WOYWW....

 Hello all.  Wednesday is the day we join in the fun of checking out all the creative desks of our friends around the world...and all are welcome to join in.  Just pop over to Sarah's blog at Sarah's Craft Shed to check out details and join in the fun.

I've had another busy week here at Sewing by Annie's.  Sally from Harry Johnson's Trust called in on Saturday to collect all the things I'd made for their up and coming craft sales so my desks were emptied...and she really loved all the things I'd made....so I have been working on making more in between my customer's sewing....I never like to sit idle.

I appliqued and machine embroidered covers for 10 shopping list sized books...I love the crazy frogs best.

I made 6 lengths of bunting...10 flags and approximately 2 metre length each.

I've made another school Memory Bear....I love purple and I think the lilac ribbon and buttons are lovely on this one.

I also learnt an important lesson....do not drop your sharp pointy ended scissors off your work surface onto your toe!!!  It really hurt and bled lots.....I will be more careful in the future.

That's me for this week.  I hope you will leave me a little message so I know you've called by and I will pop over to yours as soon as I can.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

 I was missing last week.  We had gone of the first adventure in our caravan of 2024...there are details/pics in my Friday post if you'd like to see more.

On my desk this week are the, now finished, army of frogs for the H J Trust...

I hope they all do well in fighting the battle against cancer in children.

I've had my first order for a school leavers Memory bear for this school year....and have another one coming this week....I wonder how many I will get this year?

In between all the jobs I've done for my customers I have also made this lovely Alphabet wall hanging....I will be selling this to raise funds for the charity.

I'm sure it will look lovely hanging on the wall in a baby's nursery.

I hope you will leave me a little message so I know you've called in and I will pop over to your blog to see what you've been up to this week.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

 It's bears, bears and yet more bears this week  [and that's far from all I've done this week!!]....

I shared one bear with you last week and when the lady came to collect her bear she brought more clothes to make these two for her two daughters.

When the same lady came to collect the two bears in the pic above she came with clothes to make this little bear for one of her friends who had lost her husband.

I had to remake the tie to make a small version to fit the little bear....I love a challenge.  I usually use the thin end of the tie for the bears but this would have meant the  little boats/islands would have been upside down.

My next challenge came from a customer from Doncaster.  She had lost her husband and she wanted 7 Memory bears making for her grandchildren from Grandad's favourite t shirts....a specific two for each bear so I had to not only stabilise each panel with interfacing but I had to make sure each bear had two front/back panels and the correct one had to be on the left or right too.

Here's the results....I was pleased to see I'd got them all right and it was so lovely to see them all finished and looking so different.....they are now winging their way to their new homes in Doncaster.

Since then I have started making more School Memory bears....this one was special because it was for a returning customer who I had made one 4 years ago for an older sibling when they left Primary school.

Finally [for now] here's two more little school bears but this time they are made as gifts for two teachers who are retiring.....I thought this was a lovely idea.

So, I'm sorry there's a lot to share today but I like to keep my blog up to date.  If you leave me a little message I will do my best to pop over to yours to see what you've been up to this week.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

 Here we are at another weekly catch up with our creative friends all around the world....I love Wednesdays.

I've had a busy week [what's new? I hear you say]. I've shortened lots of summer dresses and jumpsuits this week but have also found time to make these two school Memory bears...

...these two bring my list of schools that I've made Memory bears for up to 38 now and that includes school from all around the world :-) The one is for a little girl moving up to secondary school and the other is a leaving gift for her teacher.

I have also updated the folder where I keep photos of all the Memory bears I've made and I have now made 684 in total...it thrills me to think of all that Annie's love all over the world.

That's all I have to share with you this week.  I hope you're all coping with the heat ...we have fans going in most rooms in our bungalow today to make it bearable.  If you leave me a little message I will pop over to yours when I get a minute to see what you've been up to this week.

Hugs,

Annie x
 

WOYWW....

 

To those that haven't recieved Christmas cards from me that normally do I'd like to say Happy Christmas to you all....the post seems to have lost a few....annoying but there's little I can do about it.

