Update

I'm taking a break from blogging because my chronic fatigue is bad at the moment, meaning my energy levels are really low.

I am still posting on my Instagram account if you'd like to know what I am working on when I'm able.

My instagram link

Made today

This is what I did today. A little collage made from scraps and bits and bobs. It just needs mounting. 

I'll be back on Monday.

TTFN
Louise 

Progress on the blue and white piece

I've only been working on this since Sunday, so a lot has changed from what you could see in my last blog post. I filled in the remaining edge with some white cotton and stitched the remaining edges that were just pinned on. I've also filled in in the last empty spaces with fabric or lace. I've added some beads and lots of stitch. I only need to add a few more details and it'll be finished.

I'll be back on Thursday.

TTFN
Louise

Edges

Both the white on white and blue and white pieces I'm working on started off with a piece of fabric cut from a vintage cotton sheet so they have raw edges (the blue and white one started a lot smaller than it is now and it was extended with another piece of vintage sheet and then topped with a piece from a napkin with it's edge still attached). I could create a hem on each edge but it's more fun to use different bits and pieces instead.

As the top edge is already done, I hemmed the top edge of the broderie anglais, adding some sequins as decoration and the piece of floral fabric on the left.

This blue-stitched edge came from a fragment I got in a scrap pack - it's still waiting to be sewn down.

The bottom edge is a piece from a chair back, with most of its lace cut off and used elsewhere (the flowers I added to my skirt came from it)

This white edge is from the same cloth as the top half of the piece.

This one is a scrap of fabric

This is an edge from a tablecloth.

I often cut pieces from the insides of tablecloths or napkins etc and not need use the edges of the item, so I keep these in a china bowl in my workroom until required. For the blue and white piece in the photos above, I've used a number of different edges, as indicated in the caption for each photo.

The white piece turned out to be just the right size to fit a three-sided edge of a napkin, as you can see in the second photo of the white piece above. I've attached each edge with stab stitches through holes of edge and I'm now in the process of buttonhole stitching around the cut edge of the edge piece. All I need to do now is find something to edge the bottom edge.

I'll be back on Tuesday.

TTFN
Louise

A beautiful gift

I've 'met' a lot of people through social media, many are just 'friends in my phone' but a few have become 'proper' friends. Doni Hall is one of those. I only 'met' her (she lives in Tennessee) last July through the 'Where Bloggers Create' blog hop hosted by Karen Valentine on her blog, My Desert Cottage. You can see Doni's post  here.

Anyway to cut a long story short, I sent her a little package and she sent me one in return. This is what was in it:

She made me a lace book (you can see her making these on her Youtube channel).

I'll be keeping it on my bedside table so I can see it everyday.

She also gifted me some gorgeous items from her lace collection.

These have been placed in my vintage chocolate box with the other laces that are for special pieces of work only.

She also sent me my very own Foxy Fix traveller's notebook.

Along with the couple of notebooks that she recovered, Doni also included one each of her homemade dashboards, a pocket folder and a Petals and Bloom (the name of rhe paper range she used) multi-page pocket folder (there's a tutorial on how she make these on her Youtube channel too).

Wasn't I a lucky girl?

I'll be back again on Sunday.

TTFN
Louise

Two finished items and some sewing related happy mail

As promised in my last post, I finished the skirt I was making.

I also finished the bunting I'd been making for my Mum.

I had been saving my pennies to visit the Liverpool Vintage Fair last Saturday, but it was cancelled, so I've been doing a little bit of online shopping over the bank holiday weekend! 

These are the first things through the letter box. The fabric is from Billow Fabrics where all of these are currently in their sale. The beads are from Sew and So.

I received a lovely package from a new friend today as well, but there are so many wonderful things in it that it deserves a blog post all of its own! I'll be back with that on Friday.

TTFN
Louise