Purse Week- a lemon squeezy home

I just stumbled across this fun looking purse contest on a Lemon Squeezy Home. Since I am a lover of purses and bags (mostly because I can't sew much else!) I think this would be a good one for me to have a go at to test out my creative bag making skills.... if I have any!

The entries from last year were just gorgeous! From the top 10, I liked these two the best:




Bowling Bag from Lifestyles with Love

 How cute are the pigs and apples? I had a look at the Lifestyles with Love website and there are so many cute little purses with gorgeous Kawaii fabrics and Zakka prints. Sweet!

Grey clutch lbg studio

 

Beautiful fabric and style. I love a clutch. So chic!

I might have a go at making a clutch too. Maybe with some pleats and a zippered section. We'll see!

Blog love- Heartmade

Since joining Twitter I have been exposed to more wonderful and lovely craft and sewing blogs than you can poke a knitting needle at. It has been fun flitting all over the interwebs looking, listening and absorbing what experienced crafters and handmade business owners generously offer and I feel quite inspired and motivated.

I would like to highlight one lovely blog I have discovered by Mayi Carles called heartmade. It is a wonderful resource to help 'empower creative hearts' and inspire and motivate wannabe handmade business entrepeneurs (like me).

Mayi is so vivacious, enthusiastic and positive and a wonderful writer.You can subscribe to her newsletter for weekly updates, inspiration and resources, or browse through her online resources, tutorials and templates. After signing up to the newsletter, I received her weekly to do planner, and the the next day, receieved two free E books on success with social media and marketing tips. So generous!

Her lovely website has a really positive message with lots of tips to help you to cultivate your creativity along with ideas to help you get organised, plan and follow through. Since I have a propensity to be lazy and dreamy, I think the tools will be the helpful butt kicking I need! 

Check out heartmade or follow her on twitter @mayicarles  and enjoy the infectious enthusiasm for your mutual crafty love.

'I love tea' embroidery pattern

I have a love for all things sewing and crafty, and lately I have started doing some simple embroidery. I have found Wild Olive to be a wonderful resource as Mollie has a fab series in embroidery basics I have been following.

Today Mollie shared a link to a post on Michelle's lovely crafty blog, Scissor Quirk, of a darling embroidery pattern called 'I love tea.' Michelle has kindly allowed me to share a picture of her work with a link to the post so you can download the pdf of the pattern too.

'I love tea' Embroidery pattern from Scissor Quirk

Isn't it cute? I love the smiling tea cup and the little cookies. I start every work day with the lovely ritual of making myself a cup of tea so naturally this pattern really appeals to me. It also looks fairly easy to stitch which is good for an embroidery novice.

Maybe this lovely embroidery would look nice in a hoop in the kitchen?

xx

Blog love- ruffled bib dress tutorial from Made by Lex

I stumbled across this gorgeous ruffled bib dress tutorial on Lex's blog, Made by Lex. It is so my style and I just adore it. I'll be adding it to the long list of projects I'd love to sew if only there were enough hours in the day!

 

Mama's got a new dress, by Lex

 

 I think projects like these make it seem easy to get started with sewing clothes which is still a little daunting to me.I'm great at sewing things in my 'comfort zone' (bags, purses, accessories) but I am a little bit pathetic about sewing a skirt or attempting a dress. I think it's partly because I don't want to ruin beautiful fabric and partly because I'm not good at reading patterns (due to a lack of experience). Either way I need to stop being a chicken and just get started because I'd love to make this dress!

What projects do you have on your 'wish list'?

YOUR favourite craft or sewing tutorials

I have an ever growing list of tutorials for things I'd like to have a go at if only there were a few more hours in the day!

I get lots of inspiration from websites such as craft gossip, cut out and keep and one pretty thing where I have discovered not only a whole range of wonderful tutorials but the fantastic blogs they come from.

So today I am curious to hear from you - What sewing or craft tutorials have you been inspired by lately?

I'm pretty open to a range of areas- sewing, craft, papercraft, diy.... anything!

So it's.....

image found at free pretty things for you!

