Back to Spool

This time of year always fills me with a sense of resolution and new projects. As the leaves in the trees begin to turn to brown, it remnds me of new school shoes hurting me, and a promise to try and master simultaneous equations. (I never did).

So with my fabric stash growing out of control and a neglect of this blog, I'm resolving to get things going again, show my favourite fabrics and share with you my latest projects.

Next week I begin an evening pottery course after work which I'm very excited about. It's been about 15 yeas since I was in a pottery lesson at school, but I thoroughly enjoyed it then and the thought of sinking my fingers into the cool, mushy clay after a day of hard graft in the city fills me with dizzying excitement!

With the festive season looming on the horizon, here are a couple of prints which I'm loving this week.

The first is Alma Blue from Northlight Homestore. I love the icy blues and cool greens, reminding me of a frosty morning. Pity this is out of stock as I think it would make some splendid cushions with chunky wooden buttons.

My other favourite is Michael Miller's Holiday Forest. I'm thinking of using this to make hanging stockings this year as I love the retro print and mismatched colours. I think it would look awesome teamed with a regular pattern, such as some festive red and white stripes.

Dipping my toe in the waters of Etsy

For the past few months, since my creative epiphany, I've been enjoying the creative process and accumilating all manner of wonderous handmade treasures, from bags, to purses, and now beads have given way to necklaces and bracelets.

There are only so many boxes of fabric and buttons, beads and ribbon my room can take so I thought why not try and sell those little things I've so enjoyed making?

So this evening I've listed a few items on Etsy - your place to buy and sell all things handmade. In principle it seems easy. Similar to eBay, you list your items for a small fee and the world becomes your marketplace.

I'll be keeping you updated with my learnings from Etsy and will let you know how successful it is. Check out HopScotch Crafts which will be growing over the coming weeks.

My first plan has not been to list lots of items all at once, rather stagger them across a couple of days. I'm hoping that the 'recently listed items' thingy which updates every 15 seconds on the homepage will therefore give me more exposure, rather than a rush at once.



I'm also trying to offer something a little different and a suprise extra by making my own gift bags from material. A simple gingham bag tied with a pretty piece of ribbon elevates my bracelets to a cute gift package, rather than your standard item, rammed into a jiffy bag with a lump of bubble wrap.

Who knows - perhaps there is a market simply making these gift bags to sell to other Etsy sellers to present their items in. With each bag taking less than 5 minutes to make on my new sewing machine, I'd be foolish not to give this a try.

Lampwork bead lunch hour

So, one lunch hour I took myself out into the streets of Covent Garden on the lookout for a couple of bead shops I'd found on the internet.

Once through the door of the first place on my list, The Bead Shop, I soon experienced the same euphoria so familiar to me when mooching around my favourite fabric shop.

Yes - I'd found yet even more crafty bits and bobs to get excited about!

The shop is filled with small compartments and trays eash containing an exotic collection of varying colours, shapes and sizes. Pretty soon I found myself combining beads, matching and contrasting colours much like I do with fabric. The next thing I realised I had a small plastic bag in my hand and a pen, quickly marking quantities and prices before headfing to the till.

When you realise how little individual beads actually cost, I'm sure that like me, you will never want to pay for produced jewellery again. Why should you when you can make something totally original and have the joy of creating a gorgeous collection of shapes and colours?



After browsing on eBay one evening, I discovered glass lampwork beads and placed an order for a small quantity drawn by the vibrant colours and delicacy of the glass. The was the main reason for heading out around the bead shops - to find some decent spacer beads which would complement my new treasures.

Here are a few images of the first bracelets I have made. I really like the colours and sizes of beads - chunky enough to be noticed, but still pretty and elegant in the positioning of colours.

New season fabrics - Moda's Swell

I found this new collection today. It's Swell, produced by Urban Chiks for Moda and released just this month. It looks to be yet another collection which is celebrating that vintage collection of patterns. Flowers, stripes, plaids, spots placed together intensify the effect of pretty, clean simplicity.

My favourites from this collection include:

Roses are Red on Marshmallow - for the teaming of regular blue polka dots and natural floral forms on a crisp white background.

Oops a Daisy on Marshmallow - I really like the regularity of this design, and the matching of pale pink and red. I have some baby blue prints I can't wait to team this up with.

These gingham/plaid prints have been just what I'm after. The line size is larger than typical, giving an excellent chunky look. It will look awesome when teamed up with a few pretty florals.

I also loved this Trellis in Cherry - the regularity of the design with contrast beautifully with the soft, veluptuous swirls of natural flowers.

I placed an order for a few half yards of each today with the Fat Quarter Shop and I can't wait for them to arrive.

You can download the full colour chart for Swell here as a PDF from the Moda website.

Home Sweet Home

This week, I've fallen in love with birdhouses. I've been captivated by the variation on simple shapes and colours and how these small abodes can bring a bit of lilliputian majesty to a garden. Her are a selection of some of my favourite images I've been collecting online.

Inspiration

New season fabrics - Cath Kidston

Spring is in the air, and with it come a range of new prints for 2008 from the popular designer Cath Kidston. The following are a selection of my favourites which all seem to inspire me to brighten up the kitchen!

This is Mini Strawberry White Fabric at £18 / metre if bought direct. The print is crisp and clean, reminding me of a country kitchen with a big teapot and the aroma of freshly baked bread. It is very evocative of a simpler, almost nostalgic way of living - something Cath's designs have become famous for in our fast paced twentith century life.

