Ditsy Designs

Gather your scraps!

I have been collecting the offcuts from my duvets, pillowcases and clothes from larger projects and cutting them into squares for a little while now. I have been saving them for quilted projects. Then with my sister's birthday looming and her having just moved into her new cottage I thought it was the perfect opportunity to finally use some of those little squares!

Alana loves bright colours and bold patterns so I picked the squares that I thought went together to make such a quilt. Confession time....to tie all the squares together and make it look like a bit of thought had gone into it...... I bought the various small polka dot material pieces in different colours from Dunelm. Not recycling I know but I had a vision!! So without further ado....

 

(This is on mine and Ben's bed)

 

(Click on the pictures for a better look!)

 

Here you can see the pink polka dot fleece I used to back the quilt. Its so soft and snuggly! I hope she loves it!

So come on everyone...gather your scraps, cut them into squares and make a lovely quilt in time for winter! xxxxx

Baby update

I'm now 34 weeks pregnant!! I've got 6 weeks left till my due date eek!! I have only 2 weeks left to work before I take maternity leave and I am VERY happy about this! Just thought I'd show you what ben and I have been up to in the spare room...

This is what it used to look like

This is the room now

We've painted it a gorgeous soft green colour, and have stuck to all white furniture. I still need to make lots of yummy cushions for the daybed so that me and baby have somewhere to snuggle for feeds. I've taken some shots of the various shelves...

Now all we need is the baby....watch this space! xxx 

Handbag of the season...

I've been working on a new handbag pattern over the summer. So far I have made one for my friend's birthday, and this one which I'm going to show you in detail!

 

The small floral print fabric was a Laura Ashley vallance from the 80's I believe. The polka dot fabric used to be used as a table cloth that I confess wasn't mine it was a friends! But it looks so much better as a bag...forgive me Kate?

 

The applique on the bottom section was inspired by this gorgeous tin that holds all of my favourite buttons!

 

Here is a close up of the applique bit...

 

These are all scraps of fabric (and an old doiley) made into a picure and then worked on top of with the sewing machine, and using some hand embroidery. And then with some special buttons to finish! Tada!

Last but not least my label which I've made a feature of above the inside pocket of the bag...

Zips!

Zips terrify me! or should i say did terrify me! I think I have finally mastered them hooray! I've been working on some lined, zippered cosmetics bags that I hope will be in the new shop very soon! Here is a sneaky peek at the prototypes, let me know what you think of them...

 

I've used some scrap fabric given to me by a friend for the outer, and the lining is made from an old duvet cover found in a charity shop...

 

This is a page from my sketchbook detailing the floral lining! I've been testing thick interfacing as well which gives them a padded, quality feel! And the zip works...bonus!

These are only simple prototypes, but I think the curved top is a nice feature! Here is what I was thinking for the exterior to give a bit of vavaVOOM...

 

Some of those pictures were from Cath Kidston's book 'Make', I'm thinking of something along the lines of simple applique with some delicious buttons!

Tell me what you think I love getting your feedback....xxx

 

What a rush!

2 weeks ago My friend and fellow crafty devil Lara asked if I would like to run a stall with her selling our latest creations. Now I've been meaning to try selling on a stall for a while but have always been a bit of a scardy cat..(do people really want to buy this stuff??) so I jumped at the chance, not stopping to consider that I had 2 weeks to make enough stock! DOH!

Anyway after some frantic sewing and bookbinding I finally had....not a lot! But despite the lack of time i think we managed to make a good looking stall...

 

Our stall was part of an oxfam event, 'Girls night out' and it was actually really fun! There was a clothes swap, jewellery lucky dip (very popular! I got earrings hooray!) a lovely buffet, and a raffle with some suprisingly good prizes! Having said that I came away with a notecard set that wasn't very nice and Lara won a tea light! We had slim pickings as all the good prizes had been snaffled! All good fun! And I'm sure we all managed to raise a good bit for the charity. Here are the ladies perusing the clothes swap rails

and this is my mum very pleased with her finds...

Sorry that they aren't very good pictures, I think the oxfam volunteers thought i was a bit mad taking pictures of our own stall! Hey ho...here is a closer one of the stall...