Share a link to your chosen tutorial in the comment section below with a brief description of why you like it so much. Feel free to promote your own tutorials too!

I love reading comments and sharing the blog love, don't you?


xx

Blog love: embroidery basics from Wild Olive

Last week I found an amazing bargain at my local op shop - the entire 6 folder collection of a subscription series called 'needlecraft magic'.

I ended up buying two folders, one that focuses on the techniques of cross stitch and embroidery and one packed full of stencils and projects incorporating fabric painting with embroidery detail. A true gem for only $5 per folder!!!

Then (as things usually happen in my life) I stumbled upon this blog by Mollie Johnson:

Here, she shares projects and patterns for embroidery and cross stitch and a great little series on embroidery basics. Each week she introduces new techniques for you to follow along, and everything is stepped out simply with great pictures and detail. I would recommend stopping by her blog and the embroidery basics series if you would like a good introduction to this handicraft. I believe it is coming back in vogue in a big way!

I have always admired embroidery but haven't tried it earlier as I figured I am probably too clumsy and impatient and I generally have a lack of attention to detail. However, since the universe led me to the awesomeness of 'needlecraft magic' I am willing to give it a go as I think you could make pieces unique and interesting with embroidered detail.

We'll see how it goes....

In the meantime, here are some links to some cute embroidery patterns I have found for you to enjoy.

Amy from Pimp Stitch shares a tutorial for Embroidered buttons. Too cute!



Catherine of Bumpkin has this gorgeous embroidery pattern on her etsy store, available for pdf download. So cute!

I found a detailed tutorial for making an embroidered Strawberry Shortcake apron from tada creations. Strawberry shortcake was one of my favourite characters as a child, I even had little dolls of her and her cat cheesecake and they both smelled like strawberry. mmmm. :)

There are also heaps of embroidery patterns and tips and tricks to be found on one pretty thing, feeling stitchy and craft gossip.

Feel free to share links to cute embroidery patterns in the comments section!

xx

little owl lucky's giveaway

I just had the pleasure of discovering Chloe-Anne's sweet blog little owl lucky. She likes owls and tea so I think we're going to get along. :)

Anyway, she's having her first giveaway on her blog. You should pop on over and have a look! I love the little tea cup and saucer ring the best.

Who doesn't love owls and tea, right?

blog love....

One of the best things about starting a blog is the joy of following others. Every time I go to my blog dashboard  I have a look at the list of all the recent updates from my favourite craft and sewing blogs. I pour over their content, marvelling at the creativity and generosity of people just happy to share their work and ideas with the rest of the crafting community. I have learned so much from sewing tutorials online, it's the most valuable thing the internet has ever given me! I hope I can help people with my tutorials one day!

Here are some of the blogs and projects I have been eyeing off recently (all pics used with permission)
Jessica from Running with Scissors has a gorgeous blog with some great tutorials. I really like this bird pillow cover tutorial using a freezer paper stencil. I'm yet to try this technique for stenciling but I am keen to give it a go!

I found this GORGEOUS spring fever dress tutorial made by Jessica from her lovely blog me sew crazy. I am amazed at how generous people are and their willingness to share their work. This is a beautiful dress for little girls (though I wish it came in my size!). I'd like to give it a go sometime!

A cute little gathered clutch tutorial i'd like to try comes from noodlehead. It has an internal pocket for credit cards and a gathered front. It also has fabric covers for the ends of the zippers which look nice too. There are lots of really cute things on this blog for little kids. Great use of fabric too!

A blog I have always admired is from Lisa at u-handbag. She has some great little tutorials for sewing zippers into lining, sewing on bag handles and dealing with purses with mtal frames. I really love this bag and the cute robot fabric. She has kindly offered the 'for pleat's sake' tutorial with a pattern sheet. I am definitely going to give this one a try soon.

I wouldn't have learned even a 10th of what I have about sewing if it wasn't for fabulous tutorials such as these. I can't wait to try these ones out!

What sewing blogs or tutorials have you been loving lately? I'd love to know!