I have a few things to share with you...

I've made another School Memory bear...and the best bit is this was the secondary school I went to....the uniform was bottle green back then [including bottle green fleecy knickers!!]. 7 years in those gives you a clue why I dont like green :-)

I've also made two Memory Dogs in memory of a much loved 8 year old black labrador [hence the black ribbons around their necks].  The ears and tails are made out of parts of the dog's favourite toys....quite unique but just how my customer wanted them and we are hoping they bring comfort to the lady's autistic son.

My best friend who I have known for over 60 years [we started school together], has just had her first tiny Grandson....tiny because he was born at 32 weeks weighing just 2lb 4 ozs. I rooted out the prem baby knitting patterns I used when the twins were born and knitted a tiny cardigan.

I then made him a patchwork quilt....I love how it turned out and hope they will too....the little man is doing well so far and hopefully he will continue to do so.

I had a very special crafty time with the twins on Saturday.  We made these lovely Christmas trees....they were very proud of their finished results.

I have more cut out ready for Phoebe, Lulu and Stephen to make later in the week...I love having creative time with my  grandchildren....and it pays off because Phoebe and Lulu made their Christmas cards this year.

I hope you have enjoyed your visit this week and you all have a wonderful Christmas.  I will do my best to visit all who call in here when I get a minute.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

 Hello all. Hope you've all had a good week and enjoyed the Jubilee celebrations....ours hasn't been quite as planned as my darling hubby has sciatica.  As I'm typing this he has gone for some acupunture...and I really hope it's helped because he's really suffered since last Friday.  I've had it twice so know just how painful it is so I'm hoping it goes very soon for him.

Since last Wednesday I have taken the scissors to the colourful piece you saw on my desk last week and here the results...

I have really enjoyed being creative and have made a batch of ATCs ready for thr crop in October....yes I know it's a long way off yet but I like to be prepared :-)

This is what I made with the Ikea tray and green sticks.  The holder I made years ago for my bobbins was too small and just didn't hold them and kept getting tangled up so I needed an upgrade....I'm well chuffed with the results too.

This is the latest School Memory bear I've made....he's now on his way to his new home in Scotland...Another new school for me and Annie's love has spread a little further :-)

On Monday Jo popped round for a coffee and catch up and while she was here she cut my hair for me.  The plastic pouch I keep my hair cutting scissors in had perished so when she had gone I took them into my sewing room and with a piece of fabric I had just cut off a dress I ran up a new poppered pouch to keep them in....No pattern, it just came out of my head.  I'm easily pleased and this really made me smile.

Finally last, but by no means least, is my latest ATC from the swap....this one had a long way to come as it's from Susan over in Australia....thanks so much.  I love the thought that our friendship travels so far thanks to our Wednesday link ups.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

 This week as you will all have heard we lost one very special part of our WOYWW gang to cancer so it is with a heavy heart I'm writing my blog today.  Shaz was loved by us all and the world is now missing a wonderful lady.  We blogged together for many years before we actually met at the crop in Wales so by then I was meeting a true friend....and I was not disappointed.  She was warm and loving and everything I had grown to love....and of course she came with Doug, her devoted, caring hubby.  We gelled immediately and enjoyed to many giggles together including meeting up at the Salop Caravans craft fair in Shrewsbury to enjoy lunch together.

I will really miss Shaz's blogs, everything from her enabling to her 'and finally' each week.  I will also miss her following my little sewing business and liking and sharing the different things I put on my Facebook page....she really did help my business grow when we moved to our new bungalow and for that I will always be grateful. Rest in peace Shaz....and Doug never forget you are part of our gang too and we are here for you always.

I'm a great believer in keeping busy when I'm feeling sad so I do have a few things to share with you today...

Theo has been enjoying some U-tube videos about a little mouse called Theo so I made him his own little mouse to play with. I found the pattern on Pinterest and reduced the size of it to make it a little hand sized mouse....I put pipe cleaners in his arms and legs so he could bend them into shape.

