First ever craft fair!

I did my first ever craft fair last weekend!! I was selling my snuggly baby blankets, theyre also for sale in my etsy shop. It was quite a small fair, in my local town center, and i only sold one blanket but it was a great experience and i got loads of positive feedback. Unfortunately not many people shopping had babies to buy for. It made me realise that baby blankets are quite a niche market and that i need to diversify for my next fair.

This is my stall, i covered the table in hessian

Then i displayed my blankets in some old metal filing trays i borrowed from my mum

 

I made some chalkboard paint price signs out of old ikea benno dvd tower shelves

 

And decorated the stall with some bunting made out of teatowels!

I also built this quilt display ladder from some left over wood and dowelling. It worked perfectly :)

I had a great time at the fair and met some nice people and i'll definitely be doing some craft fairs again soon - watch this space :)

Baby blankets - blue foxes

Another baby blanket - sorry for the terrible photo im still trying to find the place with the best light in my new house. I love this one especially as the fox fabric (sorry cant remember where i got it) makes me smile every time :)

This blanket has no owner as yet but as usual there's plenty of pregnant people in my life :)

Another baby blanket - no owner yet though

I finally got round to setting up my sewing machine last weekend and make a couple of baby blankets. This is the first one and i used some cream minky on the back instead of my usual white and i love it! I'm definitely going to try and incorporate more coloured minky in the future
Just need someone to pop out a kiddo and it'll have an owner!

Blanket stitch embroidered baby blanket - baby boom!

George Digby Thomas was born on 26th March, a very welcome little addition for Neil and Adriana, and this is his blanket
 

Its a double layer of brushed cotton with white topstitching, a blue blanket stitch edge and a little G embroidered at the bottom corner
 

Simple but made with lots of love :)


 

Baby Boom blanket - Freddie Andrew

Little Freddie Andrew arrived a few weeks early on 20th Jan, a super cute little boy for Rachel and Dan, and this is his blanket!

A slightly different blanket from the usual ones, this is a super soft flannel cotton with a red crochet edge. I think it might be a new favourite style for the baby boomers!

Granny square blanket

Talk about a labour of love - Ive been making a granny square blanket for nearly a year now but i am proud to say that it is finally finished!!
Its made up of 144 squares, that was hard work enough, but then weaving in all the ends nearly put me off totally and then i still had to make it up... but i did it :)




Its probably only a month or so's actual work but i procrastinated and delayed and stalled so much that it became a lot more work than it should have. Lesson to be learned - just get on with stuff - a project is much less intimidating the more of it you do!
I used this pattern from Purl Bee for the squares and just used (all) the wool i already had (amazing stash buster!)

Its a gift for my wonderful sister who lives on the other side of the world to me (sad face) but i plan to add more squares to the next time i visit her or she visits us, hopefully itll be huge by the time were old ladies together!

Baby Boom Blanket - Lucy Eleanor Whitehead

The baby boom continues!
Lucy Eleanor Whitehead arrived on 27th December, a beautiful little girl for Rach and Tom, and this is her blanket :)

Baby boom blanket - Jasper Julian Samuel Hunter

My cousin's little boy was born last month and this is his blanket :)

The baby boom is still going strong with Henry, Millie, Roisin, Sebastian, Frederick and Lucy born in October, November and December - that's in addtion to Marsya, Samuel and Jasper who got their own blogs as they got special blankets!

One Year Anniversary!

Its one year since my first ever blog post :)
I think i fulfilled my resolution to keep a record of the things i make and want to make, and i still think if anyone else likes what i post then thats just a bonus!
Having the blog has definitely inspired me to create more, make different things and has made me look at crafting and making as a potential business, but im a long way from that yet!
I plan to continue the same way in 2013, i still feel the blog is more for me to record what ive done rather than to share it with the world but maybe that outlook will change this year. But my main resolution is to take better photos, might even invest in a proper camera and stop using my iphone!!

My top 5 makes of 2012

5. Cami Bands - consistently most viewed pages!


4.  Doilie Wrapped Flowers - a beautiful simple idea


3. Leather and Tube Bead Bangles - i wear these all the time!


2. Needlepoint clutch - such a labour of love!


1. Basketweave blanket - i really love this blanket as does the cat!

(Crochet edged) Blankets

I loved these crochet edge blankets from Purl Bee the minute i saw them and knew i wanted to make some. That was about 9 month ago and ive finally got round to making some, but not actually crocheting them!

Ive managed to get as far as hemming the fabric (i just cut up a flannel sheet i bought from Tesco)

and sewing on the 'Made by Abi' tags.

Theyre pretty nice like that but i do want to crochet them, i'll post some pictures if i ever find time to do them!!

