WOYWW...

Happy Wednesday to one and all.  It's been another busy week here at Sewing by Annie's....or should I call it The Ark?  Everything has come here in pairs this week.  

I've had two riding jackets

• ...one to replace it's 28" open-ended zip in [a tricky job because it wasn't put in to ever come back out and every single stitch had to be undone one at a time!....putting the new one back in was no easier!] 
• .....the second riding jacket was bought as a seconds because the one inside pocket was missing so I had to make a pocket and sew it in by hand because there was no way to get it under the machine to do it...so this was another tricky job to get right.

Then I had a steady flow of Memory bear requests...

This pair were the ones I said I had waiting on my desk to be made last Wednesday.  They are made from a fleecy pair of pyjamas and the result was two really gorgeous bears.

These were the next pair.  It never fails to amaze me just how different each bear is depending on the items of clothing I have to make them out of.

This lady asked for just the one but when she saw the result she loved it so much that she asked me to make another one :-)

The next pair were made from a Grandma's pyjamas to hold special memories for her two Granddaughters.  Two very different bears but both are very cuddly because the fabrics are fluffy and the message on the personalised label was what their Grandma used to say to them.

This now brings my Memory Bear count up to 443.

So, as you can see, everything came in in pairs....all that was missing was the floods.  It was actually a really lovely sunny week.  I hope you've all had a happy and healthy week and have lots of creating things to share with me when I pop round to see you later.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles...week 414

 Oh what a lovely week it's been ...the sun has shone most days and I've had a really lovely week with lots of Memory bear requests coming through my door.....I'm buzzing and so are the bees :-)

Tuesday was a day of fun with Theo....Oh how we have missed this little ray of sunshine coming through our door.

He's such a bright little button.  We got the next batch of jigsaws out that he'd not seen before [age 5+] and he whizzed his way through most of them.  We have a maths game suitable for age 5-7 with sums on the one side and you have to match the right side with the answer on it [if it's the right answer the pieces match]....I couldn't find one he couldn't do!

We really enjoyed crafty creative play and made all sorts with building sticks, pipe cleaners etc....he's got a really creative mind and loves being crafty. [as you can see so does Grandad too].

I notice I'm in none of the photos....yes I was playing but I'm always the one behind the camera :-)

Finally I have been out in my garden to snap the latest blooms for you.

The white daffs are newly planted this year and are looking gorgeous and the first tulips are starting to open....there will be many more to come yet.

I really love this time of year with all the garden waking up from the Winter.  Every corner of our garden has something to smile at.

I hope you've had a week of smiles too and will share them with us by linking up below.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

 Hi all it's been a pants week here at Sewing by Annie's....quite literally.

My two latest characters have been waiting weeks for some clothes but, because work has been busy for me they have had to wait.  I had a little free time Monday morning so I made them both some pants and cut out one dress....but then work came flooding in so they will have to sit in their pants and wait for now...at least they can keep their modesty  :-)

It was then back to making Memory bears.

I really love this one...she's in my favourite colours and is to hold the memories of a much loved mum.  It was made from a dress that she had made herself to attend her son's wedding.

This one is the Easter Gift bear that is now on my Facebook page to be won by one of my followers so please follow the link and get your name in the draw....good luck folks.

I have now been brought the most gorgeous warm fleecy pyjamas that were a real favourite of an elderly lady and I've been asked to make 2 memory bears out of them...I will really enjoy making these because they will make two really cuddly bears so that's what I will be head down doing today....and I still have a further 6 bears pending :-)

I hope you are all keeping busy and have lots to share this week....I will be over to see what you've been up to as soon as I can.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles....week 413

 It's rather a different post from me for this week.  Today we will be saying a final goodbye to our blogging friend Shaz.  We have over the 11 years, that I've known her, shared many smiles and I don't think I've ever seen a photo of her not smiling so although today will be a very sad one we will all have happy memories of Shaz to focus on.  Doug asked me to make memory bears for all the close family members from her stunning black wedding dress and red velvet cape which I found an emotional job to do but was thrilled with the bears that resulted. Doug also asked myself, my hubby and my big sister Jo to attend her funeral today...and of course we will be there.

Goodbye dear friend...I'm sure Heaven is a much more glittery place with you in it.

I am just going to leave you with a photo I have taken of the hyacinths in the far corner of our garden...

Aren't they gorgeous and the smell is amazing...except they trigger off my asthma [hence why they are in the far corner of the garden].  I quickly held my breath to take this photo for you...and still came in the house with steaming eyes and coughing lol.

Please feel free to share your smiles by linking up below.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

 Here we are another week closer to that light at the end of the tunnel....I hope.  It's been another busy, bear filled week for me here at Sewing by Annie's so that's what I have to show you today.

It never fails to surprise me how different each of my bears are depending on what they are made from.

This one was made from a gentleman's favourite cord trousers and shirt.

I was then brought a bag full of football shirts, shorts and jacket that were grown out of. I was to make a Memory bear first as requested and then make a cover for the 18" cushion my customer bought to go in her son's bedroom.

The bear went together like a dream but it was a work of art finding enough fabric to make the cushion cover out of....and in the middle of making it my one sewing machine started playing up so I sent it to the naughty corner and used one of my other machines to finish it. My customer was thrilled to bits with it and after a weekend in the naughty corner my machine was really sorry and is playing nicely again this week.

This is the latest bear I've made.  Very different again and I have to say one of my favourites.  It's made from a Mum's blouse who sadly died of Covid pneumonia in hospital so I'm hoping it will bring her daughter comfort and be a focus for her grief as she was unable to be with her in hospital.

