WOYWW...

 Hi all.  It's been non-stop this last week here at Sewing by Annie's.  I've shortened trousers and tops plus I have made this cute little Memory bear...

He's made from tiny baby clothes to be kept as a keepsake of when their baby was small :-)

On top of all that I have also made 10 new Advent calendars.  The 5 I put on my Sewing by Annie Facebook last week all flew out and many more requested I make more so these will be going on my Facebook page today :-)

Watch this space as they say.

I like to grab oportunities when I can....and do my best to please my customers.

On my to do rail today is this lovely purple/burgandy bridesmaid's dress that I have to alter and shorten plus the rest of my rail is full of my winter tops that all need taking in to fit now I'm over 3 stone lighter....as the saying goes..."A cobblers wife walks barefoot"...these have to wait until I have a few spare minutes to get done [winter may be over by then lol].

I hope you've all had a great week.  I will be popping round ASAP to see what you've all been up to [sewing allowing!!].

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...13th Year Celebrations

 It's been a manic week here for me but I have still managed to make my ATCs for the swap...I think Jo has a list of the ones wanting to swap because we are both sending them out together. 

Since last week I have....

Made this lovely Memory bear out of a wonderful husband's favourite shirt.

Made these three Memory dogs in memory of a 19 year old little dog that died of old age but was a very special friend for it's owner.  They are made out of the dogs toys and blankets.

Made this Memory cat in memory of a much loved Mum.  I was asked to put a lock of her hair inside when I stuffed it so I made a little fabric heart shaped pocket to keep it safe inside.

On top of all that I have 

• shortened 5 shirts, 
• let out 3 pair of trousers,
• shortened a coat,
• put a zip in a gents hoody
• and adjusted a pair of surgical support pants [yes I do get asked to do all sorts here].

I have also..

Raised both these two bridesmaids dresses at the shoulders and shortened the one.

My next job is to shorten the 4 hems on this gorgeous prom dress so that's what I will be busy doing today plus...

• I have more memory bears on their way and 
• another dress coming for me to work my wonders on this morning.

As you can see the fun never ends here for me and, as always, it never rains but it pours.  I will do my best to call on as many as I can this week but for now...

Happy 13th year celebrations to you all and here to many more.  Thank you all for the love and friendship over the years.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

 Here we are at our Wednesday catch up with our friends around the world....we all 'show and tell' our desks and what we've been up to in the week.  Feel free to join in if you want....its a lot of fun each week.  Check out Julia's blog at Stamping Ground for more details.

Here's a few quick snaps of my week.....

Last weekend I was given bags full of yumminess from my sister-in-law, who no longer sews, and is emptying their old house to sell.  There was lots of fabric, buttons, lace, ribbons, trimmings, elastic, velcro etc and my desk is full of lots of it.....I am sorting it into bags to share it with the family.....It's all far too good to keep it all to myself.

On Sunday I received a bag full of special clothing with the request that I made 4 Memory bears so I started to make them Monday and finished them yesterday.

On Monday I received this quilt cover that belonged to a special young man who died far too young and I've been asked to make 2 Memory bears and a Memory cushion cover with it for family members.....this is what I will be busy with today and...

....this is the first of many bridesmaids dresses that I have to shorten for a wedding that is coming up in April...I fitted this one on Monday and I have appointments for at least 2 others all ready booked in [I'm just not sure how many there will be in total yet].

The first job I need to do this morning is to shorten a pair of trousers for a lady who is picking them up later so I'd better get a wiggle on eh?

I hope you've all had a good week.  If you leave me a little message so I know you've called in I will do my best to pop over to yours to see what you've all been up to ASAP.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

 Hello all.  What a week I've had since I posted for last Wednesday.  I had no work on Monday or Tuesday, as you know, but on Wednesday I had a bridesmaid's dress to do major alterations on plus 2 dresses, a dressing gown and a pair of cropped trousers that needed shortening.  On top of all that I also had 3 Memory bears and a Memory cushion cover to make....and these all needed finishing by Thursday as we were setting off on another adventure in our motor home on Friday morning. On Thursday I also had a pair of shorts also needing repairing and a prom dress to shorten so it was a very busy couple of days for me.....I hope you will all understand why I didn't manage to get around you all to leave comments last week.  I promise I will try harder this week but I already have .....

