Nins And Peedles

Folksy Friday

2010-07-31T15:52:00.000-07:00

I have just opened up my Folksy shop for my Waste Not Want Not items, all the lovely goodies I make from recycled fabric (and a few special items from new) and so I headed over to the forums on Folksy and found out about Folksy Friday.

So far I've had 8 blogs feature my photography for Folksy Friday without realising what it was all about and now I do know I think it is a jolly good idea and so I am about to participate (all be it a day late, does that matter??? It is my first time!!).

The idea is, pick a theme, find up to 6 items on Folksy that fit and that you personally love and blog it!

Today a friend of mine told me he found a huge vintage honey pot and thought I would love it and will bring it round soon and I have just uploaded a photo of a bee to Flickr, so my theme will be, er, bees!

First up is this adorable teacosy, I have a soft spot for teacosies but I never use a teapot so I'm in a bit of turmoil over them, I am also envious of anyone that can knit.

I thought this was a photograph when I saw the thumbnail but it's actually a pencil drawing, it is fantastic, I love this so much, what amazing talent.

These are just the cutest things ever and again, knitted, that mysterious and unknown medium to me.

This cushion is just too much cute! I love this so much, I need to decorate a room in my house with a bee theme now.

OK, I think that's enough for now, I don't know how to make the photos go next to each other rather than in a line, if anyone knows, let me know too!!!

Vested Gentress Dresses For Sale

2010-07-26T08:39:00.000-07:00

I have listed my collection of Vested Gentress dresses and skorts on ebay, 2 have sold already and one has a bid so get them whilst you can!

Blog Features

2010-07-25T15:34:00.000-07:00

I was featured in two other blogs last week, not my dressmaking or crafts though, it was my photography from my Folksy account.

You can see the two blogs here and here.

Thanks girls!

Vintage Baby Sun Suits

2010-07-22T09:58:00.000-07:00

I found a HUGE stack of dress making and craft magazines from the 1970's in a charity shop, the photos in them are hilarious, you can see some of the better ones here .

But amongst the true monsters there are a few gems, like this adorable baby and toddler's sun suit, I couldn't wait to have a go making one of these...so I did.

Book Bags

2010-07-22T09:51:00.000-07:00

I made these for my children's teachers as end of year presents.

Flower Corsages

2010-07-22T09:45:00.000-07:00

I'm having great fun making these at the moment, I tried to find a good method so that I get a nice fluffy, full flower and have settled on this and it's the easiest, even if I do keep burning my fingers, ouch!

Shirred Pillowcase Dress

2010-06-21T13:45:00.000-07:00

one

2010-06-21T13:42:00.000-07:00

Shirred Pillowcase Dress

2010-06-17T15:16:00.000-07:00

I had an idea the other week, it came to me in a flash.

I wanted to make my daughter a smocked summer dress but I also had a huge stash of pillowcases I wanted to turn into dresses and suddenly a lightbulb went off, ping! Combine the two, combine the two!!!

I went to bed thinking about this and the first thing I did when I got up was start making one and it turned out beautifully!!

I have searched on Google and haven't found anything the same, but I can't believe I am the first to think up such a simple idea!!! I'm sure there must be others out there.

Sew Mama Sew Sewing Machine Meme

2009-06-03T17:00:00.000-07:00

My favourite website Sew Mama Sew has a sewing machine questionnaire on their site so that they can source lots of info on different types of sewing machines and find out what people want from one.

Here are my answers:

What brand and model do you have? A 1950;s (I think) Novum Deluxe Mark III, if anyone has any info on this brand I love to hear it as I can't find anything on the internet about it.

How long have you had it? About a month

How much does that machine cost (approximately)? £5

What types of things do you sew (i.e. quilting, clothing, handbags, home dec projects, etc.)? Clothes mainly

How much do you sew? How much wear and tear does the machine get? I try to sew every day but rarely manage it with 3 children and a house to run.

Do you like/love/hate your machine? Are you ambivalent? Passionate? Does she have a name? I love it and no, it doesn't have a name.

What features does your machine have that work well for you? I have an amazing array of feet to go on it, a ruffler, a pintuck foot, a bias binding maker which also sews the bias tape onto the garment, a narrow hem foot and a few others.

