Sew, ray, me

Patchwork embroidery

2013-05-08T15:18:00.000+01:00

My scrap basket continually overflows...this annoys me no end as I like to think of myself as thrifty therefore no scrap is every too small to throw out....which results in having tonnes of teeny scraps which I rarely get round to using. - Do you see my dilemma!? A couple of times in the past I've managed to give them away to willing recipients, however, now and then it is extremely satisfying to actually use some up!

Recently, I pulled out some particularly gorgeous ones that went together and just patchworked away until I had pretty squares of loveliness..

....an idea was forming!

I played about with fonts and wording on my computer and printed out some lettering that I traced onto the fabric. I hooped up and began embroidering....

After some stitching and some more planning I took to my sewing machine to finish off my idea....

Ta-da! How cute?? I *really* enjoyed doing this and eventually ended up with a couple more!

This time I tried a house shape with a little ribbon chimney, love this!

...and another little house -

I have given the others away, but the little house above is for me, and now hangs proudly on my sitting room wall :)

I have had some interest in these from customers so may also make a few to sell. I've really been enjoying embroidery lately - have you noticed how I flit from craft to craft every few months?! - There just aren't enough hours in the day!

A new quilt

2013-04-20T16:25:00.001+01:00

As soon as I saw the fabric line 'The Simple Life' by Tasha Noel I knew it was destined to become a quilt (for me!).

I chose the red and white (and pink) fabrics from the line and ordered them from America (the best price).

Finally I found some time to piece a very quick and easy squares/rectangle quilt top. Here it is half-way through the knee-crunching job of basting!

Here it is all basted - masking tape and all!

I purposely used a very simple patchwork for the quilt top a) because it came together really quickly, and also because b) the large sections allow you to still be able to see all the lovely details of the fabrics.

In order to keep this quick I did rows of horizontal wavy quilting lines across the quilt, I think this has given it a lovely look without too much fuss. After a final wash it came out lovely and crinkly.

The size of this one is just right for keeping me warm on the sofa, my other quilt is massive and could keep the whole family warm!

I made my binding from red fabric with white polka dots, I think it really adds a perfect finishing touch to the quilt.

For the backing I used this lovely thrifted, vintage looking floral fabric (which I believe is actually and IKEA duvet cover!).

Now, cue lots of quilt photos!!

Non-stop sewing!

2013-04-20T15:53:00.000+01:00

Oh dear, I seem to be leaving it longer and longer between blog posts don't I?

Most of my time through the week is now spent on making orders for my lovely customers. (You can see the things I'm manly making over on my 'Shop' page or if you're on Instagram, come and find me there - 'sewrayme'.) It's a constant stream of crochet hook rolls, new knitting needle rolls and bags of all different shapes and sizes!

Gorgeous beach hut knitting needle roll

Pretty sets for crocheting on the go (or at home!)

I was also delighted to be asked to make a baby quilt recently too, I just love how it turned out, it was very difficult to part with! This one is cot size -

More of my little bags, in many different combos...each time I make another, I get a new favourite!

Evenings are spent with feet up, cup of tea in hand....

...and if I can find the energy, a little cross stitch too...

Vintage rose cross stitch

2013-03-31T16:44:00.000+01:00

I have been wanting to make something from this book for ages...

I got it for Christmas and it's right up my street. If you like Tilda books and Cath Kidston then you'll love this too! There's sewing, cross stitch, crochet and even paper craft.

Finally I decided upon a beautiful cross stitch rose pattern, quite a small, but enough to keep me busy over a couple of evenings.

I dug out my supplies and got cosy -

I used a 14 count natural aida - I have tried evenweave and it required a lot of concentration and eye squinting! I'll save that for when I know I'll have time to work on projects during the daytime for a better light. But I'm happy with the look of this natural coloured aida, it worked perfectly with the threads I'd chosen.

It worked up fairly quickly, although with so many different colours working up such a small area there was a lot of time spent changing threads etc.

Finally finished -

I knew I wanted to hang this in my recently decorated shabby chic bedroom, but I wasn't entirely sure how to display it. I've been collecting frames specifically to use for my handmade projects and remembered a lovely gold 'scuffed' one I got from Tiger a while ago. It's rectangular and the rose looked a little lonely in the frame all by itself, so I dug out my box of ric-rac and crochet lace and chose some that went beautifully.

Et voila! My lovely picture now hangs beside the bed - next to my other handmade lovelies!

