This week's smiles...week 449

 Another week has passed and, of course, I have found lots to make me smile.

It was a week filled with excitement for our little Granddaughter Lexi.  She has been in Elf on the main stage at Shrewbury Theatre.  It was the first time on the main stage and she was brilliant in it....very proud Nanny Annie moments......and yes there was more that a tear or two.

I'm so excited to be able to now share some wonderful news with you [I've been given permission].  Our son Mark and his wife Gina are expecting a little brother for Theo.

There have been many weeks of worrying/waiting but Gina had a scan this week and the consultant yesterday confirmed that all is well and it's a little boy due in April....I can't wait.

You may have seen on Wednesday that I returned the new sewing machine and replaced it for a better one because the first one failed to do the jobs I needed it for. 

While we at the sewing machine shop my hubby asked about my old machine, how much it would cost to have it fixed and what the E1 Error message actually meant.  He said it could be serious or possibly it could be something as simple as a new fuse but that it was a difficult thing to replace because of it's location. 

Of course there was nothing to lose so Hubby took it apart [with a little assistance from Mark] and replaced the fuse......hey presto!! It's mended....I'm so very proud of him/them.

Finally keeping in mind that we may be getting some snow soon I thought I'd share this funny I saw on Facebook.

It made me chuckle.

Please leave me a little message so I know you've called by and then share your smiles by linking up below.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

 Welcome to the mad house....it's been crazily busy here over the last week but I managed to get on top of it all thankfully.  The 49 zips are now replaced in all those trousers....and there's another 36 coming when they collect these ones :-)

The very delayed parcel that arrived last Tuesday night contained a fluffly dressing gown which I hade these 4 gorgeous Memory bears from and I'm pleased to say that they have now arrived safely via a courier with their new owner [I wasn't going to risk the postal service with them!!]

The customer I made the 5 memory bears you saw last week loved them so much she wanted another one making....I do love it when this happens.

Over the week I tried my new sewing machine out and found it wouldn't do any of the jobs I needed it for so yesterday we returned it back to the dealer, tried out and tested another machine while we were there and bought a better one to meet my needs.  It meant paying a bit more for it but they offered us a good deal so it was too good to miss.

In my spare time [lol lol lol]  I have also finished the 3 batches of Christmas cards I had been making....just another 20 to go now with the next design.

I struggle to write my Christmas cards by hand because of my arthritis so I add inserts but I do love to make them all....these are all appliqued, machine embroidered and embellished then the toppers are machined onto the cards.

So folks that's all from me for today.  I did call round on all I could last week but was unable to leave comments on some from my phone so sorry for that.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles...week 448

 What a crazy week it's been here at Sewing by Annie's.  It never fails to amaze me how one week I wont see a single customer then the next week I get customers that I haven't seen for years along with new contracts and Memory bears galore....well this week has been one of those weeks.  You know I like to be kept busy but there just aren't enough hours in each day this week.....I'm sooooo glad I feel better now.

So far since last Friday I have...

• Made 10 Memory bears
• Shortened 2 pair trousers
• Let out the waist and seat of 5 pair of trousers for a 92yr old gent
• Shortened 2 nurse's dresses
• Repaired the seams on two factory jackets
• Replaced 20 of the 50 pairs of factory trousers that I have to do.....just another 30 to go....oh and I have 4 more pair of trousers needing shortening!!

I'm buzzing as you can imagine and loving every minute of it. 

I have a few pics to share with you now...

My darling hubby has sat along side me and has taken some of the old zips out of the trousers....we make such a great team....and I really do appreciate his help.

I love him to bits.

Theo has started going to a local football club on a Saturday and on his first week he was awarded player of the week.....He was a little shy and nervous to start with and by the end of the session he was joining in and even tackling his own players!....I guess the trophy was to encourage him and hopefully he will learn which players to tackle soon :-)

Finally but by no means least I am sharing the stunning Mahonia we have growing in our garden.  It's the very best it's ever been and there seem so many blooms on it at the mo....and the insects are loving it still.

Hope you've all had a great week and have lots of smiles to share with us....the more the merrier.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

 Hello all.  What a week it's been here at Sewing by Annie's.  I will try to update you quickly in pics ...

Whilst I was doing the free machine embroidery on my Christmas cards last Wednesday my Janome packed in [It was an electronic error so was pretty terminal sadly...I'd had it a long time and used it lots so it owed me nothing]....doesn't it always happen when your busy?  As I have two other clever machines I only needed one for basic sewing [and for use by the Grandchildren of course] so we ordered a new one and hey presto! this little beauty arrived Thursday morning at 8.30....brilliant service eh?

Shell dropped by with Sam with some Harry Potter fat quarters with a request for a length of 15 flag bunting for Sam's bedroom so I ran this up in my spare time [what spare time I hear you say lol].

The first of my Memory bears from this week was made in Memory of a much loved mum using 3 of her favourites tops.

Sadly the parcel that was coming from Swansea still hasn't arrived.  It will just be a dressing gown to the post office but meant so much more to my customer so I'm really sad to think that it has got lost in the post.

UPDATE...The parcel arrived at 7.30 last night :-) :-)

The next batch of Memory bears I've made this week were made in memory of a Dad that died too soon and was made from his dressing gown....I really hope it brings lots of comfort to his family.

My desk today looks like this.....It's rather more like a sweat shop this week with two huge bin bags full of factory white trousers needing new zips.  I've got 50 in total and I'm making my way through them steadily.

On top of all that I have also...

