WOYWW...

Good morning to all my wonderful blogging friends.  

Firstly I want to say a big thank you for all your concern and lovely comments following my fall on Saturday morning and to say that, although a little more stiff and achy than normal, things now seem to be returning to normal [well, normal for me at least]....I have taken advise and have had rather more water with it since.  :-)

It's been another week of busy activity here at Sewing by Annie's....more parcels have arrived with lots more gorgeous fabrics in them and many many more dresses have been cut out and put ready to sew....and I've even made a few more with them already.  

So? What's on my workdesk today?

My 'to do' rail has yet more trousers to shorten plus this week I have a skirt to shorten and a gorgeous red dress to alter.  I shall hopefully clear my rail this morning so then I can get making more little dresses.

Funday Monday morning Twiglet and I set to and cut out and bagged lots more dresses from the gorgeous fabric Twiggy and Karen sent us this week.  We then set to and made 5 dresses between us during the afternoon.

Dress number 36 is made from fabric Penny sent me from France.  It's a bigger dress for a larger child and I've trimmed it up with white bias and a pretty embroidery anglaise pocket.

Dress number 37 is made using fabric Twiggy sent and it is also one made for a larger girl.  We aim to use the material wisely so as little as possible is wasted so the size of the dress is really decided by the piece material.  This fabric was really lovely to sew and has trimmed up prettily with a bit of  floral fabric.

This pretty little dress [number 38] was made using fabric Karen sent us and I've trimmed it up with pink bias and added a little pocket with an appliqued heart on it.  Isn't it pretty?

Here is what my rail of little dresses is looking like now. 

:-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) 

You can see 17 dresses in all colours and all sizes.  Doesn't it make you smile?  I'm so thrilled to have such a wonderful project on the go and am really loving every minute of creating each and every one so keep sending any fabric you can spare in our direction.  We promise to make up each and every dress and give you the head's up for your kind donations. 

I've just noticed my screen saver in the bottom left corner too....that's another reason for smiling :-)  Aren't they just gorgeous?  Proud Nanny Annie here  :-)

 Just a quick snap taken on Monday to show you that M is still doing a brilliant job of growing my grandchildren...and yes she is still smiling even though her iron tablets really are making her feel pretty sick when she takes them.  She really does humour me when I ask for a new pic and poses for me to snap away....."thanks M.  I'm so very proud of you.  The apple will fall when it's ripe and it won't be long now."

That's all from me today [ I hear you say...'thats more than enough!!'  :-) ].  Thanks for calling by.  Please leave me a comment if only to say hello before you pop over to Julia's blog to join in the WOYWW fun.

We are looking for hints.... and another parcel from France...

Twiglet and I were lucky enough to win some fine nibs for pro marker pens on Di's blog a while back but as you know Twiglet and I really aren't paper crafters so had never bought any pro marker pens......that is til now.

Twiglet has treated us to our first 4 sets....Thanks Sis.

Di said that they are alcohol pens and should work well on fabric so we will be playing with them to see what we can do with them.....watch this space as they say.  We love to try out new things so this will be our new challenge....if anyone can give us any tips we would be very grateful.

Thanks Di for the fine nibs....you may have started something new for us  :-)









I would also like to show you what has just arrived with the postman. Penny has sent me this gorgeous sheet all the way from France.  This is the second parcel Penny has sent us to make little dresses out of so I must say a really big thank you for your generosity.  We really do appreciate all your help with these little dresses.  It's so pretty Penny.  :-) :-) :-)

They have arrived....

 Wahoo Wahoo Wahoo Wahoo Wahoo Wahoo

Just so all you generous fabric suppliers know your kindness has been put to good use  I wanted to let you all know that the first 30 dresses Twiglet and I completed have now arrived safely with Louise and today she has put them all on her line and blogged about them.  Please pop over there to check them out [and spot your gorgeous fabrics while you are there  :-) ].  

Many thanks to all that have supported us so far. 

If there are any others who have either pillow cases that you don't need [and ones that still have some use left in the fabric] or pieces of spare cotton or poly cotton fabric that you are willing to donate to the great cause then we promise we will put them to great use....and I blog each and every one and link you for your kindness when the dresses are made.  Please email me for details of where to post it to at wipso@toucansurf.com

What a lovely bunch you are....

So many of you lovely bloggers showed genuine concern over this stupid old woman who went falling down the stairs yesterday morning.  I thought I should pop on here this morning to say a huge thank you [and a really special one to the kind blogging friend who even text me last night to check up on me.....thanks Keryn].  My left ankle seems to be what was took the fall and by last night it was rather swollen but apart from being a little stiff this morning so far all body parts seem to be in working condition  :-).....and I've not looked for the bruises  :-)

Twiglet and I popped up to Montgomery yesterday afternoon while our men were at Shrewsbury Town's first footy game of the season to call in on our good friend  Tina of Indigo Moon. She is having her first art exhibition in the local Old Bell Museum gallery.  It all looked amazing ....that girl has real talent....so if you get a chance please pop in and say hello and check out her wonderful mixed media artwork.  We also just had to pop into their shop too because they have revamped and restocked it with some really amazing goodies....It's really looking great and of course I couldn't escape without a few more of their gorgeous buttons  :-)

I know, I know I was probably on my ankle too much yesterday but I wouldn't have missed out on paying Tina a visit and giving her our support at this really important time for her.  I wish her all the luck in the world and told her to remember me when she's rich and famous  :-)  

So, once again I would like to thank you all very much for your care and concern and say please don't worry  I will take more water with it next time I promise....I've learnt my lesson now  :-)

Normal service will return by Funday Monday morning  :-)  :-)

The good and the bad of my Saturday morning....

