News 'n' other stuff...,

There have been a few unexpected surprises over the last week, cheques turning up through the post for magazine projects I'd all but forgotten about, a mention in a new sewing magazine (thank you Claire!),  and this...,

2010 Sewing Calendar, from Andrews McMeel Publishing, now available for pre-order on Amazon.  There are instructions to make 100 projects, including a few from me, look, thats my toadstool on the front!

I've also just had word of some new projects being selected for a collaborative pattern book too, more on that soon though!

ps, I think my computer chair may be broken, while I've been typing this it's gradually gone down, I'm now almost sat on the floor!

Embroidery threads,

I've never really been one to pay much attention to brand names, but have to admit to having always favoured Anchor embroidery threads, mainly because I worked for Coats as a Designer for nearly twelve years, and as a result, have quite a supply to hand.

But, a while ago, I was sent some threads by DMC.  Now, from my experience of the UK needlecraft industry, there has always (and probably still is!) a bit of rivalry between Coats and DMC.  In my fledgling days as a designer, myself and a colleague were sent to spy on the DMC stand at a trade fair in Germany, only to be recognised and asked to leave.  I am certain the DMC design team will have been simultaneously spying on the Coats stand too!  

So, I guess, now I work for myself, I am free to choose.  I've not used the DMC pearl cotton before, but today my needle is threaded and I'm giving them a go.

Which do you use?

Crafty eye candy...,

Al has been away in Singapore for a week, there wasn't much I asked him to bring back, just this Japanese Craft Book, 'Animal Mascot', which I've had my eye on for weeks.

Very cute penguin and seal pattern,

and Crocodiles to name but a few.

But he also picked up the May issue of 'Cotton Time', 

love this issue, there are a few softie patterns, in amongst,

a whole heap of quilting ideas.

All the eye candy got the creative ideas going at the weekend, and I started playing around with fabric...!

I'd better get on with the sewing!

Fabric, material, cloth,

...whatever you call it, it is my favorite medium to work with.  Anyone who reads this blog regularly will have noticed that I work from a limited range of fabrics, the same prints will crop up over and over again.  This is partly due to lack of storage space, funds and also because my crafting philosophy stems around the idea that it doesn't actually need to cost a huge amount of money to sew.  Many of my fabrics are from old clothes, mine, the children's, family members, and thrifted.  When I do add to my collection with bought fabrics, it will be something carefully chosen, I window shop a lot, but only occasionally buy.

Manda posted in detail the other day about fabric, and I'm also an advocate of buying fabric from overseas.  Last Thursday, I took the plunge, and purchased these two prints from ChokiChoki via Etsy, today is Tuesday, and they arrived this morning all the way from Japan.  How's that for speedy service!  I've had my eye on the telegram print for a while, and fell in love with the vintage sewing print while browsing.  Unwrapping the package, I was briefly disappointed to see they were a little darker that I originally thought, but then realised I still had my sunglasses on, sunglasses removed, problem solved!

(the sewing print is on linen, lovely weight of fabric)

Speaking of Manda, I have pinched her idea from this Flickr photograph for having swatches of fabric hung up over my desk,

...very handy and very organised!

And speaking of Flickr, here's a tip, NEVER (accidently) delete cookies from your computer, without taking a note of your yahoo id and password, otherwise you will find yourself unable to log in to your Flickr account, for hours and hours.

Not that I did this..., 

yesterday, 

just sayin...!

What's a girl to do,

...when all the housework is done, the children are playing happily in the garden (albeit, one small boy in only his underpants!), and your other half is away all week (in Singapore!)?

...make cake of course!,

(anyone fancy a slice or two?!)

...chocolate cake, just need the can of squirty cream and a spoon.

  A new week is starting, let the crafting commence!

Has anyone seen my crafting mojo?

...because it seems to have gone missing this week!

I've tried, and tried and tried, but production has slipped to an all time low.  It's been very disheartening after being on a bit of a roll the week before with my attempt at a stork for a mobile (of sorts!) amongst other projects.

But this week, nothing.  I've tried tidying up my craft room, but it ended up in a bigger mess than before.  I've tried moving the furniture round in there too, only to end up moving it back to where it was before.