My aim is for this little patch of handmade loveliness to grow over this year :)

Bunting needed

2013-03-24T16:23:00.000Z

I ended up with a really stinking cold a few weeks back so one Sunday morning I was ordered to stay in bed for a bit whilst the OH got up with our 3 year old and took him downstairs to play.

As I lay in bed (awake typically), I just took in all the pretty things in the newly decorated bedroom. You can see a little of it here.

Gorgeous new duvet cover - from Primark, and so cheap but oh-so-beautiful!

And soon a lovely cup of tea brought to me in bed!

The wall at my side of the bed is slowly becoming filled with pretty handmade things...my goal over this year is to fill it up even more. I have a few ideas for frames I've already bought, but as usual it's just a case of finding the time!

I suddenly became aware of a big bare space on the other side of the room - above the mirror. Bunting! It needed bunting!

I was on a mission, cold or no cold, I would not be held back! I got up, showered and dressed and pulled out some of the gorgeous fabrics I'd bought 'just for me' and knew they'd be perfect for what I had in mind.

These are just a selection from some that I bought from the range 'The Simple Life' - you can see more of this range here.

I got to work on my bunting, I decided to try scalloped bunting just for something a little different, I also wanted to embellish a few of the flags/pennants with some lacy ribbon and ric-rac just to make it super girly!

With enough done all that remained was to attach it to some white bias tape and get the OH to hang it up for me!

Ta-da! Here it is hung in it's spot - not a great picture I'm afraid, but you get the idea.

Looks even cuter at night when the fairy lights around the mirror are switched on -

Ahhh, perfect. And it took my mind off feeling ill! Best of all it only took a couple of hours :)

Gifts for Mothers Day

2013-03-10T19:19:00.003Z

It's mothers day today here in the UK and with a Mum who has everything and needs nothing I had to think hard what to give to my Mum this year! Having recently moved house as well I didn't want to give her anything that would take up too much space (she is having a bit of a clear out/tidy up as she gradually unpacks).

With that in mind, I dug out my crafting supplies in preparation for Mothers Day this year and gave some very handmade gifts.

I've recently gotten back into papercrafting - scrapbooking really, so I have all the supplies necessary to make a card. I have also had a recent delivery of some gorgeous new washi tapes so I was keen to use them!

The book you can just see is Stitch and Sew Home, it's such a pretty book, if you like Tilda and Cath Kidston then you'll definitely like this! I used a bird template from the book for the front of my card -

I have also had a go at making a few of these recently, crochet hearts with a rose on the front, a la Attic 24 blog, so I decided to make a springtime one for my Mum.

You can see the one I made my Mum above (with the yellow flower) next to one of mine with a pink flower.

The lovely daffodils in the picture above were cheap as chips from Asda, I suppose they're meant for the garden, but I decided to pot a few up in the broken cups I had in the kitchen that I can never bear to throw away! They are certainly brightening up the house, I've got about 5 pots of them!

With that in mind I saw a lovely chunky blue and white mug in Matalan and instantly had the idea to pot up some little daffs for my Mum as well.

So those gifts, teamed with a few gorgeously scented candles (freshly cut daisies and green fig) were my gifts to my Mum this mothers day.

Everything all wrapped up :)

Something vintage, something new

2013-02-21T17:00:00.000Z

Over recent years I have, like many of you, discovered a love for scouring the charity (thrift) stores for hidden pieces of pretty fabrics - often in the form of vintage bed linens.

I've had these enormous pieces of fabric (double duvet covers!) in my stash for a while now so I decided to give them a new lease of life by cutting into them to make something new.

I've been making a LOT of crochet hook rolls recently so I decided it was time I tried out some vintage ones.

All rolled up

I used a pretty pink and white lined fabric for the inside -

All finished off with one of my handmade labels -

Now all that's left to do is pop them into my Folksy shop :)

Baby gifts

2013-02-15T19:37:00.000Z

I don't seem to have blogged about actual sewing for a while, but while I am sewing a lot, I don't want to bore you with constant pictures of all the crochet rolls, knitting needle rolls and bags I've been making lately!

I love getting asked to make items that I don't make so often - especially baby gifts. There is just something about pulling out pastels and snuggly soft terry cloth!

Baby burp cloths

The latest of my baby makes include burp cloths - above, and adorable bibs -

I've made bibs a few times now, and with each new one I make they never fail to make me just a teensy bit broody!

Aren't they just adorable?

You may remember the pictures I made last summer for 2 sisters, well, they now have a new baby cousin and I was asked to make a similar picture for them to give to him as a gift. How lovely again to be able to choose some lovely pastel colours for a newborn baby boy. Here is his applique picture -

Meanwhile, my evenings are still filled with cosying up with my crochet and my blanket is slowly growing...

