WOYWW...Number 900!!

Hello all.  We are celebrating the 900th Anniversary of WOYWW, a brainchild of Julia's.  I joined in on 3rd September 2009 so have been going for quite a while and have seen so many different folk joining in the fun over that time. Sarah over at Sarah's Craft Shed took over the running of our group from Julia and it's wonderful to join in the fun each week.  Sarah suggested we shared one of our blogs with 00 at the end so I have been looking back over the years.  I'm not certain of the number as I never number mine but it seemed around the right time and look what it is.....

Wednesday, 10 August 2016

WOYWW.....

So on my desk this week is....

Curtains, curtains and more curtains......talk about a labour of love eh?  :-)

I've also shortened some really pretty window blinds to make them more just window dressing......rather more tricky than planned too cos the main fabric pulled out of shape while trimming the bottom [cut into a 'v' shape] and both blinds [yes there are two little windows] had to be done twice!!  I'm rather chuffed with the finished result though and now just hope they look as pretty as we hoped when up at the windows.

 This is the other project I've been working on this week. It was something I had in mind to do at some point but a friend gave me a shove in the right direction and this week has seen me designing the pattern for a Memory bear and making a few prototypes to get the pattern how I wanted it.  Plus I have designed a label for those wanting special details on the bear.

The idea is to use special fabrics to make them out of to keep memories together...

• A first babygro
• A special outfit from a toddler
• A junior school uniform when the child moves on to big school
• A special family member's clothing when they die

....in fact any clothing can be used [up to 4 different garments] to keep a memory safe.  I have put the pics in my Sewing by Annie Facebook site and have already got orders for 6 so they are proving very popular.  :-)

There you go....that's all from me for this week.  If you'd like to leave me a little message I will do my best to pay you a return visit as soon as I'm able.  Have a great week.

Hugs,

Annie x

                                                                                                                                                                   

It's my first Memory bear I made!! and so much has happened since then. 

On my desk this week was....

These were the rainbow of favourite silk ties [opened out and ready to use] belonging to the husband of one of my customers. She wanted them made into two Memory bears for her Grandchildren.

.....and this was the result.  They were really lovely to make being in silk and are so bright and colourful.

These bring the number of bears I've made up to 1015!!!! now.  What a lot has happened since August 2016 eh?

Each little bear I've made has had his photo taken and they are all put together in my Bear file :-)

So.that's all from me for this week.  Happy 900th Anniversary to you all and thanks for all the love and friendship over the years.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW.....

 Hi all.  What a lovely week it's been.  I've had a steady flow of customers and have also enjoyed some special family times.

Last Thursday we met up with 4 of our gorgeous grandchildren and their mummies at a local sunflower field.  It was so special to spend time with them and to watch them enjoying time with their cousins.

On Saturday our men went to the first football match of the season so I spent the afternoon with that much older sister of mine....I've missed our Saturdays together.  Love her to bits.

In the sewing room this week I have...

•  shortened and altered a pretty Wedding dress
• shortened 3 pair of trousers
• let out a gent's trousers and...

....labelled this pile [plus the jacket]  of school uniform ready for a young lady to start her new school next week.

I have also got some memory bears to make from silk ties so that will be a lovely job to do.  I will pop over to yours ASAP to see what you've been up to.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

 It's been a different kind of week this week for me.

On Friday I met up with two school friends for coffee, one I've known for 64 years and the other 58 years [seems like a life time :-) ].  It was so lovely catching up....they really haven't changed a bit apart from, like me, getting older and as I always say only the lucky ones get there.

I wanted to take then each a little home made gift so I made them both a covered book.  I used applique, free machining, and machine embroidery and was pleased how they turned out.

They both loved them too.

On Monday we went to an Aunty's funeral.  She had had a long life, dying at 96 so it was more a celebration of her life really and it was really lovely catching up with our cousins.  It's always sad that these events seem to be the only time we get to see some of them.

The only other thing I have to share with you is what arrived through the post box on Monday.  I like to keep my fat quarter box well filled and it was looking rather depleted so I messaged Denise Newman from Cabin Crafts and asked her to put me a parcel together of various coloured ditzy printed fabrics...and she never disappoints.

I like to let her decide on the colours because I wouldnt choose some of them and it pushes me out of my comfort zone....aren't they pretty?

That's all from me for this week.  I hope you are all enjoying the cooler temps...I know I am.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

 Hello all.  I was missing last week because we didn't get back from an escape weekend in our caravan until Tuesday and I had nothing to show and tell.

