WOYWW.....

 Well, my desk is full to overflowing but it's not with sewing.  I was contacted by a gentleman last week about some material.  His mother had died and she had been a sewer in her life time and become a bit of a hoarder of fabric [who does that remind you of?].  He was interested to have the material used for charity to raise money to benefit others....so who better to bring a bit of fabric to?

Except it was no bit and actually filled many bags and now covers my cutting desk.....and what gorgeous fabric it all is, all sorted into colours [and there may be more coming at some point!!].....I sorted it all out and it has filled a large box ready to be put to good use.

There was also a bin bag full of different waddings.....I can already see me making some fab quilts for charity.

I have had to clear my desks because, as we enjoyed 4 nights down in south Devon at the weekend, I now have work piling up [I've been missed!!!]....my rail is full, I have 9 memory bears to make this week and have another bin bag full of factory trousers to replace the zips in!!!

So, my friends, if you leave me a little message so I know you've called by I will do my best to pop over to see what you've all been up to this week.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles...week 365

Here we are at another round up of all the smiles from the last week....and there have been many :-)  It's so wonderful that in difficult times the smiles keep on coming.  Please join in if you can by snapping a few of your smiles and sharing them with us by linking them up below....we really can't get enough at the moment.....just remember smiles are contagious.

My smiles from my family come to us on a daily basis...

Amy's three have been keeping busy by cooking, planting seeds, making models of the football stadium, power hosing the slabs to name just a few of their activities....they are lucky enough to live in a house with acres of land around them so can enjoy den building, playing football etc all very safely.

The twins have been enjoying camping in their play room and taking a bath pretending they were on holiday in the pool drinking coctails :-)

Lexi has been able to keep up her dance lessons because her dance teacher has been doing them on their Ipads....modern technology really does help at times like this.

Lego has featured in our son, Mark's house...but I'm not sure whether he was building it or Theo.  Mark really loved his Lego when he was a little boy and I'm pleased to say he still does.

He's also been building a raised garden in their back garden to plant their vegetables in [looks like a can of beer helped the progress too].

I've surrounded myself in fabrics in my sewing room....it's been so lovely to make a creative mess and not have to tidy it all away for customers....there's a positive to every negative.

Our back garden keeps giving us more to smile at every day so here is my latest collage to make you smile.

We have also spent one afternoon this week planting up all our veg seeds in our raised bed.  We have covered it in bubble wrap to warm the soil up to get them germinated.

We also have little potato plants popping their heads up and the tomato, courgette and cucumber plants are all growing well.

When it all grows we will be a little closer to being self sufficient....maybe chickens next?....if only the stress of a little Milly barking at them all day would encourage them to lay eggs :-) :-)

I really hope you have found something to smile about during your visit today and will now link up to your own smiles below.

Stay stafe my friends.

Annie x

WOYWW.....

It's as if it never happened now.....Christmas is all packed away in it's boxes and back in the attic until next year now and I'm back at work.....and just to prove it.....

First thing Monday morning I replaced a 26" open-ended zip in a Gent's coat and then the postman arrived with a parcel for me.  It contained a shirt belonging to a much loved Grandad and, of course, by lunchtime I had made my first Memory Bear of the New Year.....not a bad start to the New Year eh?

He's made from brushed cotton so is a rather cuddly bear too and was really lovely to make.

Since last week the bunnies have multiplied [of course they have cos that's what bunnies do isn't it?] and there's now two completed and sitting waiting patiently on my sewing machine for me to make them some clothes....Phoebe and Lulu saw them at the weekend and they said, at the very least, they need some pants!!

I have printed out and cut out some of the patterns to make their clothes and been sorting out all the tiny prints ready to make them some out of....of course when Jo saw them on Monday morning when she called in for coffee [yes I had time for a catch up with my much older sister too on Monday morning] she said she had some fabrics with tiny prints on and she sorted me out a bag of bits I can dip into too.

You will be pleased to know I've already cut out one pair of pants :-)

That's all I have to share today.  I hope you have enjoyed your visit and will leave me a little message so I know you've called by and I will do my best to pay you a return visit when I get a minute.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles....week 261

Here we are at my Friday catch up of the week's smiles again....the week's are flying away aren't they?  It's March already and tomorrow is my darling hubby's birthday so, weather allowing, we will hopefully be making memories and having lots to smile about.