I suppose the way forward is to start with something simple.  Unfortunately, my peacock, as much as I love it as it is, just will not stand up.  What I need to do is re-make the tail in lighter weight fabrics, and weight the base more to balance it out.  If I get that right, maybe the rest will start to follow.

Ok, that's enough of me moaning!  Tell me, what do you do to combat the crafting doldrums?!

Mother Nature is so not my best friend!

3.00pm for me is about time to go on the 'pick-up' school run, and more often than not, this is how the whole experience unfolds...,

3.00pm  sky starts to go grey,

3.05pm  gets darker still, wind picks up,

3.10pm  just as I set foot out the door, the first drops of rain start,

3.20pm  arrive at school, a bit wet,

3.30pm  pick Luke up from pre-school, it starts lashing down,

3.35pm  Lucy's classroom door opens, it starts lashing it down even more,

3.40pm  scooters/bikes collected, begin journey home in the rain,

3.41pm  kids complain they are wet,

3.42pm  kids complain they are wet,

3.45pm  I yell at them to get a move on as we're all getting wet,

3.50pm  kids complain they are wet,

3.55pm  arrive home (thank goodness we have a porch!), WET!,

4.00pm  wet coats, clothes and shoes chucked on floor.

It's 2.30pm now, and oh look, surprise surprise,  the sky is starting to cloud over...,

please tell me it's not just me this happens to?! 

Can you guess what it is yet...?

This is what is sat on my desk today, in progress.  An improvement on yesterday when it looked like a turquoise miniature model of the Loch Ness Monster!

Now, I need to tackle the marvelous feat of textile engineering which will result in the tail..., I hope. 

Apologies for my somewhat erratic blogging of late, there is a reason, fingers crossed!

Penguins...,

This week has so far been dedicated to penguins, lots of penguins!

I couldn't make my mind up over body shape, so decided to use both (the mum & dad), but then it kind of evolved into a little family group...,

and a fish!

Couple of things I'd forgotten about, there is a little interview with me over on the 'Northern Belles' blog, and today is the day for my guest post over on Cuteable, so if you like foxes, hop on over there.

Right, must go clean my teeth, I have an appointment with the dental hygienist shortly!

épingles & aiguilles,

I loved embroidering this, a custom order for a cotton reel pin cushion, 

pins & needles..., in french!

Hope I've spelt it correctly!

ps, I did get both, you lot are a bad influence!

Red shoes...,

I've posted before about my love of the colour red.  For a while now, I've been on the look out for a woollen jumper to felt, which is just the right shade of red.  The one I used for this latest softie shoe, is more pink than red...,  

but on Friday, while dragging Luke on a thrifting trip into town, I spotted not one, but two red jumpers.  Now, given that I am getting short of storage space, and also trying to be thrifty in my thrifting, I can't warrant buying both jumpers, the question is, which should I get?

One is a lovely, rich shade of true red, the other is just as nice, but a slightly bluer red, and I just couldn't make my mind up.  They have put them both on one side for me, and I'm going to ask you lot for advice on which colour to go for, which would you get?!

(another softie shoe, it's been a while since I've made these, was fun remembering how!)

(I know what you're all going to say..., get both!)

Tick, tock...,

Thank you all for humoring me with my soppy previous post!, the exhibition opening went well, as did his speech.  As a way of saying thank you, I spent yesterday evening working on a new tutorial, and here it is..., a wrist watch pin cushion!. 

To make one, you will need...,

2 circles, measuring 8cm across of coloured felt (I've used a felted jumper)

1 circle, measuring 5.5cm of cream felt

1 strip of fabric, 3cm wide and long enough to wrap round your wrist with a 3cm overlap

1 strip of felt, same size as fabric strip

selection of small buttons

embroidery thread (I've used pearl cotton 8)

small amount of stuffing

1 snap fastener

pins, sewing needle, scissors, sewing machine (optional)

First, take the strips of fabric and felt, place them wrong sides together, pin and stitch all the way round the edge in blanket stitch.

