Block by Block

I was so pleased with the baby building blocks I've made I decided to make some for Sophie. I mixed up some yellows, pinks and greys and added appliquéd letters, numbers and shapes.

I really like the geometric pattern and the Heather Ross 'Dogs'. And most importantly they're a big hit with Sophie!

After giving baby Gabe a set of baby building blocks, Gabe's mum has ordered another set to give to another friend. I started by searching my scrap bag for colours that went well together.

And ended up with these lovely blocks in purples, lime greens and turquoise!

Some of the patchwork sides include a great fabric with Batman style 'Kapow' design.

Fabric Sources

So where do you get yours from?

Mine comes from a mix of places. A couple of local treasure troves, a few websites full to the brim of temptations, some eBay stalking and an annual pilgrimage to a festival... not the rock n roll ones of my youth!

So locally, I am bang in the middle of two greats. Fabric Galore in Lavender Hill, South West London and Rolls n Rems in Lewisham, South East London.

Fabric Galore has finally launched its online store meaning its wonderful stock is even more accessible and even though I can get there relatively easy I still always buy one or two pieces from them at the Festival of Quilts held at the NEC in Birmingham every August. Their shop is well laid out, with a good mix of different fabrics and a small selection of Haberdashery (Wimbledon Sewing Centre in Balham has the best stock of haberdashery I've come across in South London). But the main reason I love Fabric Galore is their amazing stock of Liberty prints at the best price ever! They have so many I always end up buying some even if I went in for green fur! It was from this selection that I found most of the prints for my Mum's Liberty Quilt. The super friendly staff are always ready to help and advise. If you're in London make a special journey across the river - you won't regret it!

Rolls n Rems is a very different store. An Aladdin's cave of treasures with a good mix of all the basics you could ever need. It has a great range of patterns and stuff for curtain making and upholstery upstairs. I buy my towelling there for changing mats and bibs and felt squares and have yet to find anywhere that can beat them on price. It can sometimes be a squash, but only as a testimony to how busy it can get.

There are pother local shops that sell fabric - some of those I mentioned in my Sewing Cafes and Workshop post stock a good range.

My favourite websites:

Fabric Rehab This site is fab. It displays its huge stock so clearly and groups fabrics in great themes, types and colours. Whenever I've ordered anything it arrives super fast and never disappoints. I have to admit to spending far too many hours drooling over new lines and wishing i could buy the lot!

Eternal Maker This site not only has a great selection of fabrics but almost everything else ou could ever want. THE most gorgeous felt. AMAZING ric rac and other stuff you never knew you needed until you stumbled across it on their website! Dangerous - thank goodness I don't live close to the shop or else I may be bankrupt!

Fabric Worm Is American, but sometimes for that very special project you need to find the perfect fabric - if you can't find it here then its worth investing in having some sent over from these guys! Its also a great way to see whats coming out before it hits our shores.

Crowning glory

The making bug really caught hold this month as Sophie's first birthday draws closer and closer. I have finished her building blocks and quilt and decided there was just time to whip up a special party hat.

I decided a mini crown made with fabric and ribbon would be just the thing for my little princess (i know... enough!).

After rummaging around on Pinterest for some inspiration I decided to make my own pattern. And here's the finished result - cute eh!

The hardest part was coming up with the perfect pattern. It needed a slight curve so that the points angled out slightly and big enough dips for the points to look crowny!

I choose some lovely soft muted grey and brown fabric I had in my stash and ironed on some lightweight interfacing to the floral fabric to give it a little more structure.

I choose some complementing ribbon and sewed these to the front before sewing the two pieces of crown together along the points.

Next I sewed the edges together then flipped it the right way out, pushing out the tips of the crown carefully with scissors.

I then gave it an iron and ironed the a bottom hem of about 1/4 inch on both external and internal fabrics. I cut two lovely plush baby pink ribbons and pinned them to the sides before carefully sewing the bottom edge closed.