I don't do 'relaxing'

2013-01-30T16:33:00.000Z

While my blog may be a little quiet lately, I, and my business certainly are not. I had expected the beginning of the New Year to be nice and quiet, to break back in gently after the frenzy of Christmas...but no, it seems all you lovely crafters out there are desperate to give your crochet hooks, knitting needles and WIPs gorgeous handmade homes.

Just a few of the orders from the first week of January!

To see a few of these items in more detail, just have a look on the 'shop' tab at the top of my blog.

So, while I sew, sew, sew all day, you'd think I'd just enjoy doing nothing in the evenings...but no, I find it so hard to sit and do nothing... hence all the crochet recently! (Which you can read about in my previous posts here and here).

And while those have been fairly small and quick projects, I decided I needed something to keep me occupied for a little longer, so I decided it was high time I crocheted myself a blanket!

I ordered a lovely selection of pastel yarn and chained a maaaaaaaaaasive 250 foundation chain and started a blanket of half treble stripes - nice and easy, nothing to have tho think about or count. I've kept the width of my stripes totally random and stop and change colour whenever I feel the time is right.

It wasn't long before my 'blanket' grew......

And now as I crochet, it keeps me warm as I go! I can't believe the warmth I get out of it already, and it was clear from early on that I may have possible chained a tad too many for my foundation row! I was hoping to add a couple of rows of border to it once finished and a pretty scalloped edge...however I'm now thinking that will make the finished blanket absolutely huge! We'll see!

Leg warmers!

2013-01-23T19:20:00.000Z

Fact: I always have cold feet.

Fact: I always wear socks and cosy slippers around the house, and thick cosy socks under my boots when I go out.

I really liked the idea of having some leg warmers for wearing with leggings and/or under my boots. I'd seen loads of tutorials for them on Pinterest so I pinned a few and a little while ago I found some chunky wool that I knew would be perfect.

This wool is super soft and sooooo cosy! The pattern I used was from here - yes, they're baby legwarmers...I just added to all the sizes as I really only needed a pattern for guidance. They worked up really quickly. Unfortunately, I tend to move on from craft to craft and stopped a few months ago after only having made 1 leg warmer! Last week, however, I really thought I ought to get the other one finished, so in just an evening, I made up the other one and had a pair of gorgeously soft and chunky leg warmers!

These were so quick to make and I really fancy trying out some different colours, perhaps with a thinner wool for a more slouchy look.

They even look great when worn with my boots :)

Crochet granny stripe cowl

2013-01-20T13:59:00.001Z

Not one to linger over any craft in particular, I have suddenly had the desire to move from my recent embroidery and pick up my crochet hooks again.

It's been a wee while since I've crocheted, but I did get quite a buzz at the start of winter from being able to wear some of the crochet items that I made. As the weather got cooler, it was great to get out my cowl and wrist warmers. But suddenly, via the power of Instagram, there was a new 'must have' cowl on the block. The 'Granny Stripe Cowl' (tutorial by Kath on her blog Inverleith) was this seasons latest fashion item!

I'd seen a few made by Lisa (Kandipandi) - you can see a glimpse of it here, and Heather at The Patchwork Heart here and decided I'd like to make one for myself.

So, I ordered some wool online and got started as soon as it arrived!

As you can see, I chose a dark denim blue, a dark plum purple and a deep pink. It crocheted up really quickly, this was my first go at granny stripes and I was pleased at how easy they were! This used up almost all 3 balls of the wool I bought (Rico baby cotton soft DK), and I felt it needed to be just a little wider, so I used a cream cotton that I already had and added a border edge.

It didn't take long before I was finished. The cowl was worked in rows so I just used a double crochet to join up the ends. And ta-da! Here it is -

I'm really pleased with it. I also got some lovely pastel shades to try another one, I haven't started that yet though as I ended up finishing a WIP (more of that in my next post) and starting a new (big) project!

Here's a little pic of me modelling my cowl on it's first outing :)

Crafty goodies

2013-01-04T17:17:00.001Z

Firstly, I just wanted to show you the amazing crochet 'stocking' my mum made for Joshua - how cute is that?

Now, onto some of the fab crafty Christmas gifts I received :)

Probably my favourite gift and one that has kept me quiet for many an evening (and afternoon!) is the Sew Laugh Love embroidery kit by Leanne Beasley.

I have been coveting a copy of this pattern for a while now and have snippets pinned on my Pinterest boards. I'm pretty new to embroidery so I'm enjoying working away on this, improving my skills and confidence as I go.

