All you need is love....and cupcakes

There are endless uses for these letter cookies for all kinds of celebrations and festivals, but here I used them to decorate some Valentine's cupcakes with the words 'All you need is love'. Actually, it says 'All you n33d is love' because there was a shortage of the letter E, but it works well enough and the kids didn't notice!

Pennie Pockets

We're full on into the countdown to Valentine's Day over here and I wanted to share a cute project I have up over at Fiskars for these fabric Pennie Pockets. They are simple to make and so so sweet. They'd make a great way to present some small gifts or hang them on your children's door on Valentine's morning filled with treats.

There are so many ways to embellish these little cones, so you can really have fun with them. Let me know if you make some - I'd love to see them. You can read all about them by clicking here.

I heart you!

I have some Valentine's post coming up next week, but in the meantime, have a lovely weekend everyone!

New Fiskars paper punches

The new Jenni Bowlin limited edition paper punches by Fiskars are so sweet - have you seen them yet? I'm the first to admit that paper crafting is not my strongest skill, but who could possibly resist these gorgeous shapes and pretty styles, and what better way to improve than to actually break open the packages and USE them. I was lucky to be given the amazing set of punches by the lovely people at Fiskars and for this birthday card I used the Tab squeeze punch, the Blue Ribbon squeeze punch, and the Ticket Please Border punch. I also used theFiskars Birthday Cheer stamps for the b i r t h d a y lettering, stamping one letter at a time.

The paper is by Cosmo Cricket.

Days like this...and a blouse

Phew, what a day. It has been pouring with rain today. And I mean proper pouring. It's like someone is standing outside my house throwing buckets of water at the windows when I'm not looking. I don't usually mind the odd day of wet weather as it's a good excuse to stay home and veg (and it's good for the garden), but when you have the school run and gymnastics classes to get to, it's less than fun. Throw in the odd useless driver who believes it unnecessary to turn on their headlights, who drives right up the back of your car or at 60 miles an hour in a 40 zone, and it leaves you longing for sunny days more than ever.

Anyway, I wanted to share some photos of a top I made a couple of weeks ago. I had forgotten about some Lisette patterns I bought last summer and never made until I discovered them in my patterns box. I pulled them out and worked out I had enough fabric in my stash to make the Continental Blouse. I used a cotton print which is not my favorite (I think I bought it to use as a lining for something) but actually, I'm keener on it now that it has been made into a blouse, than I thought I would be. The front is very plain and simple with a nice scooped neckline. The pattern is for long sleeves, but I think for another time, this would be nice as 3/4 length too.

The back has a gathered panel which I think is a really nice detail, and it makes the blouse hang pretty nicely.

It's probably making your eyes go a bit funny, looking at all those dots. There's a small facing band inside the neckline. The Lisette patterns have many lovely neat finishing techniques like this.

My 5 yr old took this photo, so it's not necessarily the best. I had to sit down because she couldn't hold the camera high enough AND take a photo at the same time. It might give you a bit of an idea on the fit. I took in the side substantially. I can't remember what size I cut but though the shoulders and sleeves fitted me well, the billowy front and back panels made me look about 7 months pregnant. Not a look I'm after these day. I brought in the sides as much as I could and still be able to pull the blouse on and off over my head.

Verdict : Lovely pattern with some nice finishes. Especially love the back detail. Would like to make this in a nautical theme; navy and white stripes, 3/4 length sleeves and perhaps some little shoulder tag/buttony things, if you know what I mean??

Homemade pattern weights

Something that has streamlined my sewing recently are these pattern weights. They have saved me so much time. Instead of pinning my pattern to the fabric, I just put these weights down and cut around.

I used a couple of 1.25" washers from the hardware store (embarrassingly, I've been here long enough that I can't remember what we call a hardware store in England - DIY store, maybe???) and wrapped embroidery floss around them.

I used my rotary cutter and cut around the pattern but I have read that people get really good at using their scissors with pattern weights.