Decorative top stitching

With all the baby blankets ive been making i wanted to try some new top stitching styles, to try and develop some skills hopefully, and i was inspired by this post at Stay at Home Artist. So i had a play with my sewing machine and investigated what decorative stitches it does and then tried a few out on the blankets. The wavy lines and zigzags were my favourite, especially in a contrasting colour to the blanket.

I also invested in a double needle to try out double row stitching. I always wondered how people got such a neat second row so in line with the first and then make it love it opened my eyes to double needles! I couldnt recommend them enough, it gives things a really professional finish which is occasionally lacking in my handmade items!

Have a play with your sewing machine today, you could well be amazed at what it can do!

Baby boom blanket - Samuel James Pearson

And the baby boom continues!
Samuel James Pearson was born on 4th October, a beautiful little boy for Julie and Mark
and this is his blanket :)

(i did iron it before i sent it!)

Baby boom blanket - Marsya May Fensom

And the baby boom has began!
An as yet unnamed but totall gorgeous baby girl has arrived for Sian and John Fensom - born on 4th October and this is her blanket xx

Lots of love to the brand new family xx Update - she was named Marsya May :)

Baby boom blankets

Seems like there's a bit of a baby boom with lovely BM and my friends at the moment! No fewer than 12 couples all expecting babies between now and February. And we thought the 12 months where we had 9 weddings was ridiculous - the next 6 months are going to be even more extreme! Of course i love any excuse to get making so ive already started on a number of blankets for the impending little ones, possibly some matching little baby shoes as well - everyone loves teeny tiny baby shoes! Updates (on the bubbas as well as the blankets!) to follow :)





Also ive got a lot of non blogging related stuff going on at the moment so im sorry for the sporadic posting. Ive got a free weekend coming up though so hopefully i'll get some making time soon

Cat + Blanket = Happiness

Sorry ive been a bit AWOL rcently, ive got lots going on at work and at home but heres a picture of my uber cute foster cat who has become obsessed with the basketweave blanket i made at the beginning of the year!

Makes i like this week 12-Jun-12

Guinness chocolate at call me cupcake (yum yum)

Star wars baby blanket squares over at Angel Fire

Adorable kids rugs at Running with Scissors

Gorgeous glitter wire ideas at Oh Happy Day

Crib Blanket

My friend had a little boy a couple of months and ive finally finished the crib/buggy blanket i wanted to make them!
The fabric is just some cute Michale Miller and Robert Kaufman fabrics i bought on ebay and its backed with super snuggly 'minky' fabric. I put some quilt wadding between the layers to make it nice and thick. Although we are having a mini heat wave here in the UK so maybe a blanket isnt very necessary at the mo!

Makes i like this week 23-April-12

Gorgeous quilt at sirbubbadoo

Hand printed tote at V&Co

Applique chevron hearts at sewing in no mans land

Beautiful thread pictures at Running with Scissors

Waterproof rug tutorial (using a shower curtain)

I've made myself a few waterproof rugs like this over the years so i thought id make a new one and share it here :)

Basically its just a shower curtain stitched to the bag of a rug - yes thats it! Why pay a fortune when you can buy a rug and shower curtain and make your own

So i just bought a fleece rug from Range for £4 and a shower curtain from Sainsburys for £4. I cut the shower curtain so it was about 5cm larger than the rug and pinned them together with the right sides together. I then machine sewed three sides entirely and then on the forth side i left a 15cm opening. I trimmed any excess off and turned everything out of the gap id left. I then hand sewed the gap shut. You could top stitch all the way round if you dont want to handstitch the opening.

I now have a lovely turquoise backed rug thats perfect for sitting on damp grass (something we have a lot of around here!)

It isnt totally waterproof as the stitch holes do let a bit of moisture through but its usually not a problem. If you want to make it totally waterproof you can paint on some of the sealant you use to seal tents

First full make of the year! Basket weave blanket

Finally! My first proper make of the year! I wanted a chunky blanket to cover myself with when Im lying on the sofa so after a bit of surfing inspiration I designed this one my self. I'm so pleased how it turned out, the wool is really snuggly and I love the colour.

Wool/yarn: RICO Fashion Super Chunky in grey, 005, I used 7 balls
Size: 112cm (44") by 135cm (53")
Needles: I used a 22mm circular needle but used it as single needles, ie don't connect in the round

Pattern
Cast on 76
Rows 1 to 4: knit
Rows 5 to 12: k6, (k8,p8) repeat 4 times, k6
Rows 13 to 20: k6, (p8,k8) 4 times, k6
Repeat rows 5 to 20 16 more times or until blanket is the size you want
Final 4 rows: knit
Cast off
Weave in ends

If I make it again I might make the top and bottom borders a bit longer to match the side borders, ie increase the number of knit only rows at the beginning and end, but I was worried about not having enough wool so I left them narrow.