Teepee Tutorial

I made this a couple of years but only just realised that I've not posted about it. I wanted to share it mainly because I followed a really simple set of instructions I found from IKEA.

 

Ikea is also a great pace to find fabric to make this. Most of their fabric's are extra wide, bright colours and patterns, durable and affordable.

 

The 6 wooden poles were from B&Q. We quickly sawed the excess off, drilled a hole through and then gave them a coat of varnish to darken their colour and make them a little more hardwearing.

To keep the poles in place I sewed leather thong at intervals on the inside. I used the same leather thong to tie the poles together at the top and make a tie for the opening.

 

The teepee is great fun, can be changed to whatever the imagination conjures and provides a useful hideaway from afternoon sun.

A Tote for Mum

 

I made this lovely tote bag for my Mum using the Everyday Tote pattern from Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross

I didn't have quite the right amount of the Echino fabric (a lovely light animal print linen from Eternal Maker) so i adapted the pattern by just bringing the sides in (on both external and lining fabric).

Inside is a useful pocket so you don't loose your essentials - crucial as this bag is big and will caryy plenty of necessary stuff! I think I'll make myself one next.

McCalls 6015 - a quick distraction!

Rather than packing for holiday, the day before we were to leave (at the crack of dawn) I decided to make Sophie a new frock.

Mum had originally planned to knock this one up herself, but one because of one thing or another, never quite found the time. So whilst procrastinating about how many shorts we all needed I stumbled upon the pattern and fabric she had bought and off I went.

The McCall 6015 is a proper little girl's dress.

I went for the version with capped sleeves.

It was fairly straight forward although I'm not sure if I followed the instructions for hte zip and sleeves to the letter - however I'm pleased with the result!

And luckily the pretty dress managed to distract the waitresses from the havoc she caused at the pizza restaurant!

This Girl Is On Fire

A quick and easy make this one. As you know I'm an avid Pinterest-er and was particularly taken with this - I liked the words and colours - perfect for Sophie.

So I've taken it as inspiration and made my own felt version.

 

Its part of a mini gallery featuring a gorgeous print from Belle and Boo called Sophia and a great postcard I've picked up along the way.

The pictures look great next to the vintage wooden shelves I found on Ebay and have filled with Sophie's book and toys.

Welcome to the World Louis!

Proud Auntie Bekei is welcoming her lovely new nephew to the world with a special new Really Useful Bag and some Building Blocks. As Louis lives abroad this lovely map fabric is the perfect way to show where everyone important lives!

Seb's Woodland Quilt

Our new home has opened new links to the local communities, many through social media. One Facebook group I'm part of has been a unmissable source of information, advice and bargains! It was from this group I got my most recent commission.

Rohini was decorating her son, Seb's bedroom and wanted a patchwork quilt to be part of this. We chatted her woodland theme, I collected some design and fabric ideas.

These mood boards could give her an idea of the colours, patterns and themes I had in mind. We soon came to an agreement and I had my finished design.

This may not look much to you but it holds all the crucial measurements and direction I need. I don't think the finished product is far off my initial sketch!

I hand-quilted the sections together using white, dark and light green perle thread.

I have four rows of larger trees and 3 of smaller ones to create the idea of a vast wood leading off into the distance.

Each tree is made of 8 sections. The leaves are shaped with white triangles. Some of the leaves are made from small scraps I'd been saving for something special - the patchwork element added to the leaf look.

The back I kept to simple blocks of fabric - based around a gorgeous piece of woodland animal fabric. I echoed a landscape view by using strips of green at the bottom and a lovely teal blue and cream spot for the sky.

Its taken longer than I hoped with all the recent family turmoil, but Rohini has been super understanding and even offered kind words of wisdom.

Let's just hope young Sebastian likes it.

Embroidery Sampler

There are a lot of lovely pictures of embroidery samplers in blogs and magazines - so inspired I came up with my own version.

I used colours to tie into Sophie's room - light blue and a grey/green to match the neutral wall colour and then the gold and pink to echo her accents colours. The fabric I wrapped the wooden frame in is scraps from making her curtains - a couple of dots of glue from a glue gun held it in place.