WOYWW....

What an amazing week it has been. I ended up on Friday needing just 4 more customers to reach my 1000th customer and 3 of those came Monday leaving just one to reach my gaol. As you will notice on my last post I had my 1000th customer yesterday. It had already been a manic day because customer number 999 had brought materials for me to make 12 lined curtains for her newly purchased caravan[you all know how much I love curtain making!!] and needed them making for Friday!!! Twiglet arrived early yesterday morning to help me with the cutting and making and all day was spent working hard to get them done. It was very much like a sweat shop here!
You can all imagine that when customer 1000 arrived were both so excited that there was lots of singing, dancing and celebrating. Please help yourselves to a glass to help us celebrate.
Now, as to what's on my worktop today....
It's very much back down to earth today because my 'to do' rail is heaving having not had time to clear it yesterday and I have a bride coming at 10.00 for a fitting. Here's just a few snaps for you to share.


My heaving 'to do' rail!! All of which has to be done today or tomorrow!









A short posh frock I have to alter today. It has a boned bodice and I have to take it in! [big job]







My latest little dumfed bear still in the making!...still needing tweaking and facial features.







The gorgeous dresses I steamed last week for the wedding we went to Saturday.....



....and for you card makers the card I made for them.
Yes I do make a few but not with all the wonderful equipment some of you use.








And of course my biggest reveal this week....Yes girls I managed to snap Twiglet whilst she was putting the finished touches to my latest new top.

Celebrations to end my week...

I have just done my books up for the end of yet another really busy week and I have hit another milestone.......900 customers :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) and, yes, I am grinning from ear to ear.
From what started very cautiously as sewing for just a few customers I am very proud to say I'm now buzzing with a very successful little business. I get usually 2-3 new customers every week and often even more and never have to advertise now as they all come through word of mouth. It's often hard work and very challenging but it's brilliant.

On top of that this week I have managed to fill a box full of goodies for a new friend to take to a local craft fair. She found my blog from a link on another blog and realised she walks past my gate often but wouldn't have recognised me if she met me in the street. I invited her to call in to say "Hi" and from that chance meeting she offered to include some of my crafts on her table at a local craft fair. What a small world it is :-)
It was a bit of a challenge for me cos I didn't know about it til this Wednesday but I managed to fill my box with :-
7 Machine Embroidered Flower pictures
24 little Christmas teddies
17 Christmas mice
12 Felted bears
and 1 Felted Fairy bear ........and a partridge in a pear tree :-)
Needless to say some of which I had in stock but it's certainly been a few late nights for me this week trying to get it all together and priced up ready.

As I say in my flier ....I love a challenge :-)

Ok Ok it's Wednesday again so here's my WOYWW

The sewing machine is steaming/smoking today. I've been shortening a lined Burberrys coat plus it's detachable lining. What a job! It was all top stitched and made in panels that all had to be unpicked to shorten it by the 13" requested and then, like a jigsaw, put back together. A very tricky job but I have to say I am rather pleased with the result. Now I have to put a new lining in a gents jacket, alter the shoulders on a dress and shorten 2 pair of trousers. It's all in a day's work for me. :-)
I am thrilled to see Julia has got her machine out this week :-) Ooer and hers is a Singer. Mine has hummed a bit today but it rarely sings :-)....and my motto is "I can do" Julia so I aim to be able to do most jobs even if a little daunted at some. My Grandmother was a dressmaker and I'm sure she sends me some divine intervention at times :-)



I can then, and only then, think about my next challenge. I was emailed yesterday to see if I would like to put some goodies on a school Christmas craft table. The only slight hitch is the sale is this FRIDAY!! So...... its Christmas teddies, Felted friends, and Christmas Mousie making for me and anything else I can find time to make......Bang goes the 1/2 hr nap time around midnight eh?

WOYWW....a blue day :-(

I know, I know I'm a late starter today. Please forgive me but I'm feeling pretty s*** today. Had to go to see Dr this morning and she says I have a pelvic infection [ouch!]. Felt very much like being in labour to me and there is no chance it's that! :-( She has given me 2 courses of very strong antibiotics and charged me £14.40 for them! I cant afford to be ill too often at that rate :-)

So......today has been a day of doing not much of anything but I'm not one to sit idle so my desk started off like this.........

......... and ended up like this. Meet Eric the elephant :-)
Twiglet came to look after me and keep me company so a huge thank you to her for making a miserable day better for me.

A beary weekend for me.....