We went to a lovely little campsite near Monmouth with only 12 pitches and really lovely facilities.  As you can see Peggy loves the camping life. It was a little too hot and the internet signal was poor but who cares...a lot of nothing was done and batteries were recharged.

I was really missed and have spent the last week catching up with work.

This customer said she was coming for 2 memory bears and when she arrived she decided to have 4 made :-)  They are made from a Dad's/Grandad's favourite shirts and turned out really lovely.

One lady came on Wednesday morning [a week early by mistake lol], ten minutes before I was expecting a Bridesmaid and an evening dress to arrive!  She came with a bag full of dresses and skirts but was well prepared so I managed to fit her in before my other customers arrived.  :-)

 In fact this week I have....

• Made the 4 Memory bears
• Shortened an Evening dress
• Shortened a Bridesmaid dress
• Shortened 5 summer dresses and 2 Skirts
• Took 2 dresses up on the shoulders
• Top stitched up the front of a blouse
• Shortened 2 pair of leggings to make them cropped length
• Cut up the front of a fleece top and put a zip in
• Shortened the sleeves on a Demin Jacket

....Phew.  And there's more to come yet. 😊😊😊😊  I've had lots of new customers lately as well as my regulars...I don't know where they all come from?

On top of all that this is what's been going on at the end of our front drive.  3 weeks ago we reported a water leak at the end of our drive.  During the next 3 weeks it got worse and was reported several times. It took 4 teams and 3 weeks to deal with it!!

1 guy came and drew a blue box round it!

3 weeks later the next team came and dug a hole and repaired the leak.  Another team came to backfill the hole and the next team came to tarmac it all.

Eventually the road sweepers came and washed the road and pavement.

No wonder there's a drought eh?

That's all from me for this week.  I will do my best to pop by at yours to see what you've been up to.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

 It's been another busy week for me here at Sewing by Annie's.....I've been so grateful for the cooler temps.

My rail has filled, emptied and filled again....everything from trousers to Jumpsuits and dresses.

The customer that asked me to make the 5 Memory bear came back this week with more tops to have 3 more made :-)

They were really lovely to make and my cystomer is thrilled with them.

The other thing I can share this week is that the twins have been to Disneyland, Paris with their Mum, Dad and lots of friends.  Lexi and her dance troop danced there at the weekend...what an exciting time for them all.  I have seen a few videos of their dancing and they all did very very well.  Something they will never forget I'm sure.

That's all from me for this week.  I will do my best to pop over to see what you've been busy with this week.  Hope all is well and happy with you.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

 It's a little cooler for me this week thankfully because my customers have been coming fast and furious.

I have...

• Shortened 2 layers on a stunning long, bright pink maternity dress
• Shortened another dress
• Took a dress up on the shoulders
• Shortened 6 pairs of trousers
• Took in a pair of trousers on the waist and seat and made...

... another lovely school memory bear.

And it's only Wednesday!!

I've been keeping busy as you can see :-)

Two of my customers this week were pregnant so my midwifery skills are never wasted :-)

Saturday I was treated to a lovely afternoon lunch by Michelle [our eldest daughter].  We had a lovely time together and even managed to pop into the two fabric shops in town while we were out....I just might have bought a few fat quarters while we were there :-)

What a treat. 😍😍😍

That's all from me for this week.  I hope you've have had a lovely week too.  I will pop over to see what you've been up to ASAP.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

Phew it's hot.  I don't know about you but I'm ready for some cooler weather.  We were away last week in a lovely little cottage up in Yorkshire and boy was it hot.  The air conditioner in the car was certainly put to good use.

We came home Friday and since then my phone hasn't stopped going....I think my customers missed me :-)

I have....

• Shortened a bridesmaid dress
• Took in a dress for holiday use
• Shortened a pair of trousers for a page boy and.......

....made these 5 gorgeous Memory bears for a much loved Mum, Nan and Great Nan.

The lady who died had 6 daughters and these bears are for just one of them so there could well be more orders coming soon.

And all that has been done in just two days!!

Peggy was as good as gold away with us in the cottage last week but seems to be enjoying being at home now.

She has sat here every morning since we got back but by the time the sun moves round to the back of the bungalow she will be found stretched out on the floor tiles where it's nice and cold.

I hope you have managed to keep cool this week.  I will pop by to see what you've been up to ASAP.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

 

It's a celebratory post from me  this week because I have now made my 1000th Memory bear.....  This week I made..

