Another Saturday, another fair

Another Dotty Sparkle vintage and craft market... this time at Thorpe Hall school's 'summer' fete.

Around 40 stallholders gathered in the most glamorous marque - think I'd like one of these permanently erected in my garden as 'the party tent'.  As usual, met some lovely people, ate too much flap jack, drunk    tea from pretty vintage china and had a very boozy glass of Pimms. Oh, and yep, managed to sell quite a bit of stuff too - well Dr Green did as he's much better at the selling bit than me (I get embarrassed).

Here's a photo of Mimi and our stall. And, here's another photo of our purchase - Vintage Dolly Cut Outs - from a fellow stallholder (at £2.50 they are a bargain!).

Right, going to take a break for a bit now. Any sewing will be purely for my own benefit. I have my sewing room to decorate and some good friends' birthdays coming up. Also am working on a patchwork 'nautical' themed picnic blanket to take down to Devon. Cannot wait!

More Village Green

Here's a photo of our stall at the hugely successful Village Green. Still can't believe how well we did that day. Thank you to all my lovely friends who popped by to say hello, bought goodies and provided a much needed glass of wine or two. 

I've also posted a photo of the cushion of the moment. Just LOVE this fabric.

Va Va Village Green

Had a ball at the Village Green on Saturday. The sun came out and the foot flow was huge! Shared a stall with our good mate Kevin who sells housey things made out of car parts and metal objects. We were lucky enough to get a great spot in the vintage area opposite the yummy Bird Wood cafe and the ever-so-popular tea dance floor. "That don't impress me much..." good job we like a bit of Shania! Delighted to sell most of my stock!!!! In particular the cushions went down a storm. Right, onwards and upwards.. we have Thorpe Hall fair this coming Saturday so better get that sewing machine warmed up.

Coolio 'London' cushions

Had a rather enjoyable trip to London last weekend to pick up some super duper fabrics at Fabrics Galore in Clapham. So many lovely fabrics in store I went into a bit of a panic. However, managed to pull myself together to buy some of this gawjus London fabric. Trimmed with a bit of piping, I think these extra large cushions are a bit special. Will be adding these to my stock for the Village Green next weekend! Lovely jubbly.

'LOLOS' Dress A Girl Around the World

A big shout out to the the ladies of Leigh on sea (LOLOS)!!! I do love an acronym..we could even be LILOS - ladies in Leigh on sea but that may have other connotations.

Anyhow, didn't we have a lovely day today making little frocks for Dress a Girl Around the World. This must be THE perfect way to spend a wet/windy/chilly/grey day in Leigh on sea. And much cake eating, tea drinking and chatting was done too. Even Mr Grey got a mention... and I concur, Colin Firth is much too 'nice' to play that role.

A big thank you to the dress makers - Claire B, Claire L, Lorraine, Sarah, Nicola, Kirsty and Vicky - for getting involved. Spread the word ladies.

How to make a pillowcase dress

Hello, I've written some (hopefully) simple instructions for making the Dress a Girl Around the World pillowcase dress. Thanks very much everyone for getting involved and hope you enjoy doing a bit of sewing. I would love to see photos of any extra dresses you make.

Here goes:

1. Cut along the top of the pillowcase (where it is sewn together). This will be the top of the dress.
2. Measure the J-shaped armholes using the template (see link to website for templates below). Draw around template and cut armhole shape.
3. Cut dress to length (see chart below), allowing an extra 2 cms for hem. Iron over 1 cm hem, then another 1 cm hem to tuck in raw edges. Sew this hem in place.
4. Make casing at the top of the dress: Turn cut edge at top under 1 cm and iron. Now turn over another 3 cm and iron. Sew close to the edge.
5. Cut 2 pieces of elastic (see chart for length). Attach a safety pin to one end of elastic and thread through casing. Pin both ends of elastic in place and sew across each end of elastic and casing (do this a few times to secure it).
6. Cut bias-binding to length x 2 (see attached for length). Needs to be long enough for armholes and ties on the shoulders.
7. Fold bias binding in half lengthways - iron. Pin the bias-binding to both armhole edges, centring it lengthwise so there are equal amounts on each end for shoulder ties.
8. Sew the tape around armholes, starting at the end of the binding. Tuck in raw edges at the ends of the tape.
9. Tie your ties and dress is finished!

Chart for sizes (in cms)

Size (age)      Finished length         Folded width      Bias-binding length       Elastic length

Baby                     36-40                         40                           76                                 15

1-2                        44-48                         43                           89                                 15

3-4                        51-56                         45                           91                                 18

5-6                        59-64                         50                           91                                 18

7-8                        67-72                         55                           91                                 18

9-10                      74-77                         58                           91-100                          20

11                          79-84                         58                          101                                20

12-14                     87-89                        58                           101                               20

see 'sewdelightful.blogspot.co.uk' for more information and photos.

Happy sewing.

xx

Click here for templates for armholes

Dress a girl around the world

This is a fantastic effort which I'm keen to get involved in. I'm hoping to hold a couple of sewing sessions at my house for friends (including tea and cake of course).


Hope we can get a stash of lovely dresses together to send out to these gorgeous children.


Here's a link with more detail:


http://sewscrumptious.blogspot.co.uk/p/pillowcase-dress-info.html

Dotty Sparkle's Farmers Market

I thought I'd have a go at selling my wares a bit further afield so ventured off to Dotty Sparkle's Farmers Market in Thorpe Bay on Sunday.

It was a small affair with around 15 stalls - a mix of craft and foods - in the most gorgeous little church hall. Dotty (Caroline) did a fabulous job decorating the hall and the tea room in pretty vintage bits.  A lovely atmosphere and backdrop to the proceedings.