....these two posh frocks hanging on my rail and lots more promised to arrive this week too.  It's certainly an all or nothing life I lead here at Sewing by Annie....and I love it :-)

We both enjoyed our long weekend up near Coniston Water up in the Lake District....it was certainly a break well earned :-) I may have a few pics to share with you on Friday.

Since we got back from our few days away I have had delivery of new threads....I know just how excited some of you get when you have new pens and that's just as excited as me with my new threads even though they are just to restock my thread drawers.

I've also had this ATC and card through the post from Catriona....I know she was beginning to think it was never going to arrive but it had been damaged in the post and resealed in a poly bag by the post office.  Thankfully the contents weren't damaged so thank you Catriona very much.

That's all from me for today.  Thank you so much for the love and understanding in my comments last week....it really hadn't been the best of weeks for me so your thoughtfulness really helped.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles....week 258

I hope you like my new header photo?....just that is enough to make me smile this week.....I love Spring and snowdrops always mean it's on it's way to me.  The daffodils are also starting to open in sunnier spots too so it wont be long now.

Here's a few photos of Attingham Park where we like to take Milly at least once a week....as you can see the snowdrops there are amazing at the mo....I just had to share them with you all.

I promised you I would share a pic of the bridesmaids I had here this week....they were really lovely girls and were happy for me to share the photo.....we had such a giggle over the jeans, leggings, boots and trainers and how maybe they wouldn't really go so well on the big day with their dresses.

I don't often share photos with me in them but this one was rather special to me.  Little Theo is now thankfully much better from his croup and was so pleased to see me this week.  I keep a big teddy here and all the grandchildren love to play with him and you can see Theo brought him to me so we could all have a group hug.  He's such an affectionate little man and is so like his daddy who even now greets me with hugs and kisses and never fails to tell me how much he loves me......I'm blessed.

My final smile for today is something I saw on Pinterest this week.  You may need to click on the pic to enlarge it so you can read the labels but it's me to perfection....right down the the pins held in my mouth!!  It really made me chuckle.

There you go.  I hope something has made you smile and you will leave me a little comment before you link up to your own smiles below.  I hope you all have a great week filled with reasons to smile.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW.....

There's rather a lot been going on my desk here at Sewing by Annie's this week so I'm just going to run through it in pic for you now...

As many of you will know we celebrated little Theo's birthday on Sunday afternoon [he's actually 1 tomorrow but his mummy has now started back to work so we celebrated early].

Here's the bunting I made decking the hall....I had many lovely comments made about it too.  

It was a Pater rabbit themed messy play party....more pics to come on my Friday smile post at the end of the week.  A wonderful time was had by all and I just know many of you will be impressed with the cake his mummy made for him so it's well worth calling in to check it out.

Here's the play mat / bag I made for him...there is a draw string going around the edge to make a bag with it so it can hold some of his toys.

I appliqued two little vests for him to get messy in at the party....cute eh?

This week over on my Facebook page I've got a special offer on my Memory bears....you get 10% off if you order and get the items of clothing to me before this Friday at 5pm.  When my customers call in I need to be able to show them the sort of things I make so I have put pics of the 50!! bears I have made all together on 4 sheets to have them to hand.....impressive eh?

These are two of my latest bears I've made and.....

......here's the next one in the making....This one was posted to me so she didn't miss out on my special offer.......Plus I am expecting at least another 6 to arrive this week!!

As they say....it seemed like a good idea at the time  :-)

I really love making my bears and especially the fact that each one is different and hold special memories for each customer.

Just in case you think that's all I've been doing this week.....I've also shortened three layers on the beautiful pale peach bridesmaid's dress and the hems on the 3 nurses dress uniforms hanging on my rail.....I wouldn't want you to think I've been slacking hehehe.

