Handsewing Knitting

I have been doing a hand stitching class with a lovely Korean lady here in Auckland

She is a fantastic teacher and has taught me many new techniques.

The above bag is a large carry bag with pockets on the inside and a large drink bottle pocket on the outside.

This entire bag is hand stitched, hand quilted and hand embroidered.

The handles on the bag have also been hand stitched on.

I loved making this bag so much. I love hand stitching the Japanese method... not much use for a sewing machine handsewing everything.

I also did a class to make this owl brooch. 

All hand made with no sewing machine either.

I am also enjoying knitting. 

I have been knitting mainly at night.

This is a cute knitted vest, booties and beanie for a newborn little girl. 

Hi to my new followers.

Tilda tutorials are coming soon.... Im working on these

Happy sewing

Baby Knitting

I have been doing abit of knitting recently

This little outfit has been knitted for a friend... it will fit their baby in the winter time.

The yarn I used is handdyed by Jo from Jodulbug Creations . I love handdyed yarns. When they are knitted or crocheted not two outfits are the same.

This is a machine washable yarn... easy for a busy mum!

I havnt been doing too much on the creative side recently. My dad is not well, as I shared with you a little while back. The sad thing is, which is something I come across over blogland quite a bit, my dad's chemo hasnt worked. So now it is just enjoying each day until his time comes. With this and many other things that come up in life my creative juices have just not been flourishing as I would like. So here's hoping that 2014 will be a year of feel more creativity... I have so many ideas and no motivation I want to do.

I hope all your Christmas organising is going well....  Im hoping to get some Christmas baking done in the next few days.

Hugs 

Baby Crochet

 I have been very busy crocheting of late.

Making all sorts of babywear

The above photo is a beanie and nappy cover - this size for a newborn

A number of years ago I used to have a few people knitting for me and I would do the final embellishments before the garments were sold. This label was called Little Honey.  I also sewed other garmnents and embellish them too, these were supplied to a couple of retail outlets.]

So I have decided to pick this up again, as it is something I love to do and I am passionate about.

I have 1001 things on the go. I have fabric, yarn, embroidery thread etc all around me. I have constantly creating .... everyday. I am loving it.

This is just the beginning. I have a number of other things in mind.. 

I am not the sort of person who likes to mass produce. So I just create as the inspiration comes to me. Custom orders are taken, if you ever see anything you would like.

I have an Easter Tutorial all ready to go... have I had the time to upload it  NO... 

As for the Tilda Lovers out there..... the love is still there for me. I just have been busy getting my stock up and things sorted for my website.  I have a little Tilda doll cut out ready to make.

Have a great day

Home Spun Baby

As some of you know, I purchased a spinning wheel I while back.

Well I got spinning and dyeing some wool. What alot of fun this was. 

I have always had a love for creating gorgeous gifts for babies. I have sold many of my creations over the years. I am looking at making up stock for my website for special Limited Edition Baby and Toddler Items.

The photo above is made out of 100% New Zealand Wool. It is a chunky spun yarn and I dyed it pink... I called it Coconut Ice, as this is what it looks like.

I knitted the hat and crocheted a mini blanket to be used for a carseat. It is extremely warm.

A closer look at the little hat

and the blanket... 

As a trial I dyed up some wool in the colour orange. This is another mini carseat blanket made from 100% New Zealand Wool.  Hmmm I'm not too sure on the orange in a baby blanket.. I may be unpicking this and doing something else with it.

Also, over the weekend my hubby and I took a trip to Sydney for our 26th Wedding Anniversary.

When there last year we discovered a cute little button shop at The Rocks. In there is a treasure trove of antique vintage buttons.... all unused, sourced from all over Europe. 

The above buttons are from the 70's

These buttons are French from the 60's

These are just vintage.. I cannot tell you what era

I also had a fabulous time looking around the markets at The Rocks.. I found a fibre artist there that did weaving, dyeing etc and purchased a few things from her too.

We had a fabulous time, as we always do when we go to Sydney, with fantastic weather.

