Sew Retro diy memo board

Something a little bit different today, but I couldn't resist sharing this project with you! It's a DIY memo board, made with only the best fabric!! Isn't it simply fabulous?

It's a Makower fabric called Sew Retro Montage, and as soon as I saw it I just had to have it! It's elegant, retro, and absolutely beautiful! I mean, I have seen other sewing-themed fabric before, but this is something special. What better fabric to use for a memo board for my new sewing space (more on that soon..)?

I won't bore you with how to make it yourself, as there are already hundreds of tutorials for it (but happy to answer questions as usual). What I will say, though, is that it's soooo simple to make! All you need in addition to your usual sewing supplies is a good staple gun (I've only had mine for a couple of weeks, but can't live without it now!). It's a good way to use up leftover fabric from a sewing project, too, and if you quilt (I don't, but I had wadding leftover from my Kindle case), then you might have some offcuts of wadding to hand, too, that you didn't know what to do about.

I also attempted to make self-covered buttons! It's about time, I know. I bought loose small metal ones from the Village Haberdashery, and they are really simple to work with. No tools required!       

Also, do you remember this lady here from Simplicity 3092?

She might have dyed her hair, and put on some red lipstick, but worry not -- I've tracked her down right here!

Not much else to say really other than how fabulous! I'm seriously in love with this little DIY project, and am sure it will take a prime place in my new sewing space. In fact, I may have to decorate the sewing room to match this memo board... but we shall see!

Something a bit different

Long time so speak, my friends! It's actually been 4 entire weeks since I last posted - how time flies. And yep, that's because I have not been sewing in this time!! In case you are feeling nosy, this is because I have recently discovered Annie Sloane chalk paint, and am loving it! As I have been spending my weekends sanding, painting, waxing, and sanding some more, I thought I'd share some before and after photos of my painting projects with you today :)

Pine mirror - before                                                 after

Our new dining table - before (heavily marked)

After (sanded, waxed and painted)

So something a bit different today, and I hope you enjoyed the mini-makeovers. Now that my furniture painting projects are done (for now, anyway), it's time to get back to sewing, so I shall be back soon to report on my sewing projects. For now, I hope you all have a lovely week ahead! 

Spot the Queen!

OK, so this post isn't anything to do with sewing but since I had a wonderful weekend, I thought I would brag/blog all about it. 


The AMAZING hen do


I had my hen do on Saturday - and it was perfect in every way! I do, officially, have the BEST bridesmaids ever. We spent our afternoon at the Royal Ascot and we picnicced (I'm assuming this is a word, although the spell check disagrees), ate colourful macaroons, drunk (white and pink) champagne and gambled. Did I mention that it was absolutely perfect?


Look at how classy it was! Everything was colour-coordinated in accordance with our pink and yellow wedding colour theme (there are yellow napkins hidden under the baguettes), including the corsages on our wrists!

And... well, there was the Royal Procession where the Queen made her entrance to the races. Having just passed my Life in the UK Test the day before (don't ask) and with it being my first time at the Royal Ascot (and coming anywhere near the royal family), I thought I'd join the British spirit and wait for the Royal Procession to go past in the rain. So, through layers and layers of people and umbrellas, with my phone without any ability of optical zoom, I managed to snap this very special picture and now have the pleasure of sharing it with you all:

So now - can you Spot the Queen??? Do you need any clues? 


It was such an amazing day - I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it. Plus I was £2.01 up after all that research on the horses! In fact, I was still so excited when I went to bed that it took me a little while to fall asleep. Thank you so much again to my fantastic bridesmaids and also to everyone who came :D


My glass creations


My fiancé and I did a 3-hour glass fusing class last Saturday (try reading this sentence out loud?) and our works of art have now been "cooked". We each made a suncatcher and a set of cufflinks and here are a couple of pictures of my creations:


The suncatcher

 The cufflinks

Considering that this was the first time we learned handling and cutting glass, and we had 3 hours to design, practice and make it all, I am very proud of the result :) That said, I think I'm going to stick with sewing as my main "crafty hobby", at least for now...

Bouquet attempt #3

I was rather stressed last week so my lovely fiancé bought me some flowers. About a week later, I think the roses are getting towards the end of their lives so I used them to practise on my bouquet again. I think the result is better than the first two attempts, and I feel more comfortable not getting a florist now. 


Anyway here are some photos (I was trying out the different apps on my new iphone!)

 So I used 18 long stem yellow roses, about 1m long of sheer yellow ribbon, 3 bridal/lace (very thin) pins and 3 pearl headed pins. Nothing too crazy! I also had some gardening gloves (long story but I was stabbed by an evil rose prick once and was on antibiotics for a week... so wanted to protect myself) and secateurs  which came in handy. Happy to share how to do this if anyone is interested (but as there are lots of tutorials out there, I thought I won't spend too long waffling about the details). 


As compared to the last attempt, I thought the fuller flowers here worked better (note to self - the roses were about 1 week old so I should get plenty of roses about 6/7 days before the wedding) as they gave the bouquet a better shape. I'm not sure whether to use yellow or pink as yet (my other half bought me some pink roses yesterday! as he thought I may want to see if a mixed colour bouquet would work - bless him! p.s. pink and 'citrus' is our colour theme) but as you can see from the picture above, the pink ones are not quite ready yet so perhaps I will make them into bouquets next week instead :) 

Second attempt at my bouquet

I like the results much better this time - I used some reduced flowers from Waitrose (they cost me £3.28 in total!) to make these. Had a better go this time as I used some scrap fabric to tie them up (a cheaper alternative to buying ribbons for now) and pearl headed pins to secure the stems. 


Tried out two types and here're a few pictures:

I think I prefer the one with the yellow roses as it looks a lot tidier. For the actual bouquet on the day though I'm thinking that I may opt for white, pink and yellow roses to match my colour scheme! then perhaps yellow/pink bouquets for the bridesmaids? 

First very brief attempt at my bouquet

As Autumn sets in, I decided to take advantage of my garden roses before the flowers all disappear. So I had a very brief attempt at making my bouquet. It's of course quite small (due to the number of nice-looking flowers available at this time of year in my front and back garden) but I don't think it's too bad an attempt as far as first attempt goes. So here it is:

I have not bothered with the ribbons etc, but relied on my little rose kit and some wires which are originally for sealing sandwich bags (these are what I had readily available...) but I'm sure my next attempt will look even better! 


Off to cutting the silk dupion for my bridesmaid's dress now! and finishing off the overcasting for my lining. Hope to report back with the results soon!