WOYWW update....I've done it :-)

Today I have.....

• Altered a huge king sized bed spread and  man woman handled it into a black bin sack.
• Patched and darned a gent's jacket
• Shortened 4 pair of trousers
• Let out 2 pair trousers
• Shortened the sleeves on a lined jacket
• Shortened the sleeves on a cardigan with hand stitching
• Patched and darned a gent's jumper
• Repaired the lining on a knitted hoody
• Patched and darned two pockets and restitched 2 pair of trousers
• Made a yummy batch of granary bread rolls

Not a bad day here at sewing by Annie's eh?   And now my 'to do' rail looks like this...

I still have a Vicar's vestment hood to reline [when I can find the right colour material]. a Wedding dress to alter, a beaded prom dress to alter and a veil to finish beading [yes, that is the veil hanging on the end of my 'to do' rail] but that's another day  :-).  

Now I'm off into the kitchen to make a lasagne for tea....yum yum

WOYWW....

How is it the song goes?....'the lunatics are taking over the asylum'  :-) :-) :-)

Well that's a little how I'm feeling this morning.  I really do wish my customers would speak to each other and space out my work load.  At the end of yesterday I had piles of customers clothes everywhere waiting to be labelled and hung up on my 'to do' rail.  They had all come at once and I hadn't had time to hang them up between customers!

My 'to do' rail was already pretty full from the 4 customers that had been in the morning but....

.....the back of my chair was piled high with trousers, jumpers and jackets and.....

....I could hardly see my ironing board for the really huge bedspread that I have to alter.

Jo has managed to pick me up some gorgeous coffee coloured material for my next batch of dollies.....but of course these will have to wait for now.  I am doing my best to make them in different skin tones because I feel this important.

I've even had a visit from the Gruffalo who needed the end of his tail and a horn stitching back on.....

..... and a little devil who needed a stitch or two in one of his horns.

In between sewing jobs and in my spare time I'm also sewing beads on Michelle's wedding veil...it has 20 scallops round the edge and in each one I have put a combination of 6 beads like these with a crystal pear drop bead in the middle.  Now all I have to do is sew the other 200 crystal beads all round  :-) :-) :-)

So, you will guess where I will be today. Thank you for dropping in on me and for leaving your lovely comments.  I really do appreciate them.   I will do my best to drop in on as many of you as I can during my coffee breaks but if you don't get a visit from me this week please forgive me.  

Hugs,

Annie x

Meet Rosie and Suzie.....

Happy Funday Monday to you all.  I have been busy making more little friends this week.  The little brown dolls have proved very popular so I have made two more pretty little girl ones.

These are the latest two that I will be putting in the blog shop.

 

This is Rosie and she is wearing a pretty green and white spotty dress.

As Jo will tell you green is not my fav colour but I do rather like this spotty fabric and think she looks rather cute.

This is  Suzie and she is wearing her Sunday best dress and pants.  I think she looks like she's off to a party.  Doesn't she look pretty?

I shall be uploading these two cuties in the shop later if you have a special little one in your life that you'd like to buy them for.

Friday's smile.....

The health visitor visited Michelle to check out the twin's development and weigh them.  Lexi was over 12lb's and Sam is nearly 14lb so they are both doing very well.  Sam can now roll from his back to his front but then gets frustrated and Lexi's bilateral positional talipes [her feet were rather squashed while Michelle was carrying her and they were turned in just like her Mummy's were when she was born] is now so improved that she has been discharged by the physiotherapist.  

They have started having little tastes of food now too so the health visitor gave them some cups and Michelle got the camera out to capture their reactions :-)

'Ooer Nanny what are these strange things and what do we do with them?'

After a short while of exploration she then snapped this one....

'Oh!!!!!!.  I can't be bothered.  Just give me my bottle!'

What a lot little ones have to learn.

I hope these raised a smile for you today.  Hope each and every one of you stays well and has a really creative weekend.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

Happy Wednesday to you all.

It's been another hectic week for me [but nothing new there!].  This week has included...

• A trip to BBC Television Studios to watch the show Pointless....brilliant afternoon's entertainment for free.
• A trip to the theatre with Michelle and Brent to see Billie Elliot....Magical
• An over night stay in a 4 star hotel in London.....felt really spoilt
• The filling of the rag doll shelf in our blog shop [please check it out and let me know what your think]....exciting times
• Precious family times with our grandbabies.
• A brilliant Funday Monday with two special people....I cut out more little dollies
• Bread making, cooking and even a little bit of housework  :-)

There really is NEVER a dull moment here.  I have to admit that after all the walking and climbing of stairs over the weekend that Nurofen has become my best friend to get rid of the aches and pains but I am happy to put up with those to have such quality times with my best friend in the world [I'm blessed with a hubby in a million and would like to thank him for all the wonderful planning he does to make a weekend like that possible].