• Shortened 2 pair of trousers
• Let out the waist and seat on 5 pair of trousers
• Shortened 2 nurses dresses and
• Shortened a post frock

It might surprise you to know that I have done all the machine embroidery on my Christmas cards but they wont get the finishing touches done any time soon.  It really has been a cracking week and although it's all or nothing here I love to be kept busy so am more than happy to take the work when I can get it.  I have 4 gents trousers arriving needing shortening today and have a bridesmaid's dress booked in for a fitting so there will be little time for getting up to any mischief.

Hope you're all well and happy and I promise I will do my best to call by to see what you've been up to this week in between my sewing jobs.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles....week 447

 Here we are at another round up of the week's smiles.  It's been a busy week for me making my Christmas cards....this is because I've had few customers and I like to make the best of every day.  Saying that I have 6 Memory bears coming today and a string of Harry Potter to make [all cut out ready] and I have also been asked to replace zips in work trousers for the company my hubby used to work for [they have a back log of these needing doing and now have 50 pairs to do so I will be kept busy for a day or two].

We both went to a walk in centre for our Covid boosters on Wednesday and have also got appointments booked at a local chemist for our Flu jabs so we should survive the Winter then hopefully :-)

I have just a couple of photo collages to share with you today....

This is one Amy does of each of her children on their birthdays each year and this was Phoebe's 13th birthday one.  It really only seems like 5 minutes since I had the very emotional phone call in the middle of the night to tell me she had been born....now she is taller than me [that doesn't take a lot of beating!] and wears size 6 shoes!!....and she really is a beautiful girl inside and out.

Amy's black lab went to the vets this week to be Neutered ...the top photo is her coming home still a little drowsy with her vest on to protect her stitches.

The bottom one was yesterday....she is already recovering well and played Houdini in the night and managed to get her vest off!!

That's all my photos for this week.  I hope you have lots to smile about and will share your smiles by linking up below.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

 It's Wednesday and it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas here at Sewing by Annie's....

I've been working on 3 different designs for my Christmas cards...

There's been lots of ironing fabric onto bond-a web, drawing on my designs and then fussy cutting it all out.

These will be reindeers when they grow up.

These will be candles and holly when they are finished.

And these will be patchworked Christmas trees when they are finished.

I've had a quiet week with sewing so I've been making the best of my time with Christmas card making.  

The parcel coming from Swansea that was posted last Monday with clothes to make 3 Memory bears in it still hasn't arrived....I really hope it arrives eventually as clothes from a loved family member are so special.

As you can see I've had a little helper in my sewing room.  Milly is so funny when I pull out one of my boxes full of materials she likes to climb on top....she's always done this since she was a puppy.  I think she thinks she's helping :-)

That's all from me for today.  I really hope you are alll keeping well and filling your days with things to make you smile.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles ....week 446

 Here we are at another Friday's catch up of the week of smiles.  My aim is to share my smiles and to make the world a happier place and hope everyone who can will link up at the bottom of the page and share their smiles too.

By biggest smile this week is that I am soooooooooo thankful to say I am now feeling much better and more like 'me'.  It has been a long haul to recover from the Covid virus...I guess when something knocks you so hard and you're getting older it takes longer than it used to but I have been very sensible and have listened to my body and only done what it was telling me and have rested lots.

As promised last week I have photos to share with you of our babysitting at Amy's last Thursday night...

I set up their Singer sewing machine on the one side of their table and my Janome on the other side and the three children all made a haloween pumpkin out of felt.....they cut out their paper patterns, pinned then onto double thickness felt then stitched carefully around leaving a small gap.  They then stuffed them, stitched up the gap and then decorated the fronts.

I was so proud of all three of them and they were all really proud of their finished projects.

My biggest smile came the following day when they set up their sewing machine themselves and each made halloween black cats and/or bats totally unaided using the same method and then sent me the photos.

Theo's birthday treat from his one uncle was a day at Chester Zoo.  They had a really great day and sent me lots of photos of all the animals they saw there.

Here are some of the outfits from the Halloween weekend....they enjoyed a bit of trick or treating and some Haloween parties....a fun time was had by all.

Saturday Shell treated me to some birthday fun. We had a mother and daughter session at a Kinkiglass workshop at Ironbridge and then she treated me to lunch out. The rainbow was mine and Shell's was the mermaid.  They have to be fired and will then have holes drilled in the top so they can be hung in a window.  It was a really lovely couple of hours and we had a good giggle together.

Finally here is the latest collage of colour from our garden.  Yesterday we had a good frost so I'm guessing these flowers wont last much longer but it was really lovely to capture the colour before it all drops.

I hope you have enjoyed my smiles and will now leave me a little message before you link to your own smiles below.....everyone is welcome to join in.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

 Firstly I must say my intentions really were good last week but sadly my body had other ideas.  The workload multiplied as the day went on and when I had done all the sewing I could manage all I needed to do was sleep so I must say a big sorry to all the blogs I failed to leave comments on.  I am feeling much better now thankfully and will do my best to call round you all this week.

I'm sharing photos of just some of the work I've done...

The 5 bears I had cut out on my desk last week turned out to be 6 bears cos they loved them so much and another family member wanted one too.

These were made in memory of a much loved Grandad using his two favourite jackets and shirts.

The 5 bears I was expecting turned out to be 7!!  They were made in memory of a much loved Grandma using her 4 favourite jumpers....it took a bit of juggling to get 7 out of just 4 jumpers and I still managed to make all 7 different.....I waved my wand lol.

On top of all those the one dress fitting I had to do turned out to be a wedding dress....much more work than I was expecting.  

I love my job and always enjoy a challenge but my batteries were running rather low and it used every bit of my available energy......so much better now thankfully.

I am expecting one Memory bear from a local customer this week and 3 more coming in the post from Swansea....exciting times :-)

I promise I will do my best to pop over to yours this week to see what you've all been up to and really hope you're all keeping well and happy.

Hugs,

Annie x