Purple Doll

I decided to try and make a doll today. I was aiming for one about 6 inches high, the final doll is rather larger than that, but she has worked out quite well.  I decided to make her on the sewing machine rather than by hand, it did make it much quicker to sew, but not as enjoyable as doing it by hand.

She has a simple dress with a belt and a hat. She also has some pretty knickers, but you cant see them in the picture. I over stuffed her so it is quite hard to get the clothes on. I will try again and reduce the stuffing. I want to try and make a smaller one too, but it will probably be easier to do a smaller one by hand. 

The doll itself is made out of a scrap of curtain lining I bought in a bag of scraps from a charity shop, the patterned fabric for the belt was from a bag of vintage fabric scraps. The button and felt were also from charity shops.

My free gift from my Sew Hip subscription arrived with the new edition of the magazine today. It is a pretty piece of fabric in blue and purple, it came with some patterns to make a pincushion, needle case and bag. I don't want to make any of those items so I will look out for something else that takes my fancy.

I have been making good progress knitting my green top today, the back is now 4 inches long. The ribbed lace is very pretty and not too complicated. The yarn seems to be working well for this pattern so far. 

Green Yarn Top

I have started on a new project, shown in the picture. I decided to use some of the mountain of yarn I picked up in the Myton Hospice charity shop. I have picked the Sirdar Silky Look yarn that I have in green and blue. I am just going to use the green as I don't think the pattern I have chosen will work well with two colours.

The pattern is from the latest issue of Yarn Forward, it is a pretty short sleeved top with a ribbed front panel. I need to make sure I measure well as I am going along as the last few items I have knitted haven't fitted very well.

I have knitted the tension square so far and it feels lovely knitted up. It is also nice to knit with. I have been very organised and put all the bits I need into my Cath Kidston knitting bag, my knitting should stay a lot tidier than usual.

Remade Fashion Fair

Yesterday I went to the Remade Fashion Fair at the Custard Factory in Birmingham. I had a lovely time, there weren't many stalls, but the quality of the items on offer seemed very high. I managed to buy quite a few items, some of them are shown in the picture above. I also got a lovely belt from Pouch, it is made from vintage purple fabric. I am already wearing it so couldn't photograph it!

I found this lovely colourful tin in a charity shop. I thought it would be good for storing sewing items. I am currently using it for my names tapes.

Busy Day

I started the day by making some vegetable soup. Not as good as last weeks attempt, but that was due to the vegetables I used rather than the quality of the soup. I also made some bread, some chocolate biscuits (not many of those left) and some stew for dinner.

I have been very crafty as well. I finished this cross stitch picture of Florence from the Magic Roundabout, which is for a birthday present. I made a brooch for a friends daughter, she likes pink so I put as much pink in as I could. I was able to use my new pinking shears to cut the felt, I am really glad I have some now as they are so useful, I am looking forward to using them on more projects.

I made similar brooch to list on Folksy, I made a similar one for myself as well as I love this yarn. http://www.folksy.com/items/17552-Green-and-Blue-Knitted-Flower-Brooch-with-Felt-and-Buttons-?shop=yes

I now need to tidy up and get the rest of dinner ready. I will start another project tonight, perhaps some more knitting, possibly a slightly larger item.

More parcels

I received my other parcels today. Firstly the vintage buttons I won on eBay, they are very pretty. I am collecting vintage buttons for no other reason than I love buttons, I don't plan to use them in any of my craft projects. I have a Cath Kidston button tin that I might keep my collection in, but I have just bought the really cute bag that you can see in the photo from Folksy, I might keep them in there instead. The bag came from Asking For Trouble.

I received my needlecase from PaperFish, also on Folksy. The case is gorgeous and I was really impressed with the packaging, all the really nice little bits that came with it, made me really happy.

My Cash's name tags also arrived, but there was an error in the text so I can't use them Hopefully they will send me out some correct ones, I will have to wait for their reply to Paul's email. 

Not sure what craft project to do today.  I should really tidy up the mess I made in the craft room yesterday as I can't really get to anything.

Leaf Brooches

I have the day off today, work is shut because of the snow. I spent the morning making soup, which was yummy, and some leaf brooches that are now for sale on Folksy.

http://www.folksy.com/shop/zoesharp

I dont have much green felt left but I should be able to make a couple more leaf shapes, when I can find some pictures of leaves as I am having trouble remembering what different leaves look like.

I am going to spend the afternoon tidying up my craft supplies, things have become a little messy. I hope that sorting my craft items will help to tidy the rest of the flat, that might be a little optimistic.

Snow

I have made it to work OK, but there is rather a lot of snow around, especially near our flat. I had to walk through about 4 inches this morning on the way to the station. It is more than we have had the rest of the week. I hope I can get home OK this evening. I am very glad I have the day off work tomorrow, even if I can't go away as planned.

It is very quite at work, I assume most the the students wont bother to come in.

Parcels

My day off today, had a walk around the shops and bought a few things. I found some yellow fabric, gold beads, and some buttons. I wasn't able to get any toy stuffing so I have a half empty owl waiting for some insides.

Some parcels arrived in the post, some lovely fabric from PhatsheepFabrics.etsy.com and some badges from http://www.folksy.com/shops/milomade. Very exciting to have pretty things arrive. I have a few more parcels on the way, nice to have something to look forward to.

Hunting for materials

I love crafts and making things, but I also love finding materials. I enjoy visiting my local charity shops looking for fabrics, buttons, trimmings, vintage tools and accessories.  
I have bought a large quantity of yarns, a few odd balls for little items, and lots where there was enough to make a garment. The shop kept putting out more yarn each week, so I went in frequently, and became known as the Knitting Lady.

Another shop had lots of buttons, bias bindings, vintage zips, hooks and eyes, and some threads. There is a lovely lady in the shop who keeps sorting out more each week, so I keep checking back and have become known as the Sewing Lady. I have also had some nice pieces of fabric that have been useful for making bags and my projects for Folksy such as this cute owl.  

I love the element of discovery involved in searching for materials, but I also like the fact that the money I am spending is going to charity.

http://www.folksy.com/shops/zoesharp