 

The gorgeous painted birds and mirrors are laras creations! Adorable! On the right hand side of the stall were my dangly birds! Take a look...

 

So there you have it mine and Lara's first stall...hopefully we'll have a place on the Saturday market soon...maybe...who knows?! xxx

HCA Summer School 2009

Last week in the muggy crazy hot weather it was Summer School! 13 girls from various schools in Herefordshire joined the recycling clothing and textiles class and although it was a hard week we had a lot of fun! The best bit for me was their faces as they turned their projects 'right side out' and revealed their designs! They couldn't believe that what they had made, magic!

Here are a few piccies:

by the way please excuse some of the scary beaten up mannequins the blue one was fished out of a skip for the day!

Above is Katherines tshirt dress. This used to be a plain vest top and a summer dress.

 

This brightly coloured lovely is a puffball skirt (not displayed very well, mannequin was was too short) and a coursage top. Harriet made this from a curtain and lots of scraps! There is even a piece of jigsaw in there somewhere...

  

This is a close up of all the coursages.

 

This cheerful pegbag was made using an old tea towel and other scraps!

 

Above is India's revamped headband into a rather eye-catching headpiece.

 

This is Bianca's tribute to Michael Jackson. Made from some old pinstripe trousers and various glittery strips from a dress...oh and not forgetting the shocking orange silky fabric!

 

And this is Kayleighs masterpiece, made from some leopard print fabric, a PVC-esk belt and a beaded necklace.

These are just a few of the lovely items made by the girls. Such good use of all these wasted clothes and accessories! I think they all look marvellous! Clever old sticks xxxx

Little Pip

Some time during the 3 weeks of 'resting' off work we managed to concieve our little pip! Hooray! At the moment I am now 22weeks pregnant and over half way there..EEK! Here is a catch up of its progress over the past 5 months.....

 This is the 12 week scan picture! Its so cute!

 This is me looking TIRED at 20 weeks.

 And this is the picture from the 20 week scan, baby put its arms over its head at the crutial moment! Hah camera shy already! Bit hazy but still lovely!

And there you have it...the pip so far! I don't want to bore people too much about it as this is mostly a crafty blog but I thought I'd share it with you.....

By the way we don't know whether its a girl or boy, its going to be a surprise! I'm normally impatient and rubbish at surprises but I reckon I can handle this one! xxxx

I'm BACK!!

Its been a long time since I last blogged any activity, but thats not to say nothings been happening! First of all an announcement.....I'm PREGNANT! Ben and I are expecting our first little bundle of joy at the beginning of November. Very exciting, and utterly consuming...hence the tumbleweed that has been rolling around this page of late. In the last blog I was off work for a knee injury, well, I'm well and truly back on form, and now i've got my energy back I hope to squeeze in lots of crafting and stories before the baby comes!!

A right old pickle!

I must be mad...its 8.30 in the morning and I feel the urge to blog my recent activity! I've truly got the bug!

Well my sewing space had got totally out of hand, there were half finished projects hanging off Lady Staunton (tailors dummy) and spilling out of bags, the material seemed to be breeding when I closed the door, and there was no surface space to actually do any making...DISASTER! so I've been busy sorting, streamlining and organising! Unfortunately I don't have any before shots as I was just too ashamed!

So now all thats left to do is get rid of the surplus furniture, buy new shelving units (from IKEA which Ben absolutely hates, personally I can't understand it!), give it a fresh coat of paint, and then put it back tidily so that everything has a designated home. Sounds like hard work! I can't wait, but I have to because of my rubbish knee.

I've also got big plans for the garden this year, at the moment its looking terribly sad...

 

I can't wait to get cracking on it!

Spring in my step

This weekend has been really lovely, I've chilled out with my friends, watched lots of girly movies and eaten tons of CHEESE. And the weather has been marvellous, bright sunshine and blue sky! Really puts you in a good mood!

I've been inspired by this lovely weather to make these collages, have a peep...

 

This one below is a little empty...maybe less is more?

 

This one below I really like, but I wish I hadnt stamped the butterfly...tsk you live, you learn,

 

Not sure where I'm going to go with these collages, I've won some used stamps on ebay and am hoping to develop my 'postage' ideas. I quite fancy making a collection of postcards...mmm we'll see.