I also received the book 'Stitch and Sew Home' by Eline Pellinkhof. This is full of gorgeous projects, many involving cross stitch and/or pretty patchwork and little bits of crochet here and there. If you like Cath Kidston and Tilda then you'll like this book!

It's not a crafty gift, but my OH also got me a lovely red floral bag, it's not Cath Kidston but it's very similar and I love it :)

Perhaps the best gift of all is that we are re-working our study meaning I will soon have lots of storage shelves and a desk in there!! Cue lots of visits to IKEA over the Christmas break. (Lots of pics coming up once I've had a good tidy of my craft stuff!!)

Handmade gifts

2013-01-02T19:50:00.001Z

I can now show you all of the gifts I made for gifts this Christmas. For once I actually remembered to start early and started a good few months back!

The first thing I made was a crochet scarf for my Uncle, I used a lovely dark denim blue wool and trimmed it with a charcoal wool. I used a ribbed effect (by using the back loop to do each stitch) and I love the way it turned out!

I rolled it up and tied with a Merry Christmas ribbon, to make it a little prettier!

Another 'manly' gift I made was a take-away coffee cup sleeve for my coffee obsessed other half! It's a bit of a running joke that whenever we go out his radar manages to find the nearest Starbucks ;)

Typically, when I was taking these photos I didn't actually have a full size coffee cup to model it on so I had to make do with one of those ready made Starbucks drinks you get at the supermarket. You get the idea though. Oh, and do you see my super-cute new buttons??!

I made quite a few little gifts for my mum this year, this little Robin hanger kit was free with an issue of Cross Stitcher Magazine a few months ago...she loves Robins...so obviously I had to make it for her!

I made another little cross stitch hanger with a house and '2012' on it, this is my mum and dad's first Christmas in their new house so I thought it was quite fitting. I added some stuffing to the inside of this one and a little Christmas scent.

My mum also has a collection of Delft pottery so as soon as I saw a little Dutch girl and boy embroidery in the book A Rainbow of Stitches I knew I had to sew them!

More embroidery...and this time a beautiful swirly Christmas tree adorned with sparkly sequins.

I added a patchwork border and some quilting. I had originally planned that this would be a table mat, but it actually works better as a wall hanging so I'll leave it up to my mum to decide how to display it.

Obviously there was Joshua's quilt as well, which you can see in my previous post. As some little stocking filler type gifts, I couldn't resist these little cross stitched Christmas jumpers from a recent issue of Cross Stitcher Magazine -

I stitched them on plastic canvas using wool, backed them with felt and added a little hanging loop so they could go on the recipients Christmas trees.

So now that's Christmas over for another year I guess it's almost time to start planning the makes for next Christmas!

A Christmas quilt

2012-12-29T16:14:00.000Z

Hello!

I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas! I don't know about you but I'm not very good at all this sitting about doing 'nothing', I *need* to be sewing, crocheting, or flicking through a craft mag!! At least I have managed to just chill as I find doing these things nice and relaxing so as well as catching up with the festive telly I've been browsing sewing books and doing a little hand sewing. More on those in another blog post as they involve some of the lovely gifts I received for Christmas :)

Now, the Christmas quilt in the title of this post refers to Joshua's quilt! I have mentioned it a few times on my blog, and I am happy to say I've finally done it!

Waaaaaay back, here, almost a whole year ago, I actually showed you the fabric I'd bought to use for Joshua's quilt, the line is Ready, Set, Go! by Ann Kelle. It's full of bright fun colours and lots of cute little modes of transport - perfect for a little boys bedroom.

I managed to piece the quilt top a few months ago, sewing a few smaller squares together to make large 13" squares, and using some 13" squares cut from yardage -

Another few months after this I pieced the back! It's basically the leftover fabric from the front and some cute alphabet fabric I got cheap from the USA. Since one of Joshua's favourite colours is orange (and orange features quite a lot in the quilt top) I decided to bind the quilt with some zingy bright orange fabric.

The finished result?

Here it is, on Joshua's bed, complete with matching pillow which I made a while back.

I wrapped the quilt up for Christmas and he was thrilled with it :)

I am also looking forward to share with you some other Christmas makes that I had to keep hidden until they were given as gifts, more on them in another post.

Take 2 plain t-shirts....

2012-12-20T14:57:00.001Z

I spend a LOT of time planning things to make for my family, mainly for my son Joshua who's 3. Quite often it takes me a very long time to get round to making these things...purely for lack of time!