So here's the pics I am sharing today....

The materials I was waiting for have arrived.  They are for the two quilts I've been commissioned to make for two special little girls....and new fabrics always make me smile....especially ones as pretty as these.

I've already attacked them with my scissors too so haven't spent too long stroking them first.

Whilst looking for paperwork in my cupboards to finish off my accounts that I've been getting up to date this week I found two large wooden buttons that I bought ages ago and I've finally backed them with circles of felt and made two drink coasters with them.

I also noticed how I had scissors scattered in every cupboard I went in so thought I should have a sort out and made a sunshine out of them to share with you before putting them away where they should live [I thought it would brighten up this cold snowy day]....yes I do have rather a lot of scissors don't I?  Many of them get used on a daily basis as I have different scissors for each job I do...and God help you if you use my fabric scissors for cutting paper...the paper ones are the orange handled ones at 11 o'clock [no I'm really not a paper crafter am I?].

That's all from me for today.  Please leave me a little comment before you go and if you can then link to your own smiles below.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

Hello all.  I'm loading this up as an automatic post as I hate to miss out on the Wednesday fun.  Life here is pretty manic as you can imagine.  We have spent all day Monday and Tuesday chasing up the others in the chain of our house moving fiasco...we were told last Friday that we were all ready to move but of course there are three others involved in the chain.  We contacted our removal company to be told they were fully booked on the day we were hoping to move but thankfully they managed to rejig other jobs on that day and said they were able to move us.  But then others in the chain were unable to work as quickly as us and as I type this we are still awaiting conformation that our move can go ahead this Friday....I have no nails left and have spent many hours pacing up and down the floor like a caged polar bear!!!  If I hear more and can still access a computer I will update you later....if not I will ask Jo to do the honours for me as I know many of you are waiting to know.

So folks....you want to see my desk?....

I had drawers full of threads so here I'm in the middle of bagging then all up.

Bags filled they have been put into boxes and now they are all sealed up ready to go....what a lot of reels of thread I have lol

Here's a shot looking one way....boxes , boxes and more boxes!!!

Turn round and there are yet more boxes!!

My industrial machine has been drained of it's oil and all my other machines are now boxed and ready to go.

And, just in case I didn't have enough fabric to move, I had another visit from the gentleman who gave me bags of fabric before who came with another 4 bags full of fabric for me to use.  I feel so blessed to have it all and will have a fun time in my new home sorting it all and finding items I can make to make money for charity with it.

There you go....see?  No desk in use.  Just a lot of boxes but hopefully before too very much longer we will be in our new home and I can set up a new craft room to share with you all.

I have been informed by my darling other half that we may be without internet for a week or more so please forgive my absence....I will be back  :-)

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW.....and an update

Firstly I would like to thank all who sent me links to the on line sites they use for material.  I have visited each and every one and guess what?.....not one of them sell material that's yellow with thin blue stripes OR blue with little yellow stars.  I have emailed all the sites too and the nearest I can get is yellow with black stripes and blue with white stars.  I've bought some blue with white stars and have tried colouring in the stars with a yellow pen..

It works but is time consuming....thankfully these dollies are only small so I will only need small amounts of fabric for their clothes.

Here is the one Mr Tumble lookie likey doll that I've made so far and I have to say I rather like him.  I am still trying to make some dolls to keep here for the Grandbabies to play with but my little dolls are proving so popular with little people that the one you saw on my desk last week has now found a new home with our Funday Monday friend T's little Granddaughter who paid us a visit on Monday this week .....She was such a sweetie and I'm such a softie.....she left holding her dolly's hand and dangling her by her side  :-)

So this is what is on my desk today...

I'm making a new doll with stripey tights, a pretty pink dress and think she will have yellow hair in pigtails.  I rather like the effect of using stripey material for the legs but think the next one [or maybe even this one] will have shorter pants on so you can see her legs [I've pulled them up for you here to show off her tights]......can you tell how much fun I'm having?

I have finished all the Wedding stationery for now and just have the order of services, table place settings and favour boxes to make now.  We have done M's Wedding dress fitting and I just have to shorten it a little and I have the first of the Bridesmaids coming for a fitting on Sunday....it's all so exciting.

