Bunnies and blossoms pouch

I decided to take part in one Christmas swap this year, but wanted something a bit easier than last year. The #simpleandsweetchristmaspouchswap was perfect!

The guidelines were one pouch made to your partners preferences, with a nice size limit (maximum size 15”x12”, minimum 8”x6”). The parcel could also include 1 or 2 Christmassy extras. I was given Naomi as my swap partner aka @naomic08 on Instagram. I was very happy to be making for her, since she had made a wonderful cotton and steel swap parcel for me... see this here. 

Firstly, I decided I would make one of my snappy zip pouches but would enlarge it a little. My final pouch measurements were 10 1/2”x 9 3/4”. I couldn’t decide what fabrics to choose, so I gathered a few options and posted about it on Instagram. I had been eager to use these cute bunnies and blossoms fabrics for a while and was thrilled when Naomi commented she liked them too.  

 

I went for a patchwork panel, to include plenty of the fabrics with a few cute fussy cuts too. Simple straight line quilting, 1/2” apart worked out well too. I used the strawberries for the main pouch lining and the pink lace check for the flap and zip pocket lining. I decided not to quilt the flap and am pleased I didn’t now.

I found the sweet little strawberry bead in my jewellery supplies and made a cute zip pull charm with it. I love the way this pouch looks and hopefully Naomi does too!

My pattern is available on Etsy here, if you fancy making your own version of this pouch.

 

This was also one of my finish-a-long projects. See more of my list here, and visit their blog for more details about the challenge. 

Mx

Christmas coin purse...

This Christmas, I am taking part in the #simpleandsweetchristmaspouchswap on Instagram. For the swap you needed to make one pouch and up to two Christmassy extras. I will be sharing the main pouch after Christmas, I have already shared my first extra here and this is the second extra I sent...

 

It is a simple coin purse for all those festive shopping trips... or I imagine it might hold a small Christmas stitching project.

 

I used cotton and steel Noel and tinsel fabrics, plus some basics in the pink colours. I did some scrappy patchwork to make the most of the fabric I had, plus the chance to include more prints. I did  choose the cute candy cane print for the lining. I added a little star charm to the zip pull as a final detail. Since my partner had said she liked these fabrics, I really hope she likes what I made.

If you want to make your own zip pouch, but don’t know where to start, I made this tutorial a while ago. Read it here!

I am also including this project as one of my finish-a-long Q4 finishes. You can view my list here and learn more about the challenge on their blog here.

Mx

My birthday stitchers swap

 

This year I signed up to take part in a birthday stitcher swap, over on Instagram. I recently had my birthday and these are the wonderful gifts I received. Maria (aka @madame_tailor on Instagram) sent my gifts from Germany.

First is my main handmade gift, which is this super carry all caddy. Marie used some beautiful art gallery fabrics and rose gold hardware. It looks so pretty plus with so much space and pockets, I’m sure will be very useful for holding plenty of projects.

 

 

 

 

My second handmade gift was this mini makers station, which is designed to go over the arm of a chair. It has some great pockets on either side, a thread catcher which buttons on and a tray on top. It has magnets in the bottom of the tray and pin cushion to stop them falling off and so you can use it separately too if you wanted. Maria used some more of the sonata fabrics that coordinated with the caddy. It is backed with a really great low volume print that I love. The third handmade item is this adorable mouse toy. She has a pretty dress and a beautiful hand stitched face, even some blush.

 

 

 

Lastly is this Lola zip pouch. It matches the other 2 gifts and I think it is my favourite print from that range too. They look so lovely together, I definitely think I will have to keep them all together and be super organised. 

 

Maria also included a few other extras including a mini charm, pin cushion ring and ribbon (shown in the makers station above) some chocolates and bath soaps. Not forgetting my dog, Millie, who also got some treats and a toy... Although she was rather more interested in my mouse! 

 

 

I can’t share what gifts I have made for my partner yet, because it’s not my her birthday until later this year. I would say I don’t want to spoil the surprise, which I don’t, but I also haven’t made them yet! 

 

Mx

Send a little love swap...

I signed up to take part in the IG based swap for valentines. It was the #sendalittleloveswap2019 which was a quite fun little swap to take part in. I signed up just before I made my Q1 finish-a-long list so I decided I would add it to my list. I knew it would be an easy finish since I hate to let people down, so I knew it would be completed on time. This Blog post about it is little bit late though. I have the worst memory and basically forgot to write it til now when it’s time to link up our finishes. I would forget my own head if it wasn’t screwed on!

On to the swap...

It was a small swap that was to be love themed and opened on Valentine’s Day. There was a £10-£12 budget and you needed to include:

• A heart shaped item
• Something edible 
• Stationary 
• Craft notion
• Handmade item

I was partnered with @susyb65 and her inspiration mosaic was brilliant. There were so many wonderful ideas , I was very tempted to do a few of them. The swap did say 1 handmade item though and given personal time restrictions I decided it was best to just make the one thing and buy the others.

 

I found a very simple ceramic hanging heart decoration, it was embossed with the word love and I thought was quite nice. I had noticed we shared the love of malteaser buttons so got the biggest bag I could find. For stationary I found a couple of notebooks with hearts on and thought they were so lovely (wish I had bought myself some too) of course I just had to include a coordinating pen too. I was spoiled for choice when it come to picking a craft notion. I spotted these cute love themed ribbons and since sue does multiple crafts I thought they would be perfect.

