and the added a vintage cross stitch. The bird is hand embroidered by me as a final touch. More images on flickr

Cute pouches - cat and rabbit

These pouches are so cute! They are for kids as pencil cases or really you could use them to carry anything, they are quite big! I made the darker one with lovely textured Japanese fabrics. The second I made with a mix of fabrics including my new newspaper Japanese linen I bought on Etsy. I just love it and couldn't wait to use it. I wasn't sure it was going to work with these girlie colours. I think it has worked well in the end and am very pleased with it. There's a combination of methods here including patchwork, applique and embroidery.

Here is a new lovely wreath I nade for Christmas! It has been wrapped with different linen strips some are antique Italian hand woven linens. The flowers are made with different mediums including felt piping and crochet. I then have added berries and feathers for extra texture and written ' Noel' with wool felt. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out and I love this wool felt piping I found the colours are fab! On Etsy and more images on flickr

Navy blue linen bag

I love this new bag! I used a heavy weight navy linen, lovely texture. I applied different linens and trim with the machine. I lined the bag with a beautiful Japanese fish fabric I bought in Australia when I was there. I've been dying to do something with it. I had thought I would embroider a fish on the front of the fabric but them when I saw the applique I liked it so much I left it as is.

Cushion madness!

As you can tell I love cushions! I've made more, the fabric made me do it! For these cushions I used more of my vintage hessian which I just love. I machine appliqued strips of linen, tulle, handmade crochet trim, and even an old doiley (I'm not sure what it's called in English). I then embroidered using embroidery floss and/or Appleton wools. The monogram cushion is backed with a gorgeous plum coloured Max Mara linen, the other with natural linen. Yes I am fortunate enough to have a very large Max Mara outlet nearby. I must be the only person who goes in there and doesn't look at the clothing because I only have eyes for the fabric remnants!!!!! More images on flickr.

Floral hand embroidered cushion - oatmeal hessian

This gorgeous cushion is made with a beautiful oatmeal coloured vintage hessian. It has been embellished with hand crocheted trim, linen, and toile applique and finished off with lovely crewel hand embroidery using Appleton wools. The applique is 'live applique' means the edges of the fabric are not turned under in order to maintain the textured feel already created by the lovely fabric and wool embroidery. Definitely for those who love texture! I thenbacked it with Cotton mid weight French toile fabric. I love this and will be doing more in this style. Next week the antique market is on so I will back searching for more lovely old fabrics! More images on flickr and Etsy.

Harbour Collage

My 3 year old son and I made this colllage. It took us a while. He tore up paper from magazines for the background and helped me stick them down with Mod Podge. I cut out all the details which he also helped to stick down. Many of the ideas came from him, like the idea of putting 'Charlie and Lola' in a boat. It's really cute and now hangs on his bedroom wall.
It raining today so I can't get any good shots outside of the collage but will take some better ones soon.
Jamie now has ideas for even more collages- space, dinosaurs, under the sea..... We will see what happens!!!