My life seems to be a balance of the highs and lows of life....I guess we are all the same.

Today I woke early and treated my darling hubby and me to our breakfast in bed....not something we ever do to be honest so this was a real treat.

We are always up with the lark and aren't folk to lie in bed so were soon up and ready to start our day.....and guess what I did?  :-(  :-(  :-(

I fell down the b****** stairs ! ! !....don't worry I haven't broken anything but I was made well aware of the saying 'the bigger you are the harder you fall !'  It shook me up and I've twisted my replacement knee and the ankle on the same leg but I will live....I bet I find bruises later that I didn't know I'd got  :-)

So, that's the bad news out of the way.

Here is the good news.  My postman has just been with another amazing parcel from Twiggy at The World of Twiggypeasticks

Just look at it all...there is the most gorgeous fabric to make several dresses and lots of smaller pieces to trip up others plus trimmings, buttons and even a cow and sheep we can applique onto others.  I am really so blown away at the kindness of others and both Twiglet [that much older sister of mine  :-) ] and I are truly grateful at the support of each and every one of you who has been kind enough to support this wonderful cause.....we will keep sewing and making as many dresses as we can in the spare time we have....Promise  :-)

Thanks Twiggy for this wonderful selection of materials.

Also I just want to show you the three little dresses I made yesterday.....numbers 33, 34 and 35.

These two little dresses were made with the gorgeous material Anne sent us.  We have made smaller dresses with this so we get the full benefit from the gorgeous teddy panels.

This is also a dress made from Anne's pretty material.  I've trimmed it up with a little of the fabric Wanda sent me and added a little appliqued dog on the front.

Can you tell just how much fun I'm having putting these little dresses together.  Thanks to all who are supporting this wonderful cause.  We will soon be ready to send Louise at Sew Scrumptious. another parcel of dresses [the last ones we sent her should be put on her blog soon  :-) ].

Another wonderful parcel....

I am genuinely blown away by the generosity of our blogging friends.  This morning the postman has come knocking at my door with another wonderful parcel...this time from the lovely Karen over at Karen's Carry Ons.

Ooer I do love getting parcels.  :-) :-) :-)

And look what was in it...

6 gorgeous pieces of really pretty fabric...enough to make lots more little dresses  :-)

And what a pretty card too  :-)

Thank you so much Karen xx

It feels just like Christmas.  I have no doubt Twiglet and I will be busy cutting out the dresses on our Funday Monday morning and if she's really good I might share some of it with her so she can enjoy making dresses from it too  :-)

Thursday was a lilac day...

I cleared my 'to do' rail first thing yesterday morning and, cos it was a wet day here, I had no customers during the day so I was able to remain head down making little dresses all day.   I managed to make 5 more taking my total now up to 32  :-) 

I started off with a little lilac pair and because my machine was set up with lilac thread I kept that as my colour scheme for the day.

Here's 28 and 29 made using fabric from a floral quilt cover.

Number 30 is made using pretty fabric with little dogs all over that was kindly donated by Anne.  I've trimmed it up with a little pocket that is trimmed up with a little of the fabric donated by Wanda......I waste nothing  :-)

Number 31 is made using pretty purple fabric with tiny hearts all over that was kindly donated by Wanda and I've trimmed this one up with red bias and pocket top with a little appliqued heart on.

Number 32 is made from the left over fabric from one of the tops I made for me and I've trimmed it up using the same fabric as number 31 was made of.  :-)

And to finish off my Thursday in just the best way possible we had a family get together and filled the house with fun, laughter, little girls and big girls with ever growing baby bumps. 

Here is one of the latest snaps of my gorgeous little granddaughters taken while they were on holiday in Cyprus.  Aren't they just beautiful?  :-) :-) :-)

My next three 25, 26 and 27......

Yes they keep coming and I will keep blogging each and every one  :-)

The first two I made together [same thread needed so a little quicker to make].....Spot the difference  :-)

These were made using some of the gorgeous fabric Wanda sent me all the way from USA.  It has trimmed up so prettily with either pink or green pockets and each little girl likes to be different doesn't she?

My dress number 27 is another one made with the pale blue sheeting one of my customers gave me trimmed up with the trimmings of the quilt I bought in a charity shop  :-)  I love the way we can make bias strips and pockets etc to match from a quilt that has already made 5 dresses....nothing gets wasted here  :-)

My last pic for today is my sunflower now out in full bloom....I think it looks like it's smiling at me.  :-)  This greets all my customers as they bring me their sewing.

This is my little bit of sunshine to share with you all on this rather damp rainy day here in Shropshire.