Friday 30 March 2012

Spring Blog Banner

Decided it was time for something new for Spring...you like? It now fits in with the FaceBook timeline banner I did, too! 

Lisa
xxx

Shwin&Shwin 'Maxwell' Shirt - pattern test

Last week I was lucky enough to be chosen to test the new 'Maxwell' shirt pattern from Shwin&Shwin. I have never sewn a 'proper' shirt before (basically one with a collar lol!) so this would not only be a good test of the pattern, but a challenge for me too!

I was very impressed...the pattern was easy to assemble (it comes in downloadable PDF format) - instructions were very clear, the pictures and diagrams easy to follow, and the shirt is adorable! What more could you ask for?
Here's how ours turned out...I've had lots of compliments on it, and will definitely be making him more before the summer gets here...although this week it feels like it's already arrived ha ha!




Thanks for looking!
Lisa
xxx

Tuesday 20 March 2012

Pin It buttons...

You'll probably have seen the 'Pinterest' button at the top of the blog along with the Facebook, Twitter etc ones...it link s to MY Pinterest in case you'd like to follow me. 

Well I now have at the bottom of EVERY post a 'Pin It' button, so if you see something you'd like to pin to YOUR Pinterest, it's made easy for you! I have no issues with you pinning anything I post, so go for it!

If you'd like to do the same on your blog, I followed the really easy tutorial at www.spiceupyourblog.com as the pin buttons on Pinterest don't work - believe me, I spent about an hour trying - this one took me about 30 seconds lol! 

I hope you like and use them!

Thanks for looking!

Lisa
xxx

My Mother's Day cushion project, and why you should read manuals.

It may seem a little late, but now Mother's Day is over here in the UK I can share this cushion I made for my Mum! 


It has 3 overlapping red hearts on the back, and a blue heart with 'mum' stitched on the front.
She loved it! 

I decided to have a go at this with my Singer
as I've hardly had the chance to try her out since I've had her, poor thing! I couldn't really get her working properly last time, so I decided I was going to sit there until I did. I was sure it was something to do with tensions....she wasn't picking up stitches properly, or if she did they were too loose on top or underneath, sometimes both ha ha!
After a couple of hours of trying, I was about ready to throw in the towel when I decided to try my old friend Google..I found diagrams of how to take the tension wheels apart, how to remove the bobbin holder etc, and was starting to get a little overwhelmed when I came across a little post about the needle. About checking the needle was in the right way round.
It turns out mine wasn't. It should have been in SIDEWAYS!
Boy, did I feel silly...I'm glad Mr. B was the only one here and he doesn't know a thing about sewing ha ha ha!
So I put in a new needle the right way round, and voila! She sews like a dream! I'm so happy! I'd never heard of a sewing machine where the needle went in sideways - it just shows how much of a newbie I still am to this sewing game lol. 

So, if you ever get a machine that won't sew....check the needle, before you start taking it apart to find the problem - it might save you hours! 

Thanks for looking!
Lisa
xxx

Monday 12 March 2012

May the Force Be With You!

We had a dressing gown of Mr. B's kicking around here that he'd only worn once I think, and that was a token gesture as I bought it for him (he doesn't DO dressing gowns lol!), and Jamie needed a new one as apparently 'Iggle Piggle is for BABIES, Mummy!' (his old one ha ha!).
So I decided to make him one. Jamie said it had to be long, and have a hood, so off I went and set to work.
Sorry the picture is not very good - he'll only put it on at night or first thing in the morning, as 'You don't wear dressing gowns in the DAY time, Mummy!' - funny little lad, I'm sure that will change when he's a teenager lol!
He calls it his 'Jedi' dressing gown, and he is Darth Skywalker - he loves it!
May the Force Be With You!


Thanks for looking
Lisa
xxx

Thursday 1 March 2012

World Book Day, and the Big Bad Mouse!

Happy World Book Day (and St. David's Day, for my Welsh friends!)
Jamie's nursery are dressing up as their favourite book characters today, and he chose the Mouse from The Gruffalo (he has good taste, I love that book!)
So that meant I had to make a costume - eek!

I cheated, a little....
Remember this star costume from Christmas?
Well, it had been hanging around for a while, so I tried it on him to see if it still fit - good job I made it a little big at the time, as it did! I thought maybe I could dye it brown, so decided to have a go at tea dyeing as I'd never done it before. I filled my bath up with strong tea, soaked the top and trousers in cold water, then threw them in with a spare piece of jersey for the tail! Then, checking them every 10 mins or so, left them until they were the colour I wanted.
I took them out, ran them through the washing machine on a quick wash cycle with no detergent, and dried them...for a first attempt, I think they came out pretty well!
I marked the lines on the tail, then sewed it up, stuffed with a carrier bag (I laid the bag out flat then rolled it lengthways, and sewed the tail around it lol!), and sewed it to the back of the top. I added a spare white piece of jersey I still had left over to the front for his tummy.

The head dress I made from a cereal box - cut a thin strip to go round his head, cut out 2 mouse heads (copied from the book) - one the reverse of the other - and two ears, and just coloured them with felt pens and crayons and stuck them on the band, joining them together at the nose with a piece of sticky tape!

And there you have it.....just be careful if YOU ever set foot in the Deep, Dark, Wood.......!!



Thanks for looking!
Lisa
xxx

Getting an early start...

Well for some reason, (and trust me, this NEVER happens!), I'm making an early start on things for that most dreaded of C-words... CHRI...