So, we had a dry run with the stall on Saturday to see if we could get it to look less of a jumble. Claire's parents very kindly lent me their bespoke shelving (they have antique stalls) to give our stall some height and interest. I was absolutely delighted with the result.

Well, the day turned out to be profitable and, most importantly, we had great support from lots of our Leigh friends who popped by. The kids had a great time setting up the stall, mooching around the hall and serving too.

Am chuffed to bits with a new idea of mine - small mice (in vintage dresses!!) in beds - which sold extremely well. I shall make lots of these for next time as I love fiddling around with the different fabrics and buttons for their garments.

Anyhow, off to get the kids to school. Got a bench cushion to make for my friends AC and John today and a tutorial to write for tomorrow's sewing lesson.

Ta ta for now.

More sewing course news

Am so excited think I might damage something! Yep, the sewing courses are finalised and Sharon at Roses and Rue is booking places. There's some cracking courses on offer. I'm particularly excited about the quilt course, appliqued pictures and the Christmas gifts: tea cosies, peg bag and laundry sack, toy sacks, Christmas bunting, Union Jack cushions, door stops, hearts, aprons, tote bags, Christmas stockings and lots, lots more.

If any of you guys fancy joining in, then please take a look at Sharon's website - www.rosesandrue.moonfruit.com for all the details and how to book.

Love to see you there.

Kids away so mum gets busy busy busy

Wow! Haven't I been productive.

But before I go waffling on about what I have been up to, I need to say thank you to my lovely family who have entertained Mimi and Cakes since the weekend through to early this evening. They are very lucky bunnies and have had a fabulous start to their school holiday. Thank you and big love to mum and dad, Aunty Rachel and the Kingston Cliftons x.

In the kids' absence, I've sewn like a mad woman! Have managed to make four more floral satchels, a couple of grey linen elephants and some sleepover rag dolls (complete with little sleeping bags).

Sharon and I have also prepared a sewing course programme for the autumn months. Take a look at Roses and Rue's website wwww.rosesandrue.moonfruit.com to see what we are up to.

So, whilst I'm on a roll there will be more mad sewing for the two vintage fairs in September and December. We will also be selling our fabric, knitted and crocheted goodies at Christmas parties hosted by friends in early November. Busy busy busy....

Vintage fabric satchel!!!

Have just made this bag with lovely vintage fabrics and I'm VERY EXCITED with the end result. (It's not quite finished as I've run out of thread but I was really keen to post it.) There's going to be many more!!!!!

Meet Alice

A friend for Lulu. Profile, again, designed by Mimi:

Name: Alice
Age: 8 and a half
Hobbies: Nature and detecting things (like Nancy Drew)
Fave School Subjects: Science stuff and being kind to the environment
Best Friends: Lulu and Violet
Current Project: Planting summer bulbs and building little houses for bees
Fave Colour: Sunshine yellow
Fave Sweets: Dolly Mixtures
Fave Teacher: Professor Greene, Nature Expert and Eco-warrior

Meet Lulu

I used to make lots of rag dolls and stuffed animals as a kid so this takes me right back to those early 'making' days.

Mimi has designed a profile for 'Lulu':

Name: Lulu
Age: 8
Hobby: Skipping
Fave School Subjects: Art, PE and D&T
Best Friends: Alice and Violet
Current Project: Knitting a scarf for Grandma's birthday
Fave Colour: Shiny purple
Fave Sweets: Flying saucers
Fave Teacher: Madam Bon Bon (history of French art)

Will the real Rudolf please step forward

Couldn't resist taking a photo of the gang before they are distributed to their new homes. Just a little bit more sewing to do this week - crochet hook roll and a Union Jack cushion - and I can give my machine a rest until after Christmas.

So on the agenda this week we have a gingerbread house to bake and construct, childrens' gifts to be wrapped and cards to be posted. Aside from this, I need to get the staircase painted so that it can be beautifully adorned with sparkly lights, balls and chrimbo cards.

Can't wait for Friday when we 'get this party started'...birthday breakfast at Claire's!!! what a treat!!! and end of term drinky poos at Lorraines. Enjoy! x

New school apron for Mimi

Have made this out of a bit of scrap fabric left over from a teepee order. It's got a pocket and a little hoop to hang a wooden spoon. Modelled beautifully by Mimi.

That's it now. School stationery bought, new lunch boxes purchased, we have new school shoes/trainers and homework is a couple of paragraphs short of completion. Phew!

Christmas gifts

No, I haven't gone completely bonkers. Whilst the kids were happily watching Harry Potter (just to clarify, we had been out for a walk, been to the library, baked cakes and played in the garden) I cracked on with making a make-up bag and accessory roll. Hope to give this to one of my mates for Christmas. Am loving this Michael Miller fabric. It's one I picked up in Brighton.

Dotty reindeer

Just a little something I knocked up this week - in an hour!! - to hang on Mimi's wall. Be interested to have some feedback as I may make more of these to sell. Ta.

Teepees

Thought I'd post a photo on my blog of the latest teepee made for a friend, Sarah B. I'm loving this fabric and have bought extra to make one for Mimi. Roll on the summer...

Have stuffed an elephant

And now just need to sew his limbs on and make some clothes. Not sure if he should go to Haiti with the dolls I'm making or if he should stay in Leigh on Sea. I'm getting quite attached to him.

Hectic weekend

Had a lovely time at the Stitch and Knit Fair yesterday. Managed to buy some fab goodies - fabrics, patterns etc - so will be busy this week creating. Dr Green managed to keep it all together in my absence: nursing a hangover and looking after Auntie Rachel and the kids. Well done hubby.

Now gearing up for a few days of mayhem as the builders are here tomorrow. Yippee!

Have attached a picture of Boris the bear, made a couple of weeks ago. I've used some of my old grandma's buttons for his joints and eyes so he is kind of special.