Thanks for calling by.  I will do my best to call by at yours but some idiot has offered money off on my Memory bears for the week and I am going to be rather busy  :-) :-)

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW.....

Hello all.  Here we are at another Wednesday full of creative snooping.  It's been another busy week here with sewing and I thought you might like to see one of the dresses I've been working on this week. [Sorry if you've already seen it on my Facebook page.]

This is the first of 5 dresses I'm doing for a Wedding on the beach in Cyprus......I'm sure they will all look really summery.

I've had a steady flow of other sewing jobs too this week but have also spent a little time snapping pics of the flowers in the garden and thought you might like to share them....

Aren't they simply gorgeous?  So many little treasures coming into bloom now.

The other thing I want to say is that I need the names and addresses of anyone wanting to swap ATCs with me ASAP so I can put them ready for that big sister of mine to post for me in my absence for the anniversary celebrations because I will be AWOL that week [I hope to be chilling out, reading a book and taking in some sun].  If your name isn't on the list on the post below and you'd like it to be please send me your details via an email to wipso@toucansurf.com......Thank you.

That's all from me for today.....short and sweet just like Julia likes it.  Have a great week.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....6th Anniversary celebrations

Happy 6th anniversary to you all.  What a wonderful 6 years it's been.  So many friendships have been made and so much fun has been had by all....and it's all down to a brilliant idea our wonderful Queen of snoop, Julia had all those years ago.

I know you don't like thanks Julia but today is one day we can all send you our love and thank you for keeping us all together.

So just a quick snap of my desk today...

It's the first bridesmaid's dress of the year for me....isn't it a lovely colour?

The other pic is of a fun time I had at Jo's [that much older sister of mine :-) ] yesterday.  We are sorting out our ATCs and putting them ready for the post today.  I have just a couple of left now so if you'd like to swap with me then please email me with your details today.

I made one special one for my pay it forward WOYWWer that will also be posted today....I wanted to make sure that if you are also someone who is swapping with me that you get two different ones :-)

So folks,  Please leave me a little hello message to let me know you've called in and I will pop over to yours as soon as I'm able.

Here's to many more happy years of blogging and many more special friendships being made.

Love and hugs to you all,

Annie x

WOYWW.....

Hello to you all on this Wednesday fun day.  We had a lovely Easter weekend....hope you did too.

So? what have I got to share with you today?

My temporary 'to do' rail has had some sewing going on this week...

• A much loved gent's coat  on the left edge on the pic needing lots of patching and darning.
• My first bridesmaid's dress for this year....I love the colour :-)

What's this in my knitting basket?....it's not a stress busting house moving knitted square [though there have been a few completed this week!  :-) ].

It's the body for a little doll for Margaret over at Glitter and Glue.  She put a call out for knitters to help raise funds for her charity by knitting little dolls.....If you can knit and are willing to make her a little doll then please click on her link and check out the details......a free doll pattern is waiting for you there [and it's pretty easy knitting ].

The other pic I'm sharing with you today is one I took of the gorse bushes up over the top of the Stiperstones whilst enjoying a day out with my darling hubby on Easter Monday.....isn't it gorgeous?  Such a gorgeous bright yellow and it's everywhere you look.

We went to Brockhampton Estate in Herefordshire....a lovely National Trust property with beautiful grounds and a Medieval house to enjoy.  They also had Medieval music and dancing there while we were there.....you could have also joined in with the dancing too if you wanted to :-)

I found this on Pinterest over the weekend.....I'm working on positive thinking to lift the failed house moving gloom....and it's really working :-)  It's going to be a good week.

Thanks for calling by today.  If you leave me a little hello message to let me know you've called I will pop by to see what you've been up to this week when I get a minute.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

Wednesday again and guess what's on my desk today?

Answer.....Everything wedding related of course.