I was asked for a deep pink bear so have had a weekend felting and thought I would show and tell before I start my week's sewing. I haven't given them names yet but they will all come boxed [when my new boxes eventually arrive later today!] and with their own adoption certificate. They are £10 each plus postage and are approx 2 3/4" - 3" in size [this does vary depending on the wool used]

.

And because I fancied something different I made this little turquoise one too. Such a cutey too.

Molly mouse for Bayou...

Good morning Bayou. I have finished the little grey mouse for you and hope you like her. She is quite a character and, like most of my felties, I really think shes gorgeous [ I struggle to part with most of them].

Welcome to the Moo-ed gallery

Muddyboots loved my little felted cow [as seen here on the left] and asked if there was anything else in the Mootiful range so of course Twiglet and I put our heads together and would now like to take you through the Moo-ed gallery.

£10.00 each plus postage







We proudly present Cassy cow the hand puppet made entirely to my own design and one of a wide range of puppets [watch this space for more tomorrow].





£30.00 plus postage.










A fleece finger puppet with hand felted cow's face.



£3.00 each plus postage









A cute fleece child's hat and scarf . Suitable for approx 1-3 yr old. Have given the first one made to my little one year old Granddaughter tonight and it fits her perfectly. :-)





£6.00 per set plus postage










A gorgeous little lined dolly bag with elasticated top. Approx 5" across the base and 7" high.



£6.00 each plus plus postage








Hand felted brooch,

peg clip and



fridge magnet.

£2.50 each plus postage.

The Owl and the Pussycat.......

As requested I have been at it again and this is what I've come up with. As before they are both up for sale [but I think Bayou has her eye on the owl]. Please shout if you want either as I am more than happy to make more if these sell [no two are identical though as they are hand felted]. They are all approx 2 3/4" - 3 " in size and sell for £10 plus postage. Thanks for looking. A x

My weekend felties....

On seeing my felted bears and cow I was given a few suggestions so have had a wonderful weekend designing and thought I'd show and tell :-)

My felted Horse,





















Pig,





















Frog




















and ladybird.







They are all for sale at £10 each plus postage so if anyone wants to make a claim to any of them please leave me a comment or email me. Thanks.

Bears find new homes...

Two of my little bears have been adopted thanks to making an appearance on my blog. There are others needing good homes so shout up if you are interested.






Phoebe bear is on her way to Belgium as I type and...........



















........... little Ralph bear will hopefully go tomorrow. I'm certain they will be very happy in their new homes.

WIYWW.....[what's in my workroom wednesday]

I have been asked to blog a little about what my embellisher does so [as it is what is on my work desk this morning] I thought today would be a good day. If any of you has done hand felting this just does the same only much quicker and of course it only does flat felting and wont make the little teddies I make by hand. There are no needles to thread as none are used.







The machine has 5 very sharp barbed needles that push fibres from the fabrics/wool used through into the material below. On the outward stroke the needles just slide out as the barbs only point downward so these fibres are left in the material. This locks the two fabrics together and no sewing is required. Natural fabrics lock together best but it claims it can be used on most fabrics and trial and error teaches you which are best to use...I'm still learning. The effects are amazing. You can use fabrics, wool rovings and threads so it's possible to 'paint' pictures in threads.
I was bought 2 amazing books for my birthday and these have inspired both Twiglet and myself to explore the possibilities. We are really loving every minute of our Monday fun days.




For those who have asked to see my little hand felted bears they have all gathered on my ironing board for a photo shoot. Several have already found new homes and at time of publishing this blog these are waiting for new adoptive parents. I never make two exactly the same but if I sell one that is really wanted I am happy to make a similar one. Just shout. :-)
n.b. these were not made on the machine as their tummies were just too fat to fit under the needles :-)


p.s. Oops, as Elizabethd pointed out, I have not put the price of my bears.....they sell for £10 each and average about 3" sitting height. They are keepsakes/collectables and unsuitable for children to play with. They are made from wool rovings, details are stitched on after making and they have beads for eyes. Please email me if you are interested in adopting one.
p.p.s. They are all house trained :-)

Monday fun day.....

Yes, it was one of those days. Twiglet and I have had another fun day. We had a catch up with a friend for the morning over coffee and the afternoon we 'played' with the embellishers.

This is my latest creation in the making. Beads and stitches still to be added and then it needs mounting on the front of the bag but I'm rather thrilled with how it's progressing so thought I would show you. Hope you like how it's coming together. Twiglet is busy making brooches and I'm sure at some point she will show and tell too. They are really gorgeous so well worth waiting for.



