Hello Kitty Sewing Machine by Janome

When I came across this on Lizzy House's blog, I immediately fell in love with this Hello Kitty sewing machine :)

My first thought was that I can't wait to get this for my little girl when she is old enough to sew. However, I admit that I wouldn't mind owning one just for myself!

The reviews on Amazon are quite positive. People say it's a great little first machine for beginning sewers or for seasoned veterans who want a light machine to take to workshops.  It also reminds me of the Janome Jem that I used to own in the US.

I picture my daughter learning to sew on it in the near future or just sitting on my sewing table looking really cute. Sadly, I think it's only available in the US at the moment but maybe one day!

In Progress...

I got this lovely package in the mail recently from The Village Haberdashery and thought I'd share. I plan to use them all in a quilt (below) with the floral pattern as the large square centers and then the aqua for the little square. I just had to throw in some Pearl Bracelets in there somehow and I really love this pool color. The little girls will be used as the backing.

It's been a long time since I've added any new fabrics to my stash but with the new baby coming, I've been looking for some color inspiration for the new nursery. We plan to convert our existing office/guest bedroom into the new nursery and the walls are currently painted a soft blue. I think the paint color is really soothing so I will definitely keep it as is. Honestly, with less than 3 months until the baby is due, who has time to paint a whole room?

Anyway, here's my inspiration for the quilt: I pinned this picture of a Disappearing 9 patch quilt to my pinterest because I really loved the color combination of aqua and red.

                                                                 Source: threadtales.files.wordpress.com via Elena on Pinterest

I have no idea if I can get this completed before the new baby arrives but if I can at least cut up some squares, then I'll be happy!

A Pod of Whale Softies...

It's new baby season again. Not just mine, but I have several friends who have just given birth or are scheduled to so in the next few months. When I came across this whale softie pattern, by things for boys, I knew I could make time to make a few as gifts.

My 3 year old sat next to me for most of afternoon and she really enjoyed "helping" me sew. In fact, she asked if she could have her own pink sewing machine. My heart melted but I think we have to wait a few more years on that one! She did have a lot of fun helping me fill the whale with "fluffies" though (aka polyfill stuffing).

The alphabet whale is waiting to go off to its new baby owner and the pink one if for my little one. She chose it's yellow eye color from my felt scraps. Personally, I think they look like 2 sunny side up eggs but she adores it anyway ;)

Quick London Bus Cushion

A friend of mine asked me to whip up another London Bus cushion for her son and I was happy to oblige. I sold a few of these during a recent craft fair and still had extra fabric for another.

It's already off to it's new owner :)

Dog's Colorful Day + Do-A-Dot Marker Fun

I had the little one home sick from school this week so I thought I'd share a fun activity that we did together to pass the day.

I came across some cute activities on Pinterest related to the book Dog's Colorful Day, by Emma Dodd. We don't have this specific book but we do have Dog's ABC (also by Emma Dodd) which little miss really enjoys so I knew she would recognize the character. 

I found some Dog printables online, took out the Do-A-Dot markers and let her get to work...

Check out these other blogs for more Dog's Colorful Day activities: Adventures in Reading with Kids, Make Learning Fun & Sunflower Storytime.

New "Mommy & Me" books for the little one...

With baby #2 fast approaching, I've been hunting for books to read to Little Miss in order to prepare her for the new arrival.

These are my favorites so far...

(R) I came across Baby and Me, by Emma Dodd at my local bookstore. It's a sweet pull tab book about a little girl who looks after her dolly as if it was her new baby brother. Little Miss enjoys interacting with the book and learning about all the different things she can do to help the baby.

(L) There's a HOUSE inside my Mummy, By Giles Andreae and Vanessa Cabban was also another great find at my local charity shop. I especially liked this part where the book offers up why Mommy falls asleep sometimes. I think I relate a little too much!

Finally, I have I"m a Big Sister, by Joanna Cole on order from Amazon. I found good reviews for this one all over the web so I'm looking forward to it's arrival.

Again no sewing has been done lately but until next time!

DIY Easter Bonnet

The little one is having an Easter Parade this week at school and we (parents) were asked to make an Easter Bonnet for each child. I'm fairly sure this is an English tradition because I don't remember doing this back home in NY. My family and I used to visit the Easter Parade in Manhattan every year where the Easter bonnets are crazy and fabulous. Alas, this is pre-school, so here's my very first attempt...

Again, times like these beg for a trip to my local Michael's but as there are none in England, I made due with picking up supplies at my local Poundland (hat, nest, pompom chicks & bunnies), Tiger Store (ribbon, felt flowers) and even Butlers (bunny & duck ornaments).

I then used a combination of glue dots and Aileen's tacky glue to affix all the ornaments. The nest and and teal ribbon were sewn on by hand. 

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Here's the bonnet in action...despite near freezing temps!!!

