mollie makes: september

I know, I know.  I am more than a little late with this post but I am cross with myself.

I started out with very good intentions to make the little dog plushie designed by Tania Ho in September's Mollie Makes.

I selected my fabrics.  Some grey linen, check cotton and ditsy floral cotton. All salvaged from clothing destined for recycling.  Printed the full size templates and cut out the pieces.

I even went so far as to sew a good portion of the dog together, as evidenced below.  But sadly, I just couldn't be doing with this project.  It was a faff. So fiddly and not at all how I expected it to turn out.  So I threw it aside crossly.

  

Don't feel bad for the little half finished pooch though.  Despite having no ears, only one arm and some drawn on eyes and nose, because frankly he was really creepy without them my little fairy has adopted him as her own.  I'm glad he won't be lonely.

And to make up for my epic failure on this project I made a little ruffle necklace or collar inspired by the beautiful tulle one in issue 18.

So what do you think?  I informed Mr F it was a necklace and he looked at me like I had lost the plot. Sometimes he just doesn't get my creative genius.  I think I do see his point but it might be fun to give this one a go again.

Anyway, onwards and upwards.  There's always the October issue.

september weekend

This weekend, we enjoyed the sunny weather and went for a walk at our local national trust property Florence Court House and Gardens.

It's one of our all time favourite places to go.  The wee ones know every path, tree and stream in the grounds.

And they have an absolute ball running through the garden and forest walks.

We stopped off at a little stream to make a wish,

and said hello to the gargoyle.

After some time in the playground it was off home for tea, a bath and stories before bed.

Heaven, three little ones cuddled into bed.  Relaxed and happy for the week to come.

I have been getting crafty over the weekend too, adding a few more rounds to my granny square blanket. Very slowly I must admit owing to a sore elbow which is limiting me to short bursts now and again.  It's seriously messing up my hooking time.

Oh and on the subject of time, I can't quite believe how long it takes to complete a single round of my blanket at the minute.  I am in awe of the giant crochet throws and blankets I have been drooling over in blogland.

I've also started on my Mollie Makes project for this month and will reveal all here soon.

And I have been reading The Simple Things magazine.  It seems like my kind of magazine with some lovely crafts, food, homes and gardening articles.  It also has the bonus that Mr F has been enjoying it as well. There seems to be enough content to satisfy both genders.

I'm off now to catch up on a mountain of housework.  I never seem to get anything done at the weekend. Does anyone else have the same problem?

mollie makes: august

Well here goes.  My first Mollie Makes project reveal.  Teeny tiny bunting on a top for my little fairy.

After flicking through the August issue of Mollie Makes I decided to try the mini bunting.  As you can see I used the tutorial as inspiration, choosing triangular bunting and a little top instead of the skirt.  

I won't even attempt to regurgitate the tutorial but here is a little of the process.  I chose the fabric and decided on template size for the little triangles.

I cut them, stacked up with my rotary cutter and sewed them up.  I added bias binding, a narrow satin type I had in my stash.

I decided to hand sew this part as the bunting is so small it was a bit of a faff with the sewing machine.  I also liked that you could have invisible stitches along the tape.  Then I stitched it onto the top, a basic little long sleeved cotton t-shirt.

And now the before and after.

I enjoyed completing this project although i'm not really sure if i would do it again.  The bunting was a little fiddly.  I will sticking to larger scale versions for draping gaily around the house.

I have ear-marked a few other projects I would like to give a whirl.  When my crochet skills improve I wouldn't mind trying the star garland.  It would make a cute festive decoration.

And I will definitely be giving stamp carving a go.  It's been on my to-do list for quite a while.

Did any of you make anything lovely from issue seventeen? 

mollie makes pledge

Earlier this year I subscribed to the wonderful Mollie Makes magazine, my mother's day treat and now I have a lovely pile of copies which will be treasured.

As the magazine is full to brimming with lovely inspiration and brilliant tutorials I have decided to make a little pledge, not written in stone mind, that I will have a go at one of the craft tutorials each month.

In order to keep myself motivated I will include a show and tell on here.  I was inspired to make my pledge by the lovely Gillian from tales of a happy house who has made some fabric mice and friendship bracelets. Gillian has a lovely blog which is well worth a visit.

Also, I don't think I can contain my excitement.  Why, you ask?  Well the lovely Jane from teawagontales included the linen cloud in her list of new blog discoveries!  Thank you so, so much Jane!  I really couldn't be more delighted.

And to make a lovely day even lovelier, Mr F and I are going out tonight, just the two of us.  This is a rare and precious treat at the moment so I'm off to prettify myself in anticipation.

PS ... I have just clocked the number of times I have used the word lovely in this post ... but I won't apologise - things are lovely around here!