WOYWW....

Hello fellow WOYWWers.  It's been another productive week here at Sewing by Annie's.  It is half term so I haven't had my little twinnie friends here this week.  Monday was the first Funday Monday Jo and I had had for a while so I managed to make a few extra quilt squares for the Children in Need appeal....see prev post.  I took all the finished quilt blocks and money to Jacquie yesterday and she asked me to say a huge Thank you to all that helped to raise the funds....think she was rather blown away that you had each made so many quilt squares.  :-)  I will do my best to get some photos of the finished quilts to share with you when they are made.

Yesterday was a day off for me [hehehe what's one of those I hear you ask ] so I had a day doing things I wanted to do.....yes of course most of it was spent sewing....cos it's what I love doing.  So on my desk today is the finished results of a day's fun....

I rummaged through my material boxes and made 14 little bravery bead bags for the children having treatment for Leukaemia at Alderhay hospital.  Jo [zart] had been making some so I felt I should make a few to help out.....if you want to know more please pop over to the LillyBo quilt blog.

I also bagged up another batch of LillyBo bears to go in the parcel for Jo [zart].  They use these to raise funds for the family's of the children suffering from Leukaemia and having treatment.....I will get these in the post to you soon Jo.

So there you go,  I've been rather busy trying to give a little back.  I feel so very lucky to have a happy and healthy family so like to use my talents to help other less fortunate.

Today I shall be doing my best to clear some of the rail full of customers sewing plus of course the two pair of ****** curtains that need shortening!!  It can't be all fun no work can it?  :-)

Thanks for dropping by to see what I've been up to this week.  I will do my best to pop over to pay you a return visit if you leave me a little hello comment.

Hugs,

Annie x

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.

What a brilliant Fun Day Monday it was this week...

This is just a very quick blog because I have lots of sewing to catch up with today. I just wanted to say what a brilliant day we had yesterday. Twiglet came down as usual in the morning and we did the cutting of curtains and the quick jobs that had to be done urgently.

We then cleared the decks here and filled our working table [and most of the rest of the room] with wedding inspired fabrics, threads and beads etc. We looked at what we had already made and planned the items we were going to make. We have been asked for a good luck wedding horseshoe so this came top of the list. Our planning and designing took up the rest of the morning so that after lunch we could make a start on the fun bit.

The first thing we did after lunch was to invite our lovely friend Paula to join in our fun :-) We have both set up web cams in our craft rooms so she can join in our fun. Our other friend T joined us around 2 o clock and the 4 of us had a brilliant afternoon of fun and crafting. Isn't modern technology a wonderful thing? Paula sat dumfing a little bear [well, that's what she said it was hehehe only joking Paula :-) ]. Our friend T beaded up a beautiful red brooch she had dumfed earlier and Twiglet and I set to to dumf embellishments for horseshoes.

Here's to many more fun days in the future :-)

Dumfing....

I know a lot of you already know what Dumfing is but we have had lots of enquiries lately so I thought I would do a proper blog to attach to the link on the side bar.

Dumfing is our word for embellishing.


Back last October Twiglet and I bought ourselves a Huskystar ER10 Embellisher each and we both agree that this has been our best 'toy' ever purchased.







Up til then we had used single embellishing needles or hand held embellishers with several needles in as shown here with the Brush to work on [I always keep a piece of felt on the top while working on it].





Embellishing needles are barbed needles that push fibres from one material into the other so locking them together. The barbs only face one way so that the fibres are pushed down but the needle then pulls back out clean, leaving the fibres behind. Hand held ones work perfectly for small hand held items like the bears I make but it takes time and lots of patience [and, in my case, fingers that end up like pincushions!]. For larger items the embellisher takes over beautifully. We have made covers for books, brooches and larger pictures to name but a few of the items and you can find some of these over in our blog shop.

We are able to combine threads, wool rovings, fabrics and all sorts of embellishments and produce really yummy things.

Now, I can hear you saying why dumfing? Our machine makes a noise when it works. It goes....dumf dumf dumf :-) From this has come a whole new vocabulary......
To dumf...to embellish
Dumfable....a yummy fabric that will easily embellish [not all fabrics will embellish]
Dumflings....little works of art made using embellishing
Dumfers....The crafty sisters of course :-) ....the list goes on :-)

If you google dumfing you will find our blogs come up top of the list and my son has even tried to get it put in a dictionary :-) I would advise anyone to get themselves an embellisher but beware it will take over your life...in just the best of ways. Here are just some of the ways it has taken over mine and some of the gorgeous things Twiglet and I have made with it.




My box full to overflowing with dumfable wool rovings. What gorgeous colours you can get. I try to keep them sorted into colours and, yes, they really do all squash down so the lid shuts :-)






Yummy dumfable fabrics. Natural fabrics such as wool, silk and linens work best but we have found lots of man made ones work well too so well worth trying anything.






A hand dumfed bear. I have spent many a relaxing night dumfing whilst watching the telly.








Dumfed Poppy picture. I have made, and now sold, very many pictures and really love the 3D effect you can get with fabrics to make beautiful flowers.











A brooch made from dumfling loveliness. Twiglet has made some really gorgeous brooches of all colours and happily takes orders it colours have to be specific.











A beautifully dumfed picture frame. Twiglet has made several frames and each one is so touchy feelie. It's just a shame we don't have touchy Internet :-)




There are so many other really fab cards, books etc over in the shop it's well worth making a coffee, pulling up a chair and having a browse.

A successful Funday Monday...

My face is aching with all the laughter that has gone on here today. We have had a really good day with lots of fun and enjoyment. Life should be full of days like these. We have spent the morning uploading all our recent makes on to the blog shop so please pop over and have a look. There are gorgeous new dumflings, pictures, bears and cards.

Mother's Day is up and coming and I'm sure some of our new bits and bobs would make perfect pressies including the little Mother's Day bears. I hope you like what we have added to the shop. Don't be afraid to leave us suggestions if there is something special you would like making or if there is something you like but maybe you would like it in a different colour. We enjoy a challenge and if possible will do our best to have a go.

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.

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 :-)

My bears....

As promised here is a quick blog to share a bit of info about my bears. They are tiny felt bears about 2" in height [so only suitable for over 3 year olds due to their tiny parts]. They are all made to my own design and I write little poems to go in their bags with them. I sell them for £1.75 each plus any postage/packaging costs. I started with a worry bear and, over the years as requests came in' I now have little poems to suit all sorts of occasions. The easiest way is for me just to list the poems so here goes...
Self esteem bear
Challenge bear
Hospital bear
Good luck bear
Birthday bear
Congratulations bear
Thank you bear
Poorly bear
Sporty bear
Bon voyage bear
Christmas teddy
Grand parent bear
Baby bear
Over the hill bear
Mother's day bear
Sunshine ted
Bridal bears [2 in pack and costs more]
Bride bear
Crafty bear
New house bear

Phew....I didn't realise the list was so long :-) So you have an idea of what the poems are like here is one for you to read.

Comfort Bear
This little bear will give you strength,
When you’re feeling rather sad.
He’ll comfort you and give you love,
So things don’t seem so bad,
He comes to you from special friends,
Who want to show they care,
No words can tell you how they feel,
But at times life just ain’t fair. ©

As you can see they are just little dittys really and I have the copyright to them all so please no copying.

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 :-)