Is there anything that drives you nuts about your machine? Nope.

Do you have a great story to share about your machine (i.e., Found it under the Christmas tree? Dropped it on the kitchen floor? Sewed your fingernail to your zipper?, Got it from your Great Grandma?, etc.!)? We want to hear it! Bought it at a car boot fair and knocked him down from £10, I do love a good haggle.

Would you recommend the machine to others? Why? YES!!!! Amazingly fast and smooth, sews like a dream to a near industrial standard, plus it looks fabulous too.

What factors do you think are important to consider when looking for a new machine? I don't know much about sewing machines, I just want one that can go through quite thick fabric and maybe even leather, is reliable, strong, simple and easy to use.

Do you have a dream machine? I think I have it already :)

My First Pillowcase Dress

2009-05-10T16:37:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to have a go at a pillocase dress for ages but never had any spare (or nice) pillocases, anyway, I have recently aquired quite a lot so I thought I'd take one with the least attractive pattern topractice on (didn't want to waste a snazzy one), it turned out to be extremely easy to make, even the bias binding, and weirdly once made up as a dress the print actually looks really nice, who'd have thunk it?

60's Tunic

2009-04-27T09:13:00.000-07:00

I used the free pattern that came with Prima magazine and some of the HUGE piece of 60's fabric I got from a charity shop for £1.50 to make this tunic, I LOVE it!

Sofa Day beds

2009-04-23T17:28:00.000-07:00

When we moved to our new house in September 2008 we didn't have any sofas and spent 3 months sitting on giant bean bags and being strapped for cash meant we couldn't buy any decent sofas either so what did we do? Made them ourselves.

Indy designed and hand built them both from scratch based on a traditional Indian day bed, they both have single mattresses so they can be used as guests beds (plus you get to sleep by the cosy warm fire whilst everyone upstairs shivers).

We have painted one gold but can't decide if we like it or not so have left the other one until inspiration hits us.....

Simple Summer Dresses

2009-04-23T17:12:00.000-07:00

This design looks very similar to a 'pillow case dress' whereby a dress is made from a pillow case and a ribbon is run through a casing around the front and back necklines to make drawstring straps. This version is slightly more elaborate with a contrasting bodice, rick rack and fixed straps (which I made out of bias binding instead of buying another yard of fabric just to make to thins straps!!)

Linen Summer Dress & Jacket

2009-04-23T16:56:00.000-07:00

These were both Prima patterns I believe, I made them last summer from a designer linen I bought in Forest Gate for an absolute knock down price, I paid about £7 a yard for it and then saw it for sale in John Lewis for £20 a yard!!!

I do like a bargain :)

Robin Hood Boy In Tights

2009-04-23T16:49:00.000-07:00

My son had to play the Town Crier in his school play about Robin Hood, he only had a 30 second slot out of an hour long play but I was determined to make him the best costume I could and this is what I came up with.....

Holidays Dress

2009-04-23T16:43:00.000-07:00

I used the same vintage pattern to make a Halloween dress and a Christmas dress in novelty print fabric, I adore this style, it looks so sweet and innocent on toddlers.

Summer Playsuit

2009-04-23T16:29:00.000-07:00

Another great vintage pattern, a fabulous little shorts playsuit, this time I used the good old Ikea children's fabric, I still need to put 2 big red buttons on this.

Secret Santa

2008-06-03T15:51:00.000-07:00

I made my presents for my Secret Santa this year (I always seem tio make things for other people and rarely for myself!), I made a hot water bottle cover, a little handbag and a crayon roll.

A Manly Apron

2008-06-03T15:40:00.000-07:00

I am so slack at updating this blog!

I made this for my brother for Christmas, I spent AGES trying to find a manly, kitsch fabric and finally found this one, which was perfect.

I lined it in red cotton and the pattern is.......misplaced for the moment, it's a 'get everything out the cupboards' job so I'll look tomorrow! Anyway, it was a very easy pattern but looks very complicated and clever when finished, I like patterns like that ;)

Baby Goth

2008-05-21T13:01:00.000-07:00

My order of fabric came from the USA the other day and I have been itching to use it and the first thing I made was a new dress for Poppy in this fabulous pink skull print fabric.