• 3 flower girl dresses....steamed
• 3 flower girl aprons
• 3 flower girl shrugs [just in case]
• 2 page boy suits...pressed
• 4 pink bridesmaid's dresses....steamed
• 4 pair bridesmaid's silver sandals
• Wedding dress ....steamed
• Netted underskirt....steamed
• Veil....steamed
• 60 favour boxes each filled with pink and white heart shaped jelly beans
• everything ready in waiting to decorate the wedding cake tomorrow
• order of services in their box
• table plan for reception....etc etc etc

Yes as you can imagine my little sewing room is full to overflowing and it's certainly been a hot steamy week for me.

Just as well I have plenty of hanging space eh?

The special ivory dress is just on the right hand edge of the screen but that will be revealed next week...if I can find you a pic or two.  :-)

Jo helped me fill the favour boxes on Monday...I hope you notice our excellent food hygiene  :-)....if we dropped any then we just had to eat them!!

Please help yourselves to a jelly heart or two....we have a few left over  :-)

Just so you know that I have found a few moments to sit and enjoy the sunshine...here's a pic of  4 baby swallows that like to sit on the line right outside our kitchen window waiting to be fed.....and look at that sky!!!!!

Please can we have it like that on Saturday for the wedding.  :-)

That's all from me for today folks...still lots of the last minute jobs to do yet.

• Pick up suits
• Take everything to the hotel ready for the reception....etc etc etc etc

Thanks for calling by.  Please leave me a comment and I will do my best to pay you a return visit.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

Thought we all needed a bit of cheering up this weather so I snapped this pic in a moment of sun and thought I'd share it this morning to start off my WOYWW post.

On my desk today is...

I made the curtains last week as you know and this week my customer has managed to get the fringed edging he wants me to put down the one edge of each curtain and along the bottom edge of the tie backs so I can now get them finished!

This is the latest bridesmaid's dress one of my customers has brought for me to shorten.  I know it's personal choice but I have to say I don't think I would choose black for a wedding.   There are so many pretty colours to choose from.   It has a very long train that she wants me to reduce and there are 3 layers to the hems so it's a job and a half to do.

Before you pop off to blog hop all the other desks please help yourselves to a strawberry or two.  Even though we have had very little sun to ripen them this is the third dish full I've picked and they are really yummy.

That is all I am sharing with you in pictures today.  It's a quick post cos my fun day with the munchkins for this week had to change from my normal Tuesday to today so I shall aim to drop by your blogs to pay you a visit during nap times...theirs not mine but that sounds like rather a good idea  :-)  Sewing can wait til another day eh?  Have a great week.

Hugs,

Annie x

ps If you have time could read the post below we really would appreciate your opinion.  Thanks x

WOYWW.......

It's been a really exciting week. Everything from gardening, sewing, crocheting and meeting the lovely Linby to a brilliant night out at the theatre and even a blog anniversary. Never a dull minute here :-) For those wanting my crocheted flowers they are now bagged up and available in the shop.

This morning this is what is on my work desk....

......It's the material for yet another waistcoat for one of my customers and what fun the material is [hope you can see a little of the animal design on it]. This waistcoat is one I have designed especially for a disabled gentleman. It has lots of special pockets with anchorage rings in each to attach things like his mobile phone and a wallet I made for him. He has little use in his one arm and leg so has to use a walking stick and the waistcoat enables him to carry his daily needs around with him and to keep his personal belongings secure when he does his voluntary work out in Africa every year [he drives and is very independent and could teach most of us something about not giving up when times get difficult]. This one the sort of jobs that my nursing knowledge helps with and I have done all sorts of adjustments on clothing to help with medical needs [ including putting popper tape on my own knickers for when I had my knee surgery....a girl just has to maintain her modesty :-) ].

For those that like to keep up with the posh frocks that I sew I have another wedding dress to work on today [can't show you that one yet sorry]

..... this is one I steamed at the end of last week for a wedding on Saturday.


... and a little bridesmaid's dress I have to take in some time this week.






That's all I have to show and tell this week so please pop over to Julia's, our Queen of snoop, to join in the WOYWW fun.