Now for a few snaps to 'show and tell'  the world of sewing by Annie....

I've been sorting....

• neat pile of tiny print fabrics for my dollies
• box full of wools to use for dolly hair
• a bag with my dolly patterns in it

I emptied out one of my sweet jars full of ribbons to sort out pretty narrow ribbons for the dollies and then.....

.......managed to squash them all back in.  :-)
You wouldn't believe all that would go in one jar would you?.....lots of brute force and determination required  :-)

Today you can see [or possibly not!] that I am making shaped chair arm covers for one of my customers.  I've had to make a pattern and she wants them piping so they will take a while.

And here is a bit of fru fru for you girls who like to see the posh frocks I am working on [this one started off a size 6 and I've taken it in 4"!!!].  It's coming up to prom time and I have several dresses to alter this week.

Now, please pop over to check out my rag dolly shelf and leave me a comment before you dash off to visit Julia and join in the WOYWW fun.  I hope you all have a great week.  Stay well and creative.

Hugs,

Annie x

Happy Funday Monday....

All tinies love my dollies,

They're cuddly, cute and bright.

They can carry them and hug them,

 And snuggle them at night.

Such cheery little faces,

So fresh and bright and sunny.

All different in every way,

Good value for your money!

I have now completed my latest 3 little dolls and this morning I have uploaded pics of the first 9 little rag dolls in the blog shop.  So, if you would like to be the first to put in an order, please follow the link and email me with your requests to wipso@toucansurf.com.  If there is something you would like but would prefer it in different colours, then please let me know and I will be happy to do my best to meet your requirements.

Rag Doll shelf in the blog shop.

My pointless outing.....

I hinted to you that I was hoping for some exciting news to share with you soon and here it is......

On Friday we got up early and set out on our latest adventure.

The sky as we drove to Shrewsbury station was stunning and well worth the early rise.

We left our car at our daughter Michelle's and were taxied to the station by Brent on his way to work [thank you B].  We caught a train to Crewe and then a fast train to London.  A couple of underground trains later we arrived here.....

BBC Television Centre and waited in the queue outside clutching our tickets for an hour....exciting times.  We were then checked off on a list and given a ticket.....numbers 8 and 9 in the queue  :-)

From here we proceeded through security and into the main waiting area before being showed into here......

I'm sure a lot of you will recognise this as the studio where they film the show Pointless.  [Yes I did get told off for taking the pic but you have to give it a go don't you?]  We had applied on line for seats to be in the audience and were lucky enough to get two afternoon tickets so watched them film two of the programmes....brilliant.  It was a fab afternoon's entertainment and the tickets were free.  As far as we know it will be on the telly some time in April so we may be on the telly.  :-) :-) :-)

Our excitement didn't stop there because my darling hubby had booked us into a four star hotel for the night and on the Saturday Michelle and Brent joined us to go to see Billy Elliot at the theatre.  Thank you to the both of them for making our day so very special and to Mark and Gina who looked after the twins to make this possible.  The show was amazing and afterwards Brent taxied us home from London.  What a special few days.

This morning we woke to the very first snow we have seen this winter....

Can you see it?????  It was barely a covering and was all gone by 10 o'clock but I snapped a quick pic just to prove we have had some  :-)

Friday's Smile....

I like to find a snap to make you smile on a Friday and this week is no different.

Question.....Can you tell what sex these dollies will be?

Answer is obvious.....They are all girls....They are all needing a wee and there is never a queue outside the gents is there?

This is my latest batch of little dollies and at this stage they like to cross their legs which just made me giggle.

Hope my bit of fun made you smile today.  Have a great weekend and I will be back with my news on Monday.

Hugs,
Annie x

WOYWW....

Another week has passed and spring is on it's way [she says hopefully]   :-)

The churchyard opposite our house is full of snowdrops so I snapped a pic for you.  They look so pretty amongst the old grave stones.

Phillip the pheasant likes to come to feed on a daily basis....mostly to annoy our dogs I think cos here he is right outside our kitchen patio door feeding and watching the 3 dogs sitting the other side of the glass  :-)  He is such a stunning bird and is so beautifully marked.

I thought this week I would show you a busy desk.  This was Monday's desk.....and this week the mess was made by just the two of us cos our friend T was unable to join us.  We seem to fill our table with all sorts.....