I have got quite fast at making these now and I can actually but the bia binding on with no trouble at all now, yippee!!

My Best Friend's Wedding

2008-05-21T12:53:00.000-07:00

My wonderful friend Claire who I have known since I was 12 and who I love to pieces and is the only person I feel totally comfortable and at peace with (apart from the Mr) got married at the weekend.

I wanted to make something to wear to her wedding and used and original 60's pattern for the dress and a 60's style pattern for the jacket, I used an amazing purpley blue 2 tone silky fabric which also had turquoise motifs and metallic bronze thread embroidered throughout for the dress and plain for the jacket.

It turned out perfectly (which my things never do usually!), it was fate! I wore it and it was so comfy, I am very, very pleased with it.

Cardboard Gingerbread Men

2007-12-09T17:35:00.000-08:00

I saw a wonderful wreath on Martha Stewart's website made out of real Gingerbread Men but I didn't want to hang real edible decorations on the door, not with MY kids (and dog) around so I made it out of cardboard instead and used 3D paint for the icing and raisins.

I will get a proper, nice red tartan ribbon for it, that is all I have to hang it with at the moment.

The Tree

2007-12-09T17:23:00.000-08:00

If we were hamsters, and our house was their cage, the RSPCA would come round and rescue us for being overcrowded. Seeing as we are just humans however we just have to lump it.

So, lack of space means no space for a tree, not even our usual slimline artificial one so I decided to make one instead.

Its made from MDF, it's painted BRIGHT green, the baubles hang inside sawn out holes and it looks fabulous and I LOVE it!!!

Still here

2007-12-03T16:32:00.000-08:00

Do not fear, I'm still here!

I have been doing a LOT of crafting for the past couple of weeks but it is all for my Secret Santa so I can't show any of it until after Christmas in case she sees it!

I am however making a fabulous Christmas tree which I designed and my husband is doing all the hard manly stuff with the holesaw and jigsaw but I shall be uploading the photos of it's various stages of development tomorrow and hopefully it's completion!

Where has my baby gone?

2007-10-17T11:08:00.000-07:00

My wickle baby waby Pops Pops has started playgroup, it's 3 hours a morning for 3 mornings a week, sob,sob.

Of course she doesn't HAVE to go but she is getting bored at home and absolutely loves it there, on her first day (Tues) she didn't want to come home and today she cried after her nap as she wanted to go back.

She has to take a spare set of clothes with her so I thought what better way to mark the occassion than by making her her very own bag, I'm very pleased with this one as I made it up as I went along and even lined it!!! It took me about an hour, maybe less.

Cherry Pops

2007-10-16T15:38:00.000-07:00

Another a-line dress, each one gets better and better, this one was 98% perfect, I am still having trouble with the joins on the bias binding but I will get there.

This one is baby soft needle cord and I put red bias binding on it. I managed to make this one in one afternoon, with kidteruptions of course.

Busy Bee

2007-10-01T15:46:00.000-07:00

Yes, I have been very busy, Poppy's band new and rather expensive (especially when you have just lost your job) scooter was stolen from the park less than 2 weeks after I bought it for her 2nd birthday but a wonderful cyber buddy of mine emailed me and asked (begged) if she could could buy Poppy a replacement.

I didn't know whether to accept or not, I didn't want to say no in case I looked rude and offended her by snubbing her very generous offer but I was worried it was far too expensive for her to buy, and I didn't want to say yes in case it looked like I was taking advantage or something, arrrgh, you know how it is, situations like that are difficult!

Anyway, I discussed it with dh and we decided to accept, I was very emotional about it, I mean just how kind and generous was that?????

I came up with the idea that I would make her some dresses for her daughter who is the same age as Poppy as a thank you and it's taken me a while because I had to wait until I had a bit of cash for the fabric and then finding time to make them has been hard but at last I have finished them !!!!!!!

I would have completey finished them if I could find the tiny red button for the Christmas dress, I am sooooo annoyed, I wanted to post them off tomorrow but I'll have to go to the haberdashers first, Isaw that button the other day too, grrrrrrr

So here they are, a cup cake dress, a Christmas dress (for wearing at Christmas, it will look great with a red jumper and red tights) and a bag for the wonderful Mama herself.