It's in my favourite colours and went together like a dream.

This one brings my Memory bear numbers now up to 435  :-)

Finally I thought I'd make you chuckle.  You will all be aware I make a lot of Memory bears of course.  To make these bears I use a lot of stuffing and here is my latest delivery....10kg!!

It fills two huge boxes and inside each it's compressed into five 1kg bags so if I let it all out at once it would probably fill my sewing room.  :-)

On that note I will leave you chuckling....if it all escapes please come looking for me :-)

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles...week 412

 The weeks seem to be flying by here at Sewing by Annie's.  I think we can all see a little light at the end of the tunnel with the schools opening back up this week but I'm sure we are all feeling a little nervous as to whether it will keep going in the right direction.  If things go well I should be able to reopen for fittings on April 12th and have already penciled in my first Wedding dress fitting for that day....I'm keeping everything crossed.

I don't have family photos to share with you this week but we did enjoy our Theo time on Tuesday while his mummy was working.  What I do have is the latest update of the colours popping up all around our garden......Spring really is on it's way folks :-)

It made me smile to see just how many blooms are opening up out there.  I may have mentioned before that Spring is my favourite time of the year :-)

The other things I have to share with you today are a few funnies I've found during the week...some are a bit groan worthy but they made me smile.

Stay safe and keep smiling my friends.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

 It's been another busy week for me here at Sewing by Annie's....think my customers have all come out of hibernation :-)

I had a change from making Memory bears when I was asked to make 8 Memory cushion covers for a family who had lost a much loved Mum and Grandmother.  Each family member chose items of clothing they wanted their cushion cover made from so each one is different but they each had to have a heart on the front and the same sentiment.  I rather enjoyed creating them all.

I'm pleased to say I have made some Memory bears too....these ones were made from a mum's pyjamas for her three sons.

This little bear was made in memory of a young man who died too soon....he was only in his 20s and died of cancer :-(

I spent Monday morning under a quilt....but just in case you think I've had a lie in here's a pic.  I had to cut 24" off an Ikea quilt because it was too big for the bed.  I had to remove the binding, cut off the 24" and then rebind the quilt....it was huge!!

And that's it from me for this week.  If you leave me a message so I know you've called by I will do my best to pop over to yours to see what you've been up to.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles....week 411

It's been another really busy week here at Sewing by Annie's and it's been one filled with smiles so I will quickly show and tell.....

 Lexi linked up to an on line live event with her favourite author Liz Pichon...she even answered Lexi's question.

Sam's treat was to do an on line drawing session to draw Roblox characters.

Amy's three wanted to show me how much fun they were having in their new hot tub....how lovely to be able to enjoy it at the end of February eh?

We enjoyed our first day back looking after Theo whilst his mummy was teaching on Wednesday....oh how I've missed our fun days.....here he is on the floor building Lego with his Grandad and then he sat at the table to do his 'School work'.  He's such a bright little button and is more than ready for school in September now.

Lulu received her letter of acceptance to secondary school for September...she will be going to the same one as Phoebe and is really excited about it.

The other photo is her sat doing her home schooling and, as you can see, both dogs are sat patiently waiting for her to finish.

Finally here's a few funnies to make you smile...

 I hope you find something to make you chuckle here and will then leave me a little message before linking to your own smiles below.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

 Oh wow what a busy week I've had....and it's not stopped yet!!  Today is my darling hubby's birthday and we have Theo all day today while his mummy is working....it's the first time in months because of the lockdown and we have really missed him.

I was really honoured to be asked by Doug to make some very special Memory bears from Shaz's stunning black wedding dress and long red velvet cape.  It was a really emotional task but I have done my best.  Whilst unpicking her cape I had a 'moment'....from somewhere  [and I really don't know where] a cloud of confetti went up.....we gathered it up and I made a little net bag for it so I could put it in the extra special bear I made for Doug.  I planned to make little rosettes to go on the front of each bear but then Jo said she would like to do something towards making the bears so she called round and picked up the fabric [the gorgeous red satin lining from the cape] and some of the beads to make them with.  I set to and made the 11 Memory bears he was wanting and then sewed the gorgeous rosettes on the front of each one.....I'm rather pleased with the results and so was Doug [and he was very happy for me to share their photo with you all].  :-)

I was really touched when Doug gave me this card...

He said it was the last card Shaz had made and what made it even more special is because she hadn't put her stamps on the back, before he gave it to me he got Shaz's stamps out and finished the card off on the back....this was the first stamping he'd done :-)

Lets hope this is the first of many eh?

Since then it's been non stop here....

These three were made in memory of a special gentleman using his 3 favourite shirts.

These three were made using a lumberjack style fluffy shirt/jacket and have made 3 really lovely bears.

And this one was made using the special baby blanket that belonged to a man when he was a baby to celebrate the fact he is now becoming a dad.

Each of the bears I make come with their own stories and I really love making each one.

I have a long list of jobs pending everything from 8 Memory cushions for one customer and more wanted by another customer and another 6 Memory bears for several other customers.  I have had weeks of making my Luna Lapin characters because I had no work and now suddenly everyone wants me this week.  I have also made a batch of face masks ready for Phoebe to go back to school soon....she will have to wear them all day every day so will need several to keep her going.

If you leave me a little comment to say you've called by I will do my best to pop over to yours to see what you've been up to this week.

Take care and stay safe and well my friends.

Hugs,

Annie x