• fabrics
• glue
• scissors [at least two pairs], snips [at least two pairs], pins and needles
• dolly patterns...yes more dollies in the making.
• threads, trims, beads and buttons in the box in the middle of the table....this is Jo's travelling project box.
• sewing machine [Jo's only cos mine are all behind me as I stand to snap the pic]
• 2 coffee cups [compulsory of course and somewhere there will be two chocolate biscuit wrappers!]
• the canvas pic Jo is working on
• through the doorway in top right hand corner is the ironing board today [Jo put it here so I couldn't see her using bond a web on it  :-) ....and we all know what bond a web on the ironing board is like!]

My family is still growing.  I have had so many people call in and want to buy them that I thought I'd best make enough to fill a shelf in the blog shop.  I have now cut out a further 3 so will be uploading them all in the blog shop as soon as they are all finished.  They are adapted from an 'Oh sew Dollin' pattern and are suitable for children over three to play with [some have small parts such as ribbons and buttons].  Each and every one have instant appeal as all my little visitors have proved and I know at least two of these have found homes already  :-).....and the best bit is I love making them  :-) :-)

Here is my desk today.  These are the next three little dolls in the making...three more little girl dollies and lots of finishing off still to do.  Each doll is different so if you have a little person in your life I'm certain there will be one to suit.

That's it from me today.  Please leave me a little hello comment before dashing off to Julia's blog to join in the WOYWW fun.  Hope you all have an exciting week [I have lots planned for this week and will share more after the events [yes there is more than one on the cards for this week]....aren't I a tease?].

Hugs to you all,

Annie x

Spread a little love...

Today is the day for love so please pick up the little heart  below and spread some love.  It was one given to me by 'much older sister' Jo and we do our best to spread a little love every day.  If you click on the heart link in the side bar you will find out more.

Happy Valentine's Day to you all.

Friday's smile

So?  How many babies can you fit on one chair?

Last night was another of our family get together nights and I thought you might like to see how the babies are growing.  Little Lexi is such a little doll and is happy to pretend to be one too  :-)

She sat chuckling while her cousin Louise pushed her around in her dolly's pushchair  :-)  It's so lovely to see all 5 of our Grandchildren playing and laughing together.

I hope my pics have made you smile and you have a great weekend.
Hugs,
Annie x

WOYWW.....and an update

Firstly I would like to thank all who sent me links to the on line sites they use for material.  I have visited each and every one and guess what?.....not one of them sell material that's yellow with thin blue stripes OR blue with little yellow stars.  I have emailed all the sites too and the nearest I can get is yellow with black stripes and blue with white stars.  I've bought some blue with white stars and have tried colouring in the stars with a yellow pen..

It works but is time consuming....thankfully these dollies are only small so I will only need small amounts of fabric for their clothes.

Here is the one Mr Tumble lookie likey doll that I've made so far and I have to say I rather like him.  I am still trying to make some dolls to keep here for the Grandbabies to play with but my little dolls are proving so popular with little people that the one you saw on my desk last week has now found a new home with our Funday Monday friend T's little Granddaughter who paid us a visit on Monday this week .....She was such a sweetie and I'm such a softie.....she left holding her dolly's hand and dangling her by her side  :-)

So this is what is on my desk today...

I'm making a new doll with stripey tights, a pretty pink dress and think she will have yellow hair in pigtails.  I rather like the effect of using stripey material for the legs but think the next one [or maybe even this one] will have shorter pants on so you can see her legs [I've pulled them up for you here to show off her tights]......can you tell how much fun I'm having?

I have finished all the Wedding stationery for now and just have the order of services, table place settings and favour boxes to make now.  We have done M's Wedding dress fitting and I just have to shorten it a little and I have the first of the Bridesmaids coming for a fitting on Sunday....it's all so exciting.

I hope you have a peep at the post below to see what my much older sister has been up to this week  :-)  Leave me a little 'hello' comment before you pop over to Julia's blog to join in the WOYWW fun.

Have a great week.  Stay warm and creative.

Hugs,

Annie x

A quick update

Just thought you would like to see that I have now finished the little dolly with stripey legs that I snapped for my blog this morning and today I have added another little dolly to my collection.....there is no stopping me now and I'm taking orders if anyone is interested.  :-)

Fun on a Monday....including a bit of skydiving practise!

As most of you will know Jo joins me for fun on a Monday and today is no different except I think it looks like she is practising for a bit of sky diving today.....