And I actually made something for myself yesterday too, I managed to make it in an afternoon with constant kid interruptions so it would proably take an hour in all.
I bought the fabric and the lining from Husseins Fabrics in Forrest Gate for £2 a yard and it was a double fold yard so huge, I can get several bags out of it.
I just need to buy a button for it tomorrow and it's finished!

Wilful Neglect

2007-09-12T04:51:00.000-07:00

Yes, I have been neglecting this little baby of mine due to school holidays, 3 children and a dog to look after, disaster befalling us in the form of my husband loosing his job plus a bout of illness that has inflicted us one after the other and which is still on going. Who'd have thought you could squeeze all that into 6 weeks ??

Anyway, I had been working on something which is almost complete, I just have to hem it plus completely re-do the bodice because it doesn't hang right on me, is there seriously any such thing as a standard body shape because I'm sure as Hell not it!!!!!

Here are a couple of photos of the unfinished dress, they were taken on my mobile phone because the battery has run out in my camera and I can't find the charger at the mo, so not that great quality but you can get the idea......

Getting Better

2007-08-13T09:54:00.000-07:00

Here it is, I'm so proud of this dress even if there are bits that haven't gone quite right but now I know what and where I can correct it next time.

I bought this fabric from an ebay seller in the US as you just cannot get decent, cheap fabric for love nor money in the UK, God I hate living in England sometimes :(

I put bias binding around the neck and armholes for decoration rather than on the inside as the pattern suggested and after some trials and errors with the 'button loop' I finally decided to use some very thin ribbon and it works perfectly.

A bit more than a toile

2007-07-31T15:34:00.000-07:00

Ages ago I bought a HUGE piece of fabric with pink butterflies from the remnant box for about £3, I had no idea what I was going to with it but it was too much of a bargain not to.

The other day I bought this pattern..

http://www.simplicitynewlook.com/index.phpmain_page=product_info&products_id=1790#

...which is also the pattern the Ikea trousers came from, this time I had a go at the dress but without the puff sleeves because Pops could get more wear out of a sleeveless one by wearing tops under it.

So I used the butterfly fabric as a kind of toile that she could wear if it turned out ok.

I had a few troubles with the weird bias binding on the arm and neck holes but it's wearable....

Now to make it in some funky fabric! Come back tomorrow to see what it was!

Poppy, my Guinea Pig

2007-07-28T13:18:00.000-07:00

I'm thinking toddler clothes should be a lot quicker to sew what with them being so much smaller right? So using that theory my 23 month old daughter Poppy gets quite a few items made for her....like these trousers made from some left over Ikea fabric I had!

They are meant to be cropped but I think I made a big mistake sewing them up by sewing the wrong legs together so the front and back are half front and back if you know what I mean and they have taken on a slightly odd shape but, ho hum, it's all a learning curve right?

Anyway, they are great for mucking about in the park and I can always make another pair, they were so easy I think if I didn't have any interruptions I could make them start to finish in a hour.

I love this fabric......

My First Time

2007-07-25T08:51:00.000-07:00

Ooh, my first blog post, very exciting!!

Another reason to be excited is I have just bought a new sewing machine, the one I have already I bought second hand a couple of years ago and it really is on it's way out, it probably just needs a service but I'd rather upgrade and get a new one.

I have settled on the Janome 4623 as it was the best I could get for my budget, I'm waiting for it to arrive, it should come any day, maybe tomorrow!

In the mean time I have been practising and making some simple items with my current machine.

The first project I tackled was this dress by the April 2007 Prima Pattern which came free with Prima Magazine. I bought the fabric from Husseins Fabrics in Green Street, Forest Gate, the fabric along with the thread, zip and a collosal sheet of interfacing came to a grand total of £9.

The pattern and instructions were very easy to follow and the bodice is all one piece, no sleeves, yay!!! (I hate sleeves, attaching them that is , not wearing them) the only bits I had problems with was the interfacing on the V-neck, I spent ages trying to work out how to get the 'point' at the 'v' to lay flat, crisp and sharp, mine kept puckering up, I got it in the end, well nearly.

The other bit I had a HUGE problem with is putting in the concelaed zip but that was due to the fact I'd never done one before, had no-one to show me and didn't have the appropriate foot.

Here is the finished result...