Have a great day

Baby Shoes

Gorgeous Satin Baby Shoes with a hand crocheted flower and hand embroidery.

This is all a part of me getting stock ready for my website....limited edition babywear gifts.

I have loved making babywear and gifts for years. I used to have a couple of gift shops that sold my wares for a few years. I stopped doing this when I had my last two littlies.

Now I want to do what I am passionate about.. that is alot of things, if you have been reading my blog of late.  :-)  BIG SMILES

So over the next little while you will see some of my baby creations on my blog and Facebook.

I madE a little bag for the shoes to go into

A crocheted flower made with vintage Coats thread I purchased from an antique shop.

I am very pleased to say that these are SOLD  

Have a great creating day.

Little pegs with Washi Tape and ...

I am on a Washi Tape Roll at the moment .. excuse the pun.

I love the designs that washi tape come in. These are two of them that I have purchased recently used on pegs. I will use these in my craft room... they will be very useful.

The felt rose is from my felt rose tutorial. It is a very mini version. The strawberry is just something I came up while playing around with my scissors and felt.

A cute little gift

I went shopping yesterday at a gorgeous embroidery shop.

They had 132 types of different threads... wow it was like Christmas. I bought  some silk ribbon,  wool thread, silk thread, hand dyed thread and some cashmere wool fabric. Last night I got creating some booties using the cashmere. They are all handstitched together using a lovely wool thread.  These will go into a box I am putting together for the future grandchildren... there are non on the way... just thought a box would be something nice to work on.

I hope you are all having a wonderfully creative week.

Bullion Roses

Lots of bullion roses on a handknitted blanket.

Back in Januray this year I was asked if I would do ALOT of bullion roses on to a blanket for a little baby that was due to come into the world.

I was slightly reluctant. When I saw how many I had to do I was even more reluctant. I cannot remember now how many I ended up doing but I did manage to finish it.

This is the photo of just some of them.. taken on my cellphone camera...so not a great photo. The edge of the blanket was a knitted lace... it really was beautiful.

I just thought I would share this little commission I completed.

Little Quilt

Ive been sewing today

This little quilt is for a girlfriends little baby boy.

These are a kind of 'signature' pressie I give when friends have babies.

These are designed to be used in their carseats. They are the perfect size. They are also great for a changing mat.

I hope you are having a great weekend

Vintage Satin Baby Blanket

This blanket is for a friends new baby. It is made from vintage Satin which I purchased from an auction site a year ago. I have use a fluffy fleece for the backing and I have hand embroidered a design at the top of the blanket where it turns over.

The card is a stamp from Stampin Up.

The detail of the embroidery.

A gift for a friend

My friend had a baby a few weeks back. I wanted to make her something for her new little man. I had some Debbie Mumm fabrics in my stash that I just thought were perfect for a little carseat blanket. So this is the finished creation. I love making carseat blankets, I have made a number of them for baby presents over the years.

One of my other very favourite gifts to give when a baby is born is a 'baby cake'. This cake is made out of disposable nappies.. Im sure you have seen these cakes around. My cakes I make are one or two tiers high. With this cake I put in some of my hand embroidered booties and a mathcing beanie

I add rattles, bottles, soxs, and many other baby gifts to them and wrap them in cellophane. If there are any requests I will consider doing a tutorial for this.. please just ask through the comments or email me.

I also wanted to share with you some ideas of what I did for my daughters 4th birthday, last year.

I am a shabby chic lover, as you can tell by these photos.

I set the food table up like this.

Pink and blue was the theme. 

My husband made up a make shift table and I made the tissue paper pom poms.

These are very easy and quick to make. The idea came from Martha Stewart.

So that is just some more things that I wanted to share with you

I hope you are all having a great day.

Here in Auckland today the weather is beautiful.. spring is here

Sadly, the people in Christchurch, the South Island of New Zealand are having a terrible time. The situation is grim to say the least... we are so very thankful that noone was killed. The after shocks sound like they are just as horrifying as the actual event.

Take care