Making a hand embroidered lace pendant
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There was a time when things were much prettier than they are today and I have the feeling that this adds a little 19th century twist to a modern lifestyle…I like that.
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Four Period Costume Embroidery Patterns
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Hello there and Happy Easter. I do hope you have some sunshine to sit in while munching your easter eggs. There’s a new pattern in Ruby’s sewing room and it is just the prettiest set of little designs that are fun to stitch and great for putting on any number of things, especially handmade gifts.
These girls are around 5” high so they are quick easy projects to sew and there is a world of possibilities to explore with embellishments like teeny tiny buttons, seed beads, sequins and metallic threads.
Read MoreMaking the Hinterland Dress (but really the #OutlanderObessed Dress)
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Hello and welcome to a New Year on the blog. I hope you will join me in my sewing adventures this year and to start things up, I am putting another item into Ruby’s wardrobe of extraordinarily pretty things. As a novice dressmaker, I am slow and a bit sceptical about making my own clothes, but you don’t know until you try and my quest to find clothes that I like (as a 57 year old) and that fit me (as a 57 year old) is never going to be easy. The Hinterland Dress by Sew Liberated often pops up on my instagram feed and it looked like the kind of easy wear dress that would be good in winter or summer weight fabric.
Read MoreAn Ogden embroidered camisole and a bag
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For the next item in Ruby’s capsule wardrobe of extraordinarily pretty things, I was decisive about what I wanted to make. For ages I have had a beautiful Japanese embroidery book that has the most elegant embroidered camisole I have ever seen. If ever a vintage girl wanted a cam - this was it! From time to time, I’d look at this photo and think about making one and it also seemed like it wouldn’t be too difficult for an early stages project in my dressmaking adventures. It has lots of scope for embroidery and if it worked, I knew it would be a staple garment that can be worn with almost anything.
Read MoreMaking Amy Butler's Weekender Bag
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A while ago (actually 4 years to be precise) I made a ‘Weekender’ Bag from Amy Butler’s pattern. It was not an easy make, especially for someone like me who had never used piping before and is not all that comfortable with zips. It actually turned out remarkably well and I have used it plenty. It is not brilliant though and I have often thought about making another one …. with hindsight. Recently I saw on Instagram, a beautiful version made by ‘a.crafty.fox’ and was suddenly inspired to try again - helped by the fact that I am just finishing up my second ‘Shoreham’ quilt, I had a million scraps left over and figured the two were a match made in heaven….or is it hell.
So here we go again - a text print weekender bag…..take 2.
Read More'Stitched with Love'
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If like me you love anything in the genre of ‘Sewing things’ you’ll know how hard it is to resist when a new pattern comes out that is just perfect for the wall of your sewing space. And so it was when I saw Camille Roskelley’s new little mini quilt pattern ‘Stitched with Love’. I decided immediately that it was on the to do list and ordered the pattern. It arrived last week, along with at the equally irresistible, gorgeous bundle of the ‘Rifle Paper Co’s’ latest bundle of fabric - ‘English Garden’ and an autumn wind that just set the tone for my weekend.
Read MoreThe song of winter
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I love this time of year....the colours....the chilling air, the early morning sparkle of frost, pulling out favourite sweaters and making soup, but most of all I love the promise of Christmas. I think winter is the season that I love the most, although I don't believe this was always the case.
Read MoreVintage Linen Revival Quilt and a change of direction
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It seemed all incredibly random to me this afternoon and I put them up on my design wall and pondered over it for sometime. It was always an experiment for sure..... and cutting up vintage linens that are mostly rather tatty seems such a worthwhile project, but in order to upcycle - it has to be cohesive and the end result has to be useful.
Read MoreA handcrafted, perfectly matched Clutch Bag
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I can't tell you how thrilled I am with this. It is exactly how I imagined it would be - pretty, useful and completely unique. It has all the feel of a vintage piece...a handcrafted perfectly matched accessory.
Read MoreSwedish Embroidery
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We were lucky enough to live in Stockholm for 3 years from 2011. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been and Sweden generally is a country of absolutely sweeping landscapes, peppered with sparkling waters and rocky islands. My husband bought me this cushion kit 3 years ago as a birthday present, just before we left to return to England. As is often the case with hand sewing projects like this, I have picked it up and put it down a hundred times and it has been lurking in our sitting room in a basket for quite some time. I am not really sure why it has taken me so long, but I guess that is a familiar story to most of you who sew.
Read MoreVintage Linen Revival Quilt - Block 5
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I am rather charmed by this one. I love the soft colours, which is unusual for me as I am one for bright colour pops. Perhaps it is just that I am taken back to another time, when needlework was crafted with precision and used and loved and worn. I love that.
Read MoreVintage Linen Revival Quilt - Block 4
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April brings another chance to get back to my 'Vintage Linen Revival Quilt Project'. It is rapidly becoming one of those deliciously theraputic projects.... no rules....no pattern....no specified fabrics.....just a box of old vintage linens that are falling apart and desperately in need of a new and exciting life.Block 4 has turned out way different to how I imagined when I started out.
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