This is Floral Gingham Cotton Fabric encompassing a delicate mix of blue gingham and floral print. This has been used in Cath's own merchandise for oven gloves and purses, so you can see the fabric lends itself to small craft projects. This is also £18 / metre but I have found smaller quantities available for a couple of pounds on eBay.

Finally, another favourite of mine is Chintz Floral Fabric - a clean, crisp design, but ever so modern in the application of colour and flower styling.

As before, the boldness of this pattern lends itself well to smaller craft projects, so why not awaken your domestic goddess and make yourself a nostalgic apron, or give a breath of fresh air to the humble tea cosy? Would also work well for coin purses or panels on a bag.

Again, this is £18 / metre, but it is always worth checking out eBay for smaller quantities.

Summertime nostalgia with gingham

It migt be a crisp, February Sunday but I've tasked myself with spiriting a little breath of summer into my home this afternoon.

These pretty bags have bee made using simple floral prints framed with cute ribbon and gingham reminiscent of those school summer dresses we used to wear.

Gingham has that childhood innocence to it, invoking hazy July evenings, the smell of cut grass and a longing for the holidays to arrive. It is that simplicity I've tried to capture in these pretty bags which you might use to carry your lunch to work, a magazine and an apple for an afternoon in the park or why not a book, some sunglasses and your iPod for the beach?

The wonders of gingham

Saturday arrives, and as usual my mind turns to all those crafty projects I've been daydreaming about during the week.

Having only recently jumped into the world of sewing, I am slowly building up my stash with essential fabrics. I'm quickly learning that all fabric is essential!

I've been making a couple of bags and purses as my first projects but have found myself sticking to one bold print with a little decoration in the form of ribbon or a few buttons.

To compliment many of the floral patterns I find myself drawn to, I have been on the lookout for some gingham to allow me to produce attractive bags but using less for the more expensive fabric I have.

Imagine my delight on a visit to Hobbycraft this morning to discover pink gingham at just £2.49 per metre! This is very different to the average of £7 I have been spending. I snapped up two metres and have since been spending the afternoon teaming it with a variety of fabric already in my beloved fabric box.

Take a look at these pairings and le me know what you think:





It's amazing how many different types of print simple gingham compliments, creating a nostalgic look not dissimilar to the Cath Kidston designs so popular at the moment.

I cannot sing the praises of gingham loud enough. The simple checks look so clean and fresh, team wonderfully with satin ribbon and show off busy florals perfectly. Is there anything not to like about it?

Kauffman, Moda, Benartex and friends

Welcome to my fabric stash. Here I will showcase some of the highlights from my growing collection of textiles.

It began at the start of 2008 as a couple of fat quarters in a shoe box.

Since then, I've developed a keen fabric addiction which I've since been feeding via eBay, my local fabric store and not so old clothes.

The following is from the True Friends Collection by Nancy Halvorsen for Benartex.


I picked this up in my local fabric shop about a month ago. I love the glorious powder blue which combines so well with the small peach roses. There are small anecdotes to friendship which look like simple swirls from a distance. On closer inspection, one can learn that 'it takes a long time to grow an old friend' and 'the flowers of true friendship never fade'.

Slightly cheesey, but the feeling that sewing gives me is one of simple creativity annd femininity. In this day and age, I know a great deal of emphasis is put on feminism and women's rights, but I also believe we should not be ashamed to indulge in the talents which make us what we are.

I've used this fabric to make a small make up bag, a couple of panels for my growing quilting project and I plan to make a larger bag. The density of the pattern lends itself well to small items, given the detail of the print.

Next we have Fruit Cocktail Aqua Glass for Chloe's Closet for Moda


I got an amazing deal on this fabric from the USA via eBay. I love the Moda fabrics, especially those which are reproductions of older prints like this one - a reproduction of a 1930's print. I enjoy imagining what this fabric may have originally adorned during that time.

I have made a few book sized bags from this material which look mamzing! The print is so bright and colourful that I hope it will encourage spring to hurry up and arrive! I am considering making an a-line skirt from this fabric as it is similar to many of the bold prints seen in the High Street, such as Monsoon.

As this blog grows with my sewing skills, you will notice a developing theme...owls! I fell in love with the following Kauffman fabric, in part due to the wonderfully simplistic shape of the birds, but also the retro colour pallette. I really like the autumnal hues of brown, yellow and orange. I will be using this to make a couple of bags as gifts, and possibly a skirt if the pattern isn't too overkill (and assuming bold retro prints will still be in favour come the Fall).


Amy Schimler for Robert Kauffman - On a Whim

Next may I introducePorcelain by Lynne Wilson for Moda. I selected this material to make a top with. It will be the first time I follow a pattern, so I'm a little nervous, but also excited at the prospect at making my very first item of original clothing. Stay tuned to see how it goes!



This is from RJR Fashion Fabrics and is called Great Lakes, Great Quilts: Reproductions from Michigan State University Museum


This pretty lilac print would make gorgeous curtains, but sadly my sewing skills don't stretch that far at present! I've used it in a couple of quilting panels and cushion covers.


I love these owls! I got this material from eBay and I think it might be Japanese. I've made a small bag which I use carry my lunch to work. The print is retro, and very fashionable at the moment, almost remniscent of the products available in Paperchase. I have noticed a few envious eyes sneaking glances at it!

There is nothing like knowing you are wearing or using an item which is totally original and the sense of satisfaction from making something yourself is why I enjoy sewing/creating/fabrics so much.

Bags, bags, bags!

Here are the bags I have made over the past week or so. Each one is fully lined and took around one hour to make.