Don't the weeks just fly by? This week has been very horse orientated with Katie doing her first dressage test of the year. We've done shows before, but this time we're the ones taking the horse and the trailer which is very new (and alittle scary)! So, this week's picks all have an equine theme.
Ben (with some small additional pointers from Katie) gave me a quick Paint Shop Pro tutorial today to help me add labels to my work space photo. My "space" is in the utility room, one of the only rooms to have no heating, so to be truthful I usually grab any bits and pieces I need, cut out any materials and then head for a cosier room to do my sewing and be creative! Hope you can read it OK now I've had to make it smaller to fit the page!
Anyway, I was pleased to have my tutorial, which was painless, and he went on to show me loads more things PSP can do for me. Will dabble at a later date as I think as it looks good fun.
Or to be more specific, a Patchy Pockets wallet? I thought I'd do a short feature on one of my favourite makes - the handy, ever so useful, Patchy Pockets.
The idea of a handy little keepsake item came to be a few years ago and with my growing bag of fabric remnants collected from many different places and from kind people, I thought I could put my idea into fruition.
My first Patchy was for my daughter, Katie. She had some really good friends but was hopeless at keeping track of their phone numbers or addresses for when she wanted to contact them. I made her a Patchy and typed up her friends' details onto little slips of card to slot into each pocket. That was the initial good use of a Patchy Pockets - an address book!
As time went on, address and phone numbers grew and the wallet became a home to scraps of paper with email and MSN addresses hastily written down - all stored in one safe place. She now adds membership cards and little friendship notes aswell.
So, one successful Patchy happily being used, I decided to make one for myself too as there are always little bits and bobs that I can never find in my handbag. Therefore, my Patchy contains and tab of headache tablets, mini notebook and pen (I can always find it now when people went to give me their phone number), one of those tiny screwdriver sets from a Christmas cracker (never used it, but hey, you never know!), a selection of plasters and my blood type card. Usually I'll add a shopping list and any money-off vouchers when I'm heading for the stores.
Just over a year ago I made a Patchy Pockets for my friend's second child. I used soft fleece fabric in a bright dotty design with blue fleece pockets and stitched a little white felt bunny with a fluffy woollen tail to the front. I embroidered baby's name onto a felt heart to slot into the first pocket. My friend sent me a letter to thank me and to tell me that she would put her son's first lock of hair, tooth, hostpital band and photo inside as a keepsake. What a gorgeous idea. Sadly, I didn't take a photo of this one but have often thought of making something similar to sell.
So you can see, the versatile Patchy Pockets can be home to many things. I have two available in my shop at the mo, and there'll certainly be more to come in lots of different fabrics.
My children had a go at playing indoor bowls this week so I thought my Folksy Friday theme should be anything round. Here's my picks:
Click along to Blue Box Studio's blog here and then take a peek (if you haven't already done so) at her lovely shop on Folksy here to see all the pretty items available to buy.
Blue Box Studio is having a mega clear-out at her home in order to do some exciting decorating in her work room. If you'd like to have a chance to be lucky in her daily giveaway of clear-out goodies (which include, at present, " beads, pretty papers, earrings, badges, necklaces, notelets, ribbons, peel-offs") have a read of her blog post and enter the giveaway. She's after comments on her shop goodies or how your day has been. Extra chances to win for those that promote the giveaway and extra, extra chances if you purchase from her online shops.
Good luck readers!
This week I asked Ben, my 10 year old son, to choose a topic for this week's special picks. He chose rabbits and found five of his favourite rabbit (and hare) goodies from Folksy:
Good to get back to Folksy Friday as I haven't been able to do the last couple of weeks. Anyway, I couldn't resist picking a snow theme for this week seeing as how we're all still in the grip of an icy winter. Here's my choice.
As always, click on the photo to be taken straight to the relevant shop:
I only have a small scrap of it and would like to use it for Valentine's Day as it's such a beautiful colour (much deeper red than photographed). It frays quite easily, so would need to make something that needs hemming and that's quite difficult when making hearts. Any ideas?
Have been busy these last couple of days although in the back of my mind I keep thinking "Valentine's Day, must get on with things for that". I know what I want to make, but finding the time to start, experiment and come up with something original and lovely is hard work! As well as this, there's the pressing matter of finding school work for Katie and Ben now that the new year has started, as well as all the other everyday things that take up a busy lady's time!
Anyway, Katie and I made this pouch using one of my favourite woollen remnants. It was one of Ben's jumpers from when he was much, much younger. I bought it for him because I loved the the combination of colours in the stripes, but he hardly wore it! It is lined with white cotton t-shirt material and the inside rim is finished with pastel blue ribbon. An elastic loop hooks over a lovely hand made Polymer clay button, which has been varnished. Attached to this is a length of matching beads, including a glow in the dark bead, and at the very end a hand made Polymer Clay fish sporting a beady eye. The pouch is big enough for an Ipod Touch/Phone with room to spare for a set of earphones, but it could be used for so many other things.
To kick start the Valentine's listings, I've put in a couple of pretty fabric cats that have been filled with wadding and either lavender or crushed cloves. The cats can be propped up somewhere special in the home or placed near clothes to release their gentle scent. One cat has two felt hearts hanging around his neck, the other a felt heart and felt star.
I've had some fabulous presents this year (as you'll see in my previous post), but one of the most thoughtful was from my big sis. She made a Christmassy draw-string bag and bought lots of lovely crafty bits to put inside. They're all way too nice to use at the mo, if you know what I mean!
pins, ribbons, gold thread, buttons and pretty Cath Kidson pincushion.
No longer available from my shop but willing to make as a custom to please get in touch if you'd like a hand made Woollie pony.
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