But...I managed to squeeze in one of these crafty plans last week! After seeing Jo's post on a quick t-shirt revamp she did for her son, it reminded me of the t-shirts I had stored away for Joshua, - plain ones so that I could personalise them at some point in the future.

I realised that personalising them didn't have to mean a laborious task, but just a quick embellishment with some funky fabric. So I chose some fabrics I know Joshua will love and printed off some templates using Word.

For the first one, I chose this lovely starry, brushed cotton fabric and made a huge letter 'J'. I've zig-zaged round it with bright orange thread (one of Joshua's favourite colours).

Ta-da! Looks pretty cool I think.

For the second one, I used some fabric he'd spied earlier in the week as I'd been using it for another (secret) project. He's really into guitars at the moment so this fabric was perfect for his t-shirt.

I cut out one of the guitars and appliqued it to the t-shirt - I added strings for a little extra touch!

I then cut out a huge star from the fabric and appliqued this to the centre of the t-shirt -

I absolutely *love* how this turned out!!

Here's Joshua wearing the 'J' one, it was the night we put up the tree, so he's having a feel of every single tree decoration!

The most wonderful time of the year

2012-12-10T07:30:00.000Z

There are a few things I just love doing once it gets to this time of year....one of them is to treat myself to a Christmas magazine...or two! I treat the Christmas ones as something to keep and bring out each year for inspiration, or just to get me in that Christmassy spirit. This year I got these ones -

Whilst Country Living is a nice read, I am preferring the Prima Christmas Makes as it is just crammed full of Christmas ideas, gifts, recipes and crafts. I also got this one last year and am pleased to find that this year's contains just as much inspiration!

I especially love these paper crafts using sheet music -

They're all so easy to do and sheet music should be easy to find online to print off.

I also love these flower pots which have been covered in pretty fabric, again, so easy to do at home - and they'd make a lovely gift.

I could imagine these prettily lined up on a windowsill.

My OH has treated me to an early gift - this Christmas album by Michael Buble -

Some lovely music which really helps set the Christmas mood. It's a great album, with beautiful songs and even some nice traditional choir singing too.

Evenings have been spent cramming in last minute crafting for gift ideas...a little embroidery here, cross stitch there...

And since a lot of my crafting of late is for gifts, I have to be careful what I show you on here!

I was very excited to have had my first mince pie of the season too, and homemade!

Excuse the scrappy bits using the last of the pastry! Waste not, want not!

There is just 'something' about keeping certain foods for certain times of the year - the smell of the mincemeat as I took the lid off the jar...oh..my...!! Amazing - it's like I wait 11 months of the year for this delicious pie filling! I cut up a block of puff pastry and froze it in little pieces, this way I can only make a few at a time - I do this for my own safety, if I made up the whole pack I'd only end up eating far too many in one go!!

Getting crafty in the kitchen

2012-12-07T16:10:00.000Z

Pinterest has provided me with lots of inspiration lately - not just for crafting but also for cooking. I have a board for recipes which, at this time of year is filling up with tasty delights such as gingerbread men, cinnamon apple cake and Christmas chutney.

As it starts to get dark around 3.30pm these cold afternoons, I start looking forward to the tasty comfort food that so often becomes the focus of winter - warming stews, thick soups and of course lovely hot puddings! So, armed with a load of new recipes and ideas to try, I've been keeping busy in the kitchen lately...

Filling up the freezer with homemade lasagnes, ready for a quick and tasty dinner over the next few weeks.

Oh so tasty cheese and broccoli quiche.

My dad's birthday was a good excuse to try out this spiced Pumpkin cake recipe ;)

This Christmas chutney recipe was also made yesterday, smelling divine, it has to be left for a couple of weeks in the fridge - I'm looking forward to trying some.

I've also been doing some culinary crafting with Joshua - we made these for his Christmas tree at nursery -

Popcorn tree garlands!

Joshua also had a lot of fun this morning making some gingerbread men, so iconically Christmas!

Caught! Sampling the dough!

I made a separate batch that are a bit nicer to eat than the dough over-worked by a 3 year old! I added a little icing and gifted some to a friend this afternoon, in a little cellophane bag tied with ribbon - done in such a rush I didn't get a picture of the finished bag! But here are the cookies -

The slow cooker has also been on all day today, cooking up a tasty beef stew for dinner...I'm just contemplating whether to quickly add some dumplings in for the final hour :)

Keeping Cosy

2012-12-02T16:17:00.002Z

Brrr, it's getting cold isn't it? I must admit, the sparkle of a little frost does help add to the excitement that Christmas is just around the corner!