I hope you have a peep at the post below to see what my much older sister has been up to this week  :-)  Leave me a little 'hello' comment before you pop over to Julia's blog to join in the WOYWW fun.

Have a great week.  Stay warm and creative.

Hugs,

Annie x

A quick update

Just thought you would like to see that I have now finished the little dolly with stripey legs that I snapped for my blog this morning and today I have added another little dolly to my collection.....there is no stopping me now and I'm taking orders if anyone is interested.  :-)

WOYWW...with a request

Happy Wednesday everyone.  February??????  What happened to January?  Where is the year going?  Life really does go quicker as you get older doesn't it?  Come on girls we just have to fill each day with something special.

So what have I crammed into my week this week?

• Shopping for fabric in Hereford on Saturday....more about that later.
• Family time on Sunday....see previous post
• Fun time on Monday.....a must in my week  :-)  But this week started off cutting those dreaded curtains that we couldn't do last week....the customer decided to have each curtain just 1 1/2 widths of fabric wide instead of two so this made them possible....still not a great job because the pattern hadn't been printed straight on the fabric....and this is pretty important when you have to cut one length down the middle and match it!
• More fab family time on Monday afternoon when M called in for a visit with the twinnies so Jo and T could see them  :-)
• I've finished the latest batch of little African dresses you saw on last week's post 

Here they are hanging on my rail.  This brings my number up to 98...wahoo only two more to go til I reach 100  :-)

• Bread making pretty much every other day....I refuse to buy bread rolls now  :-)
• Baked a quiche, some sausage rolls and a chocolate cake....sorry I can't offer you a slice cos it's all gone  :-)
• Knitting....my latest is a little waistcoat for baby Sam in a gorgeous green Crofter wool so it will look like fairisle....will show it off when I've finished it.
• Doll making....I've got to replace the ones my gorgeous Granddaughters fell in love with on Sunday and insisted they were far too special to be left here with Nanny Annie plus I'm working on a new little Mr Tumble lookie likey doll
• I guess there must have been a bit of cooking and cleaning done too  :-)

So on my desk today is...

• A cut out 'have a first go' at making a little Mr Tumble lookie likey doll
• my pins and of course two pairs of scissors  :-)
• 4 new pieces of fabric that I bought at Doughty's in Hereford on Saturday...the one with little dogs on has already been made into a 'V' cushion cover for the twins to have at home.

 

And as you can see they approve  :-)

Now I have a request for all my wonderful blogging friends out there in the world......I am looking for some bright blue cotton material with little yellow stars all over and some bright yellow material with thin blue stripes and I'm really struggling to find either.  Doughty's had more material than a girl could imagine but the only stripe anything like was what you can see on my table and it's not perfect cos it also has red, green and white stripes too  [ I'm such a fussy pants as you will all know by now  :-) ].  I only need a metre or two of each of them but I have searched the web and so far not been lucky.  Do any of you know of a stockist that has either of them?  Pleaseeeeeeeee

The only other pic I am including today is this one...

One of my daffodils my hubby bought me on Friday to brighten up your day as much as they did mine  :-)

He's such a darling  :-)

Hope you all have a great week and leave me a little 'hello' comment before popping over to Julia's blog to join in the WOYWW fun.

Hugs,

Annie x

I own up....I've been shopping...

My name is Annie, I'm 54 years old and I'm a materialolic.....and I believe there is no know cure for it.  :-)

I've been to our local shop looking for a new advent calendar panel and a bit of red fabric to make some new Christmas stockings for the new little family members and I have to admit I got a bit carried away....like you do in these shops.  :-) :-) :-) 

I ended up getting enough to make 4 new Advent calendars [cos normally when I need one I struggle to get any], some plain red cotton material and white fleece to make the Stockings out of [I probably got enough to make stockings for half the village!] and of course I just had to buy enough shirt / top lengths to make 3 new winter shirts out of for me.  Think I have enough to keep me busy now don't you?

So? What have you been up to today?  Anything you'd like to own up to?

Oh no it's happened again.......and a latest update

Yesterday Twiglet popped down to help me cut the fabric for a curtain for one of my customers and while she was here we had another little dress cutting and preparing session.  We only turned our back for a few moments and look what happened!!!!