New Year's Resolution

Have you made any new year's resolutions? I tend to make new week's resolutions or new months resolutions all year long (I WILL be a more patient mother...eat less chocolate...be a better cook) so by the end of the year I'm pretty perfect.

I wish.

No-one has ever called me patient, my husband prefers to eat cereal for dinner and don't get me started on the chocolate.

What I mean is, I don't really see the New Year as a reason to try and be a better person. I try to do that all year round even if sometimes I fail.

However, the beginning of a year always makes me assess the year ahead. It makes me think about my goals, what I want to achieve and how I intend to get there. Conveniently for me, the year is divided into 12 (almost) equal parts (I've always liked the number 12) and I am good at breaking down my goals into manageable pieces. Some might call it taking one step at a time.

So, I'm dividing my year into 12 (almost) equal parts - I guess we could call them months - and I'm going to make one item of clothing for myself each month, so that by the end of the year I have 12 lovely items that I will cherish for years to come. Emphasis will be on CHERISH FOR YEARS TO COME rather than ENDING UP IN MY SCRAPS BASKET or RAG TO CLEAN OIL FROM MY HUSBAND'S CAR ENGINE.

Hey, guess what! My first project for January is up over at the Fiskar's website. I made this coat using the coat pattern from the Burdastyle book. There's more detail on the Fiskars page about changes and adjustments I made to the pattern, so go on over and have a read.

I love it, even though I don't look very happy in the photo. I really don't like having my photo taken but the coat wouldn't look so good empty. Or on one of my kids.

So, this year I will be making one item of clothing a month and will be publishing the results on the Fiskars page and linking to it from here.

For February I'll be making the Miz Mozelle dress by Jamie Christina Designs and using some SUPER SPECIAL fabric that will ensure the dress will be a cherished possession forever more.

Anyone care to join me on this year-long sewing adventure?

Figgy's - Sunki

I bought this gorgeous pattern a little while ago and gave myself a challenge to try it out with fabric and supplies I already had, rather than buy new stuff. I have been trying to reduce my fabric pile (so that I can justify getting more...) I used a navy blue polyester gabardine that was a real pain. It frayed like anything and would not succumb to the iron at all. It would not have been my first choice (or second, or third) of fabric for this dress and I'm not really sure it does the wonderful pattern justice. However, it was a great practice run and my girl does like it.

The leggings are included in the pattern too. A great little versatile pattern to have.

Because the navy gabardine needed brightening up, I decided to use piping on the seam edges. I made the piping using Anna Maria Horner's Little Folks voile.

Though adding piping is pretty straightforward, I thought I'd outline how I did it in case you are interested in doing something similar.

First I took the front panel and laid it out. I pinned the piping on both sides from the underarm seam down to the bottom of the pocket.

Next, using a zipper foot I seed the piping onto the dress front.

There may be better ways to do this, but I like to use a contrasting color for my bobbin thread. Once the layers for fabric start to build up over the piping and you can't feel where it is when sewing, I use the bobbin thread as a guide. Of course, the bobbin thread gets covered eventually by something else so at that point I just keep my fingers crossed.

Lovely pattern, great dress and leggings. Shame about the gabardine but I'm looking forward to thinking about what fabric and look I'm going to go for next time I make this.

Collette patterns - Sorbetto

As I said in my last post, we didn't go out this New Year's Eve. But if I had done this is what I would have worn. Though I'm late to share this with you, this beautifully simple top can be made for any time of the year. I would have worn this with a pair of skinny black jeans and some heels, though it can be more casual under a cardigan, with some slouchy jeans or a skirt. I have made this pattern before and you can get the free download courtesy of Collette Patterns by clicking here.

This top I made was for a New Year's Eve project for the Fiskar's website. You can read it in full here.

Lastly, the beautiful Anna Maria Horner voile I used came from Hawthorne Threads who have really great prices and THE fastest shipping I have experienced in an online fabric store.