Friday 9 March 2012

Girly ta dah's


Gosh, am I glad it's Friday, I've had a head cold brewing all week but haven't felt unwell enough to justify a day of bed rest. You know what it's like when you work and being mum and dealing with all the ge-zillion other things on your plate. You struggle, but continue to juggle through the week. I'm looking forward to some serious rest this weekend though!


I hope you are all well? Part of my relaxation weekend plan is to post a couple of my girly makes I have finished this week.


Do you remember when I went to the Cath Kidston Patch workshop here? Where I got to start to make my very first Dresden plate pattern and take it home to complete. 




All in all it's taken me about 5 hours of cutting, hand sewing and quilting to make this pretty little thing. It's been cathartic and such a pleasure when I have felt stressed.




I can honestly say I have enjoyed each and every stitch I've made. I love the way the pattern turned out too. 




This will be a little cushion for Alice's bed to add to her collection of sweet little cushions. I still need to sew the button on and make up the pillow slip which I intend to do over the weekend and oh, I need to give it a little press to! Not sure about you but ironing doesn't feature very high on the list of priorities in this here household!


I'm not sure why I am so addicted to embroidering names and patterns at the moment. I guess it's like with food craving phases, we all go through phases of liking something for a while then move onto another. 


This week I was invited to a little gathering tomorrow afternoon to an ex-colleague of mine's daughter's second birthday, so what better opportunity than to make a little stitchy present for her!




Because I haven't been feeling great and time constraints, I decided on a simple project, something personal but simple.




I chose this pink with white polka dots cotton fabric from my stash and machine sewed a little draw string bag for her.




I sewed an old crocheted doily (found in a charity shop ages ago) onto the bag, followed by one of my hand sewn hexagons and a button. I still haven't decided on which button yet. I think the small (above) pink one is my favourite for this bag. Or do you think the bigger pink (below) one is better?




Actually after seeing these photo's again I think the bigger one looks better!




Of course her sweet name needed to be embroidered onto the bag.




And there we have it.. a little girly draw string bag for Annabelle...




Ok, so it needs a little pressing too but I am rather please with this pretty and functional bag. I made one for Alice about 2 years ago to try and help her be a bit more tidy and use it for holding all her clothes that needed to be washed (instead of dumping them on the floor!!) and hey presto it worked. How much longer am I going to be able to revel in this pre-teen joy? ;0)


Wishing you all a very special and relaxing weekend
See you soon 
xox

13 comments:

  1. Hmmmm, we have three ways to store dirty clothes and yet the floor is still covered...must be a teen thing. Sigh ~Kelly

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  2. Lovely stitching and a really special gift, you are a clever one you know!

    Not sure if I think I prefer the little button, but both look nice, isn't it nice to have a few bits to embellish and finish?

    I do hope you get the rest and re-charge that you need this weekend, I for one have a tub of ice-cream earned from a hard lawn mowing session....I know the calorie burn will not add up, but it's the weekend! Hav a good'un.x

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  3. Such a pretty bag, the birthday girl is a lucky little lady.

    I find given my reputation for making baby knits that there is no shortage of friends and relations with little ones who appreciate a handmade gift, and I'm sure you're going to have just as many opportunities to make the personalised embroidered pretties you are surely becoming known for :D

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  4. Dear Penelope,

    Your bag is adorable and Annabelle will love it. I was going to say the bigger button was better but when I saw the picture below of the bag as a whole I think the smaller one is perfect.

    I totally understand the feeling under the weather and struggling to get through everyday life thing. I sympathise enormously and I hope a good weekend of resting and dreaming will do you the power of good.

    Stephanie

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  5. The doily flower bag is gorgeous. I might pinch the idea as my daughter could do with a new PE bag!
    The patchwork cushion is lovely too - I seem to be seeing a lot of patchwork on blogs at the moment and am more and more tempted to have a go myself.
    Wishing you a lovely weekend. xx

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  6. Beautiful Penelope...I loe the way you emphasis shapes with hand stitching.. and great to see crochet being upcycled in such a sweet way... have a good weekend.. :)x

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  7. Two lovely makes, especially the flower patchwork.

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  8. I hope you feel better soon Penelope. I have a cold too and it's 39 dgrees c here today! Aren't you meant to get colds in Winter? Hmmmmm....
    The little bag for Annabelle is very sweet and has inspired me to make something similar for a girl I work with who is leaving next week. I also love your little CK plate cushion, I know nothing about quilting, but I do know that yours is very pretty x

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  9. Love, love, love, your pretty Dresden with the hand stitching. Sweet little pink bag too! Feel better and have a nice weekend :)

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  10. very beautiful and such a soecial gift, she will love it! I am so inspired by you to make some lovely pillowcases for someone, maybe I need to pop out and find some tomorrow and get on with it!
    Have a lovely weekend and feel better soon XXX

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  11. A lovely little feast of girly prettiness altogether, gorgeous. I hope you have some much needed R & R this weekend and get back on top of everything,
    lots of love,
    Penny (and a special lick from Higgins!)

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  12. Wow what a stunning post! I love all your stitchy gorgeousness sooooo much. Have a fab week hon.
    Leah
    x

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  13. What gorgeous fabric and stitchery work. I love all that you've made here and only wish I had more time to go back to my patchwork......aaahhhhhh - maybe one day.

    Nina x

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