hi helga!!

Well i had a little bit of the tirolean trim left over and i couldn't resist dressing up one of the little wooden dolly-pegs i found in a newsagent shop a couple of weeks ago...i saw them and just squealed with delight at the possibilities!!

This is Helga the little german girl (named in honour of my fabulous german Grandma)
I painted the peg and made a simple little gathered skirt with the ribbon. Then plaited up some little blond coils of embroidery thread for her head and she was really to rock and yodel!

"YOooooOOOOOoooodellaaaEEEEEEHOOOOOOOO!" (see...i told you!)

hi heidi!!

Well it was my little cousin's european day of languages at her school last friday and i was asked for a quick mini heidi apron!
The little cow-bell was a must! And i got this lovely tirolean trim too, which i thought was so pretty.
Mini pocket gave me an excuse to use more trim and I also pulled out the ric-rac which is pure dirndl-kleid style!
I used the machine to embroider a little trim to mirror the ric-rac without being overpowering!!
I can't wait to see the pics of her all dressed up!! With her little plaits and everything! So sweet!

spiro steffi

First let me apologise for the grumpiest pictures ever...but i hate getting my photo taken at the best of times and i was just in from work etc...etc...lol!

So i made the Steffi jacket from Burdastyle. I used some cool upholstery fabric from ikea which is nice and stiff so keeps its shape without the need for horrible interfacing or anything.
It's a great shape for work and i think i'll make a plain version as part of a 3 piece suit that i'm working on.
I'm loving the buttons which i found in a bunch of ancient buttons that i had inherited from my Grandma...they are the perfect colour, size and shape.....what are the chances??!! Thanks Grandma, i love them!

cotton anniversary craft

So it was our 2nd wedding anniversary recently, the cotton anniversary. We had a party and everyone had to bring cotton presents...it was great fun!

The place-names were little pieces of cream cotton and gingham pegged to the glasses with mini clothes pegs.
I had a lot of trouble thinking of cotton party favours because i didn't have time to start sewing something for every one of the guests...but finally i came up with the perfect thing!!! TOWEL CUPCAKES!!! lol it was so much fun to make them!! I made large bun-cases from red card and rolled up two facecloths to make a chocolate and vanilla cupcake.
I made little labels with "two" on them and also stamped up the napkins with homemade rubber stamps, just to remind everyone of the phenomenally long time that we've been living together in houseofspoon!!
Here's to many more happy years!!!

libidine!!!!

ok last nephew post!...this was the last of the t-shirts that i made for him during his visit. How much is he loving these photo shoots??!This one is a quote from a famous 80's film by Jerry Cala' (who i love..he's hilarious!) it's hard to describe fully the meaning of libidine....it literally means sexy...but is more often used in the sense of the quote where it actually just means cool!!!

So the t-shirt says: "Cool.....double cool....cool with bows on"....lol ok maybe it doesn't work in english...but you get the idea!!!

mila safari style

Another dress completed from the free patterns on Burdastyle. This one is the Mila dress and i made it in a safari style cotton fabric that i found on sale.
The dress is a strange pattern with two fronts, one hooking over the other to form the detail of the front.
One of the coolest things is that it has pockets...although, either my arms are super-short or the pockets are placed a bit loooow! Im just about reaching them in this pic!
And it's closed very simply with a zip up the left side...easy peasy!!
Although now the weather has started to turn...im thinking of putting it away for next summer!

cherry net JJ

Loving the simple shirt pattern JJ on Burdastyle website as much as i do, I can't seem to stop making alternative versions!!
This one is made from cherry red organza that i bought at ikea! lol..no really! I think it's supposed to be for "window-treatments" or something (aka curtains)
It was actually a total pain because i frenched all the seams, so it was twice the sewing!!
...but at least now i know that it won't split and unravel. Worth it in the end!
Not the sort of thing that you can wear on its own, but under a pinafore i think it looks fun!

ti stimo!

So yet another of the italian comedian Jonny Groove's catchphrases was immortalised in stitches.
Ti stimo fratello....um...sortof means: i esteem you brother
He's so equal opportunities...he even has a girl versionTi stimo fratella.... i esteem you sister

cosy sock cosy

So i found a pair of socks that i thought were so cute that i wanted to make something from them! I decided to make a quick and easy phone cosy.
I chopped off the foot and hemmed and overlocked the inner edge....and that was it!
"Get in there little phone and get all cosy!"

OHH those italians!

i've been busy recently sewing letters and phrases onto t-shirts for my nephew who is visiting from italy. This one is something that an italian comedian wears although his has two "o"s and one "h". Basically i had no idea of the meaning or significance of this, i was just doing what the customer wanted! lol
...not much craft skill required but i just thought i'd use it as an excuse to post the picture, because he's hot! haha!