WOYWW.....

Where did that week go? As you can see from my work desk I cleared it at the end of yesterday and there is no sewing on it. Since clearing it though I have had a couple of jobs in so please don't imagine I will be putting my feet up today :-)
You can see my new set of drawers below my work desk. These are now full of my threads of every colour. My old set of drawers were far too small and used to get stuck when the cotton reels got trapped at the back so the new ones save me a lot of time and temper :-)
On the top at the left of my machine you can see my customer cards in the two index boxes. All 901 of them :-)
At least 2/3 of them have become regulars and the rest are mostly Wedding dress customers although many of these have also come back for other sewing jobs.

In the front of the one index box are my Christmas vouchers. I decided when I first set up my business that giving out £1 vouchers to be used in January would encourage folk to come, maybe, at a time when I would be a little less busy and to wish my customers a Happy Christmas. They are received gratefully and although I give out very many only a handful are normally used so they work very much as a good will gift but cost me little.

I now have to tackle taking in the bodice of this little party frock. Its boned so I will have to unpick it all to take out the boning before taking it in and then replace it after so it's rather a tricky job and will take me a while to do. Just another challenge for me to fill my day :-)

This is one of the several stockings I have been asked to make this year. Just thought I would share it with you and brighten up my blog. I'm not sure I will get round to blogging my WOYWW next week cos I am on holidays so here's wishing all my WOYWW buddies a very Happy Christmas and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year.
Love to all, A x

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?

Oh how quick the weeks are going!.....

Yes it's THAT day again. WOYWW. My week has been a really varied one. Everything from crafting, embellishing, knitting to of course sewing sewing and yet more sewing.


Monday was Fun Day but Tuesday evening was also a fun time for crafting too. My table has been full of wools, threads and fabrics and .......






I have even found time for cutting out a top for myself.








Yesterday brought yet more new customers to my door and a steady flow of regulars too so my rail is now full.....





3 skirts to take in and shorten
2 pair trousers to take in
3 pair trousers to shorten
pair trousers to patch and darn damage done my a moth
and even a shower curtain to shorten













I thought you might also like to see how far my embellished picture has gone. It will be an ongoing project and I plan to put poppies on it as they are one of my favourite flowers. So far I have embellished the background with wool rovings and used textured threads for stems in the foreground. Lots to do yet of course but I am really loving 'painting' with materials.


Hope you all have a fab, fun day and enjoy your blog hopping Wednesday. A x

It's THAT day again.....WIYWW....

Whats in my workroom today???

Well, Ive been busy with my puppets over the last few days and thought I would share them with you. I was originally commissioned to make my first set of 6 puppets for a company from London. They used to write stories to be used for small puppet theatres and I was asked to design and make the 6 characters in the story. This blossomed to making puppets for use in schools and I now make puppets to order, really for anyone that wants them. My eldest daughter is a teacher and she has a set of them all [and more!] and uses them on a daily basis in school. She tends to say "Oh Mum I'm doing ...........this term and I could really do with a ......puppet" and I'm off on my next creation. The puppets are only suitable for children over 3 years due to small parts but children of all ages just love them. I have several in stock that sell for £30.00 plus postage each and am happy to make something individual [I always love a challenge]. I will now introduce you to some of them......

These are 2 of my Mrs Oakley the Farmers wife [yes I do make a Mr Oakley but at the mo have none in stock but happy to make if wanted].











Sherbet the sheep and Cassy the cow.













Dotty the dog and Hatty the hen.













Ruby the rat and Reggie the reindeer.













And last but by no means least this is what I call a giggle of Iggys. This is Iggy the Iguana and I have to say one of my favourites.






I also make Mr Oakley the farmer, Clive the clever clown, Polly the parrot, Ellie the elephant and a Percy the pig and will consider making what ever your challenge is within reason. If I have the pattern they are £30.00 each plus postage but if not then I charge accordingly for the extra work involved. There may be slight variations with each puppet made according to the fabric available at the time.

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 :-)

WIYWW [what's in your workroom Wednesday]...

I spent yesterday working on 'the waistcoat'. We think we have a final design with pockets, zips and rings all carefully measured before stitching in place. Yesterday I cut out and started to make two so I have threads and bits everywhere. I will finish making these this morning but as you are aware I am unable to show and tell them in detail because of the possible pending patent. Watch this space :-)

When these are finished I will be moving on to upholstering this little chair. I am working on it with my neighbour. She is married to a soldier who is in the middle of a 9 month stint out in Afghanistan. They have a 9 mth little girl and this chair is being covered for her in the pretty pink check fabric that is hanging on the back of the chair in the photo. It's a lovely project to occupy the mind for us all. Little A was only 10 weeks old when Daddy left and he has only been home for one week since then. We dearly hope he gets home safely for her first birthday.

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 :-(

WOYWW....bears today

I missed last week with daring to have a holiday so this week my workroom is full of jobs done, jobs to do and projects in the planning. I have already had 3 more new customers this week and one of those lives in Portugal and was only over here for a holiday. I'm conquering the world slowly :-)
I have also been contacted for a batch of my little bears so thought I would share a photo of those today. They are really tiny felt bears and all come with a poem. I designed the little bear many years ago and have made well over 2000 over the years. 800 of them were bought my Shrewsbury tourist info so I imagine those are now well travelled little bears. They have been put in Christmas shoe boxes to go to Africa and I know there are some in Wales, Scotland, Holland, USA, France to name but a few because I have sent them there. Each one is made with love and brings a smile to the faces of all that have one. There are poorly bears, worry bears, comfort bears, hospital bears, self esteem bears etc etc so they have been used for many many reasons. If felt is made in a colour I have probably made bears in it :-)

WIYWW [only I'm a day late!]...

This is my What's in your workroom Wednesday blog. I told Julia I would try to get this done yesterday but it turned out to be rather busier than planned so I'm a day late. Hey ho. Thats life here :-) My day started with the second batch of army cadet jackets. Another 18 labels stitched on those and it was onto shortening 3 dresses, lifting the shoulders on one dress and then to put blackout linings into a pair of caravan curtains.
Big Sister Twiglet arrived at morning coffee time with a top she had run up for me....beautiful....she is so clever. Thanks sis, you're one in a million. We had time for a chat, giggle and a coffee then I mentioned I fancied making some beetroot chutney so she harvested the last of the beetroot in our garden. She found a recipe on the web and took her share of the beetroot home to make hers.





Mine sat in the bowl waiting for a gap in my busy day!













I ploughed on with lunch, sewing, sewing and yet more sewing. My next batch of bridesmaid dresses arrived in the afternoon ready for steaming and my neighbour popped in for a coffee with her 9mth old little girl. [It does feel a little like a drop in here at times but thats what I am here for...I love it]. The little one had been very poorly with a virus and had needed hospitalisation so it was really lovely to see her brighed eyes and bushy tailed again.
Tea was a roast chicken dinner with all the trimmings for 4 as our son and girlfriend were home for tea. They have had a wonderful summer spending time together...just what life should be full of at their age. It's back to uni at the weekend so life will change again for them.


After tea I just had to tackle the beetroot. They were washed and cooked. The apples. marrow and onions were finely chopped along with the still hot cooked beetroot and put in a pan to cook with the sugar salt and vinegar.
After a lot of simmering and stirring and reducing the liquids it smelled wonderful and looked pretty good too.









It was cooled slightly and put into my new jars. Hey presto! 9.30pm and yes I'm shattered :-)