...another school bear for a child leaving the school nearest us.  I made one for his elder brother a couple of years ago.  I so love repeat orders.

I also made these two lovely bears in memory of a special Aunt....these were lovely to make and were so cuddly when finished.

Our garden is making us smile in every corner....most survived the heat and I'm sure I could here them drink when we had a shower of rain at the weekend.

That's all from me for this week.  Please raise a glass to help me celebrate. I hope you have a fun week and I will see you soon.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW.....

 Phew.... it's getting hot in here...and I can't take off all my clothes cos it puts off my customers :-)

I hope you are managing to keep cool and hydrated.

I've had a steady flow of customers even though it's been a hot one.

I managed to finish the bear you saw I was going to make last week and the lady who brought those clothes loved the bear so much that she asked me to make another one with the left overs [for her other daughter].....

...this time adding a green jumper her daughter wore as a deputy head girl.

She's shared these two with her friends who also have children moving up to big school this time so maybe I will get more orders :-)

The pile of cut out frogs has grown and I've even started sewing some of them but it's been too hot to do much more.

That's all from me for today.  I will pop over to see what you've been up to as and when I can.

Stay cool and drink plenty folks.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

Hello all.  I hope you've all had a fab week....I have.

Sunday we went to Birmingham to see Les Miserables with that much older big sister of mine.

Whilst there we walked into a friend of our Grandson, Sam.  I've known Aled from nursery school where he went with Lexi and Sam and have watched him grow into a lovely young man...he goes to Wiggle with Sam and as you can see he's now much taller than us....he's playing a part in Wiggle's Les Mis later in the year.

It was an amazing show and a lovely time was had by all.

Our garden is blooming in every corner so I had to share them with you...I know so many of you like to see them.

This is what's on my desk today.  This is the first of my school Memory bears for this year [the first of many I'm sure].

If you leave me a little message I will do my best to pop over to see what you've been up to as and when I can....I have another prom dress coming this morning :-)

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

 Hi all.  It's been a bit of a butterfly week for me.  I've gone from one job to another.  I've had a steady flow of customers and as soon as I've done their sewing they have come and collected it so there has been lots of coming and going.

I added twiddlers inside and out of my latest twiddle mitt and finished it off....I think my 3 will go with Jo's up to the hospital's dementia unit at some point.

In between sewing jobs I have started cutting out another batch of frogs for the charity...it's been a while since I made some.

These are the latest pair of Memory bears I've made this week...this means I just need to make 5 more to reach my 1000. :-)

Finally the last thing I'm sharing today is this lovely Bridesmaid dress that arrived yesterday afternoon...I will be shortening this today so will be visiting all those that call on me in between jobs.

I hope you all have a great week.  I will be thinking of Jan tomorrow when she goes in to have her cataracts done...really hope all goes well Jan.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

 Hello all.  Thankfully it's been a bit cooler this week so I've managed the steady stream of customers I've had.  

This is the latest Prom dress I've had to shorten.  It's another navy blue one as you can see and it also had stiffener all around the hem the same as the last one but this one was only about 4 metres around the bottom [not the 12 metres the last one was].  She looked lovely in her dress so I'm hoping she's pleased now I've shortened it by the 17cm needed.

I've done a bit more knitting on my last twiddle mitt and am now on the last strip of yellow colour but to be honest it's been too hot for knitting much lately.  Just need to add the twiddles next.

Finally I just thought you might like to share a bit of the colour we are enjoying in our back garden this week.

That's all from me for this week.  It's short but sweet today but needs must when I'm busy. :-)

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

 Hi all.  I really hoping you're coping with this heat.  We have a fan in every room making it bearable.  I was missing in action last week because we were off adventuring in our caravan...it has to be done.  We were on a lovely campsite south of Bath...thankfully it wasn't as hot there for us....in fact we did have some rain but mostly at night.

Since getting back on Tuesday I have been kept busy with prom dresses as well as my run of the mill alterations.  I like to keep a pile of the fabrics I cut off my posh frocks...

This is just some of them because some of my customers like to take the trimmings home with them.  I've had dresses of all sorts of colours...in fact no two dresses have been the same.

This was the latest dress to arrive.  It's a gorgeous dark blue with a train at the back and looked super on the young lady who came for her fitting.

It arrived just before the weekend so, as my darling hubby was painting the walls in the hall while I had no customers over the weekend, I set to and shortened it's two layers.

You would think 'only two layers to shorten' but the outer layer had hem stiffener around the bottom that had to be removed before shortening it and then replaced....all 12+ metres of it!!!

