... black crowes

For the eagle eyed amongst you these might seem familiar - they are a version of Birdy that I made earlier this year.  These were also a present for Dan's birthday (yes - I do seem to just make him toys - may need to consider this!).

I made Chris and Rich (that's their names) as we went to see the Black Crowes this week on Dan's birthday which was super fantastic.  As the pattern I used for Birdy also had a crow version a pair of black crowes to mark seeing the Black Crowes seemed appropriate.  I scaled the pattern down and produced a pair of small little sweeties.  They are about 8cm tall with out the legs and were quite a challenge to sew being that small!

It can be tricky to know if people like the gifts you make for them but one of these (Chris I believe) got painted as painting of the day on Dan's birthday as part of his DanYoungDaily blog.  I will take it he liked them!

... Batman egg cosy

This little fella is a birthday gift for Dan who loves boiled eggs and Batman.  Ergo the ideal pressie is surely a Batman egg cosy - no?

I would love to say this is all my own design but he is based on pattern from the wonderful Ravelry website which I use a lot to get inspiration from. I am really pleased with him - I think it is one of the best things I have crocheted so far.

It is tricky making crocheted gifts for someone you live with as you make them in little fits and starts as the other person is upstairs/out - thank goodness Dan paints each day giving me a bit of time to get something made.  This does however lead to slightly comedy moments as I rapidly stuff what I am making back in my workbag when Dan finishes painting quicker than I expected.  I try to sit there with an innocent look on my face but I am not sure it works very often!  I did leave him on the table one day by accident when Dan came downstairs but he didn't notice and I quickly stuffed him back in the bag.  Whew!!

...Pac-Man

Basically, someone asked me to make them a crocheted Pac-Man, so I did!

No posts for a little while - secret making is now the name of the game - see you mid July with some new stuff

... a wash basket lining

We have needed a new wash basket for ages.  Our bedroom looks lovely but our wash basket was monsterous and ugly.  We have been looking for a new one for what feels like forever but couldn't find exactally what we wanted.  The big hope being that the really good basket stall at the Malvern Spring Show would have one for us and bless them, they did.  So this beauty came home with us and needed lining.  A small sewing challenge as it is tapered and not very even due to it's lovely basketiness.  I am really pleased with the finished article - a triumph of £1.50ish a metre calico from Ikea.  Lovely buttons from my button collection and more of that free cotton I got with my machine and homemade bias binding means this cost less than £2 - super!

...a tidy for my allotment bag

My Mum made me the outer bit of this bag to keep my gardening stuff in and it has been extremely useful.  This little bag has been to the allotment almost as much as I have as we take it almost every time we go.  It has pockets on the outside which are really useful but the stuff inside can get quite jumbled - particularly the string.  Isn't it amazing how string (or wool / cotton) manages to wrap itself around anything it is near even when you are not moving it around?

So to keep the inside a bit more organised and to tame that unruly string I have made an innard for the bag with lots of sections and pockets to store all those things necessary for a successful allotment trip.  It is another one of my virually free projects (seems to be a bit of a theme for the year - making things from stuff I already have) as all but the electricity was not paid for.  The fabric - a kite/tent like nylon was given to me - I have had it so long I no longer remember who it came from, I was given the velcro and the cotton I used came free with my machine.  Bargain!

...list holders

The saga of our shopping lists (or more accurately lack of them) has been a long one.  We are very good at going to the supermarket and forgetting all those things we think about during the week and then within five minutes of getting home saying "Oh, I remember we needed....."

Apparently other people make shopping lists as they think of things - genius!  In truth it is not that we don't know we need to do it, it is the method of list making that is the problem.  What ever we try never quite seemed to work.  Then along came this gem of an idea on Etsy's Blog as part of their How-Tuesday series - http://www.etsy.com/storque/make/how-tuesday-make-a-hanging-notepad-12635/.  Dan and I made one each and that way we have a list for food and one for other stuff.  As you can see the other stuff one has been used (hence the ripped end tot he paper) when we went to B&Q today and it performed well!

The beauty of these are that, apart from the rolls of paper (5 for £2.99, they are calculator rolls) everything else was found around the house so the holders themselves cost us nothing.  Even better!

