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.