Stay warm folks :)

Knitting & Stitching Show + Soft Monster Toy

I got a chance to go to the Spring Knitting & Stitching Show at Olympia over the weekend so I thought I'd share. I normally go to the show up in Alexander Palace but I was happy to go to this one too since it's not very far from where I live in London. I liked the fact that the venue was small, thus making it more manageable for a preggers lady to do in one afternoon. There weren't many quilts on display though but there were tons of venders on hand of course. 

I only had my phone camera handy so please forgive the shoddy pictures!

 (Some cute ribbon from craftyribbons.com and gorgeous Liberty lifestyle print bags at the Fabrics Galore booth.)

I did manage to actually get my act together and sign up for a workshop this time. I took a really fun Soft Monster Toy workshop so that I could bring home something for my daughter.

(That's my purple koala/monster WIP in the corner)

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I have so much fabric already that I didn't bring home much. Only a fun variegated ball of yarn (soon to be gender neutral hat for baby), some pre-cut hexagons and a super cute charm pack.

All in all, a nice afternoon out despite the pouring rain and I'm really glad that I could attend a shoe in central London :)

It's been a while + Purl Soho Review

Hi Folks. Yes, I know it's been a very long time since my last post. I think I needed a blog vacation for longer than I thought. I suppose I felt a little burned out after the holidays.

But the real reason for my long hiatus is the very happy fact that we are expecting baby #2 this summer. I've been experiencing a lot of fatigue this second time around so instead of using my spare time to sew or blog, I am trying to rest as much as I can.

I hope to get some, ok, any sewing at all done in the next few months but I'm going to let myself off the hook and just do what I can :)

With that, I'll leave you with a quick review of my trip to Purl Soho when I was in NYC over the holiday. Enjoy!

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I finally got the chance to visit Purl Soho back in December while I was in NY. I've been drooling over  their blog for ages so I'm glad I got the chance to actually visit the store. Unfortunately, I have to say that I was a bit disappointed. I guess I was expecting to find some new and different fabrics but didn't come across any.

The store was certainly attractive, but I came away empty handed despite spending a good 30 minutes looking for some project inspiration. However, it was exciting to see many of the actual projects featured on the purl bee to touch and admire.

The verdict? Purl Soho is great for fabric/yarn eye candy but I'm still loyal to The City Quilter for fabric.

 Modern holiday display & wall of fabrics

 Pretty quilts on display

Handmade wool felt ornaments

The Village Haberdashery: Open Weekend in London

I interrupt my mini "blog vacation" to bring you some good news. The Village Haberdashery is one of my favorite online fabric stores and they are celebrating the opening of their new "bricks and morter" store this coming weekend. If you are in London, please give it a visit!

What: The Village Haberdashery's first Open Weekend!
Date and time: Saturday, 15th December 11-7 and Sunday, 16th December 11-5
Location: 47 Mill Lane, West Hampstead, London NW6 1NB (West Hampstead Tube station)

It's Home Time....

(image via CBS New York)

I'm off to New York tomorrow for a pre-Christmas trip to visit my hometown, friends and family so things will be quiet here for the next week or so. 

(There will be no sewing on this trip... although I did sneak some knitting needles into my suitcase!)

A few things on the agenda:

- Take little miss to see the Christmas tree and ice-skating rink at Rockefellar Center (just like my parents did when I was a child) 

- Stuff myself with NYC street food (just like my college days)

- Consume multiple medium sized cups of hazelnut coffee from D&D

- One word..."iHOP"

- Stock up on US craft supplies (Target, Michael's, Joanns, The City Quilter)

- Outlet shopping!!!

See you folks on the other side of the pond...

My First Craft Fair!

I finally had my very first craft fair experience this past weekend. I signed up to have a table at my daughter's Christmas fair and gave myself about 1 month to prepare. Here's a quick photo of my table set-up...

I shared a table with another school mom/friend who sold water color paintings so it was good to share the experience and cost of the table.

There was a lot of foot traffic but I didn't sell as much as I had hoped. I made enough to cover my cost of materials plus a small profit but it was all about the experience for me. I've always wanted to try my hand at selling at a craft fair so I kept an open mind. But all-in-all, I would probably do it again as it was great fun meeting and talking to new people. 

Just not for another few months!

W.I.P. Wednesday - Christmas Fair Home Stretch!

It's been all about sewing for the Christmas Fair this week.

I put together a few quilted ornaments using more of Aneela Hoey's Cherry Christmas fabric...

Some simple felt bunting for the PTA to sell at their decorations booth...

A few drawstring bags that need to be finished and a small London themed cushion to donate to the PTA raffle...

Two small cusions/pillows made up of some French inspired fabrics panels that I had...

Oh, I also put together a full Thanksgiving meal last Saturday for 10 people and even managed to put up our humble Christmas tree.

With that, I'm on the home stretch. The Christmas Fair is this Saturday, then Christmas itself and then I can finally do some sewing for ME! Hooray!

