More on Etsy.

I spent some time on Etsy today. I am amazed at all the gorgeous things out there. I do plan to start selling but I am still designing my bags.

Here is a photo of Little M that I took one day when we were looking at my growing fabric collection.

I love reading the Etsy forums and having a look at the sellers' items. This also leads to looking at their blogs. One I visited recently is http://tadahpdx.blogspot.com/ and I hope the lady will not mind me mentioning it.

Nothing new made...

...but lots of ideas.
I have been working in my new job and when I am not at work I am asleep (or almost). However I have spent a lot of today looking at etsy. My little princess has been playing with the cat and her (the princess's not the cat's) Prince so I have had time to potter about on the Internet.
I want to make her a pair of princess slippers with sequins and things but so far have not found a pattern. I think I might just sit down and invent my own pattern.
My mum gave me some fabric and I am going to make myself a bag. I bought stiff interfacing which I will use as I want it to be a clutch bag/purse.
As I have not made anything or even started on anything I have no photos but as soon as I have done or started a project I will keep you posted.

Patchwork Throw

I found some fabric I had stored away in my wardrobe. It is perfect for my current needs. I have decided to start making a patchwork throw for our couch. It will be handmade i.e no sewing machine (but of course I might change my mind!). I was going to do octagons as I have an octagon template but decided it was too hard so it is nice easy squares for me.

I have posted photos of the very beginning and hopefully you will be able to see the progress week by week. This was a few days ago and already I am a little further on.

My mum has given me some lovely remnants that she bought from Allders (when they existed). They are going to be made into something sumptuous.

Also I went to a shop that sells curtain material and bought lots of remnants for a very good price.

So I have a very nice stash of fabric but I still want to buy some fat squares from Etsy. Lovely Japanese material.

Pillowcase Apron.

This afternoon, with Little M at playschool, I set about making my pillowcase apron.

Actually it was quite easy and finished very quickly. It would have, of course, turned out better if I had complete control over my sewing machine. A couple of times it went a bit quicker than I could follow but taking all things into consideration I am pleased with my apron.

Next time I would make the pockets less deep as I might easily lose things in them. In the photo I have popped the pencil and scissors up. I also intend to make a little pincushion which I might sew or velcro on.

So if you have an old pillowcase or see one in a charity shop then here is an ideal project for you!

More about The Crafter's Companion book

The book is edited by Anna Torborg and published in the UK by Snowbooks. If you want it from outside the UK I am sure that any good bookshop will be able to trace it for you.

The first project that I am going to attempt from the book is an apron. This design by Hillary Lang uses an old pillowslip and this morning I bought a lovely one for 50pence from a local charity shop. So all I need to do now is to get my sewing machine out from the wardrobe.

I have a fairly modern electric one but I pine after my old hand powered Singer. I did see a similar one in another charity shop but it was missing parts.

Number One

I am taking a break 'twixt Georgette Heyer audio books to write my first blog ever!
Well, I thought that I might as well join the rest.
But really my inspiration comes from a book called The Crafter's Companion. This is a wonderful book and has inspired me to take up crafts again. So I will be posting news of my attempts here plus any other things of interest. Now I am going as I have to pick up Little M from school. I will post the crafters from that book later.