That's what you call a job and a half needing lots of patience.

I'm pleased to say it's now finished and is awaiting collection :-)

Today I have jeans to shorten and a few tops for one of my regulars...it's all go as they say.

I hope you've all had a great week and managing to keep cool.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

 Hello all and a very happy Blog Aniversary to you all.  Here is the ATC I made to share with you all...

I felt a poppy was appropriate this year to remember our dear friend Neet.  She was someone I'd known as long as I'd been part of the wonderful group of WOYWWers and I would have called her a dear friend...she will be sadly missed.  If you'd like to help yourself to a copy of my ATC please feel welcome and thank you all for your love and friendship over yet another wonderful year of blogging.

I was missing last week because I was somewhere in the depths of doing this...

...this is one of the many prom /wedding /bridesmaids dresses I've been busy with but this one was special for me.  It is for a young lady I've known from a baby and seen growning up.

She's a lovely young lady and looks stunning in her dress....it has 5 layers that all needed shortening so it was a job and a half.

We have also been busy out in our garden and our little Peggy just loves to pose for a photo.

I thought you'd like to share in the fabulous flowers making us smile in our garden at the mo.....there seems to be colour in every direction at the moment.

Lastly but by no means least I would like to share this photo of Lexi who took part in a dance show put on by her dance group on Sunday.

We enjoyed 2 1/2 hours of fabulous dancing by all ages ...I think the youngest was 3-4 years old and she melted our hearts.

Lexi is the smallest in the group of girls she dances with but she was amazing and this photo just shows her love for what she does...so very proud of her.

So that's all from me for this week.  I will do my best to call by at yours in between my sewing jobs.  I hope you all have a wonderful week.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW.....

 Hello folks.  Here we are at another Wednesdays catch up with our creative friends.  Here's hoping Neet is going on OK...no one seems to have heard from her. :-(

It's been a busy week for me so haven't had a lot of time for mischief.  I've had bridesmaids dresses, Prom dresses and holiday clothes to sort for my ever flowing queue of customers....and I'm loving life.

My clothing rail has filled and emptied several times :-)

My second twiddle mitt is slowly being filled with things to twiddle.....

....I'm loving knitting them so much that I've made a start on number three.

Knitting with chunky wool on big needles is so much easier for my arthritic hands.

I had 3 shirts arrive lunchtime yesterday to make 3 memory bears with...just 7 more to come now to reach my 1000 and 6 of those are coming this week :-)

That's all from me for this week.  If you leave me a little message I will do my best to pop over to yours between my sewing jobs.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW.....

 Here we are at another catch up with our creative friends to see what they have been busy with this week.  If you want to know more then please pop over to Sarah's Craft Shed for details and why not join in the fun?

I've had a busy week with a steady flow of customers.  I've....

• Shortened 7 pair of trousers
• Let one pair of trousers down for a very tall young man
• Put a new zip in a pair of jeans
• Shortened the straps on a Bridesmaid dress [made more difficult because the straps had frills]
• Plus I have made this gorgeous Mamory Bear...

It's made to give the groom-to-be and is made from his Nan's top, his shirt he wore for his first job and on the back is a panel from his first child's babygro....lots of very special memories.

That's all from me for now.  This little bear has brought my numbers up to 990 so I just need to make 10 more now to reach my 1000...and I have 9 on their way very soon :-)

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

 Hello to all my WOYWW friends.  Here's hoping Neet it still going on well and is able to join us now and then....we miss you lots.

I've had a week of folk coming out of the woodwork wanting sewing done for Weddings, Proms, Memory bears and everyday clothing....my diary is fast filling.

This is one of the bridesmaid dresses that I have done this week.  I had to take it up on the shoulders so that needed little gathers putting in the tops of the capped sleeves once the amount was taken out .....lots of keyhole surgery done and it was a very fiddly job but it was worth it because the finished job was lovely.

I also had to shorten the hems of the 3 layers of the skirt....all 13 metres of them!! 

In between my sewing jobs I have knitted my first twiddle mitt while watching the telly....thanks Jo for the instruction. I've found knitting with chunky wool on large needles so much kinder on my arthritic hands and have really enjoyed making it...so much so that I have now started number two.

I'm not the only one to have enjoyed some telly this week.  Peggy really loves David Attenborough's Secret Garden programme....she sits like this every time one of the animals comes on screen :-)

This is all from me for this week.  If you leave me a little message I will call by to see what You've been up to this week.

Hugs,

Annie x