Sewing and Gardening in August

Does anyone else get excited by a new teatowel design at our local B&M Bargains shop? No, I thought not! But I do have my reasons - they are perfect for upcycling into these......

..... my teatowel bunnies, teddies and pussy cats. The fabric is perfect for these little toys as its soft, cuddly and of course made to be washable. They come in sets of three - one plain (usually with a bit of embroidery, though this one has a little applied printed panel), one patterned in gingham or check, and one waffle weave. All tied up with a nice piece of cotton braid and a bonus of length of jumbo ric-rac.

I unpick everything including the seams and put them in the wash, where they shrink slightly and form a tighter weave. To be honest the waffle weave towel is not suitable for toys - I've tried and it unravels itself too much for sewing good seams in such small items, but I have used it as backing for projects such as mug rugs, coasters and placemats. It also makes a reasonable substitute wadding for a small quilted project. You could of course just use it as a teatowel - in that case don't unpick!!!

As well as toy making, August has been all about sewing illustration still. I'm absolutely loving it and some may say have become slightly obsessed! I'm continually thinking of new images (including stamped images) to sew. These above have Welsh names with the English translation. It all started with my discovery of Minki Kim's blog. And then her newly published book which I purchased on its day of publication and stitched that little sewing machine pincushion on the same day!

August 2016 has also been the month my long long neglected and overgrown garden has come back to life with the aid of a very handy handyman friend. Ok, I admit he did 99% of the hard work! The other 1% has been me doing a bit of planting and weeding and the garden reviving itself. For instance these beautiful feverfew plants have grown completely by themselves from seeds lying dormant in the soil for years. Isn't nature miraculous!

First things............

First thing is to thank my lovely blog friends Simone, Lin and Mrs A for their so so kind comments on my last long overdue blog post. You are wonderful people!

And I don't know about you but my first thing most mornings (if I have time) is to try to catch up with everything on line - Facebook, Instagram, Email, Pinterest, Twitter, etc, etc, etc. This is combined with having my breakfast but in a twinkling of an eye a couple of hours whizzes past and its 10.00am already!

I'm not a coffee lover but I rather wish I was as apparently it gets one going for the rest of the day - and I need to get going!! Especially on a day that is meant for sewing/crafting. Today is a charity shop day and I'll be off in an hour or so but I'm making time for a blog post first.

I made the top coffee picture for my sister who is definitely a coffee addict and reaction on Instagram persuaded me to stitch a couple more to add to my gifty stock. I'm really loving this "sewing illustration" way of making fabric pictures. I recently bought a coffee themed stamp set from Altenew which is just right for stitching. I do hope a "tea set" is somewhere in the pipeline for release!