I decided that a little shopping trip (for me, rather than for Christmas shopping) was in order as I desperately needed more cosy jumpers - in a bid to stop me from cranking the heating up whenever I was feeling cold!

That there is one full shopping bag :)

I'm so glad the Scandinavian and Fairisle look has taken over the shops here, I just love the cardis and jumpers that are in the shops at the moment. I managed to find a few that I liked, here are some that I bought -

I got another jumper, and also a pair of light brown skinny jeans - well I need those to go with my winter boots don't I?!

And for the cold mornings when I walk Joshua to nursery, I really needed to get myself a cosy hat, so here I am modelling my lovely wooly hat with huge pom-pom!

I haven't just been ensuring that I keep myself cosy, I have been looking after my candles too and have crocheted a few jam jar/candle cosies! Aren't they sweet?

The tutorial for these can be found here, but be warned - they're very addictive!

There's also been lots of baking and cooking going on here too, last week we really enjoyed this cinnamon sugar apple cake -

Stay cosy x

Linking up to

My little Christmas workshop

2012-11-14T17:03:00.000Z

I have been very busy, working away in my little Christmas workshop, (also known as the dining room!)

I promised you in my last post that I'd show you some of the Christmas items I've been making to sell recently.

One of my favourite items has to be these large Christmas stockings -

I was so pleased to have found some really unusual fabrics, this one is so cute with Christmas mittens on it! I've also used this fabric to make some of my little bags -

I thought these would be great to use as gift bags - or as 'stockings' for people who are too old for stockings!

I also used some other fun fabrics for my large stockings -

They're padded, and quilted and just oh so snuggly soft!

I was also asked to make some Christmas patchwork tea cosies, so here they are -

Another little product I really enjoyed making were these sweet little mini stockings, I used lovely soft red felt and embellished them with the most gorgeous trims -

Some of the detail -

And, lastly - well, for now anyway, I also made some of my little bags in other Christmas fabrics, here they are -

As always, if you're interested in purchasing anything above, the easiest way is to drop me an email rachael@sewrayme.co.uk as I'm having great difficulty finding the time to make and list items in my Folksy shop!

Catching up

2012-11-07T11:15:00.001Z

Eek! Has it really been so long since I last blogged?!! I may not have been writing about what I've been sewing but I certainly have been sewing!!

I can't quite believe just how busy I've been with orders lately, the last 8 months or so have really flown for me and all of a sudden my order books are lovely and full and I'm getting to sew lots of pretty things for customers ALL over the world! Over the past month alone I've had a couple of orders from America, and one from Spain. Sew Ray Me has gone international :)

This gorgeous set reached Spain this week!

A little work has also gone on on the blog - perhaps you've noticed the addition of the tabs at the top of my page? I now have a 'shop' tab which is more of a gallery really, but it gives you a bit of an idea of my best selling products, prices, and how you can order. I really am doing all of this 'part-time' what with a 3 year old to keep amused as well, it's hard work keeping up with my blog or updating my Folksy shop. I'm finding it much easier and quicker to keep things updated on Twitter and Instagram. If you're on either of those, please come and follow me - I'm @sewrayme

I have also been trying to squeeze in a little crafting for Christmas, with a view to making a few gifts this year. I keep my evenings for 'me' time so have been enjoying a little crochet or cross stitch.

Along side the popular bags and crochet rolls that I'm always making, I've also been making a few Christmas products this week too. I'll show you those soon, just doing the finishing touches of sewing on buttons and waiting on some decent daylight to take good pics!

I promise not to leave it so long until next time!!

Some shabby chic decorating

2012-10-13T16:07:00.001+01:00

A while ago, I suddenly realised that I'd grown out of the style of decor that our bedroom had been done in (6 years ago). We had one feature wall that was a bright raspberry colour, with 3 cream walls. It was a nice bright, girly room (luckily OH doesn't mind girly decor!), but I was ready to move away from girly to a more grown up space.

Bye bye bright pink!

What with blogging, Tweeting and Instagraming I realise that my tastes have changed vastly over the past few years. I used to love bright pinks of all shades, sparkly, cute and girly. I still do love all of these things, but I also realised that I love the vintage, shabby chic style that has also been huge lately. If you'd told me 3 years ago that I'd love all things Cath Kidston, vintage and floral, I'd have laughed in your face! If you told me 3 years ago that I'd love nothing more than rooting around charity shops for bargains, there is NO way I'd have believed it either!

