New website

I am excited to let you know that I have a brand new website with lots of new content over at Gather & Grand. I'm continuing my persuit of living a creative life and I'll hope you'll join me there for inspiration and ideas. Emma x

Hand stitched belt loops

I just spent some time this morning stitchining belt loops to my new dress and just thought I'd quickly share the technique here because it's a nice way to be able to adapt an item of clothing and make it suitable for wearing with belts. Belts are a fun way to dress up an outfit or to create different looks. And these belt loops are very subtle, so you can still wear the dress without a belt too!

1. Thread a double strand of cotton onto a needle and knot and the end. You will need more thread than you think, so cut a generous length at this point.

2. Mark where you want the belt loops to begin and end, above and below the side seam, with two pins. 

3. On the underside of the top marking, take two small backstitches, then pass the needle through to the front of the garment.

4. Bring the needle down to the bottom marking, allowing for some extra slack so that the belt loop isn't tight against the fabric. Sew a few of these loops (I did it 4 times) and each time allow the same amount of slack.

6. Blanket stitch over the loop you created, pulling the stitches tight against each other. (This is why you needed to cut a long length of thread in step 1)

7. To finish, secure the thread with two backstitches on the wrong side.

Roly Poly Pinafore

I've been wanting to sew up the Roly Poly all summer long, and I finally got around to it a few days ago. This pattern is by Rachael at Imagine Gnats. It's a pattern that has been popping up on a great number of sewing blogs recently and now that I've made it, I feel officially qualified to tell you how wonderful it is.

Super quick and very easy (so for those beginner seamstresses among you - this would be the PERFECT project). It's also reversible, which of course means FUN for your little one and NO EXPOSED SEAMS for you!

It has just two button holes, which after sewing 13 buttons on my Hawthorn dress, was a welcome change! If you've never sewn buttonholes before, this would be a good place to start. The buttons are big enough that there's room for error, should you happen to make any...

I particulary love the cross over back and it'll be roomy enough for Tegenn to wear a long sleeve tee underneath once the weather gets cooler. Can you tell how much she likes it?!!?

You have the option of adding pockets, which is something I chose to do. My chidlren like hiding things in their pockets - I find all sorts of treasures rattling around the bottom of my washing machine...

If you're interested in the pattern, here's the link : http://shop.imaginegnats.com/product/the-roly-poly

Labeling your work

I know I've mentioned this before, but it's something I feel is really important when it comes to producing and finishing, lovingly, handmade items. Whether it's a piece of clothing, a home decor item or a handmade card, I think it's important to label your work in some way. Not only does it look professional, it gives you ownership of your hard work AND allows you the opportunity to express your creativity and individuality in yet another way. Labeling your work can really be an extension of the work itself.

I don't know if you know this, but my personal blog is called Hello Beatufiul. The reason I picked that title was because when I first got into the creative scene I was making bags and selling them. I wanted to create a label to sew inside the bags that would make people smile when they saw it. I wanted people to feel good and happy. About themselves. About life. I thought that opening your bag and being told 'Hello Beauftiul' would be one way to create smiles. And smiles are contageous, you know :-)

So....that leads me to the label on my new dress. With a handmade item, you don't have to see boring manufacturer's labels or suffer depressing size tags (I'm sure I'm not the only one who hates THOSE...) You have the opportunity to create a space in the back of your clothes that makes you happy.

For this dress label, I cut a square of fabric and pinked the edges with my shears. I prefer this method to hemming the edges, which can create bulk on lightweight fabric like this. I then used a ribbon printer (mine is the LabelWorks 300 by Epson) to print the phrase 'you look lovely' and sewed it to the square of fabric. This printer also prints symbols, so instead of that annoying dress size tag, I printed a little heart design and added it, vertically on a contrasting pink ribbon.

Ahh, and now my dress is complete!

What little message would YOU like to read inside your clothes? 

Tea party birthday cake

There was a birthday this week in our house (my husband's) and I made this cake for him. As you can see, I just about managed to snap a few photos before it got polished off. I'm sharing the recipe because it's so simple to make, and quick too. I decided to make this and less than 2 hours later we were eating it, still ever so slightly warm. It's a chocolate cake with chocolate chips that I adapted from a Jamie Oliver cake recipe and a butter frosting in between the layers and on the top.

Ingredients
Cake
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
7 oz butter
3 eggs
1 2/3 cups self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Butter Frosting
1/2 cup butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line the bases of two 8" cake tins with brown paper or parchment paper.

Mix the cocoa powder into 5 tbsp of boiling water and stir thoroughly.

In a mixer, beat the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the cocoa mixture, eggs, flour and baking powder. Fold in the chocolate chips and divide the mixture evenly between the two cake tins. Bake for about 30 mins and allow to cool.

For the butter frosting, beat the butter until light and fluffy and gradually add the sugar. Slowly add the milk and vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Spread it between the two layers of cake and on the top. Add a few sprinkles to decorate.

Simple sketches to comfy cushions

Last month I had the chance to try out the new minky fabric that's available through Spoonflower and here I am belatedly sharing the project I made using it in case you missed it. I took my little girl's sketches, which were already impossibly cute if I do say so myself, and transformed them into cushions for her room. Full disclosure : they didn't ALL end up in her room. I accosted my favorite (the queen) and it's in the dining room, which is the center of our home, so I can see it every day.

A few simple steps and some very basic computer know-how can take you from this :

to this :

in very little time. I've outlined all the simple steps for you so that you can follow along and make your own. Read the full tutorial over on the Spoonflower blog here.