My final touch was some gold pearl cotton hand stitching around the edge!

A quick how to... join together batting pieces

I am still in the middle of making two quilts and some building blocks, but life such as it is means that precious sewing time is a rare thing. I have finished cutting and piecing together the tops of both quilts and basted Sophie's ready for hand quilting. Poor Finn's didn't have a piece of batting just the right size so I've patchworked his using up bits and pieces. I thought I'd share a good way of doing this that makes bumpless joins!

Start by choosing a zig zag stitch that is made up of a number of smaller stitches - I choose this 3 step zig zag. I then made the stitch length long and narrower.

Then I set the needle to stop down and started sewing. Butting the fabric together as it went under the foot.

The final seam - flat and pretty strong. A great way to use up those left over pieces of batting.

Finn expresses his approval of both quilts so far!

Sewing Cafes in South East London

I've been back to work for a whole month now and my precious time for sewing has taken a knock back so I've not got anything to show yet but hopefully I can share the 2 quilts I'm working on soon!

So in the meantime I thought I'd do a bit of signposting and make a list of the sewing cafes and workshop places that are springing up across South East London. I'm sure there are lots more so I'll keep adding them as I come across them! Let me know if there are others I can add too.

SewOverIt is in Clapham has a great range of classes, with more being added all the time. It also has a cafe and allows you to book time to use machines whilst enjoying some lovely cafe. All of this and a great stock of fabrics and haberdashery bits. It was here that I did my fantastic Machine Embroidery class in January.

Seweastduwlich in East Dulwich is just round the corner from me and I've popped into the shop many times. They now offer workshops to make cushions and dresses as well as knitting and crocheting.

Others I've come across but not been to... yet:

The White Room in Crofton Park. Has machines you can book by the hour or block with a spot of tea and workshops including hat making. They also offer useful sewing machine repairs and servicing. Must pop in soon.

Stag & Bow in Forest Hill.  Has a shop, workshops and takes design commissions - phew! Currently they have lots of amazing discount offers when you book more than one workshop, making it even easier to try all those new crafts you've always wanted to master!

Sewing Time in Blackheath. Has a great range of workshops, courses and clubs. Not strictly a cafe but a place to go for support, learning new skills or making some friends and joining in! 

Miss Libby Rose in Greenwich. Again this isn't strictly a cafe but has a great range of classes which include beginner sessions and sessions especially tailored for children.

Crafts Bee in Beckenham. Offers a huge range of courses and workshops including sewing from pattern cutting and corsetry!!

And across London:

London Sewing Workshops in Bethnal Green
The Create Place in Bethnal Green
Saturday Sewing Sessions in Chelsea
The Papered Parlour in Clapham
Our Patterned Hand in Broadway Market, Hackney
Ray Stitch in Islington 
The Sewing Rooms in Putney
Earl Grey and Rose in Streatham
Cheekyhandmades in Walthamstow
Homemade London in West End

Building Blocks

Two new babies and a first birthday all in the same month so throughout March I've started a factory line in Building Blocks. Each set has 6 blocks and each side has a different fabric. I used a mix of spots, plains, elephants, floral and patchwork mix.

By cutting each side the same size of the finished blocks I ensured that the finished block will be snug. I ordered the foam from Ebay and cut it into squares with an electric knife - huge fun, but best done when the kids aren't around!

I machine stitched five pieces together and sewed two complete sides and an inch of the other two sides of the final piece. Then I trimmed the corners and threads, flipped the squares the right way round and squeezed the foam into place. The final edges were finished by hand sewing in a matching thread.

More Pom Poms

Do you remember making pom poms when you were a kid? I do. And the recent popularity of huge paper tissue ones lead me to go back to those original pom poms to decorate a gift. It was also a great activity to do with Finn. We found this lovely film on youtube so Finn (and me!) could see what we needed to do and we were away! We especially enjoyed the haircut stage!