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Btw, I'm linking up with W.I.P Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Easy Christmas Bunting + mini tutorial

Here's some super simple Christmas bunting that I made for the upcoming (can you guess?) craft fair. It's made from a charm square pack of Aneela Hoey's Cherry Christmas along with some double fold bias tape.

(Sorry for the horrible lighting. This is English winter after all!)

I won't go into a full fledged tutorial but here's what I did in a nutshell:

You'll need: 

- 6 x 5" squares of fabric/charm squares

- coordinating bias tape or ribbon 

- rotary cutter with a pinking blade (ideal) or pinking shears

- quilting ruler or regular ruler

Here's what I did:

- I used my ruler and rotary cutter (w/ pinking blade) to cut my 5" squares of fabric into equilateral triangles. I think a diagram will be easier to follow...

- Once you have all your triangles cut, arrange them across your bias tape and pin with a 1" space between each triangle. I then used a zig zag stitch to sew them together. Leave approximately 8"-10" of extra bias tape on either end for tying up your bunting.

And that's it! Just hang and enjoy :)

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PS - In case you're looking for more ideas, I created a "Christmas Inspiration" board on Pinterest to keep track of my holiday inspired project ideas. Please come and visit :)

W.I.P. Wednesday + My 100th Post!

Hello All. 

I noticed today that this will be my 100th post. I also noticed that I now have 100 followers on Pinterest. I call that a happy coincidence!

I actually never thought I would have come this far when I started this blog. Initially, I just wanted to use the "non-baby" part of my brain and share my creative side along the way. I never thought that I'd actually have followers and meet so many nice online friends who share the same interests as me. It's really been a rewarding journey.

Ok, enough of the mushy stuff and on to finished makes!

1. I made 3 little dollies as gifts for little miss (center) and her friends. Because my daughter is a mixed ethnicity (Filipino/Caucasian) I have a hard time finding manufactured dolls that resemble her in any way. Thus, I'm forever pinning doll patterns that let you customize eye color, skin color, hairstyle, etc. This particular pattern is from Sew News and dolls are donated to a good cause. It was great fun creating a doll for each girl.

3. I popped in the the Selvedge Magazine Christmas fair on Sunday and came away with some beautiful fabric from Karen over at Bluebery Park. 

3. More softies for the Christmas Fair! 

4. Finally, this is how I get some sewing done while little miss "helps" mommy. I often print off a coloring page of whatever project I'm working on so that little miss can work right along side me.

Until next time. Linking up with...

The Softie Invasion has Begun...

I heart Spoonflower!

Woohoo! My very first Spoonflower order arrived yesterday. Spoonflower had a 2 for 1 fat quarter sale last week and the fabric arrived nearly two weeks ahead of the guaranteed delivery date (int'l shipping too). I was very impressed with their customer service also.  I think Spoonflower has found yet another repeat customer!

And here's a peak and some of the fabrics I'm using for the upcoming school fair...

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Finally, here's the finished Japanese fat quarter pillow/cushion that I started earlier in the week.

Until next time...

Let the Holiday Sewing Begin!

So I mentioned in my last post that I signed up to have a table at my daughter's Christmas school fair. It's literally only a month away so I knew it was time to do some sewing. I've decided to keep it simple and only sell pillows/cushions, softies and cheaper items like hair clips. No quilts at the moment although I will if I have any time left to make a few.

I've ordered some new fabric and craft supplies but they won't arrive until next week so I thought I'd get started on using what I already have.

1. A quilted pillow/cushion using fabric from my recent Japanese Charm Swap. This one is for the boys...

 2. My very first covered button hair clip. I used some Liberty scraps and plain hair clips that I already had on hand. A bit fiddly at first but I finally got the hang of it. Funny enough, little miss was wearing the matching one yesterday and it has since "disappeared."

Linking up with W.I.P. Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced.

P.S. Happy Halloween!

W.I.P. Friday

I've been off sewing for a bit lately. DH has started a new job and works longer hours now so by the time the little one is asleep I have no energy left to sew!  I think I just need some new projects to get me going again. Here's what I've been up to lately:

1. Recieved this lovely package from the Village Haberdashery. I needed some basics and a few supplies to start several holiday projects. Annie does such a nice job with her packaging!

2. I finished a fabric covered journal for a friend's birthday. I used the tutorial from Bloom and Blossom I liked the general instructions but next time, I will use my own measurements for the book as I had to adjust the measurements in the end anyway. The pink and yellow mechanical pencils aren't proper for sketching but how often do you find a perfect color match like that?

3. Yet another zippered pouch for a friend's birthday. I'm using up more and more of my precious Hello Kitty Liberty fabric!

4. I somehow signed up to have a table at Little Miss' christmas fair. Not sure what I'm going to sell yet but I always wanted the experience of having a stall at a craft fair. We'll see how this goes. Eeeks!

An Afternoon at Liberty...

The LMQG recently had a chance to sit down with Sholto Drumlanrig, designer of the new Liberty Lifestyle Fabric collection. Read all about it on the LMQG blog...

p.s. - this is my very first guest blog post so check it out :)