Lastly was the handmade item, this was more challenging deciding what to make. I was all set to make a draw sting project bag/basket, when sue made herself one. I finally opted instead to create my own zip pouch pattern. Fabric choice was the next decision, I posted a couple of fabric options on ig and was very happy when sue commented her favourite. 

It was a nice pouch to make and after a few suggestions to make it in to a pattern, I am now in the process of doing so! I’m so excited but more on that in the next few months.

Now to share what I received from the lovely @michellehollyoak

 

I was sent some malteser buttons, a pen and little heart shaped paper clips, some Riley Blake fabric and a needle felting kit. She also made a lavender filled heart (with her home grown lavender) and a crochet market tote. A hexie coaster was also sent as a little extra.  I love all my gifts and am especially excited to try the needle felting. This swap made me feel very spoilt this Valentine’s Day.

Mx 

12daysofchristmasswap

I signed up to do the #12daysofchristmasswap2018 on instagram a few months ago. The idea is to make and buy 12 gifts for your partner to open on the 12 days after Christmas.

It is a secret swap and you are assigned a partner and no one knows who is making for who. When you sign up you fill out a form telling your partner your preferences and make a mosaic and post to instagram for more inspiration.

My partner was Helen, known as @polly_dolly_wolly on instagram, these are the gifts i sent...

 

 

My first make was this Christmas stocking, using a fabric that was trational but still cute. I added the green cuff to be more Christmassy and fussy cut the characters to show them all. 

Next make was these 2 felt decorations, I chose the designs and cross stitched the centre panels. I added a felt border and back and blanket stitched together, also adding some stuffing for a plush feel.
 

 

Next was a partly bought and partly handmade gift. Since I didn't know her scent preference I purchased a selection of Christmas scented Yankee Candle tea lights along with a glass holder. I then made a hexagon shaped box for them to be gifted in. I added an acetate lid and some shredded tissue to give a more professional feel.

 

 

I made a zip pouch with a matching key fob for her next gift. I used a variety of coloured fabrics to make a patchwork panel and mixed it with some linen/calico fabric. I added a wipe clean lining and one of my handmade labels inside.

 

 

I chose a bright coloured zip that I felt worked with my fabric choices. The final touch was a charm for the zip pull. I used some jewellery supplies and chose this fun bead that matched the colour of the zip.

 

 

I screen printed a tote bag with a kitten design, using my screen sensation system, kipton the kitten screen and potting shed ink.

 

The next two gifts were a pin cushion and a needle book. I created the pattern for the pin cushion a few years ago and have made a couple before. For this one, I chose some bright coloured vintage sewing themed fabric and added lace and purple ribbon trims to the jar. 

 

I used the Aneela Hoey pattern for the needle book, doing the same adjustments as I did for the one I made in the sew along. I used the fabric to match the pincushion and combined it with some cream linen. I used some decorative stitches on my sewing machine with purple thread to add some detail on the pockets and on the front. 

 

The other gifts I included were a map puzzle, lindt chocolate, an organizer, loccitane soap and hand cream. I also sent some haberdashery items that I thought she might like; a needle egg, sparkle embroidery thread packs, vintage lace (that I found at a antiques fair) and some vintage buttons (that were from my granny).

 

I love gifts to be perfect for the person receiving them so I always put a lot of thought into gift giving. I was rather stressed at times about this swap, but was happy with what I sent. Thankfully Helen likes hers gifts and I even managed to choose some of her favourite things. 

 

These items were also on my finish a long list and although I knew I needed to finish them, it was quite hard not sharing any progress so this was an extra bit of motivation. You can read more about that here.

 

Mx

#sncaswap18

Over on Instagram I join in with the #saturdaynightcraftalong most weeks. Towards the end of the year they have a swap. Last year I signed up and although quite stressful, I received the most beautiful gift and enjoyed making my gift to send too. This year I signed up to do the #sncaswap18 as soon as I could.

I found out my partner was @a.fox.made.this I was thrilled as I knew who she was straight away. I was able to order some fabric straight away as I thought her favourite designer is Tula pink. Alex makes the most beautiful bags and pouches so I crossed making those of my idea sheet. I had thought of making a cushion but eagerly waited for her inspiration mosaic. I was thrilled to see a couple of cushions and plenty of patchwork. I was drawn to one of the patterns on her board and decided that could work nicely in the Zuma fabric range by Tula pink. 

 

I did have to do some quilty maths and a couple of sample blocks before I made a start. The patchwork came together surprisingly well and although most of my points aren’t perfect the overall effect i thought was quite striking. I added fusible fleece to the back and did some simple quilting, either side of the seams. I made the cushion back with a zip in. I basted the two sides together and attached the binding. I used a ladder stitch to hand sew the binding to the back and finish my cushion for Alex. For my first attempt at this much patchwork and making a cushion this way, I am very happy with what I made. 

 

To complete the swap package, I added in some fox socks from accessorize, a christmas scented diffuser, a colouring in postcard and a screen printed tote bag I made.

This was also one of my finish-a-long projects that I had on my list. you can see the original post here to find out more!  

***

The other part of this swap is what I received. I made this mosaic and posted it on Instagram as inspiration for my partner.

 

 I received my parcel from @sewinthecorner and it’s beautiful. Michelle has made me a sewing caddy to use when I hand sewing in the lounge and this will definitely be going away with me and used in the car too. I especially love the cute fussy cut patchwork panel on one side.

As an extra Michelle also made a beautiful bee pin cushion that was featured on my mosaic, I love the added embroidered details on the bottom too. As extras she included some yummy chocolates, ribbon, embroidery threads and some washi tape.

Mx