I had a request for a memory bear this week...it's for a little girl who has moved into the area to remember the happy times at her old school in Skegness.....that's another new school to put on my list.

The best bit is she loved it so much that she's ordered two more....and that's what I will be doing today :-)

Our son, Mark, has asked me to make him a fox for his birthday so here he is waiting for his clothes.....they will have to wait until I've finished the memory bears [work much come first of course].

I had to wait for a delivery of felt before I could make the fox and I also ordered the felt to make the deer....I've already started making her so you will see her soon I'm sure....she's rather tricky with lots of little pieces to put together plus I have to needle felt some spots on her.....fun times.

That just leaves me to say if you leave me a little message I will do my best to pop over to yours later.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

Hello all...I've been at it again!  Between all the sewing jobs that are now coming through my door I've been making more face masks only this time they are for Christmas...and yes they are selling well already! So I've restocked them already and this is the second batch...

As I look at it the need for wearing face masks isn't going away anytime soon so we may as well wear something that will put a smile on a few faces....and it seems many think like me so I will be making more of these.

I am still making other masks to order as demand for those is much less now.

I am still making more Memory Bears...this one is for a child from the school close to us....I love seeing the pleasure each bear gives....there's a lot of love in the making of each one.

I have also...

• Taken in 3 dresses for Gina who has lost a lot of weight.
• Patched and darned a pair of working trousers for Mark.
• Taken in a top for a customer and
• Recovered a bed head for the same customer.

There's never 2 weeks the same here :-)

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

Hello all and happy Wednesday to you all.  I've had another week making a steady flow of face masks but it's really been one focussing on making School Memory Bears and reaching new targets with them so please excuse me for sharing a few numbers with you today.

• Total numbers of Memory bears now made...365
• Total numbers of Memory bears made since the beginning of lockdown....46
• Total number of schools I've now made Memory Bears for.....28

 And the latest ones I've made since last Wednesday are....

 



 This one is for a school in Yorkshire.

This one was for a fairly local school but had to be posted as my customer was still shielding.

This was for a school the other side of Shrewsbury.

These three were for a family of girls leaving a school in Shrewsbury to move to other schools and because their friend saw them.....

....I had to make this one for their friend.

This is the latest bear I've finished and it's for a school in Telford.

All these 8 bears were made for schools I'd never made bears for before so I felt the need to write a list of all the schools I've ever made bears for.....

If youre interested this is the list of schools I've made bears for....including 3 I made for a school in Jordon.
You should be able to click on the list if you want a closer look :-)

I should have another bear to make today and I have 4 more coming next Monday...so they are keeping me busy....and I'm loving it.
Hugs,
 Annie x

WOYWW...

Firstly I must say happy birthday for yesterday to our Queen of Snoop, Julia, without whom this Wednesday madness would have never started.  Really hope your day was filled with Cake, Gin and lots of spoiling because I'm sure you deserve it.

Now onto what's on my desk for this week...

I've had a steady flow of customers wanting face masks and this batch was a special order for one of our local removal firms....these are the first 5 and hopefully there will be an order for another 10 once the men aprove of them.

They had been wearing disposable masks but they were working out too expensive so they are replacing those with some washable ones with their initials on so they know who's is who's.

I've put a new zip in a pair of jeans for one customer and repaired a pair of leggings for another...all jobs I can do without them coming in for fittings.

I've also had a steady flow of Memory bears this week.  This purple one was for a really lovely young lady who was leaving Minsterley school to go to her secondary school....Minsterley was my junior school so this one was rather special to make.

This little school bear is for a child leaving the school local to us here and just like those buses...two come at once...

....same school, different customer and a different choice of ribbon around his neck.  I love that each one is slightly different.

I think I still have another 7 bears to come this week at some point so I will be kept on my toes with work.......and I love it  :-) :-)

I do my best to visit all who call in here each week but I'm finding there is always some I don't get to leave comments on so I'm really sorry ....work just sometimes often gets in the way but I promise I do try to visit you all.

Hugs,

Annie x