Take one of the circles of coloured felt, and cut two, 3cm long slits.  Thread the strap through, making sure the felt circle is right side up, and the strap has the fabric side facing down.  Secure the strap in place with a few stitches.  Put this to one side while you work on the watch face.

Next, embroider the watch face numbers, either by hand, or you can do this by free machining on a sewing machine.  If you are a bit unsure how to do machine embroidery, I have a video tutorial posted on You Tube which explains how to do it!  It will help, to get the spacing right, to do the 12, 3, 6 and 9 first, then fill in the gaps with the other numbers.

Now, going back to the strap piece and holding it fabric side up, take the other circle of coloured felt, and place this, right side up, on top of the first felt circle.  Stitch blanket stitch all round the edge to join the two together, stop when you just have 5 cm left to sew, and stuff the watch face via this gap.  Once you are happy with the shape, continue sewing to close.  Attach the watch face with a few random straight stitches (I always prefer to do this part after it has been stuffed so I can get the positioning right, as stuffing it quite often changes the shape).  Add a winder to the right hand side, I did this by attaching two small buttons, one on top of the other.  Sew on another button centrally on the watch face, and embroider on the clock hands.

I made mine to say, 8 o'clock, my favorite time.  If it's 8am and we're still in bed, it means we've had a lie in, and 8pm, is when the kids are tucked up in bed, and I start sewing!

Test the strap round your wrist, and mark with a pin whereabouts the snap fastener needs to go.  Sew on the fastener, then add a button on the outside of the strap, although this is purely for decoration.

and there you go!.  It looks big on me, but I have ridiculously tiny wrists.  Just adjust the sizes of the circles if you want to make yours smaller.

As always, if you make one, I love to see your creations, please join the 'Lucykate Crafts... pattern pieces' group on Flickr and post your work there!

Happy stitching!

My Husband...,

is a very talented man!  He has spent the last three weeks or so, up till all hours of the evening, and late into the night painting a very important portrait, for the 'Changing Faces' debate being held at the Mall Gallery in London towards the end of this month.

I don't have an image of the actual portrait to show you, the one in the advert (above) is a preliminary sketch.  Changing Faces is a charity who work to support people who have a disfigurement.  The reason my husband, whom I usually refer to as Mr LK, but he does have a name in his own right, Alastair, is involved with this is because, not only is he a much commissioned portrait painter, but he is also the President of the 

Royal Society of Portrait Painters.  He is their youngest ever President, and as this is his first year of appointment, it is also his first time of officially opening the annual open exhibition, tomorrow at the Mall Gallery.  He will be giving a speech in front of a lot of important people too.  I have no doubt he'll be fantastic, but it's going to be difficult for him.  He's doing all this, away from home, with the knowledge that this morning, his much loved stepfather sadly passed away.

To Alastair, be strong, all our love, Amy, Lucy & Luke.

xxx

Kingfisher & Bullrush,

I've had a bad week, anyone who follows me on Twitter will already know I hit myself rather badly on the head with my car door on Friday and ended up in A&E (or the ER if you are American).  That is the closest I've ever been to knocking myself out!.  I think I just have to accept that I am accident prone, coming to that conclusion after sitting down on my sewing needle!

After the head incident, I'd started thinking I must have knocked all the good ideas out too, until a trip to a local charity shop resulted in a couple of illustrated nature books.  That helped get the cogs working again.

Kingfishers...,

such beautifully coloured birds,

and Bullrushes.

Not easy to photograph the two together!

Beg, borrow and steal...,

Things are a little slow this week.  The kids have gone back to school, and my three days that I get to work are passing by fast, with not very much done.  This holiday has been nice, albeit tinged with a little sadness due to a close family member being very ill, Lucy, Luke and I have spent a great deal of time together just chilling out.  We've had lots of cuddles on the sofa, watching dvd's while basking in (finally!) a bit of sun flooding into the lounge.  Luke is growing up so fast, he's 4 soon, ...4!

Still don't want anymore though, here's why...,

(warning - this does contain some mild swearing!)

It's not often I borrow from others to blog, but I first heard this song a while ago now, still makes me howl with laughter every time