Hemingway Design at John Lewis

We've been spending quite a bit of time in the John Lewis baby department recently, but I managed to sneak off to the haberdashery department. With the impending house move and new arrival, I haven't had much time for crafting recently so I was looking for inspiration. And I couldn't help admiring this lovely collection by Hemingway Design for John Lewis. Inspired by Art Deco motifs and shapes, the whole collection is lovely, I especially like the vanity cases which would make a very stylish place to stash your craft stuff. They'd be equally lovely as vanity cases in the old fashioned sense too, to carry around make up or as an overnight bag.

Tins and purses with designs inspired by vintage sewing patterns.

 Hemingway Design is run by Wayne and Gerardine design who designed under the Red or Dead label in the 90s and who have since worked on a fascinating variety of projects ever since, on everything from wall tiles to the first vintage festival at London's Southbank. (You can read more about the Hemingway Design history on their website.)

Even the simple button, pin and needle tins are stylish with a simple Art Deco font.

 It's so nice to see some craft accessories that aren't the usual twee floral patterns that seem to be everywhere trying to emulate the Cath Kidston aesthetic. You can buy the collection online at the the John Lewis website.

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Fabric Haul from the Middle East

Over Christmas, I was lucky enough to go to Oman in the Middle East to visit my parents. Apart from the weather and good food, a big bonus are the material shops full of unusual prints that you can't get over here. I stocked up on fabric so I can start making some new designs and also try out making new things for my little bump. In the excitement of a whole shop full of material and preparing myself for some haggling, I stupidly forgot to take some photos inside the shop. Maybe next time. For now, here's a little look at a few of the new styles I bought.

Baby Essentials

I can't quite believe it but I am already almost 6 months pregnant. So far we haven't really got anything sorted, as we're planning on moving house before the baby is born and we don't want to fill our flat with things when we're having viewings.

Luckily, my ever stylish friend Amber who writes the Theatre of Fashion blog bought our son his first tuxedo...

And Daddy-to-be bought him a Moustache dummy...

And that's pretty much all we've got so far but surely that's all the Spring/Summer 13 essentials sorted?

Upcycle Those Christmas Cards

If you haven't quite got round to recycling your pile of Christmas cards, why not upcycle them instead? I know that this is a bit late and most people took their decorations down last weekend, but even if you've already thrown away your cards, this is a great way to create your own gift tags during the rest of the year.

I love old fashioned, brown luggage/postage labels and already use them in my bib packaging, so I loved the idea of this label shaped punch when I read about it on the Offbeat & Inspired blog back in December. I immediately bought one online from Amazon and intended to use it to make some homemade labels for Christmas. Sadly I didn't actually get it until after Christmas, but when I was taking down all my Christmas cards last week I was thinking what a shame it was to throw them away when I remembered the punch.

It's so simple to use and strangely addictive, you find yourself wanting to punch label shapes out of everything! Now I have lots of labels ready for next year which I've packed away with the ribbons and Christmas wrapping paper. As it will be the first Christmas with a new baby, I think I'll be very glad that I was so organised!

I do intend to use it all year round to make pretty home made tags, like the ones made out of cereal boxes that Offbeat & Inspired originally blogged about that inspired me in the first place! Have a look at Sarah & Tiffany's beautiful tags here.

New Cushions

Back in the summer, I made a cushion for a friend with some lovely African style material that she picked up in Ridley Road market in East London. Luckily, she liked it so much she asked me to make another one for her. I really like this material, I must get up to Ridley Road myself in the new year and get some for myself!

You can find out how to make this cushion by reading my Easy Peasy Envelope Cushion Cover tutorial.

Exciting news!

As you can see, we're going to be expecting a little one in 2013. This should mean that I always have a willing model on hand to try showcase my designs and try out some new products. Although, whether I'll have any time for crafting remains to be seen!

I've already started lusting over lots of gorgeous baby products, so I will have a go at making some new things and will post some tutorials and inspiration along the way.

Homemade Christmas Cards

Now it is December, it's officially OK to start getting excited about Christmas - yay! After a failed attempt to buy some 'nice' cards for my close family that didn't cost about a fiver (when did cards get so pricey?), I decided to make my own. Here are my first attempts:

 To create something similar, lay out your buttons on a different card or blank piece of paper and then gradually sew the buttons on the card you're going to use in sequence - easy! I used double thread and taped down the knotted ends on the inside so that they don't come loose. And I even added a little bell on the top for that Christmas sound effect.

For my second design, I cut out some mini stockings out of red felt, attached a bit of silver ribbon to the top and then secured them to the card by sewing on the buttons. I've left spaces on both to sew on people's names and I think next time I might sew the stockings on the card with a blanket stitch and even fill them with little presents.

With some Christmas carols on and festive biscuits to nibble on, making these was surprisingly therapeutic so hopefully I'll have time to make some more and maybe get a bit more adventurous with my designs.