'ballet girls' satchel bag

I made this satchel bag for a little girl who loves ballet and goes to lots of ballet competitions. Her mum wanted a bag that could fit her ballet shoes and cardi in so I thought the satchel bag tutorial from Heleen at Ruby in the Dust would be perfect. I made a couple of these a while ago (here and here) but finally got around to learning how to put the straps in properly instead of just sewing them on afterwards- looks much more professional!

I made a matching toilet bag too as her mum said she needed a little bag to put all her make-up and hair accessories for the ballet competitions in.  Can't wait to make more of the satchel bags now!

I had some of the ballet fabric left over so I made a couple of cushion covers for Amelie's room.

And if you know a little ballet fan I made a ballet girls zip purse for my Felt shop too.

Well, I am thinking about getting a walking foot for my sewing machine-I'm sewing four layers together when I sew these purses so I bet once I use the walking foot I will wonder why I didn't get one earlier??!! Are they easy to use? I'm thinking it will come in handy for little baby quilts, oven gloves and other things that need layers of fabric sewn together as well. Just wondering if it would work all right with the plastic outer?  Any advice much appreciated!

Megan x

my creative space: personalised pillowcases

I've finally managed to list my personalised pillowcases in my Felt shop yay!

I chose these fabrics for girls and boys ones...

It's been a busy week of sewing, looking after two little ones and dealing with a house full of colds. Some times I find it really hard to get the balance right as when I am on a crafting mission I go a bit crazy staying up really late and trying to finish things to a deadline I make for myself. (Does that sound familiar?!) I still love it though - creating things and thinking about crafty projects is so much fun, even if some weeks it's a bit challenging to get the time!

To see what other crafty ladies are up to today visit Kirsty's here.

Megan x

my creative space: red and white polka dots

I think one of the best things about becoming a crafter is being able to make my own gifts- it is so much fun thinking about what I am going to make, choosing fabrics, planning the design, and putting it all together. I went into a couple of gift shops yesterday, saw some gorgeous things and it was so neat to think....'I could make that!'
Here is a little something I have just finished for Amelie, my nearly 3 year old's birthday next week. A while ago I made a personalised pillow case for a little boy  so I decided to make one for Amelie too.  I  appliqued her name and then embroidered the hearts and the words 'Good night sweetheart' onto the pillowcase. It was so tricky pushing the needle through the two layers of fabric I think I ended up with bruised thumbs!

I learnt a good lesson doing this project..... gather all your supplies before starting a project.  I stitched about 6 of the hearts using the last of my favourite pinky red embroidery thread I had, then went to Bernina the next day to get some more and it wasn't there. So I had to choose a different red and unpick the hearts I'd already done! And I forgot another lesson from last time too...check the iron is clean before ironing onto white fabric!!
I'm pretty sure she is going to like her new pillowcase and I think I will be making lots more of these for my friends children :)

And for more polka dots....I made a different type of waterproof zip purse last night, using oil cloth for the outside and parka nylon for the inside. I boxed the corners for this one- it was a lot quicker to make than my plastic covered ones so I might have to put some of these on my Felt shop too!

Right, I'm off to the fabric shop now while my sister takes the girls around the Mount- lucky me!!! She is starting a new job next week though so my creative Thursday mornings will be a bit different soon!
To see what other crafters are up to in their creative spaces visit Kirsty's here
Megan x

baby gifts and a flower pin cushion

Baby Thomas received his little rabbit today so here is a pic of the finished toy and some other goodies I included in the pressie- one of my toilet bags with some baby bath wash and little flannels.  I ended up just stitching across the bottom instead of putting a circle at the bottom but I will try the circle shape next time when I'm feeling a bit braver!

And my swap partner from the Fox's Lane pin cushion swap, the lovely Selina from Selina's Vintage, received her pin cushion from me last week so I can put a few pics of it on now as well. I chose this pattern from here and it ended up being quite a bit trickier that I realised!  Luckily I think the nice bright fabrics detracted from the numerous mistakes in the pin cushion! I sent one of my little zip purses too in the same fabric.

Well, I need to put my feet up now - have had a mad day of cleaning...instead of just doing a bit of housework each day I leave it for ages and then go crazy cleaning for an entire day in between baby/toddler tending to. Does anyone else do this?! Dusting, mopping, cleaning windows, vacuuming the car even!! Had to take the girls out for a walk once I'd finished so my hubby could walk in and actually see a tidy house for once before Amelie and Stella messed it up again!

Megan x


PS: tomorrow is the last day to enter my giveaway- anyone can enter...good luck!


PPS: have just seen the most gorgeous pin cushions ever by Sarah at Red Gingham- she is so clever!!

My creative space: stitching

Now that I have finally got all my plastic covered zip purses on Felt I can get on with some other crafting again! Here is a little peek of a rabbit toy I am making for a new baby boy. It is from the Softies book and is called 'Blossom Bunny' by Sarah Bowe of redfeltflower.blogspot.com.  I saw on Bobby Robbins blog the idea of recycyling a baby wipes packet by cutting it up and using it to make a crinkle noise in a toy so I put a piece in each of the bunny's ears. I am going to put a little bell into the stuffing too - hope he likes it!
For more creative spaces head over to Kirsty's here☞


PS: Don't forget to enter my mousehouse giveaway here if you would like to :)