 

Yes folks they started to take over my little sewing room again.  As you can see they covered every surface and hung around in every possible hanging space. It was like an invasion so we had no choice but to attack the problem.  We parcelled all 49 of them up [another 17 made by me and 32 made by Jo] and have posted them to Louise.  Doesn't it have a wow factor just seeing them all together like this?

Here are my latest two [numbers 66 and 67] that were popped in the parcel.  They were both made with some of the lovely material Sue sent us.  Thanks so much Sue for sending us such lovely material to play with. 

Thanks for dropping by.

Today's update

The postman has just arrived with yet another wonderful parcel.  This time it is from Julie from K C's Court blog .  Thank you so much Julie....I can't wait to get cutting out dresses using all this...such pretty colours.  We are still happy to received parcels of any pillow cases/ bedding or cotton /poly cotton fabrics and will keep making little dresses whilst ever we have material to use so please email me if you have any you would like to donate to the great cause.

Saturday's post....

I've had two more wonderful donations of fabric today

This parcel is from Sarah from La-De-Da blog .  Sarah lives about 20 miles from me so it's really lovely to link up with a local blogger like this....though as yet we haven't met.  Thank you for this gorgeous pack of Dutch fabric Sarah....such gorgeous bright colours and they will really brighten up our little African dresses a treat.

This gorgeous ironing board full of scrummy fabrics was sent to me by Sue from ScoopyStuff blog.  Sue has been begging any spare fabric for us from friends and relatives and this is a beautiful parcel full that she has sent us.  We will have such fun making little dresses from this lot so a huge thank you Sue for your efforts.

Blown away with the generosity of others....

Yesterday I received yet another parcel full of gorgeous fabrics.  I had had an email last week asking for my address but I didn't recognise the name as a blogger I knew.

This was one of the biggest parcels I've had and I'm certain you will all agree with me that the fabrics enclosed are all really gorgeous.  There was a card enclosed [also gorgeous] and the lady had written me a message to explain that wasn't in fact a blogger [yet] but just followed our blogs and felt she would like to donate some fabric to the great cause.  I'm sure a lot of you will understand why I was moved to tears to receive such generosity from a 'stranger'.....Isn't the world a wonderful place.  The news seems full of nothing but trouble and riots....why don't they fill their pages with wonderful uplifting stories like the generosity of others?

All I can say is a huge Thank You to CM and to say hope you start blogging soon....I'd like to 'get to know you'  :-) :-) :-) [So far all I know is you are a really generous lady and your favourite colour is pink  :-) ]

The other thing I want to share is the latest pic I have taken of my youngest daughter A.  Both my girls like to sit crossed legged so their baby bumps sit in their laps and last night I snapped a quick pic of A doing just that....I tell them they look like little pixies  :-)  Doesn't she hide her bump well?..... and she is nearly 33 weeks pregnant! Thankfully she keeps really well and manages her two busy little girls to perfection....I'm so proud of her cos she is a really good little Mum.  

Twiglet joined us last night for an evening of fun with A and her two gorgeous little girls.  A fab evening of proud moments and special memories.

WOYWW.....

Hello to all my blogging friends. [do check out the pic below for the wow factor]

This week I've ...

• Had a trip to London to see Les Miserable...yes I actually took a day off to go  :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)
• Made numerous more little dresses
• Posted our latest 50 dresses to  Louise [do check out the pic below for the wow factor]
• Cut out yet more little dresses from the latest donations of fabric
• Picked fresh veg from the garden and tomatoes from the greenhouse
• Knitted two fronts and started on the sleeves of a little cardie for one of the twins
• Paced the floor on Monday night cos M was having contractions!!!  At 32 weeks I don't think so!!!!  Thankfully after a full assessment it was decided she had a wee infection and it was irritating her uterus so a course of antibiotics was started and she was sent home....thankfully she is now much better.
• Oh and I've worked [sewn for real money  :-) ] each and every day apart from Friday of course.....customer numbers keep rising and I've got well over 1100 now!
• Nearly forgot ....I've done a bit of cooking, baking bread, washing, ironing and cleaning etc in my spare time.

So what is on my workdesk today?