What do you thing girls?   :-) :-) :-)


To be honest she is just squashing the latest parcel of little dresses before taping it up to send it to Louise....this one has the latest 60 dresses Jo has made and my latest 11  :-) :-) :-)

That brings my total up to 101

and Jo's up to 238 [wow wow wow]

So in total between us we have now made 339

Here is a quick snap of the one I made this morning before Jo arrived  :-)
My number 101

A little celebration to make you smile today...

I try to find something to make you smile on a Friday and this week I am sharing a little celebration with you that is making me smile today.

I started off my morning doing my customer's sewing that was waiting on my 'to do' rail and then set to and have just made two more little dresses for the 'Dress a girl round the world' charity bring my total up to.......

I'm sat here grinning from ear to ear at the thought of 100 little girls smiling because of these dresses.

I would like to say a huge 'Thank you' to all who sent me fabric to make this possible.

Here they are...dresses 99 and 100  :-)

I'm so chuffed that I have managed so many along side a full time job and a busy family life....you never know what you can do if you don't try  :-)

Thanks for dropping by today.  I hope each and every one of you are well and have a great weekend.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW extra...just to show I do sometimes :-)

For all you WOYWWers that call in to leave comments late I am adding this post this morning just to show there ARE times that I actually do some paper crafting  :-)

So,  On my desk yesterday was.....

Cards, Paper, Envelopes, Ribbon, Butterflies, Glue, Sticky dots etc etc

And this is what we were making....

Here is the first batch of completed Wedding invites.  I would like to thank Di for her very kind offer of help, and for her advise and ideas with the butterflies.  

Shell and I had such a great day deciding on the final design, cutting, folding, printing inserts and front labels, threading ribbon through butterflies, sticking and sharing lots and lots of giggles.....and don't forget we were also amusing, entertaining, feeding, winding and changing our twinnies  :-)

Of course we also had to pass quality control with our final design...

Yes......Lexi loved them too  :-)









Please don't forget to also check out WOYWW post below because I am need of help with a fabric problem.

WOYWW...with a request

Happy Wednesday everyone.  February??????  What happened to January?  Where is the year going?  Life really does go quicker as you get older doesn't it?  Come on girls we just have to fill each day with something special.

So what have I crammed into my week this week?

• Shopping for fabric in Hereford on Saturday....more about that later.
• Family time on Sunday....see previous post
• Fun time on Monday.....a must in my week  :-)  But this week started off cutting those dreaded curtains that we couldn't do last week....the customer decided to have each curtain just 1 1/2 widths of fabric wide instead of two so this made them possible....still not a great job because the pattern hadn't been printed straight on the fabric....and this is pretty important when you have to cut one length down the middle and match it!
• More fab family time on Monday afternoon when M called in for a visit with the twinnies so Jo and T could see them  :-)
• I've finished the latest batch of little African dresses you saw on last week's post 

Here they are hanging on my rail.  This brings my number up to 98...wahoo only two more to go til I reach 100  :-)

• Bread making pretty much every other day....I refuse to buy bread rolls now  :-)
• Baked a quiche, some sausage rolls and a chocolate cake....sorry I can't offer you a slice cos it's all gone  :-)
• Knitting....my latest is a little waistcoat for baby Sam in a gorgeous green Crofter wool so it will look like fairisle....will show it off when I've finished it.
• Doll making....I've got to replace the ones my gorgeous Granddaughters fell in love with on Sunday and insisted they were far too special to be left here with Nanny Annie plus I'm working on a new little Mr Tumble lookie likey doll
• I guess there must have been a bit of cooking and cleaning done too  :-)

So on my desk today is...

• A cut out 'have a first go' at making a little Mr Tumble lookie likey doll
• my pins and of course two pairs of scissors  :-)
• 4 new pieces of fabric that I bought at Doughty's in Hereford on Saturday...the one with little dogs on has already been made into a 'V' cushion cover for the twins to have at home.

 

And as you can see they approve  :-)

Now I have a request for all my wonderful blogging friends out there in the world......I am looking for some bright blue cotton material with little yellow stars all over and some bright yellow material with thin blue stripes and I'm really struggling to find either.  Doughty's had more material than a girl could imagine but the only stripe anything like was what you can see on my table and it's not perfect cos it also has red, green and white stripes too  [ I'm such a fussy pants as you will all know by now  :-) ].  I only need a metre or two of each of them but I have searched the web and so far not been lucky.  Do any of you know of a stockist that has either of them?  Pleaseeeeeeeee

The only other pic I am including today is this one...

One of my daffodils my hubby bought me on Friday to brighten up your day as much as they did mine  :-)

He's such a darling  :-)

Hope you all have a great week and leave me a little 'hello' comment before popping over to Julia's blog to join in the WOYWW fun.

Hugs,

Annie x