Gingerbread Bears

Miss E and I have spent a happy afternoon in the kitchen making Gingerbread Bears...Miss E was chief mixer, roller, cutter and taster and I was chief decorator.

A whole load of bears

Punk Rocker Bear

Hot Lady Bear

Nice Woolly Jumper Bear

Techie Bear

Bear Tumble ....for those of you who know Mr Tumble from Cbeebies

 Bear In Love

Parcel Delivery

One of my most favourite things is getting a parcel...even if I've ordered it and know exactly what's inside I still love it....it's like getting your own little secret present.  A couple of days ago my order from the fabulous  Paper and String come through, very speedily as always and likewise as beautifully wrapped in tissue paper as always...doesn't tissue paper just make everything seem that bit more special?

So what did I order?
Well Paper and String have updated their felt supplies and introduced some new colours and have therefore produced new felt samples....but being Paper and String...they've not just presented these samples in any old way....oh no siree....these sample cards are beautiful and come in their own handy box.

I also restocked on some supplies of Raspberry, Apple and White felt.

These are the sample cards in all their glory...lovely big samples of the felt so you can really see the colours properly.

Gorgeous greens

Icy greeny blues

Brilliant blues

Perfect purples

This is the old felt sample card I have from Paper and String which I'm sure I'll still use as I regularly pull off the little felt squares and lay them out together to play with combining new colour schemes for my next creation.

I'm playing with this Charcoal, White, Raspberry, Apple and Baby Pink combo at the moment.

Sewing Machine Cover

One old, split, ugly, plastic sewing machine cover.....

 

...replaced with a lovely, pretty, simple new one.

I think I bought the fabric from a market a couple of years ago...I probably had a project in mind for it then but I can't remember what, but it's perfect for this one.

It's very straight forward, basically a hemmed rectangle with side ties but it does the job perfectly.

The ribbon was a recent Cath Kidston sale purchase.

So pretty and matches my Cath table cloth!

Old to new

My mum is great at keeping things...over a year ago I remember spotting some fabric in my Mum and Dad's garage being used as a dust sheet and asking if I could have it.  I loved the pattern and the colours even if they are somewhat faded...I think it just adds to it's charm. 

Yesterday I pulled it out of my stash (now washed and clean) thinking it would be make a good new cover for my sewing machine.  I'd cut a few bits off before for various other smaller projects and unfortunately what I had left wasn't quite the right shape or size for my sewing machine cover but I realised perfect for a new skirt for Miss E...oh and a matching headband.

I had to work around a couple of holes in the fabric and a small paint stain but I think the fabric must be about 45 years old...it was the first material my Mum bought for the bathroom of my Mum and Dad's first house...a skirt with a story! 

Obviously a very large chocolate cupcake was involved as well, thanks to a birthday party Miss M went to that afternoon....

....and a bit of dancing....

....and some hiding!

The gorgeous fabric - can you spot the tiny paint stain on this piece?

These hems are the original ones that my Mum sewed and I left them as the hem of Miss E's skirt.  

You can see how the fabric has rubbed and worn.

I think the fading and wearing just gives it a really lovely casual feel.

So I folded the fabric in half and pinned and hemmed the side of the skirt.  I didn't need to do anything about the bottom of the skirt as I used the original hem my Mum sewed 40 odd years ago!

Then I machined a loose gathering stitch around the top...

...pinned in the thick elastic which I measured around Miss E's waist...

....machine sewed the elastic to the skirt and .....

....BINGO....a lovely, simple, very quick retro skirt.
Happy Days!!

Post published note:  
My mum reckons 42-43 years old for the fabric as they've been married for 43 years.

Food to share

We got together with lovely friends on Friday afternoon so our children could have a play and then tea together, it's something we try to do weekly and is such a laugh.  After burning the oven chips last week...I know, I know...HOW?....in my defence I was called outside by Miss E to try a "delicious" sand food tea party she'd laid out all by herself for my friend and I, it was very sweet and all thoughts of oven chips were forgotten!  Anyway, move oven chips were hastily popped in the oven and all was well!  This was my friend's baby's first teaclub tea coming to join Miss M and Miss E and her 2 year old son, so not the best introduction but then he was on milk, milk and more milk so, we'll save his chips for another day.  So this week I did what I'd normally do...prep before hand, then pop in oven with the timer on and it worked perfectly.

Two dishes of lasagne ready to pop into the oven

The big one for the children and then Mr A and I later in the evening and the smaller one for my friend to take home for her and her husband once their children are asleep.

I said earlier that it all worked perfectly....well almost perfectly....this was supposed to be a "Mile High Apple Pie" ....

....and I'm afraid they are still like this today....

...definitely tomorrow's job, I have a day off from the day job so no excuse really!

Cups of tea soon turned into glasses of delicious dark red El Bomero.....yes 15%...so best shared with friends!

Christmas Fabric

I'm not really one of those people who start to get ready for Christmas at the end of the summer holidays but I did think if I was going to add a few Christmassy items into my Winter 2012 Collection then I'd better get a wriggle on and get myself some of those lovely Christmas themed fabrics....and boy are there a lot to chose from!!   After lots of on-line browsing I came back to an old favourite, Fabric Rehab and bought these...

The red spotty fabric in the background is one of my seat covers but it works really well with the gorgeous fabrics.

All are from Fabric Rehab and I have a lovely fat quarter of each

Green spots....

...red and white chevrons....

....and Christmas robins

How cute are these robins?

I just now need to finalise exactly how I'm using these pieces