Well, it seems I have changed, for I now love all of these things. I've always been a bargain hunter, but there's something extra in gaining a real gem of a bargain from a charity shop or car boot sale now. This also comes with the satisfaction that you aren't buying something off the shelf of a high street shop that thousands of other people also have.

This brings me to the next part of my room renovation - accessorising the walls! I had a very lucky find in a junk shop a few weeks ago - I got these 2 wooden picture frames for £1!

I was very excited about these as it finally meant I could have a go at trying out some 'shabby chic' paint techniques! So I gave them a quick, light sanding and applied 4 thin layers of paint (I just used the tester pots of wall paint we had already), then gave the edges a sanding down to give an old and bashed about look. I was extremely pleased with the result, here's 1 of them -

I decided to try the other one out using the paint the same shade as the pink wall, -

The next job was to decided what to put in my new frames! Fairly quickly, I decided upon a gorgeous rustic floral heart cross stitch for the cream one, from the book A Rainbow of Stitches.

I chose a natural coloured evenweave - the first time I've sewn on this, and cream thread. I stitched it up quickly over a couple of days/evenings - I was so eager to have something to put in my new gorgeous frame!

After a lot of eye squinting - working with the evenweave, a few wonky bits here and there, (I'm sure no-one will notice!), I finally got my work framed and hung up! And I *love* it!!

Ta-da! Doesn't it look so pretty?

And here's a peek at how the rest of the decorating turned out -

Pale, light and relaxing! The bedside tables also got a bit of the shabby chic treatment too!

Linking up to -

Winter crafting

2012-09-25T19:55:00.001+01:00

There's a chill in the crisp morning air, the nights are drawing in, yes, it's most definitely Autumn! (Or have we skipped straight to Winter?)

Joshua has now started 'proper' nursery so that involves a short walk 3 mornings a week to get there, we crunch and kick the leaves by the roadside and play chase and hide and seek around the trees we have to walk through. It's barely a 5 minute walk but it's such fun. The morning sun and clear blue skies have certainly put us in great moods for the day ahead and the short burst of crisp cool air has made us feel a little more awake.

The cosy jumpers have been dug out (and, ahem, bought a few more!) New boots have been sought, for me and Joshua, and plans have been made for making new winter hats, scarves and socks. Yes, with the onset of Winter comes the Winter crafting!

Cosy new jumper!

For me, I tend to think of crochet as a Winter hobby, a craft for the darker evenings, keeping warm under my handmade quilt making cosy accessories with gorgeously snuggly wool! I taught myself to crochet in the Spring (blogged here), quickly made myself a cowl, and then forgot about crochet to move back to sewing and cross stitch. Since I realised the mornings were suddenly so cold lately, I decided I *needed* some wrist warmers, what better than to make my own?

I found a pattern online, which it turns out, I haven't followed as it was written by an English person who lives in England...but was written in US crochet terms!? Not quite sure why anyone would do this, but I only noticed after I'd finished that I'd used the wrong stitch! Anyway, I think they turned out pretty great....Here was their first outing this morning, complete with my cowl and my new boots!

This is the wool I used (on the left) - Chunky Special by Stylecraft. It's gorgeously soft and warm. I'm really pleased with how they turned out, and I'm already pinning away loads of inspiration on my Crochet board on Pinterest. I'm thinking cosy leg warmers, socks, scarves etc! (The cream wool on the left is going to be made into a hat for Joshua.)

So as the nights get darker, colder and wetter, I'll be keeping cosy with a little of this...

Practising some of this...

Making a few of these...

And keeping everything tidy with these...

A snail mail revival!

2012-09-19T20:11:00.000+01:00

It was with some irony I realised last week that the more I use social media - my blog, Twitter and Instagram, the more old fashioned mail I send and receive! I'm not just talking about me sending out orders, but sending out cards, little notes, and surprises here and there to friends I've made online.

I'm sure when the Internet first took off people all around the world thought that use of our postal services would decline....well I've never visited the Post Office so often in my life as I do now!

Perhaps it's more a case of finding excuses to keep snail mail going - a poorly friend in need of a get well soon card, or sending a housewarming card to a friend's new address. Whatever the excuse, I just love it! I get as much joy out of sending mail as I do receiving it.

Recently a couple of friends have moved house...so I dug out my scrap basket and whiped up some cards.

These are nothing more than pretty scraps sewn into little house shapes! Simple yet so effective.

I sent another friend a get well soon card recently too, this time a cute little cross stitched one.

The pattern is from a past edition of Cross Stitcher magazine - which funnily enough I received in the post from another new online friend - we did a little swap! She sent me a selection of cross stitch magazines and I sent her some other magazines and some fabric scraps.