...a purple stripy quilt cover (and pillows)

This is one of those jobs that I thought would never be finished.  For such a simple project it has been a bit of an epic but all done now and looking mighty fine.

You would have every right to ask why the heck make a quilt cover and pillows when you can buy perfectly good ones for not too much money.  Well, this quilt cover is all to do with fabric weakness. 

The cover and pillows are actually made from other quilt covers that were not the right size but I found on sale (seriouslty reduced) one day and just fell in love with the fabric.  I knew it would look stunning in our purple bedroom.  So a seemingly simple task followed of remaking them.  Not so!  They sought to challenge me in many and various ways and therefore continually got left as I found myself getting frustrated with them.

However now they are done and looking lovely the pain of making them is fast melting away and will soon be forgotten.  I have a lovely quilt cover, 3 sets of pillow cases nd some fabric spare for a future quilting project I have brewing in the back of my sewing brain. 

Just for the record I have learnt one important lesson from this project.  I am never, ever, ever sewing those damned poppers on anything ever again.  They are truly evil.

(this does leave me however with an issue - I hate sewing in zips, I can't abide making button holes and now I hate poppers too - I am fast running out of fixings available that i can tollerate sewing.  Could be a problem!)

...a needlecase



Some things you plan to make, some things just happen.  One of the best things about being on annual leave (which I have been for the last week) is that there is time to grab hold of those moments where you think "oooh, that's a good ideas. I'd like to make that..." and actually do it, not just think about it and then realise you have something else more practical to attend to.

This was born of one of those moments.  It was Earth Day on Friday and one of my favourite websites Burda Style challenged it's members to make something small from all those left over scraps of fabric that most sewers have.  As admitted previously I cannot throw anything away which in this case is a good thing as it means I have some lovely scraps of fabric left over ready for these moments!  Everything on here is leftovers from something else or free cotton I was given so no cost.  I know, I know, Earth Day and all that and I have machine sewn some of it.  What can I say - my hands ain't up to hand sewing the whole thing and I did quite a bit of it by hand! So in reality a bit of cost (both financially and ecologically) for the time on the machine. 

I have thought about (but never actually got round to) making a needlecase for ages as I am lacking anywhere for needles and pins etc when I am working downstairs.  Like most people who undertake craft involving pins and needles the odd one goes astray (or two or three).  My partner is suprisingly tolerant of this but nevertheless it doesn't hurt to try to keep better tabs on the sharp little things.  Having read the article about Earth Day I was inspired to get sewing and now I have a needlecase.  Hooray.

(Also may have been an attractive project to make as the other thing I am working on is a duvet cover which is massive and I quite fancied sewing something that was not 4 times my size!)

...Orange Lavender Bags

It is amazing how often you make something for someone else and don't get round to making things you want for yourself.  I have wanted lavender bags for ages for the bedding which lives in boxes under the bed.  Despite growing lavender each year and having numerous ways at my disposal to make the bags I have never got round to it. 

I have no real idea what made me make them this way but I suppose like many ideas it just sort of grew.  I wanted to crochet more things with the thinner cotton that I refound when making the bookmarks and have fancied making some square motifs from one of my books for ages.  Put the two things togther and we are half way there.  All that was left was to choose some fabric to set them it.  Easy.  When it comes to choosing fabric I will always go for orange if it is available!

It seemed nice for the lavender bags to have vents to let more of the lovely lavendery smell out.  A lot of smell there is too which is impressive as the lavender has been drying out in the shed since last summer!

So now I have 5 bright lovely smelling bags and next time I change my bed it will smell gorgeous.  Delighted!

...bookmarks for Mums

So, here they are, the last of the March Madness makes.  These bookmarks were sent to our Mums for Mother's Day.  Strangely I made these out of some thin cotton I bought ages ago which I found really hard to crochet with when I first got it so it got abandonded and worked it's way to the bottom of my wool box.  For some unknown reason I decided it would be perfect for the bookmarks I wanted to make and so liberated it.  I really enjoyed making them and found it fairly easy to work with this time round.  I guess my crocheting fingers are getting smarter.  Good on them!