BossyOz

My sister bought a new sofa and the parents said it was purple / plum. Not knowing the exact colour I opted for a scrappy cushion cover in various purple and lilac colours. As I had some leftover, I also made three coasters.  By reusing the hardware from lanyards at work (we rebranded and everyone got new lanyards), I made around 50 new lanyards, some of which were donated to charity. DD1 made me proud whilst designing and sewing this LOVE-ly quilt for her little sister's dollies. One of my work colleagues emigrated to the United States and couldn't bring all her fabrics with her.... This is one of the bags I made with the fabrics I got from her. Thanks Jo ! As DD2 already has a large-ish quilt, it was time to make one for DD1. Her favourite colour is yellow, as may may have guessed. It still needs to be quilted, but at least the top is pieced! 

During the summer break, one of my old school friends from way back was coming to London with her two girls and we managed to get a day together. We met at Embankment and took one of the Clipper boats to Greenwich.  As she was one of my "Pay It Forward" for the year, I made this open wide pouch with London fabric and filled it with some London trinkets.  The tutorial over at Noodlehead is great, if you like to make your own. It comes in three sizes, although is easy to make smaller or larger if you need to. Thanks for a lovely day Caisa! x

There is a birthday party coming up this weekend, so I made a Hello Kitty bag for the birthday girl. ODD saw the bag and decided she'd like one too. To keep the peace, I made another one. Yep, softy mummy....

Another baby has been born recently by friends of ours.  Welcome to the world Danny!

This is a common combination of useful gifts for a newborn and the mother! The simple feeding apron, or more jokingly sometimes called " the hooter hider ", provide the mother (and the nursing baby!) some privacy whilst feeding in public. Once you get the hang of it, it is really useful and makes sure you don't hesitate to breast feed when the baby is hungry, no matter where you are!  There are also two covers for the soft packs of wetwipes (see TUTORIAL here ), and finally a really useful odds and sods bag . The bag is lined and easily takes a few diapers / nappies, a bottle, wipes (in their cover!) and a burp cloth. As the baby gets older it also works as a first bag for kindergarten / nursery with spare clothes and perhaps a cuddly. 

Another one I hadn't blogged, as at the time I couldn't.  It is over a year since my niece was born, so definitely time to share pictures of these gifts!  I was given a metre or so of the top of some Barbapapa sheer curtains by my sister, with the request to make "something" for her not yet born daughter. Thanks Sis.... Trying to be good, I made her some practical things: Change bag, lined with pink and red spotted fabric. Apparently she has been asked many times where she has bought the bag and she is known due to her bag at the local children's centre! Cushion cover: I also made her a pillow case to fit the cot pillow, but unfortunately don't seem to have a decent photo of it.

These bags are useful for almost anything, hence I call them "odds and sods bags". When the kids are small they easily fit a few nappies, wet wipes, a bottle and a burp cloth / muslin. When the kids get older, they love to use them for their treasures... I have made MANY of these and they are always popular as "new baby" gifts. The pattern is super easy, as it's really the fabric that makes the bag. On these, the green multi-sport bag has a red/white gingham liner and the fish one has an orange fabric with tiny white spots on the inside.

I stumbled upon these colourful fabric posters today - they'll be absolutely fabulous for bags to donate to the charity Christmas fair!!! Can't wait to get sewing! Note to self: Next time, get more than three!

For the Easter fund raising at the Church I have managed to make five bags.  Four of them were made using the Retro Bag pattern from One Year Wonders, and one was made using the instructions on Knåpmodern for a nursery bag (dagiskasse).  Dagiskasse and one of the two almost identical bags made out of thick woven curtain fabric. The latter two bags feature a dark green lining and a pocket on the inside. Elephants with a large gingham lining. I am not actually sure what the character is called (any ideas???), but on the inside is a lime green fabric matching the sack on the front. Both the outer fabrics were donations to the church. Work permitting, it's time to meet up with the Sewing Grannies tomorrow afternoon. Fingers crossed we don't have a disaster on any of my projects!

During the last week I've tested a new pattern for bags. I am hoping to finish these off soon, so I can  donate them to the Easter fair at the Swedish Church in London. Both of the bags have a fixed shoulder strap, a small inside pocket, green lining and pleats on the front. The fabric is thick and was given to me by a neighbour and I believe it has been used for curtains in her house.

Yesterday I dropped off the first set of items for the Christmas fair. Some of these are old things I have had in my cupboards for some time, others are newly made specially for the Christmas fair. A baby hat with fleece lining: Scarves or dribble bibs: Bag with waterproof lining:  Small odds and sods bag with gingham lining:  Crinkly square toy, great for little ones! Fleece hats, one with monkeys, the other one with helicopters and airplanes: Two Sweden inspired fleece hats in yellow and blue: Three fleece hats with vehicles and coloured fleece: Pencil roll: Fingers crossed that the items can attract buyers and thus help the Church raise money for their activities!

I really enjoy making these smallish odds and sods bags as I can use scraps from my cupboards, and I never seem to be able to have too many of these. Also they are great as gifts, and easy to send in the post. Both of these are lined with red/white gingham.

These small bags are perfect for all little things needed when out and about with little ones. For the smallest ones they fit a few nappies, wetwipes, dummies, spare clothes and a small cuddly toy. For slightly older ones they easily hold nappies and wetwipes plus a few items for yourself, e.g. purse and keys. Pattern : my own, based on an A4 sheet Fabric : the outer safari / animal fabric is from IKEA, lining unknown source

I bought the Len mattress protector sheet from IKEA for my baby's cot, only to discover that it is completely non-breathable and hence should not be placed under the baby's head. As the little one rotated in all possible (and impossible) directions during sleep, it didn't feel safe to use in the cot. Not wanting to waste money, or time by going back to IKEA for a refund, I put the sheets in the cupboard for a later project. Later on I took the little one swimming and realised that I had forgotten the extra plastic bag to put the wet swimming costumes in. Needless to say, the bag got all wet and so did everything around it. This was when I got the idea to use the Len mattress protector as lining for a bag. Simple design, but still fit for purpose. Pattern : my own, based on the size of the mattress protection sheet Fabric : flowers repurposed from a table runner and Len mattress protector from IKEA