Sunday 25 September 2011

Still here!

Well as much to reassure myself as to actually inform anyone who happens across this blog ;o) I haven't stopped creating and have been trying to find little pockets of time to do so. I'm still looking forward to having some dedicated space and keep telling myself that it won't be long now. Of course other areas of the home have taken priority but hopefully the day of declaring war on the spare bedroom is not too far off.

So first up I decorate some more candles. This is definitely fun and this little batch actually went towards raffle prizes for The Cat Corner. I made more than I will share here - just don't want to bore the masses (joking of course) silly!



Then it was back to stitching. Since moving across the pond and having fabric shops more readily available, I've found my love of stitching re-emerging. I'm so glad that I was opted to take Needlecrafts as an exam subject (for which I got an A by the way!) because I know most of the basic and more advanced techniques and can read a pattern etc., not something most young women know today sadly. Just wondering why with my love of colour and needles I didn't think more seriously about getting in to fabric and design as a career. But then back in the day most of us were encouraged to go in to office work - heck I decided I'd be a Shorthand Typist before I even really understood what that was. Of course I was influenced by my teachers but also by the fact that I was one of the best at both shorthand and typing in my year. Us Leo's just hate to be average at anything we do lol. But I digress, as I often will.

There have been a few little precious lads born around me recently - and so I decided to have some fun with some babygro's or onesies as they're called this side of the pond. I think they turned out pretty cute!

Then I found a source for good natural unbleached linen which seems to have made a resurgence. I love the stuff and when it arrived I opened the box and took a great big addict like sniff. The smell took me right back to my days working at the linen factory in Sandy Row, Belfast, and walking around the factory to sort out issues and time cards for the factory workers. Ahhh the good ole days lol. Anyway, I'd been following Rashida Coleman-Hale's blog and loved the look of the Zakka (Japanese cutesy in everyday objects) style and her tutorial for a little coin purse. Given I had some colourful scraps I decided to make a couple. They are definitely cute, but next time I'll be more clued in to doing some fussy cutting to get the patterns in the right places (hence half of a cat head in the first attempts), and also use softer interfacing. Mine won't hold coins and I'm not sure that changing the interfacing will make much difference - but they will hold credit and store cards or a little needled kit.

So now will I give them away or will they go in to future shop inventory!???? Decisions, decisions. I can't wait to start experimenting more with this fabulous fabric, now wonder if I can find a good source for reasonably priced quality IRISH Linen!