My 'to do' rail is full of sewing jobs so alas that is what I will be doing tomorrow but guess that's the price I pay for a fun day.

Sewing update....

It's been a different sort of week for me this week. I'm guessing a lot of my customers are on holidays this week with it being school half term holidays round here 'cos there has been a lot less 'traffic' through my door. I will say though I am never idle and have been working on some of my longer term projects. I have made 3 'waistcoats' each one a little different to suit different needs and am now onto the leather version...a rather bigger challenge but I'm sure I will get there and at some point I will show and tell [just not yet]. :-)

The little chair I am working on with my neighbour is getting there too. We have had 2 afternoons working on it but as a 9 mth little angel had to be involved it has to be done in stages. It's looking pretty good though and really just needs steaming and finishing off now so maybe one more session will see it finished.

I have also finished one of my felt embellished bags too and thought you might like to see it. I have had lots of interest in them and am really loving making them so please shout if you fancy one to go with that special outfit. I would aim to match colours as requested.

Felting fun....

Yesterday was another quality day with Twiglet. I was up early and had done all my customers sewing, all my ironing and had even done all my business books up to date before she arrived. This is my plan now for a Monday morning [she always says she likes doing my ironing but that's not what we should be doing in the quality time we spend together so it has to be done before she arrives!]. We set our machines up one each side my work room table and we spent the day embellishing :-) Customers came and went and lots of interest was shown in what were doing. As you know I have sold the first bag I made and now I have possible orders for 2 more and a definite order for yet another one. The orders are coming in before I can finish them. I am so excited as I am really enjoying creating them. I managed to finish the embellishing on the fronts of two more yesterday. Each one will be different [cos that's what I do]. I don't mind working to colour schemes but I rarely make two of anything the same when it comes to creative crafts [unless i am specifically asked to of course].
So here's a show and tell....



.....this is one with blue flowers that will be put on the front of a turquoise satin bag.....

.....and this is a maroon design that will go on the front of a black satin bag.

The Finished bag...

I have had requests to 'show and tell' my finished felt embellished bag so here is a photo. The main bag is turquoise satin and is fully lined and the front is embellished with hand felted flowers and beads. I'm not very good at putting colours together so I got my inspiration from the colours in the wool that I used to make the strap with. I just love the finished result. Not sure the photo really does it justice but it's the best I can do.

..........And what makes it even more special is I may well have a buyer for it already :-)

Happy to take orders :-)

Embellishing....

I just love my new machine. The scissor sisters have had another fab day creating with our new machines. I have sat in the evenings doing some hand felted flowers and have then worked with them on my machine to make the front of an evening bag. I know I still have lots to learn about the embellishing machine buy I am really enjoying learning.



This is the front of the bag so far....















.....and this is a pansy I've just made that will probably end up on the front of a card. The photos don't really do them justice but I thought you'd like to share them. :-)

WIYWW.....

It's been a manic week here again for me. Twiglet and I spent Monday 'playing' with our new embellishers while customers came at regular intervals and my sewing 'to do' rail filled to overflowing. I penned all this rail full in for sewing on Tuesday and while I ploughed through sewing that yesterday my rail filled as quickly as it emptied so today I have another full 'to do' rail to empty [at one point I had 5 customers here at the same time yesterday....that's a first!].

So here is a piccie of one very full 'to do' rail that I will hopefully empty today [trousers to shorten, a jacket to shorten the sleeves on and a couple of dresses to alter]......















.......and here is a piccie of what I would like to be doing today.....the felting pieces I made on Monday that I would really like to be adding beads, buttons and bows to to make cards from. I guess they will wait :-(

F is the word...

Wahoo the Football season has started. This means more quality crafting time with big sister Twiglet. Last night was a Felting night. Much Fun was had and lots of giggling went on....then we opened the bottle! A small glass of wine topped up with lemonade helped the evening along. We did some wet felting first so it was bubble wrap, rolling pins, soap, water and felt of every colour.

3 pieces of flat felt each later and arms aching we moved on to needle felting onto a piece of nuno felt. We felted threads and silks in all sorts of shapes and patterns with plans to work on them further with beads, buttons and stitches before mounting them onto cards.

Me being me had to have something to show for our efforts as soon as possible so first thing this morning I've set to to make a few cards using our now dry felt. I'm rather pleased with them but am afraid the photos don't really do them justice. Maybe they will just give you an insight into what life should be full of......quality days with lots of fun and laughter.