A little something for the grannies

What happens when I'm not at home

The trauma of watching my family be on holiday together whilst I cycle off to the (admittedly quite pleasant) grindstone everyday was tempered massively by my return home to this:



A lovingly made sewing table by The HusWife and The Son and a place to stash my ever increasing paraphernalia. Ok so the lounge is now somewhat smaller because of it, and I'm chuffed the boys don't mind the sacrifice; but it means no more lugging the machine about the house, no more having to tidy up if I don't want to. Brilliant! Thank you boys x

You've got to love a brand that knows how to please

Ordered a bikini from Selfridges and it arrived almost instantly. Not only that, but I found myself photographing the unboxing (in that slightly nerdy Apple-esque way) because I was so impressed with their attention to detail. First off, this:



A tiny little Selfridges yellow tab. I nearly wet myself with excitement. Such a lovely playful hint at what I was about to discover. And then this:



And this:



And suddenly the £4.95 postage and packaging cost seemed totally worth it. Putting this much effort into a parcel (my parcel), the joyful stickers (Selfridges thinks my choice was a good one!), the layer upon layer of tissue, meant I was all fired up and excited before I even got to the product. B-rilliant. A cracking bit of brand extension. And exactly the reaction I want to foster when I send my stuff to people.

A different kind of meditation

Making things in singles has been very nice. You know, one thing at a time, enjoying a kind of intimacy with it as you watch it come to life. But now I'm making 10 things at once and so it feels a lot more impersonal in some ways - but I can see the efficiencies of doing it like this. Repeating the same seam/pressing/pinning over and over may mean you can make a whole bunch of things a bit more quickly, but it also sends me into a bit of a zone which I find it altogether very satisfying. Such a virgo.

Fortune favours the brave

Bumped into our mate Ju on Wells beach last weekend and she's taking the plunge and opening her own studio/giftshop. She has kindly asked me to make a few bits and pieces to sell which is very exciting, but in the meantime I thought she'd better have a new pencil case. Because darlings, when we start new school we need brand new pencils, rubber and ruler don't we? So this little project got me into the world of fusible fleece lining stuff, and my very first zip. Ahhh, bless.



Good luck Ju, go get 'em!

Now that's more like it

No rushing. Redoing dodgy bits. And voila...

OK, not sewing related but includes ribbon

The lovely granny (Cat) from across the way on my estate was gobsmacked when I said we were growing tomatoes on our little balcony. Thus, we left this on her doorstep this morning as she wasn't in. Hope she's not gone on her hols cos she's going to return to a mouldy cup of goo otherwise. Cute pressie though, no?