Customers sewing.....I've had some really lovely skirts and dresses to alter this week.

The latest donation of bedding to make little dresses given to me by another of my customers....I think we will be making dresses for years  :-)  It really is a very positive thing to do in your spare time.

These two little dresses were made yesterday from some of the fabric one of my customers gave me. 

 As promised here is a pic taken of M yesterday [32 weeks now so only 6 more to go til they induce her if she lasts that long!].....still in one piece after the excitement of Monday!

So as you can see there are very few dull moments here at Sewing by Annie's.  Please leave me a comment if only to say hello before you pop over to visit Julia and check out all the other WOYWWers.  Have a great week.

They began to take over so we posted them....

When Twiglet arrived yesterday morning with her bag full of dresses for the little African girls we just had to do a show and tell to share our latest makes with each other.  

My sewing room was filled with little dresses covering every surface and to be honest we both stood back in awe at them all together.  It never fails to amaze us how quickly we both beetle away when we have a challenge on the go.....as ever I had to stand back and snap away so you could all share in the moment....I'm sure all you wonderful bloggers who have sent us fabric will be able to spot the dresses we have made with it.  Thank you to each and every one of you....and you know exactly who you are.  We have since folded up every one of them and have posted them to Louise....all 50 of them!!  [so keep a look out for that heavily weighed down postman struggling up your path Louise.]  That brings our total so far up to 80 between us  :-)

During our Funday Monday, in between my customers, [ and we had lots of those! ] we cut out lots more little dresses and bagged them up ready to make the next batch.  One of my customers came with two carrier bags full of gorgeous fabric she was more than happy to donate to our Dresses for Africa cause......

These were the larger pieces in the one bag and we have cut lots of little dresses from these gorgeous fabrics.

These smaller pieces were in the other bag and these will make really pretty pockets and trimmings for some of the plainer dresses.

We really know such a lot of truly generous folk who have been so willing to donate some really pretty fabrics to the great cause and Twiglet and I have shared out the bags of dress pieces so you will be seeing more pretty dresses popping up on our blogs in the not to distance future  :-)

An extended weekend......and another visit from the postman

I took the day off on Friday....yes, my boss allowed it....in fact he planned the whole thing.

We went to see Les Miserable in London.  :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

Wow...it was truly breathtaking.

Alfie Boe was amazing.  He has the most haunting voice.  What talent

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wt5YRexag1o

Check it out.  I will be singing along all day.

Matt Lucas played the innkeeper and the part could have been written for him....he was brilliant.

I have to say a huge thank you to my Darling other half for such a special treat....it was just what the Dr ordered  :-)

Saturday night we had a little visitor to our garden....a very welcome little visitor but we have 3 little dogs who like to bark and play football with them!  Thankfully it was their bedtime so he could wander to his heart's content and hopefully eat all the slugs and snails he could find.  I just had to snap a pic but as you can see [or not see in this case!] he is beautifully camouflaged on the gravel.

And of course, with having a Friday off, by Sunday I was tearing at the leash to get sewing so I just had to run up dresses number 49 and 50  :-)

Number 49 is made with a piece of the gorgeous fabric Twiggy sent me and I've prettied it up with embroidery anglaise and a pearly bead on the pocket.

Number 50 is made from fabric left over from one of my tops and I've trimmed it up with nursery rhyme ribbon.

My box of bagged up little dresses is nearly empty but please don't think our dress making is coming to an end cos I have been promised lots more fabric from more kind bloggers and this ironing board full was left for me by my eldest daughter when she was here Friday night babysitting the dogs...she is nesting like mad now and had been having a good turn out of unwanted bedding to make space for baby goodies.  Thanks M.  I have no doubt Twiglet will be down very soon and we will set to to cut out lots more little dresses  :-)  We will be parcelling up the next batch and sending it on it's way to Louise very soon so keep an eye out for that postman Louise. :-)

Latest update
The postman has just been and look what he brought with him...

Another gorgeous sheet ...this time from our good friend and blogger Di over at Pixie's Crafty Workshop.  And just look at the gorgeous card she popped in with her parcel....how well she knows me....I just love poppies.
Thank you sooooooo much Di.  Twiglet and I will be getting busy with it very soon......that is if she turns up today  :-)

Hope you all have a great week.