Pretty Parcels and Homemade Loveliness!

On Monday, we had two very excited little girls as a result of two very exciting little deliveries!

I am so fortunate to have some amazingly creative friends... Friends who have inundated us with gorgeous homemade delights in the past (check out some of the cute little presents Heidi received upon her arrival into the world!) and friends who continue to amaze me with their ability to create the most gorgeous gifts for these girlies of mine.

The first parcel was from my lovely friend Catrin in Austria. I often talk about how my time in Austria was pretty instrumental in getting my creative juices flowing again, and Catrin, and another friend, were totally (and are still) some of my biggest inspirations. Catrin has a gorgeous blog that is totally worth checking out and she's actually blogged about these gorgeous little gifts for my girls right here (if you don't understand German, just go over to check out her gorgeous photographs!)

Catrin made the girls these gorgeous little book bags. Beautiful, sturdy and totally up every little girls' street. The girls have been carrying them around everywhere... and best of all, they have their names on them! What's not to love?!

Then, as if that wasn't enough, later that day, Heidi received a rather belated birthday present from her little friend Noah. Noah's Mama Emelie is one of the most creatively talented people I know and is always overflowing with fabulous ideas! These little felt strawberries are for the girls' little Huette in the garden, and they are utterly gorgeous!

I just love the detail, and Heidi has already had great fun counting them, sorting them and "eating" them!

Seriously, I am in awe of these two fabulous friends of mine! And feel very fortunate to be the recipient of such creative loveliness! Our girls don't know how lucky they are!

And as if that wasn't enough, one more parcel arrived the very next morning...

...but we'll save the contents of that one for another time!

#GetGoodSummer Homemade Bunting

I love bunting... I love the way it just makes a place feel homely and cottagey and cute, no matter how bland the venue... I also love the fact that it's totally easy to make, makes a great present, and knocks off one of my #GetGoodSummer goals all at once!

So here you have it: How to make easy, but lovely bunting...

Step One: Pick out some gorgeous coordinating fabric to make your bunting. I knew my sister-in-law loves red, so I decided to go for a red/cream combo... that way, it can be used for christmas too!

 Step Two: Using a self-drawn template (choose the size you want, but allow an extra half inch), draw the outline onto the back of the material for however many triangles you want. I had 12. Then pin them front sides facing.

Step Three: Using your preferred method of sewing (machine or hand) sew round the long sides of the triangles, but not along the top.

Step Four: Then turn your triangles inside out and iron!

Step Five:  Finally, fold some bias binding over the top of your triangles, spread them out and voila...

... you have beautiful bunting!

Another goal ticked on my #GetGoodSummer! Phew!

Why not give it a go??

#GetGoodSummer: Homemade Coasters

One of my #GetGoodSummer goals was to make three things from this book... always on the lookout for a new project, I was really excited to receive it as a gift when Heidi was in hospital. I had a flick through and found some things I'd like to try my hand at!

My lovely friend Cheryl celebrated her birthday yesterday, and it afforded the perfect opportunity to get a bit creative and have a go at something. After mulling over the pages, I decided to put together a little hamper for Cheryl with a bottle of Homemade Lemonade, some tumblers and some handmade coasters...

So I gathered together the necessary bits and bobs to make 8 coasters...
* 16 x fabric squares, 11cm x 11cm
* 16 x webbing squares 10cm x 10cm
* 8 x wadding squares 10cm x 10cm
* Sewing scissors
* Thread

Step One: Pin the fabric squares together, right side facing...

Step Two: Sew the squares, leaving a 2 inch gap in one side...

Step Three: Iron the webbing onto the back of the fabric squares and iron the wadding to them. Then turn inside out so that the right side is facing out and you have little square cushions...

Step Four: Iron the cushions. The webbing will cause the cushions to flatten down, turning them into coasters.

Step Five: Sew the gap closed and voila... you have some lovely coasters!

Then I wrapped them all up, ready to give to Cheryl!

Why don't you have a go?? It was a really fun, quick and easy project, and made a lovely present... I hope Cheryl liked it too!

I joined in with #PoCoLo

Sew Pretty...

Last week, my wonderful Mum looked after the girlies while I whizzed into town to get some new materials for my little business (check it out here...) I was in and out in an hour and a half (its amazing how quick you can whizz around town when you aren't lugging a buggy and bored children around!) and one of my stops was my favourite place in town... the fabric shop! I stocked up on a metre of each of the cottons on the left (only £3.49 each!) My aim? After avidly following The Great British Sewing Bee, I had decided to sew an item of clothing for Ava.

This is NOT something that I ever thought I'd have the guts to do. I love sewing, but more the sit around the fireplace hand-stitching a little decoration for the home, or an advent calendar or something along those lines. Dressmaking? No! Far too scary and too much like hard work! But I've been so inspired by the contestants on that programme, I thought it was finally time to face my fear and give it a go. So I asked my lovely Mum to pick up a simple pattern for me and this is what she came back with...

Scary looking, eh? It felt it anyway. But after getting it out and carefully reading through all the instructions (yes, I am one of those who needs to read the instructions!) I started drawing and cutting the pattern during the girls nap on Saturday afternoon. By the time the girls woke up, everything was cut, and I just needed to sew... This was the bit that scared me!!

After putting the girls to bed, I faced my fears... I started at 8ish, and stopped at 11.30pm. It was full on, but I did it, and it wasn't so hard at all (patterns are brilliant!!) As long as I did what the pattern told me to (yes, sometimes I had to read the line 3 times with a frown on my forehead!), it seemed to work. It's not perfect, but I'm so chuffed with the final result.

It's a late night photo, taken bleary-eyed on my ipad at near midnight, but here you have it...

My first attempt at dressmaking!

All inspired...

Oh my. Is anybody else absolutely LOVING BBC's "The Great British Sewing Bee"????

I AM SO INSPIRED. I love sewing... but I have never ever been brave enough to actually try and sew a real item of clothing. But do you know what? This programme is making me think I might actually be able to pull it off! Ridiculous, I know... but I am loving it!!

I think there's something wonderful about the current culture of "going back to our roots"... of the love for all things homemade and vintage (cue quick plug for my etsy shop... check out the latest stock here!) and there's something lovely about the thought of making your own clothes. It was something I had on my "Get Good Summer" list last year, and then that went to pot when I found out I was pregnant and felt queasy for most of the summer.

Personally? I'm torn on who I want to win. I think Sandra is just so good, but I like Stuart's creativity, Sandra's precision, and I absolutely love Lauren's style. I'm happy for any of them to be honest, and only wish I could have half the sewing skills they do!

I'll do a quick shout out for Tilly though. I thought she was utterly brilliant and was gutted when she was booted last week, but she has a fab little blog going with loads of great ideas and patterns - some of which are actually supposed to be doable for a total novice like me! I'm quite tempted by her Miete skirt, and I absolutely loved her Mathilde Blouse, though I think that might be a bit tricky to start with...

Have any of you been hooked by the programme? Who do you want to win? Anyone got any top tips for a novice looking to try her hand at making something semi-wearable?!