I was also delighted to receive a little unexpected gift in the post from an Instagram friend, she saw this book, thought I'd like it so she very kindly sent it to me!

I guess these are what's known as random acts of kindness, nothing is needed in return.

I've also been lucky enough to be the recipient of notions such as buttons and wool...just because the senders thought I'd like them!

It's so nice to know that you're being thought of by friends so far away - and friends you've never even met!

So I definitely felt that it was high time I bought myself one of these -

A very sweet little address book, all ready to store my friends names and addresses in.

Loving the simple things

2012-09-10T15:03:00.000+01:00

There's a new magazine on the block, 'The Simple Things', brought to us by the same people behind Mollie Makes. I saw this mag advertised a few months ago and it looked right up my street, and they were running an introductory offer of 3 issues for a fiver. I signed up straight away.

The first issue landed on my doormat last week, I was very good and saved it, all day, without peeking at it, and as soon as I had some 'me' time in the evening I sat with my cuppa and some chocolate, snuggled up with my quilt and my new mag.

So on first impressions, and having spent a blissful hour and a half devouring every page, I am pleased to say I really liked it!

This is the magazine's philosophy, and I find it very refreshing. The magazine didn't linger on materialism, there weren't pages and pages of advertisements for furniture I couldn't afford, range cookers I didn't have the space for or gadgets I didn't need. Instead, there's a great blend of recipes, gardening advice, articles on food and cities, and a little bit of crafting thrown in too. There are also plenty of little snippets of people's simple pleasures - enjoying cups of tea, watching the birds, and even how simple things are enjoyed around the world. For me, it's Mollie Makes, but for grown ups.

I think The Simple Things magazine has a lesson for us all - slow down, open your eyes and find the beauty that is there, right in front of you. Apps (for my phone) such as Instagram, have already made me slow down and look for happy things in the mundane of every day life - a pretty flower hiding in the hedgerow, a heart shaped stone on a beach, a meal I've enjoyed cooking.

I've put together some of my favourite photos from the past few weeks, I was surprised to find so many of them were food related. Perhaps this is because I have been enjoying a small but satisfying amount of tomatoes produced from my own plants which I grew from seed. Perhaps, also because it is now clearly autumn - there is a nip in the morning air, orange leaves crunching underfoot - this automatically brings for me a yearning for comfort food. After a summer of salads it's now time to bake and roast - tasty and warm dishes with seasonal produce.

My homegrown tomatoes have been used for bruschetta and gorgeous pasta dishes. Homemade bread was used as the base for the bruschetta. We've had apple crumble and many main dishes made from roast butternut squash, courgette (also from the garden) and tasty chorizo. Butternut squash was also the main ingredient in an amazing risotto I made last week. The loaf in the centre of my collage was a recipe from The Simple Things mag - spice cake with rhubarb (from the garden, of course).

I have also enjoyed a few simple things that weren't food related, mainly enjoying the outdoors - gorgeous vases of flowers straight from the garden, a walk by the harbour, browsing local farm shops and a fabulous bargain book haul from the local car boot sale.

I just love how the 'simple things' needn't be expensive. The pile of books above cost a whole pound for 7 great stories!

Even if The Simple Things magazine doesn't sound like your thing, take it as a reminder to just enjoy the simple things around you. Make a point of snapping more pictures, cutting pretty pictures out of magazines, or storing a recipe you simply must try. In this day and age when everyone is money conscious, it is lovely to just stop. And smell the flowers - literally.

Turning 3

2012-08-31T16:55:00.002+01:00

This week, this little baby....

became 3 years old!

Joshua's actual birthday was Tuesday, so we had a little family lunch on Sunday complete with a birthday cake made by me -

As I said in my previous post, Joshua loves anything pink, so I hid a little surprise under the icing on this cake....-

A stripey pink cake!!

Joshua was at nursery on his actual birthday but he had a big pile of presents to open when he got home. I managed to make Joshua one of my bags, but this time it was giant!

The perfect size for storing toys, and fitting in here.....

On his IKEA toy storage unit!

I thought it was also about time Joshua got one of my little handmade aprons, he loves to help cook so he'll get plenty of wear from it.

Speaking of cooking, one of Joshua's presents was a cute little cooking set from ELC complete with electric whisk, scales, muffins etc, it's his favourite present by far!

As if it isn't all happening at once this week, moving to a bed, turning 3, he also started 'proper' nursery too. New friends and fun for him and an extra 2.5 hours to myself Wed, Thur and Fri for me, win-win :)